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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTOR\' 



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Dallas Qodpty, 
Jexas. 

. . ILiLiUSTt^ATED . • . 

Coqtainiqg a History of thiis liriportant Sectioq of tlqe great State of Texas, from the 

Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Preserit Tiir|e. together witli Glirrlp;^es of 

its Future Prospects; with ^^ Full-Page Portraits of the Presidents of tl^o 

United States, and also Full-Page Portraits of some of the 

rrjost Erqiqeqt Meq of the County, and Biograpl-iical 

Mention of tT|ai-[y of its Piorieers, ar|d also 

of Prominent Citizens of To-day. 



"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be 
rcmcmliered with pr'de by remote descendants." — Ma<aulay. 



CHICAGO: 
THE LEWIS PUJiLISHlNC;; C03IPANY. 

1892. 






i 



\ 










S i'l^' 



CONTENTS. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



George Wasliington 9 

John Aditms 14 

Tliomus .leirersou 20 

James Madisuo 26 

James .Monroe 32 

John Qiiincy Adams 38 

Andrew Jackson 47 

Martin Van Bureu .02 

William Henry Harrison .56 

Jobn Tyler 60 

James K. Polk 64 

Zachary Taylor 68 



Millard Fillmore 73 

Franklin Pierce 76 

James Buchanan ' 80 

Abraham Lincoln . . . , 84 

Andrew Johnson 93 

Ulysses S. Grant 96 

R B. Hayes 102 

J. A. Garfield 109 

Chester A. Arthur lis 

Grover Cleveland 117 

Benjamin Harrison 120 



DALLAS COUNTY 



In Gbn'eral 

Gboix)gy 

Indians 

Eaui.y Sktti-ers 

Settlers of 1811-'.50 

Early Incidents 

Pioufcr Association 

SiVgANIZATION or THE CoDNxy 

Cifflcers i 

Hepresentation in CtJnstilutional 'Jonveniinus, 
etc 

First Precinct Boundaries : 

First Records .'■ 

JGarly Records of the C')urts 

District Judges 

courtiiocsrs 

Jail 

Dallas Bar 

jMedicai 

Dallas County in tiik Mexican Wak 

Dallas Cocnty in tub Civil Wak 

Price (Jamp 

Religious ^Services in Southern ("amps.. 

Grand Army of the Republic 

Memorial Days ... 

Trinity River Navioation 

Railroad Kacii.itiks 

State Fair, etc 

Grady's Celebrated Speech 

County Schools 

Post Offices in the Col'nty 



125 
l:;9 
136 
147 
1.51 
169 
171 
181 
185 

189 
•191 
19:j 
193 
19.5 
199 
202 
203 
204 
209 
213 



218 
221 
223 
236 
24.5 
247 
256 
271 
271 



Dallas City — 

Introductory 272 

Climate 273 

Peculiar Advantases 273 

Future (or Dallas.". 275 

Population 275 

The Post Ortlce 276 

City Ollicers 278 

Police 2>!5 

Fire Department 286 

The Burninv' of the City in 1860 '.'hd 

HeuUli Depaiimeuir ,296 

Street Railways *ii: 

Dallas as a Financial Cenlt-r '-S'' 

Board of Trade 303 

Incorporated Companies SOT 

Societies, etc 306 

DhIIus Club •'"9 

Hebrew Drganizations '"0 

Labor Organizations 310 

Huckner Orphans' Home 310 

St. Mary's Institute 311 

College of Pharmacy 312 

The Press 313 

Education 316 

Churches .... 319 

Oak Cliir 32* 

Lancaster 3-.'9 

Garland 331 

Mbsquite 333 

Cedar HiLi 385 

Richardson 837 



iV 



CONT^NtS. 



BIOGI^APHIGAL SI^ETGHES. 



A 

Abbott, E. A 988 

Abram3, W. H 826 

Abright, K. VV a'9 

Akard, W. C 391 

Alford, G. F 749 

Allen, J. W 939 

Allen, S. A 482 

Alterraann, C. F 589 

Arbuckle, J 358 

Archer, W. H 1002 

Ardrej', A. C 855 

Armstroug, V. P 677 

Armstrong, W. P 936 

Arnold, J. C 776 

Ashtou, Lawrence 914 

Attebery, S. C 527 

Atwell, B. I) 683 

Atwell, W. II 1009 

Atwood, W. E 871 

Atwood, W. K 871 

Aulick, W. VV 466 

Austin, Frank 363 

B 

Bailey, T. C 664 

Ballard, J. S 780 

Baker, A 574 

Baker, D. M 454 

Baker, J.N 739 

Baker, J. T 542 

Harlow, II. C 40U 

iBarham, C. F 366 

Baurannu, Julius 406 

Bean, S. H 425 

u JVC- r. ?' 933 

Beaver, J. T 529 

Bechtol, Daniel 544 

Bechtol, E. C 928 

Beckley, J. S 586 

Beeman, J. E 747 

Beeman, Scott 355 

Beeman, W. H 856 

Beggs, Thomas 367 

Beilharz, T. M 728 

Bekkers, W. J 775 

Bell, Jackson "JSl 

Bell, W. B 917 

Benbrook, Monroe 474 

Bennett, II. B 394 

Bennett, W. H 4.52 

Bernard, C. H 626 

Bernard, Thomas 889 

Best, W. E 444 

Bigger, J. C 383 

Biair, R A 658 

Illakenev, Joseph 390 

Boales. W. II 708 



Bohny, L. F 628 

Boll, 'Henry 625 

Bolton, E. W 609 

Bond, S. D 364 

Borah, Wm. J 550 

Boren, I. T 421 

Boucbe, A. E 720 

Boulay, D 392 

Bowles, Thomas '.T:. 857 

Bowser, O. P 897 

Boyce, J. 1) 913. 

Boyd, J. L 498 

Boydstun, J.G rm 

Bramlett, J. M 67y 

Bradlord. B. M 697 

Braley, W. H. II 736 

Branih, Wharton 419 

Brandenburg. B. F 458 

Branson, Thomas 578 

Branson, B, L 4:^8 

Braswell, S. N 775 

Breunan, T. F 915 

Briggs, J. K 497 

Britain, J. M 371 

Britain, Joseph 846 

Brooks, E. P 881 

Brotherton, C. R 888 

Brotherton, H. K 571 

Brown, A. O 591 

Brown, J. H 445 

Brown, J. W 577 

Brown, T. C 612 

Brown, T.J. A 804 

Brownlee, A 662 

Brownlee, J. H 650 

Brundage, S. : 657 

Bruion, liichard 958 

Bryan, ,j. B 692 

Bryan, John 514 

Brvaut, W. N 851 

Bu'ckner, H. C 468 

Buhrer, Jacob 623 

Bullock, G. T 4.53 

Bullock, W. C 7l4 

Burchardt, A. T 641 

Burford, N. M .. 337 

Burgoon, Henry 464 

Burke, R. E 998 

Burke, W. D 373 

Burns, J. S 684 

Buslrin, Wm 671 

Butler, P. J 784 



Cabell, B. E 944 

Cabell, W. L 605 

Cade, Tom 459 

Caldwell. J F ; 563 



Caldwell, S. W 620 

Callaway, Jesse 391 

Cameron, D. F 902 

Campbell, W. L 552 

Capy, C. A 491 

Carden, A. 564 

Carnes. A. W 810 

Carrell, N A 906 

Carrulhers, S 567 

Carson, T. F 937 

Carter, Isaac 660 

Carulh, Walter 529 

Carver, Albert ^90 

Caven, W.J 426 

Cavender, S. C 906 

Chapman, J. C 347 

Cherry, T. G 565 

Childers, J. V 389 

Childress, A. W 861 

Chilton, R. H 720 

Clark, M. M 518 

Coats, Lee 618 

Cochran, A. M 669 

Cochrau, J. H 685 

Cochran, J. M 583 

Cochran, W. P 737 

Cockrell, Alexander 773 

Coe, W. N 845 

Coffey, J. F 449 

Coffman, B. F 647 

Cole, George C 1001 

Cole, J. H .'.'.T. .-.-. . 464 

Cole, J. R 656 

Cole, M. V...-- 370 

Cole, Wra. p 639 

Cole, W. R 517 

Coleman, L. W 567 

Compton, B. 945 

Cone. M. T 452 

Connor, W. 471 

Conroy, J. J 848 

Coolidge, J. B 894 

Coombes, Z Ellis 804 

Cooper, I) 665 

Cooper, T. C 734 

Corcoran, J. T 809 

Cornelils, August 573 

Cornelius. A. P 905 

Cottman, W. F 568 

Cour, C. A 931 

Co.\, Susan 927 

Coyle, H. B 548 

Craddock, L 783 

Crawford. J. A 723 

Cross, 8. P 729 

Crouch, Joseph 670 

Crutcher, G. W 775 

Cullom, W. C 871 

Cummins, W. F 866 



CONTENTS. 



Curlis, J. H 978 

Curtis, W. F 033 



D 



Dallas Club 

Daniel, J. H 

Daniel, J. W 

Dargan, J. T. . . . 
Darwin, II. C... 
Davis, A. P .... 

DaTis, B. T 

Davis, F. S 

Davis. J. \V 

Davis, M. M 

Dawdj-, A 

De Frese. G. L . . 
Dennett, H. A. . . 
Dickey, P. J .... 

Dillej, G. M 

Dennis, A. .J 

Disborongb, W. A 

Di.\on. J. W 

Dixon. S. H 

Dooliille. E. W.. 
Doran, William.. 
Dougherty, W. F. 

Doyle, G. L 

Duncan, J. S 

Duncan, J. T 

Durgin, C. 11 



. 303 

. 773 

. &7!» 

. 433 

. 730 

. 381 

. 353 

. 759 

. »55 

. 970 

. 639 

. 564 

. 576 

. 730 

. 841 

. 903 

. 830 

. 424 

. 379 

. 746 

. 8!i3 
.1001 

. 875 
48.> 

. 040 

. 717 



E 



Eakin, T. E 570 

Ebrite, L. C 467 

Eckford, J. J 867 

Edgerton, M. T St77 

Edmondson, .1. W 438 

Elliott, .lohn F 823 

Ellis,.!, n 990 

Ellis, T. McKee 641 

Elli.-<on, .Mark 505 

Elmore, A. M 408 

Er.\bree, K. II 336 

Emmins. H. J 604 

Ervav, F. M 384 

Enders, William 833 

Erwin, Matthew 348 

Erwin, S. A 767 

Ewalt, N. S 607 

Ewell, G. W 676 

Ewing, J. A 907 

Exall, Henry 5ri<i 

F 

Fant, C. W 975 

Farcason, L. M 356 

Farmer, M. M 551 

Pendrick,F 711 

Ferris, U. A 780 

Figh, J. K 496 

Finnigan, J. J 715 

Fisher. .1. C 455 

Fisher, B. 11 833 

Fisher, T. B 635 



Flaher, W. R. 
Flanagan, li.. . 
Fleming, William 
Fleming, G. W.. 
Flippen, E. E... 
Flook, L. M.T.. 
Florence, D. W 
Florence, l)a.^id. 
Florence, J. H. . 
Flowers, T. K.. 
Flovd, A. B .... 

Flv)vd, C. A 

Flo'yd, D. A B 

Floyd. .1. N 

Flynn, Thomas.. 

Foree, S. H 

Foree, Kenneth. 
Forrester, W. C. 
Fowlkes, Tilley. 
Franklin, .1. B . . 
Fuller, George. . . 
Kuqua, G. S. ... 
Furgarson, J. M.. 

G 

Galloway, B. F. . 

Gano, C. W 

Gano, .1. T 

Gano, K. M 

Gano, W. B .. . 
Garling'.on, M. D 
Garison, J. C. . . . 

Garrison, A 

Garrison, L. S. . . 

Garrett, A. C 

Garvin, J. G 

Gary, W. A 

Gibbs, Barnetl . 
Gibson, I. B. ... 

Gilbert, C. E 

Gilbert, I). W... 
Gillespie, ('. B. . 
Gillespie, J. II.. 
Gillespie, .1. P.. . 
Givens, G. W.... 

Golay, V. n 

Goid.:3. P. H... 

Good, Noaii 

Goodfellow, Jlosea 
Goodnight, J. P. 
Gracey, C. G. . .. 

Qracey, E. A 

Gracey, M. D. L. 
Grauwyler, .John 
Green, .tones . . . 

Green, .1. T 

(iroer, James.. . . 
Gribble. William 

Griffith,.!. S 

Gross, G. B 

Gross, J. M 

Grove, D. E- 

Groves, .1. E. ... 
Groves, W. Q.... 
Guillot, E. E... 

(juillot, .M 

Gunner, It 

Gurley, J. W.... 



796 

588 

933 

439 

727 

438 

616 

929 

(i27 

633 

933 ; 

540 

909 ; 

983 ' 

■.]1^ 

904 

554 

418 

818 

924 

800 

537 

451 



, 4.-.:! 
. 7t)0 
, 8tiit 
, 9!)9 
.1004 

433 

437 

634 

339 

602 

68H 
. 554 

373 

888 

099 

511 

340 

711 

671 

019 

673 

938 

510 

440 ; 

541 

595 j 

i3!i I 

431 i 

, 542 I 
988 ' 

10(15 ] 
055 
H03 
884 ' 

. 804 , 
725 
535 
543 
840 

. 893 
888 

, 777 



H 

Hallum, E. J 533 

Halsell, E. M 506 

Halsell, W. .! 430 

Hamilton, 11 341 

Hamilton, F. M 912 

Hand, John T 455 

Uarrell, W. H 860 

Harrington, B 1007 

Harris, P. P 947 

Harris, W. H 499 

Harris, William 470 

Harrison, J. B 522 

Harrison, W. A 643 

Harrison, W. 512 

Harry, O. K 814 

Hart, Abraham 784 

981 

373 

897 

470 

646 

799 



Hart, D. A. J., 
llartnett, J. A.. 
Hash, John . . . 
Haskell, H. N.. 

Hatch, J. B 

Hawpe, G. T. . . 

Heftinglon, J. C 487 

Henilerson, J. B 774 

Henderson, W. 1) 758 

Hendrick. P. J 829 

Hendrick.s, J. W 911 

Henry, 11. P 598 

Heusley, W. R 745 

Herman, Jolin 342 

Hill, W. M. C 79a 

Hobbs, W W 603 

Hodge, A. L 719 

Hodges, G. H 480 

Holland, H. T 470 

Holland, I. W 991 

Holly, Mary Evangelist 857 

Holt, P 789 

Ilopkin.s, J. W 553 

Hopkins, Jlilas 607 

Hopkins, 8. B G44 

Ilorue, A. McCoy 399 

Horlon, Enoch 9»6 

Horton, James 947 

HoHsley, L 493 

Honslon, H. W 693 

Howell, J. M 797 

Huirhines, P. W 971 

llutthines. .1. W 513 

Hughes, John V 790 

'iv.g\'.»s J. H 415 

Hughes. W . H ..~X -.^. 798 

HuKbes, William Y ""Zl 

Humbarih A. S 048 

Humphevs. W. M fiPO 

Huntllev. WE 959 

Hunnic'utI, S 091 

Hum, J. W 370 

Hunt, P. B '83 

Hunter. John H.'iO 

Hurst, John 7'>3 

Hurt, R. M 715 

Uuvelle, (.' H .. 473 



Jack, Clinton 885 



^. 






^^i^^^^^d^^C-^V^cT^^/-^ 



GFORGE WASHfXGTON. 



.'ffTti'.'i'- «*• -I-, "t^ _•!•_ «^. ■;-_ 



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►V;*.--^-. 




EORGE WASHING- 
TON, the " Father of 
liis Country" and its 
lirst President, 1789- 
'97, was born Febru- 
ary 22, 1732, in Wash- 
'•'if - ington Parish, West- 
moreland Count}', Virginia. 
His father, Augustine Wash- 
inijton, first married Jane But- 
^(^'■'}fX%'^ ier, who bore him four cfiii- 
iCT'^O^ dren, and March 6, 1730, he 
married Mary Ball. Of six 
children by his second mar- 
riage, George was the eldest, 
tlie otiicrs being Betty, Sanuiel, John, Au- 
gustine, Charles and Mildred, of whom the 
youngest died in infancy. Little is known 
of the early years of Washington, beyond 
the fact that the house in which he was 
born was burned during his early child- 
hood, and that his father thereupon moved 
tf) another farm, inherited from his paternal 
ancestors, situated in Stafforti Count}', on 
the north bank of the l^appahannock, where 
he acted as agent of the Principio Iron 
Works in the immediate vicinity, and died 
there in 1743. 

From earliest childhood George devel- 
oped a noble character. He had a vigorous 
constitution, a fine form, and great bodily 
strength. His education was somewhat de- 



fective, being confined to the elementary 
branches taught him by his mother and at 
a neighboring school. He developed, how- 
ever, a fondness for mathematics, and en- 
joyed in that branch the instructions of a 
private teacher. On leaving school he re- 
sided for some time at Mount Vernon with 
his half brother, Lawrence, who acted as 
his guardian, and who had married a daugh- 
ter of his neighbor at Bclvoir on the Poto- 
mac, the wealthy William Fairfax, for some 
time president of the executive council of 
the colony. Both Fairfax and his son-in-law, 
Lawrence Washington, had served with dis- 
tinction in 1740 as officers of an American 
battalion at the siege of Carthagena, and 
were friends and correspondents of Admiral 
Vernon, for whom the latter's residence on 
the Potomac has been named. George's 
inclinations were for a similar career, and a 
midshi[)man's warrant was procured for 
him, probably through the influence of the 
Admiral ; but through the opposition of his 
motlier the project was abandoned. The 
family connection with the Fairfaxes, how- 
ever, opened another career for the young 
man, who, at the age of sixteen, was ap- 
pointed surveyor to the immense estates of 
the eccentric Lord Fairfax, who was then 
on a visit at Belvoir, and who shortly after- 
ward established his baronial residence at 
Green way Court, in the Shenandoah Vallc}'. 



PRES/DfiNTS OF THE UN f TED STATES. 



Three years were passed by young Wash- 
ington in a rough frontier life, gaining ex- 
perience which afterward proved very es- 
sential to him. 

In 1 75 1, when the Virginia mihtia were 
put urder training with a view to active 
service against France, Washington, though 
only nineteen years of age, was appointed 
Adjutant with the rank of Major. In Sep- 
tember of that year the faiHng health of 
Lawrence Washington rendered it neces- 
sary for him to seek a warmer climate, and 
Ge irge accompanied him in a voyage to 
Bai xidoes. They returned early in 1752, 
and Lawrence shortly afterward died, leav- 
ing hi ^ large property to an infant daughter. 
In his will George was named one of the 
executors and as eventual heir to Mount 
Vernon, and by the death of the infant niece 
soon succeeded to that estate. 

'On the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie as 
Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia in 1752 
the militia was reorganized, and the prov- 
ince divided into four districts. Washing- 
ton was commissioned by Dinwiddie Adju- 
tant-General of the Northern District in 
1753, and in November of that year a most 
important as well as hazardous mission was 
assigned him. This was to proceed to the 
Canadian posts recently established on 
French Creek, near Lake Erie, to demand 
in the name of the King of England the 
witiidrawal of the French from a tcrritor3' 
claimed by Virginia. This enterprise had 
been declined by more than one officer, 
since it involved a journey through an ex- 
tensive and almost unexplored wilderness 
in the occupancy of savage Indian tribes, 
either hostile to the English, or of doubtful 
attachment. Major Washington, however, 
accepted the commission with alacrit}' ; and, 
accompanied by Cajitain Gist, he reached 
Fort Le Boeuf on French Creek, delivered 
his dispatches and received reply, which, of 
course, was a polite refusal to surrender the 
posts. This reply was of such a character 



as to induce the Assembly of Virginia to 
authorize the executive to raise a regiment 
of 300 men for the purpose of maintaining 
the asserted rights of the British crown 
over the territory claimed. As Washing- 
ton declined to be a candidate for that post, 
the command of this regiment was given to 
Colonel Joshua Fry, and Major Washing- 
ton, at his own request, was commissioned 
Lieutenant-Colonel. On the march to Ohio, 
news was received that a party previously 
sent to build a fort at the confluence of the 
Monongahela with the Ohio had been 
driven back by a considerable French force, 
which had completed the work there be- 
gun, and named it Fort Duquesne, in honor 
of the Marquis Duquesne, then Governor 
of Canada. This was the beginning of the 
great " French and Indian war," which con- 
tinued seven years. On the death of Colonel 
Fry, Wasiiington succeeded to the com- 
mand of the regiment, and so well did he 
fulfill his trust tiiat tlie Virginia Assembly 
commissioned him as Connnander-in-Chief 
of all the forces raised in the colony. 

A cessation of all Indian hostility on the 
frontier having followed the expulsion of 
the French from the Ohio, the object of 
Washington was accomplished and he re- 
signed his commission as Commander-in- 
Chief of the Virginia forces. He then pro- 
ceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in 
the General Assembly, of which he had 
been elected a member. 

January 17, 1759, Washington married 
Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, a young 
and beautiful widow of great wealth, and de- 
voted himself for the ensuing fifteen years 
to the quiet pursuits of agriculture, inter- 
rupted only by his annual attendance in 
winter upon the Colonial Legislature at 
Williamsburg, until summoned by his 
country to enter upon that other arena in 
which his fame was to become world wide. 

It is unnccessar}' here to trace the details 
of the struggle upon the question of local 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



self-government, which, after ten years, cul- 
minated by act of Parliament of the port of 
Boston. It was at the instance of \'irginia 
that a congress of all the colonics was called 
to meet at Philadelphia Septembers, '774' 
tosecure their common liberties — if possible 
b}' peaceful means. To this Congress 
Colonel Washington was sent as a dele- 
gate. On dissolving in October, it recom- 
mciulcd tiie colonies to send deputies to 
another Congress the following spring. In 
ihe meantime several of the colonies felt 
impelled to raise local forces to repel in- 
sults and aggressions on the part of British 
troops, so that on the assembling of the next 
Congress, May lo, 1775, tiie war prepara- 
tions of the mother country' were unmis- 
takable. The battles of Concord and Lex- 
ington had been fought. Among the earliest 
acts, therefore, of the Congress was the 
selection of a commander-in-chief of the 
colonial forces. This office was unani- 
mously conferred upon Washington, still a 
member of the Congress. He accepted it 
on June 19, but on tiie express condition he 
should receive no salarj-. 

He immediately repaired to the vicinity 
of Boston, against which point the British 
ministry had concentrated their forces. As 
early as April General Gage had 3,000 
troops in and around this proscribed cit)-. 
During the fall and winter the British policy 
clearly indicated a purpose to divide pub- 
lic sentiment and to build up a British party 
in the colonies. Those who sided with tlie 
n)inistry were stigmatized by the patriots 
as " Tories," while the patriots took to them- 
selves the name of " Whigs." 

As early as 1776 the leading men had 
come to the conclusion that there was no 
hope except in separatic)n and indepen- 
dence. In May of that year Washington 
wrote from the head of the army in New 
York: "A reconciliation with Cireat Brit- 
ain is impossible When I took 

command of the army, I abhorred the idea 



of independence ; but I am now fully satis- 
fied that nothing else will save us." 

It is not the object of this sketch to trace 
the military acts of the patriot hero, to 
whose hands the fortunes and liberties of 
the United States were coiifided during the 
seven years' bloody struggle that ensued 
until the treaty of 1783, in which England 
acknowledged the independence of each of 
the thirteen States, and negotiated with 
them, jointl}', as separate sovereignties. 1 he 
' merits of VV'ashington as a military chief- 
lain have been considerabl}- discussed, espe- 
cially b)' writers in his own country. Dur- 
ing the war he was most bitterly assailed 
for incompetency, and great efforts were 
made to disjjlace him ; but he never for a 
motuent lost the confidence of either the 
Congress or the people. December 4, 1783, 
the great commander took leave of his offi- 
cers in most affectionate and patriotic terms, 
and went to Annapolis, Maryland, where 
the Congress of the States was in session, 
and to that bodv, when peace and order 
prevailed everywhere, resigned his com- 
mission and retired to Mount Vernon. 

It was in 1788 that Washington was called 
to the chief magistracy of the nation. He 
received every electoral vote cast in all the 
colleges of the States voting for the office 
of President. The 4tli of March, 1789, was 
the time appointed for the Government of 
the United Stales to begin its operations, 
but several weeks elapsed before quorums 
of both the newly constituted houses of the 
Congress were assembled. The city of New 
Yoik was the place where the Congrees 
then met. April 16 Washington left his 
home to enter upon the discharge of his 
new duties. He set out with a purpose ot 
tniveling i)rivately, and witiiout attracting 
an)- uublic attention ; but this was impossi- 
ble. Everywhere on his way he was met 
with tnronging crowds, eager to see the 
man wnom the}' regarded as the chief de- 
fender of their liberties, and everywhere 



PRESIDEXTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



he was hailed with those public manifesta- 
tions of joy, regard and love which spring 
spontaneously from the hearts of an affec- 
tionate and grateful people. His reception 
in New York was marked by a grandeur 
and an enthusiasm never before witnessed 
in that metropolis. The inauguration took 
place April 30, in the presence of an immense 
multitude which had assembled to witness 
the new and imposing ceremony. The oath 
of office was administered by Robert R. 
Livingston, Chancellor of the State. When 
this sacred pledge was given, he retired 
with the other officials into the Senate 
chamber, where he delivered his inaugural 
address to both houses of the newly con- 
stituted Congress in joint assembly. 

In the manifold details of liis civil ad- 
ministration, Washington proved himself 
equal to the requirements of his position. 
The greater portion of the first session of 
the hrst Congress was occupied in passing 
the necessary statutes fc^r putting the new 
organization into complete operation. In 
the discussions brought up in the course of 
this legislation the nature and character of 
the new system came under general review. 
On no one of them did any decided antago- 
nism of opinion arise. All held it to be a 
limited government, clothed only with spe- 
cific powers conferred by delegation from 
the States. There was no change in the 
name of the legislative department ; it still 
remained "the Congress of the United 
States of America." There was no change 
in the original flag of the country, and none 
in the seal, which still remains with the 
Grecian escutcheon borne by the eagle, 
with other emblems, under the great and 
expressive motto, "i; Phtribiis Umiin." 

The first division of parties arose upon 
the manner of construing the powers dele- 
gated, and they were first styled " strict 
constructionists" and " latitudinarian con- 
structionists." The former were for con- 
fining the action of the Government strictly 



within its specific and limited sphere, while 
the others were for enlarging its powers by 
inference and implication. Hamilton and 
Jefferson, both members of the first cabinet, 
were regarded as the chief leaders, respect 
ivel}', of these rising antagonistic parties 
which have existed, under different names 
from that day to this. Washington n-as re 
garded as holding a neutral position between 
them, though, by mature deliberation, he 
vetoed the first apportionment bill, in 1790, 
passed b}' the party headed by Hamilton, 
which was based upon a principle construct- 
ively leading to centralization or consoli- 
dation. This was the first exercise of the 
veto power under the present Constitution. 
It created considerable excitement at the 
time. Another bill was soon passed in pur- 
suance of Mr. Jefferson's views, which has 
been adhered to in principle in every ap 
portionment act passed since. 

At the second session of the new Con- 
gress, Washington announced the gratify- 
ing fact of " the accession of North Caro- 
lina" to the Constitution of 1787, and June 
I of the same year he announced by special 
message the like "accession of the State of 
Rhode Island," with his congratulations on 
the happy event which " united under the 
general Government" all the States which 
were originally confederated. 

In 1792, at the second Presidential elec- 
tion, Washington was desirous to retire; 
but he 3ielded to the general wish of the 
country, and was again chosen President 
by the unanimous vote of every electoral 
college. At the third election, 1796, he was 
again most urgently entreated to consent to 
remain in the executive chair. This he 
positively refused. In September, before 
the election, he gave to his countr3'men his 
memorable Farewell Address, which in lan- 
guage, sentiment and patriotism was a fit 
and crowning glory of his illustrious life. 
After March 4, 1797, he again retired to 
Mount Vernon for peace, quiet and repose. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



M 



His administration for the two terms had 
been successful beyond the expectation and 
hopes of even the most sanguine of his 
friends. The finances of the country were 
no longer in an embarrassed condition, the 
public credit was fully restored, life was 
given to every department of industry, the 
workings of the new system in allowing 
Congress to raise revenue from duties on 
imports proved to be not only harmonious 
in its federal action, but astonishing in its 
results upon the commerce and trade of all 
the States. The exports from the Union 
increased from $ 1 9,000,000 to over $56,000,- 
000 per annum, while the imports increased 
in about the same proportion. Three new 
members had been added to the Union. The 
progress of the States in their new career 
under their new organization thus far was 
exceedingly encouraging, not only to the 
friends of liberty within their own limits, 
but to their s)-mpathizing allies in ail climes 
r.nd countries. 

01 the call again made on this illustrious 



chief to quit his repose at Mount Vernon 
and take command of all the United States 
forces, with liic rank of Lieutcnant-General, 
when war was threatened with France in 
1798, nothing need here be stated, except to 
note the fact as an unmistakable testimo- 
nial of the high regard in which he was still 
held by his coiintrvmen, of all shades of po- 
litical opinion. He patriotically accepted 
this trust, but a treaty of peace put a stop 
to all action under it. He again retired to 
Mount Vernon, where, alter a short and 
severe illness, he died December 14, 1799, 
in the sixty-eighth year of his age. The 
whole countr}- was filled with gloom by this 
sad intelligence. Men of all parties in poli- 
tics and creeds in religion, in every State 
in the Union, united with Congress in " pay- 
ing honor to the man, first in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his country- 
men." 

His remains were deposited in a fami'.* 
vault on tlie baiiks of the Potomac at Mount 
Vernon, where they still lie entombed. 




■--A 



«4 



PlihSIDFNTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



m^^^ 










p^'OHN ADAMS, the second 
ij President of the United 

!(E^ States, 1797 to 1801, was 
born in the present town 

''^. of Ouincv, then a portion 

M-' of 



jf Braintree, Massachu 
-■ setts, October 30, 1735. His 
father was a farmer of mod- 
erate means, a worthy and 
indnstrious man. He was 
a deacon in the church, and 
was ver3-desironsof gi"ing 
his son a collegiate educa- 
tion, hoping that he would 
become a minister of the 
gospel. But, as up to this 
time, the age of fourteen, he had been only 
a play-boy in the fields and forests, he had 
no taste for books, he chose farming. On 
being set to work, however, b)' his father 
out in the field, the very first day con- 
verted the boy into a lover of books. 

Accordingly, at the age of sixteen he 
entered Harvard College, and graduated in 
1755, at the age of twenty, highly esteemed 
for integrity, energy and ability. Thus, 
having no capital but his education, he 
started out into the stormy world at a time 
of great political excitement, as France and 
England were then engaged in their great 
seven-years struggle for the mastery over 
the New World. The fire of patriotism 



seized young Adams, and ff)r a time he 
studied over the question whether he 
should take to the law, to politics or the 
army. He wrote a remarkable letter to a 
friend, making prophecies concerning the 
future greatness of this country which have 
since been more than fulfilled. For two 
years he taught school and studied law, 
wasting no odd moments, and at the eariy 
age of twenty-two years he opened a law 
office in his native town. His inherited 
powers f)f mind and untiring devotion to 
his profession caused him to rise rapidly 
in public esteem. 

In October, 1764, Mr. x\dams married 
Miss Abigail Smith, daughter of a clergy- 
man at Weymouth and a lad}' of rare per- 
sonal and intellectual endowments, who 
afterward contributed much to her hus- 
band's celebrit)'. 

Soon, the oppression of the British in 
America reached its climax. The Boston 
merchants employed an attorney by the 
name of James Otis to argue the legality of 
oppressive tax law before the Superior 
Court. Adams heard the argument, and 
afterward wrote to a friend concerning the 
ability displayed, as follows: "Otis was a 
Hame of fire. With a promptitude of 
classical allusion, a depth of research, a 
rapid summary of historical events and 
dates, a profusion of legal authorities and a 




//A Jda/rnj 



yoH!\r AOA.ris. 



prophetic glance into futurity, lie hurried 
awa_v all before him. Aiitfrican independence 
was then and there born. Every man of an 
immensely crowded audience appeared to 
me to go awa}', as I did, ready to take up 
arms." 

Soon Mr. Adams wrote an essay to be 
read before the literary club of his town, 
upon the state of affairs, which was so able 
as to attract public attention. It was pub- 
lished in American journals, republished 
in England, and was pronounced by the 
friends of the colonists there as " one of the 
very best productions ever seen from North 
America." 

Tlie memorable Stamp Act was now 
issued, and Adams entered with all the 
ardor of his soul into political life in order 
to resist it. He drew up a series of reso- 
lutions remonstrating against the act, which 
were adopted at a puljlic meeting of the 
citizens of liraintrec, and which were sub- 
sequently adopted, word for word, by moxo. 
than forty towns in the State. Popular 
commcjtion prevented the landing of the 
Stamp Act papers, and the English autiior- 
ities then closed the courts. The town of 
Boston therefore appointed Jeremy Grid- 
Ic}', James Otis and John Adams to argue a 
petition before the Governor and council 
for the re-opening of the courts; and while 
the two first mentioned attorneys based 
tlieir argument upon tiie distress caused to 
the peojile by tiie measure, Adams boldly 
claimed that the Stamp Act was a violation 
both of the English Constitution and the 
charter of the Provinces. It is said that 
this was the first direct denial of the im- 
limiled right of Parliament over the colo- 
nies. Soon after this the Stamp Act was 
repealed. 

Directly Mr. ,^.dams was employed to 
defend Anscll Nickerson, who had killed an 
Englishman in the act of impressing him 
(Nickerson) into the King's service, and his 
client was acquitted, the court thus estab- 



lishing the principle that the infamous 
royal prerogative of impressment could 
have no existence in the colonial code. 
But in 1770 Messrs. Adams and Josiah 
Quincy defended a party of British soldiers 
who had been arrested for murder when 
they had been only obeying Governmental 
orders; and when reproached for thus ap- 
parently deserting the cause of popular 
liberty, Mr. Adams replied that he would a 
thousandfold rather live under the domina- 
tion of the worst o( England's kings than 
under that of a lawless mob. Ne.\t, after 
s,Mving a term as a member of the Colonial 
Legislature from Boston, Mr. Adams, find- 
ing his health affected by too great labor, 
retired to iiis native home at Braintrec. 

The year 1774 sor)n arrived, with its fa- 
mous Boston '• Tea Party," the first open 
act of rebellion. Adams was sent to the 
Congress at Philadelphia; and when the 
Attorney-General announced that Great 
Britain had " determined on her system, 
and that her power to execute it was irre- 
sistible," Adams replied : " I know that 
Great Britain has determined on her sys- 
tem, and that very determination deter- 
mines me on mine. You know tliat I have 
been constant in my o(ii)ositioii to her 
measures. The die is now cast. I have 
passed the Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or 
die, with ni)' country, is my unalterable 
determination." The lumor beginning to 
prevail at Piiiladelfihia that the Congress 
had independence in view, Adams foresaw 
that it was too soon to declare it openly. 
Hj advised every one to remain quiet in 
that respect; and as soon as it became ap- 
parent that he himself was for independ- 
ence, he was advised to hide himself, which 
he did. 

The next year the great Revolutionary 
war opened in earnest, and Mrs. Adams, 
residing near Boston, kept her husbantl ad- 
vised by letter of all the events transpiring 
in her vicinity. The battle of Bunker HiL' 



2'RES/DENTS OF THE US'TTED STATES. 



came on. Congress had to do something 
immediately. The first thing was to 
choose a commander-in-chief for the — we 
can't say " army " — the fighting men of the 
colonics. The New England delegation 
was almost unanimous in favor of appoint- 
ing General Ward, then at the head of the 
Massachusetts forces, but Mr. Adams urged 
the appointment of George Washington, 
then almost unknown outside of his own 
State. He was appointed without o])po- 
sition. Mr. Adams offered the resolution, 
which was adopted, annulling all the ro3'ai 
authority in the colonies. Having thus 
prepared the way, a few weeks later, viz., 
June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, of Vir- 
ginia, who a few months before had declared 
that the British Government would aban- 
don its oppressive measures, now offered 
the memorable resolution, seconded by 
Adams, " that these United States are, and 
of right ought to be, free and independent." 
Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman and 
Livingston were then appointed a commit- 
tee to draught a declaration of independ- 
ence. Mr. Jefferson desired Mr. Adams 
to draw up I he bold document, but the 
latter persuaded Mr. Jefferson to perform 
that responsible task. The Declaration 
drawn up, Mr. Adams became its foremost 
defender on the floor of Congress. It was 
signed by all the fifty-five members present, 
and the next day Mr. Adams wrote to his 
wife how great a deed was done, and how 
proud he was of it. Mr. Adains continued 
to be the leading man of Congress, and 
the leading advocate of American inde- 
pendence. Above all other Americans, 
he was considered by every one the prin- 
cipal shining mark for British vengeance. 
Thus circumstanced, he was appointed to 
the most dangerous task of crossing the 
ocean in winter, exposed to capture by the 
British, who knew of his mission, which 
was to visit Paris and solicit the co-opera- 
tion of the French. Besides, to take him- 



self awa}' from the country of which he 
was the most prominent defender, at that 
critical time, was an act of the greatest self- 
sacrifice. Sure enough, while crossing the 
sea, he had two very narrow escapes from 
capture ; and the transit was otherwise a 
stormy and eventful one. During the 
summer of 1779 he returned home, but was 
immediately dispatched back to France, to 
be in readiness there to negotiate terms of 
peace and commerce with Great Britain as 
soon as the latter power was ready for such 
business. But as Dr. Franklin was more 
popular than heat the court of France, Mr. 
Adams repaired to Holland, where he was 
far more successful as a diplomatist. 

The treaty of peace between the United 
States and England was finally signed at 
Paris, January 21, 1783; and the re-action 
from so great excitement as Mr. Adams had 
so long been experiencing threw him into 
a dangerous fever. Before he fully re- 
covered he was in London, whence he was 
dispatched again to Amsterdam to negoti- 
ate another loan. Compliance with this 
order undermined his physical constitution 
for life. 

In 1785 Mr. Adams was appointed envoy 
to the court of St. James, to meet face to 
face the very king who had regarded him 
as an arch traitor! Accordingly he re- 
paired thither, where he did actuall)' meet 
and converse with George III.! After a 
residence there for about three years, he 
obtained permission to return to America. 
While in London he wrote and published 
an able work, in three volumes, entitled : 
" A Defense of the American Constitution." 

The Articles, of Confederation proving 
inefficient, as Adams had prophesied, a 
carefully draughted Constitution was 
adopted in 1789, when George Washington 
was elected President of the new nation, 
and Adams Vice-President. Congress met 
for a time in New York, but was removed 
to Philadelpiiia for ten years, until suitable 



'JOHN ADAMS. 



'9 



buildings should be erected at the new 
capital in the District of Columbia. Mr. 
Adams then moved his family to Phila- 
delphia. Toward the close of his term of 
office the French Revolution culminated, 
when Adams and Washington rather 
sympathized with England, and Jefferson 
with France. The Presidential election of 
1796 resulted in giving Mr. Adams the first 
place by a small majority, and Mr. Jeffer- 
son the second place. 

Mr. Adams's administration was consci- 
entious, patriotic and able. The period 
was a turbulent one, and even an archangel 
could not have reconciled the hostile par- 
ties. Partisanism with reference to Eng- 
land and France was bitter, and for four 
years Mr. Adams struggled through almost 
a constant tempest of assaults. In fact, he 
was not truly a popular man, and his cha- 
grin at not receiving a re-election was so 
great that he did not even remain at Phila- 
delphia to witness the inauguration of Mr. 
Jefferson, his successor. The friendly 
intimacy between these two men was 
interrupted for about thirteen years of their 
life. Adams finally made the first advances 
toward a restoration of their mutual friend- 
ship, which were gratefully accepted by 
Jefferson. 

Mr. Adams was glad of his opportunity 
to retire to private lile, where he could rest 
his mind and enjoy the comforts of home. 
By a thousand bitter experiences he found 
the path of public duty a thorny one. For 
twenty-six years his service of the public 
was as arduous, self-sacrificing and devoted 
as ever fell to the lot of man. In one im- 
portant sense he was as much the " Father 
of his Country " as was Washington in 
another sense. During these long years of 
anxiety and toil, in which he was laying, 
broad and deep, the foundations of the 



greatest nation the sun ever shone upon, he 
received from his impoverished country a 
meager support. The only privilege he 
carried with him into his retirement was 
that of franking his letters. 

Although taking no active part in public 
affairs, both himself and his son, John 
Quincy, nobly supported the policy of Mr. 
Jefferson in resisting the encroachments of 
England, who persisted in searching 
American ships on the high seas and 
dragging from them any sailors that might 
be designated by any pert lieutenant as 
British subjects. Even for this noble sup- 
port Mr. Adams was maligned by thou- 
sands of bitter enemies ! On this occasion, 
for the first time since his retirement, he 
broke silence and drew up a very able 
paper, exposing the atrocity of the British 
pretensions. 

Mr. Adams outlived nearly all his family. 
Though his physical frame began to give 
way many years before his death, his mental 
powers retained their strength and vigor to 
the last. In his ninetieth year he was 
gladdened by the popular elevation of his 
son to the Presidential office, the highest in 
the gift of the people. A few months more 
passed away and the 4lh of July, 1826. 
arrived. The people, unaware of the near 
approach of the end of two great lives — 
that of Adams and Jefferson — were making 
unusual preparations for a national holiday. 
Mr. Adams lay upon his couch, listening to 
the ringing of bells, the waftures of martial 
music and the roar of cannon, with silent 
emotion. Only four days before, he had 
given for a public toast, " Independence 
forever." About two o'clock in the after- 
noon he said, "And Jefferson still survives." 
But he was mistaken by an hour or so; 
and in a few minutes he had breathed his 
last. 



PRESrOENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 






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^^^^^^^^^^^^ 




[HOMASJEFFER- 
son, the third Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, i8oi-'9, was 
born April 2, 1743, 
the eldest child of 
his parents, Peter 
and Jane (Randolph) Jef- 
ferson, near Charlottes- 
ville, Albemarle County, 
Virginia, upon the slopes 
of the Blue Ridge. When 
he -was fourteen years of 
age, his father died, leav- 
ing a widow and eight 
children. She was a beau- 
tiful and accomplished 
lady, a good letter-writer, with a fund of 
humor, and an admirable housekeeper. His 
parents belonged totlie Church of England, 
and are said to be of Welch origin. But 
little is known of them, however. 

Thomas was naturally of a serious turn 
of mind, apt to learn, and a favorite at 
school, his choice studies being mathemat- 
ics and the classics. At the age of seven- 
teen he entered William and Mary College, 
in an advanced class, and lived in rather an 
expensive style, consequently being much 
caressed by gay society. That he was not 
ruined, is proof of his stamina of character. 
But during his second year he discarded 



society, his horses and even his favorite 
violin, and devoted thenceforward fifteen 
hours a day to hard study, becoming ex- 
traordinarily proficient in Latin and Greek 
authors. 

On leaving college, before he was twenty- 
one, he commenced the study of law, and 
pursued it diligently until he was well 
qualified for practice, upon which he 
entered in 1767. By this time he was also 
versed in French, Spanish, Italian and An- 
glo-Saxon, and in the criticism of the fine 
arts. Being very polite and polished in his 
manners, he won the friendship of all whom 
he met. Though able with his pen, he was 
not fluent in public speech. 

In 1769 he was chosen a member of the 
Virginia Legislature, and was the largest 
slave-holding member of that body. He 
introduced a bill empowering slave-holders 
to manumit their slaves, but it was rejected 
by an overwhelming vote. 

In 1770 Mr. Jefferson met with a great 
loss ; his house at Shadwell was burned, 
and his valuable library of 2,000 volumes 
was consumed. But he was wealthy 
enough to replace the tnost of it, as from 
his 5,000 acres tilled by slaves and his 
practice at the bar his income amounted to 
about $5,000 a year. 

In 1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, 
a beautiful, wealthy and accomplished 





ty/>f/7i^ 



THOMAS yEFFE/fSOJV. 



»3 



young widow, who owned 40,000 acres of 
land and 130 slaves; yet he labored assidu- 
ously for the abolition of slavery. For his 
new home he selected a majestic rise of 
land upon his large estate at Shadwell, 
called Monticello, whereon he erected a 
mansion of modest yet elegant architecture. 
Here he lived in luxury, indulging his taste 
in magnificent, high-blooded horses. 

At this period the British Government 
gradually became more insolent and op- 
pressive toward the American colonies, 
and Mr. Jefferson was ever one of the most 
foremost to resist its encroachments. From 
time to time he drew up resolutions of re- 
monstrance, which were finally adopted, 
thus proving his ability as a statesman and 
as a leader. By the year 1774 he became 
quite busy, both with voice and pen, in de- 
fending the right of the colonies to defend 
themselves. His pamphlet entitled: "A 
Summary View of the Rights of British 
America," attracted much attention in Eng- 
land. The following year he, in company 
with George Washington, served as an ex- 
ecutive committee in measures to defend 
by arms the State of Virginia. As a Mem- 
ber of the Congress, he was not a speech- 
maker, yet in conversation and upon 
committees he was so frank and decisive 
that he always made a favorable impression. 
But as late as the autumn of 1775 he re- 
mained in hopes of reconciliation with the 
parent country. 

At length, however, the hour arrived for 
draughting the " Declaration of Indepen- 
dence," and this responsible task was de- 
volved upon Jefferson. Franklin, and 
Adams suggested a few verbal corrections 
before it was submitted to Congress, which 
was June 28, 1776, only si.x days before it 
was adopted. During the three days of 
the fiery ordeal of criticism tlirough which 
it passed in Congress, Mr. Jefferson opened 
nf)t his lips. John Adams was the main 
champion of the Declaration on the floor 



of Congress. The signing of this document 
was one of the most solemn and momentous 
occasions ever attended to by man. Prayer 
and silence reigned throughout the hall, 
and each signer realized that if American 
independence was not finally sustained by 
arms he was doomed to the scaffold. 

After the colonies became independent 
States, Jefferson resigned for a time his seat 
in Congress in order to aid in organizing 
the government of Virginia, of which State 
he was chosen Governor in 1779, when he 
was thirty-six years of age. At this time 
the British had possession of Georgia and 
were invading South Carolina, and at one 
time a British officer, Farlcton, sent a 
secret expedition to Monticello to capture 
the Governor. Five minutes after Mr. 
Jefferson escaped with his family, his man- 
sion was in possession of the enemy ! The 
British troops also destroyed his valuable 
plantation on the James River. " Had they 
carried off the slaves," said Jefferson, with 
characteristic magnanimity, "to give them 
freedom, they would have done right." 

The year 1781 was a gloomy one for the 
Virginia Governor. While confined to his 
secluded home in the forest by a sick' and 
dying wife, a party arose against him 
throughout the State, severely criticising 
his course as Governor. Being very sensi- 
tive to reproach, this touched him to the 
quick, and the heap of troubles then sur- 
rounding him nearly crushed him. He re- 
solved, in despair, to retire from public life 
for the rest of his days. For weeks Mr. 
Jefferson sat lovingly, but with a crushed 
heart, at the bedside of his sick wife, during 
which time unfeeling letters were sent to 
him, accusing him of weakness and unfaith- 

i fulness to duty. All this, after he had lost 
so much property and at the same time 
done so much for his country! After her 
death he actually fainted away, and re- 
mained so long insensible that it was feared 

1 he never would recover! Several weeks 



24 



PRESrOEVTS OF TH-. UV/TED STATED . 



passed before he could fully recover his 
equilibrium. He was never married a 
second time. 

In the spring of 1782 the people of Eng- 
land compelled their king to make to the 
Americans overtures of peace, and in No- 
vember following, Mr. Jefferson was reap- 
pointed by Congress, unanimously and 
without a single adverse remark, minister 
plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty. 

In March, 1784, Mr. Jefferson was ap- 
pointed on a committee to draught a plan 
for the government of the Northwestern 
Territory. His slavery-prohibition clause 
in that plan was stricken out by the pro- 
slavery majority of the committee; but amid 
all the controversies and wrangles of poli- 
ticians, he made it a rule never to contra- 
dict anybody or engage in any discussion 
as a debater. 

In company with Mr. Adams and Dr. 
Franklin, Mr. Jefferson was appointed in 
May, 1784, to act as minister plenipotentiary 
in the negotiation of treaties of commerce 
with foreign nations. Accordingly, he went 
to Paris and satisfactorily accomplished his 
mission. The suavity and high bearing of 
his manner made all the French his friends; 
and even Mrs. Adams at one time wrote 
to her sister that he was " the chosen 
of the earth." But all the honors that 
he received, both at home and abroad, 
seemed to make no change in the simplicity 
of his republican tastes. On his return to 
America, he found two parties respecting 
the foreign commercial policy, Mr. Adams 
sympathizing with that in favor of England 
and himself favoring France. 

On the inauguration of General Wash- 
ington as President, Mr. Jefferson was 
chosen by him for the office of Secretary of 
State. At this time the rising storm of the 
French Revolution became visible, and 
Washington watched it with great anxiety. 
His cabine; was divided in their views of 
constitutional government as well as re- 



garding the issues in France. General 
Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, was 
the leader of the so-called Federal party, 
while Mr. Jefferson was the leader of the 
Republican party. At the same time there 
was a strong monarchical party in this 
country, with which Mr. Adams sympa- 
thized. Some important financial measures, 
which were prop<ised by Hamilton and 
finally adopted by the cabinet and approved 
bv Washington, were opposed b}' Mr. 
Jefferson ; and his enemies then began to 
reproach him with holding office under an 
administration whose views he opposed. 
The President poured oil on the troubled 
waters. On his re-election to the Presi- 
dency he desired Mr. Jefferson to remain 
in the cabinet, but the latter sent in his 
resignation at two different times, probably 
because he was dissatisfied with some of 
the measures of the Government. His 
final one was not received until January i, 
1794, when General Washington parted 
from him with great regret. 

Jefferson then retired to his quiet home 
at Monticello, to enjoy a good rest, not even 
reading the newspapers lest the political 
gossip should disquiet him. On the Presi- 
dent's again calling him back to the office 
of Secretarj' of State, he replied that no 
circumstances would ever again tempt him 
to engage in anything public! But, while 
all Europe was ablaze with war, and France 
in the throes of a bloody revolution and the 
principal theater of the conflict, a new 
Presidential election in this coiuitry came 
on. John Adams was the Federal candi- 
date and Mr. Jefferson became the Republi- 
can candidate. The result of the election 
was the promotion of the latter to the Vice- 
Presidency, while the former was chosen 
President. In this contest Mr. Jefferson 
really did not desire to hav^ either office, 
he was " so weary " of party strife. He 
loved the retirement of home more than 
any other place on the earth. 



THOhfAS JEFFERSON. 



^5 



But for four long years liis Vice-Presi- 
dency passed joylessly away, while the 
partisan strife between Federalist and Re- 
publican was ever growing hotter. The 
former party split and the result of the 
fourth general election was the elevation of 
Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency ! with 
Aaron Burr as Vice-President. These men 
being at the head of a growing jjarty, their 
election was hailed everywhere with joy. 
On the other hand, many of the Federalists 
turned pale, as they believed what a portion 
of the pulpit and the press had been preach- 
ing — that Jefferson was a " scoffing atheist," 
a "Jacobin," the " incarnation of all evil," 
'• breathing threatening and slaughter! " 

Mr. Jefferson's inaugural address con- 
tained nothing but the noblest sentiments, 
expressed in fme language, and his personal 
behavior afterward exhibited the extreme 
of American, democratic simplicit)'. His 
disgust of European court etiquette grew 
upon him with age. He believed that 
General Washington was somewhat dis- 
trustful of the idtimate success of a po])nlar 
Government, and that, imbued with a little 
admiration of the forms of a monarchical 
Government, he had instituted levees, birth- 
days, pompcjus meetings with Congress, 
etc. Jefferson was always polite, even to 
slaves everywhere he met them, and carried 
in his countenance the indications of an ac- 
commodating disposition. 

The political principles of the Jeffcrsoni- 
an party nf)w swept the countiy, and Mr. 
Jefferson himself swayed an influence which 
was never exceeded even by Washington. 
Under his administration, in 1803, tiie Lou- 
isiana purchase was made, for $1 5,000,000. 
the " Louisiana Territory " purchased com- 
prising all the land west of tiie Mississippi 
to the Pacific Ocean. 

The year 1804 witnessed another severe 
loss in his family. His highlv accom]>lished 
and most beloved daughter Maria sickened 
and died, causing as great grief in the 



stricken parent as it was possible for him to 
survive with any degree of sanity. 

The same year he was re-elected to the 
Presidency, with George Clinton as Vice- 
President. During his second term our 
relations with England became more com- 
plicated, and on June 22, 1807, near Hamp- 
ton Roads, the United -States frigate 
Chesapeake was fired upon by the Brit- 
ish man-of-war f^eopard, and was made 
to surrender. Phree men were killed and 
ten wounded. Jefferson demanded repara- 
tion. England grew insolent. It became 
evident that war was determined upon by 
the latter power. More than 1,200 Ameri- 
cans were forced into the British service 
upon the high seas. Before any satisfactory 
solution was reached, Mr. Jefferson's 
Presidential term closed. Amid all these 
public excitements he thought constantly 
of the welfare of his family, and longed 
for the time when he could return home 
to remain. There, at Monticello, his sub- 
sequent life was very similar to that of 
Washington at Mt. Vernon. His iios|)i- 
talitv toward his numerous friends, indul- 
gence of his slaves, and misfortunes to his 
property, etc., finally involved him in debt. 
For years his home resembleil a fashion- 
able watering-place. During the summer, 
thirty-seven house servants were required! 
It was presided over by his daughter, Mrs. 
Randolph. 

Mr. Jefferson did much for the establish- 
ment of the University at Charlottesville, 
making it unsectarian, in keeping with the 
spirit of American institutions, but poverty 
and the feebleness of old age prevented 
him from doing what he would. He even 
went so far as to petition the Legislature 
for permission to ilispose of some of his 
possessions by lottery, in order to raise the 
necessary funds fcjr home expenses. It was 
granted ; but before the plan was carried 
out, Mr. Jefferson died, July 4, 1826, at 
12:50 P. M. 



26 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 




.|._< 



i l4Mii MiMi®l< 



^^Ov, 






-^-'1^-w^v^m 




AMES MADISON, the 
fourth President of the 
United States, iSog-'ij, 
was born at Port Con- 
wa\-. Prince George 
County, Virginia, March 
i6, 175 1. His father. 
Colonel James Madison, was 
a wealthy planter, residing 
upon a very fine estate 
called •■ Montpelier," only 
twenty-fiye miles from the 
home of Thomas Jefferson 
at Monticello. The closest 
personal and political at- 
tachment existed between 
these illustrious men from their early youth 
until death. 

James was the eldest of a famil}' of seven 
children, four sons and three daughters, all 
of whom attained maturity. His early edu- 
cation was conducted mostly at home, 
under a private tutor. Being naturally in- 
tellectual ill his tastes, he consecrated him- 
self with luuisual vigor to study . At a very 
early age he made considerable i)roficiency 
in the Greek, Latin, French and Spanish 
languages. In 1769 he entered Princeton 
College, New Jersey, of which the illus- 
trious Dr. Weatherspoon was then Presi- 
dent. He graduated in 1771, with a char- 



acter of the utmost purity, and a mind 
highl}- disciplined and stored with all the 
learning which embellished and gave effi- 
ciency to his subsequent career. After 
graduating he pursued a course of reading 
for several months, under the guidance of 
President Weatherspoon, and in 1772 re- 
turned to Virginia, where he continued in 
incessant study for two years, nominally 
directed to the law, but really including 
extended researches in theology, philoso- 
phy and general literature. 

The Church of England was the estab- 
lished church in Virginia, invested with all 
the prerogatives and immunities which it 
enjoyed in the fatherland, and other de- 
nominations labored under serious disabili- 
ties, the enforcement of which was rightly 
or wrongl}' characterized b}' them as per- 
secution. Madison took a prominent stand 
in behalf of the removal of all disabilities, 
repeatedly appeared in the court of his own 
county to defend the Baptist nonconform- 
ists, and was elected from Orange County to 
the Virginia Convention in the spring of 
1766, when he signalized the beginning of 
his public career by procuring the passage 
of an amendment to the Declaration of 
■Rights as prepared by George Mason, sub- 
stituting for "toleration" a more emphatic 
assertion of religious liberty. 




■H:f 



XiH-Ci^'-^ -C^ <ic^<^ 



yAAfES MADISON. 



39 



In 1776 he was elected a member of the 
Virgmia Convention to frame the Constitu- 
tion of the State. Like Jefferson, he took 
but little part in the public debates. His 
main strength la)' in his conversational in- 
fluence and in his pen. In November, 1777, 
he was chosen a member of the Council of 
State, and in March, 1780, took his seat in 
the Continental Congress, where he first 
gained prominence through his energetic 
opposition to the issue of paper money by 
the States. He continued in Congress three 
years, one of its most active and influential 
members. 

In 1784 Mr. Madison was elected a mem- 
ber of the Virginia Legislature. He ren- 
dered important service by promoting and 
participating in that revision of the statutes 
which effectually abolished the remnants of 
the feudal system subsistent up to that 
time in the form of entails, primogeniture, 
and State support given the Anglican 
Church ; and his " Memorial and Remon- 
strance" against a general assessment for 
the support of religion is one of the ablest 
papers which emanated from his pen. It 
settled the question of the entire separation 
of church and State in Virginia. 

Mr. Jefferson says of him, in allusion to 
the study and experience through which he 
had already passed : 

" Trained in these successive schools, he 
acquired a habit of self-possession which 
placed at ready command the rich resources 
of his luminous and discriminating mind and 
of iiis extensive information, and rendered 
him the first of every assembly of which he 
afterward became a member. Never wan- 
dering from his subject into vain declama- 
tion, but pursuing it closely in language 
pure, classical and copious, soothing al- 
ways the feelings of his adversaries by civili- 
ties and softness of expression, he rose to the 
eminent station which he held in the great 
N?n.ional Convention of 1787; and in that of 
Virginia, which followed, he sustained the 



new Constitution in all its parts, bearing oflf 
the palm against the logic of George Mason 
and the fervid declamation of Patrick 
Henr^'. With these consummate powers 
were united a pure and spotless virtue 
which no calumny has ever attempted to 
sully. Of the power and polish of his pen, 
and of the wisdom of his administration in 
the highest office of the nation, I need say 
nothing. They have spoken, and will for- 
ever speak, for themselves." 

In January, 1786, Mr. Madison took the 
initiative in proposing a meeting of State 
Commissioners to devise measures for more 
satisfactory commercial relations between 
the States. A meeting was held at An- 
napolis to discuss this subject, and but five 
States were represented. The convention 
issued another call, drawn up by Mr. Madi- 
son, urging all the States to send their dele- 
gates to Philadelphia, in Ma)', 1787, to 
draught a Constitution for the United 
States. The delegates met at the time ap- 
pointed, every State except Rhode Island 
being represented. George Washington 
was chosen president of the convention, 
an,d the present Constitution of the United 
States was then and tliere formed. There 
was no mind and no pen more active in 
framing this immortal document than the 
mind and pen of James Madison. He was, 
perhaps, its ablest advocate in the pages of 
the Federalist. 

Mr. Madison was a member of the first 
four Congresses, i789-'97, in which lie main- 
tained a moderate opposition to Hamilton's 
financial policy. He declined the mission 
to France and the Secretaryship of State, 
and, gradually identifying himself with the 
Republican party, became from 1792 its 
avowed leader. In 1796 he was its choice 
for the Presidency as successor to Wash- 
ington. Mr. Jefferson wrote: "There is 
not another person in the United States 
with whom, being placed at the helm of our 
affairs, my mind would be so completely at 



30 



PKES/DFiNTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



rest for the fortune of our political bark." 
But Mr. Madison declined to be a candi- 
date. His term in Congress had expired, 
and he returned from New York to his 
beautiful retreat at Montpelier. 

In 1794 Mr. Madison married a young 
widow of remarkable powers of fascination 
— Mrs. Todd. Her maiden name was Doro- 
thy Paine. She was born in 1767, in Vir- 
ginia, of Quaker parents, and had been 
educated in the strictest rules of that sect. 
When but eighteen years of age she married 
a young lawyer and moved to Philadelphia, 
where she was introduced to brilliant scenes 
of fashionable life. She speedily laid aside 
the dress and address of the Quakeress, and 
became one of the most fascinating ladies 
of the republican court. In New York, 
after the death of her husband, she was the 
belle of the season and was surrounded with 
admirers. Mr. Madison won the prize. 
She proved an invaluable helpmate. In 
Washington she was the lite of society. 
If there was any diffident, timid young 
girl just making her appearance, she 
found in Mrs. Madison an encouraa-ine 
friend. 

During the stormy administration of John 
Adams Madison remained in private life, 
but was the author of the celebrated " Reso- 
lutions of 1798," adopted by the Virginia 
Legislature, in condemnation of the Alien 
and Sedition laws, as well as of the " report" 
in which he defended those resolutions, 
which is, by many, considered his ablest 
State paper. 

The storm passed away ; the Alien and 
Sedition laws were repealed, John Adams 
lost his re-election, and in 1801 Thomas Jef- 
ferson was chosen President. The great re- 
action in public sentiment which seated 
Jefferson in the presidential chair was large- 
ly owing to the writings of Madison, who 
was consequentl}' well entitled to the post 
of Secretary of State. With great ability 
he discharged the duties of this responsible 



office during the eight years of Mr. Jeffer 
son's administration. 

As Mr. Jefferson was a widower, and 
neither of his daughters could be often with 
him, Mrs. Madison usually presided over 
the festivities of the White House; and as 
her husband succeeded Mr. Jetferson, hold- 
ing his office for two terms, this remarkable 
woman was the mistress of the presidential 
mansion for sixteen years. 

Mr. Madison being entirely engrossed by 
the cares of his office, all the duties of so- 
cial life devolved upon his accomplished 
wife. Never were such responsibilities 
more ably discharged. The most bitter 
foes of her husband and of the administra- 
tion were received with the frankly prof- 
fered hand and the cordial smile of wel- 
come; and the influence of this gentle 
woman in alla3'ing the bitterness of party 
rancor became a great and salutary power 
in the nation. 

As the term of Mr. Jefferson's Presidency 
drew near its close, party strife was roused 
to the utmost to elect his successor. It was 
a death-grapple between the two great 
parties, the Federal and Republican. Mr. 
Madison was chosen President by an elec 
toral vote of 122 to 53, and was inaugurated 
March 4, 1809, at a critical period, when 
the relations of the United States with Great 
Britain were becoming embittered, and his 
first term was passed in diplomatic quarrels, 
aggravated by the act of non-intercourse of 
May, 1 8 10, and finally resulting in a decla- 
ration of war. 

On the i8th of June, 181 2, President 
Madison gave his approval to an act of 
Congress declaring war against Great Brit- 
ain. Notwithstanding the bitter hostility 
of the Federal party to the war, the country 
in general approved ; and in the autumn 
Madison was re-elected to the Presidency 
by 128 electoral votes to 89 in favor of 
George Clinton. 

March 4, 18 17, Madison yielded the Presi- 



JAAfES Af AD/SON. 



3» 



deiicy to liis Secretary of State and inti- 
mate friend, James Monroe, and retired to 
his ancestral estate at Montpelier, where he 
passed the evening of his davs surrounded 
by attached friends and enjoying the 
merited respect of the whole nation. He 
took pleasure in promoting agriculture, as 
president of the county society, and in 
watchingthedevelopment of the University 
of Virginia, of which lie was long rector and 
visitor. In extreme old age he sat in 1829 
as a member of the convention called to re- 
form the Virginia Constitution, where his 
appearance was hailed with the most gen- 
uine interest and satisfaction, though he 
was too intirm io participate in the active 
work of revision. Small in stature, slender 
and delicate in form, with a countenance 
full of intelligence, and expressive alike of 
mildness and dignity, he attracted the atten- 
tion of all who attended the convention, 
and was treated with the utmost deference. 
He seldom addressed the assembly, though 
he always appeared self-possessed, and 
watched with unflagging interest the prog- 
ress of every measure. Though the con- 
vention sat sixteen weeks, he spoke only 
twice; but when he did speak, the whole 
house paused to listen. His voice was 
feeble though his enunciation was very dis- 
tinct. One of the reporters, Mr. Stansburv, 
relates the following anecdote of Mr. Madi- 
son's last speech: 

" The next day, as there was a great call 
for it, and the report had not been returned 
for publication, I sent my son with a re- 
spectful note, requesting the manuscript. 
My son was a lad of sixteen, whom I had 
taken with me to act as amanuensis. On 
delivering my note, he was received with 
the utmost politeness, and requested to 
come up into Mr. Madison's room and wait 
while his e)'e ran over the paper, as com- 
pany had prevented his attending to it. He 
did so, and Mr. Madison sat down to correct 
the report. The lad stood near him so that 



his eye fell on the paper. Coming to a 
certain sentence in the speech, Mr. Madison 
erased a word and substituted another ; but 
hesitated, and not feeling satisfied with the 
second word, drew his pen through it also. 
My son w.as young, ignorant of the world, 
and unconscious of the solecism of which he 
was about to be guilty, when, in all simplic- 
ity, he suggested a word. Probably no 
other pcrstju then living would have taken 
such a liberty. But the sage, instead ol 
regarding such an intrusion with a frown, 
raised his eyes to the boy"s face with a 
pleased surprise, and said, ' Thank you, sir ; 
it is the very word,' and immediately in- 
serted it. I saw him the next day, and he 
mentioned the circumstance, with a compli- 
ment on the young critic." 

Mr. Madison died at Montpelier, June 28, 
1836, at the advanced age of eighty-five. 
While not possessing the highest order of 
talent, and deficient in oratorical powers, 
he was pre-eminently a statesman, ol a well, 
balanced mind. His attainments were solid, 
his knowledge copious, his judgment gener- 
ally sound, his powers of anal3sis and logi- 
cal statement rarely surpassed, his language 
and literary style correct and polished, his 
conversation witty, his temperament san- 
guine and trustful, his integrity unques- 
tioned, his manners siinple, courteous and 
winning. By these rare qualities he con- 
ciliated the esteem not only of friends, but 
of political opponents, in a greater degree 
than any American statesman in the present 
century. 

Mrs. Madison survived her husband thir- 
teen years, and died July 12, 1849, '" ^^^ 
eighty-second year of her age. She was one 
of the most remarkable women our coun- 
try has i)r<xluced. Even now she is ad- 
miringly remembered in Washington as 
" Dolly Madison," and it is fitting that her 
memory should descend to posterity in 
company with thatof the companion of 
her life. 



PRES/DEA'TS OF THE UNITED STATES. 







C:V3 .\.«^J Ei 



ji«iias»v,^ci- v^\rv.-x7^,T?^.-Trt.^.^.'Xi^s3;raC::E3vi?ta«; 



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IM rium;, 



lasas^a g^ 









:g*>- 




AMES MONROE, the fifth 
President of the United 
States, 1817-25, was born 
in Westmoreland County 
Virginia, April 28, 1758. 
He was a son of Spence 
Monroe, and a descendant 
of a Scottish cavalier fam- 
ily. Like all his predeces- 
sors thus far in the Presi- 
dential chair, he enjoyed all 
the advantages of educa- 
tion which the country 
could then afford. He was 
early sent to a fine classical 
school, and at the age of six- 
teen entered William and Mary College.. 
In 1776, when he had been in college but 
two years, the Declaration of Independence 
was adopted, and our feeble militia, with- 
out arms, amunition or clothing, were strug- 
gling against the trained armies of England. 
James Monroe left college, hastened to 
General Washington's headquarters at New 
York and enrolled himself as a cadet in the 
army. 

At Trenton Lieutenant Monroe so dis- 
tinguished himself, receiving a wound in his 
shoulder, that he was promoted to a Cap- 
taincy. Upon recovering from his wound, 
he was invited to act as aide to Lord Ster- 
ling, and in that capacity he took an active 
part in the battles of Brandywine, Ger- 
mantown and Monmouth. At Germantown 



he stood by the side of Lafayette when the 
French Marquis received his wound. Gen- 
eral Washington, who had formed a high 
idea of young Monroe's abilitv, sent him to 
Virginia to raise a new regiment, of which 
he was to be Colonel; but so exhausted was 
Virginia at that time that the effort proved 
unsuccessful. He, however, received his 
commission. 

Finding no opportunity' to enter the army 
as a commissioned officer, he returned to his 
original plan of studying law, and entered 
the office of Thomas Jefferson, who was 
then Governor of Virginia. He developed 
a very noble character, frank, manly and 
sincere. Mr. Jefferson said of him: 

"James Monroe is so perfectly honest 
that if his soul were turned inside out there 
would not be found a spot on it." 

In 1782 he was elected to the Assembly 
of Virginia, and was also appointed a mem- 
ber of the Executive Council. The next 
year he was chosen delegate to the Conti- 
nental Congress for a term of three years. 
He was present at Annapolis when Wash- 
ington surrendered his commission of Com- 
mander-in-chief. 

With Washington, Jefferson and Madison 
he felt deeply the inefficiency of the old 
Articles of Confederation, and urged the 
formation of a new Constitution, which 
should invest the Central Government with 
something like national power. Influenced 
by these views, he introduced a resolution 





-/ / A^-^^r^ r ^ 



^ 



JAMES MONROE. 



3S 



lliat Congress sliuuld be empowered to 
regulate trade, and to lay an impost duty 
of five per cent. The resolution was refer- 
red to a committee of which he was chair- 
man. The report and the discussion which 
rose upon it led to the convention of five 
States at Annapolis, and the consequent 
general convention at Philadelphia, which, 
in 1787, drafted the Constitution of the 
United States. 

At this time there was a controversy be- 
tween New York and Massachusetts in 
reference t<j their boundaries. The high 
esteem in which C(jlonel Monroe was held 
is indicated bv the fact that he was ap- 
pointed one of the judges to decide the 
controvers}-. While in New York attend- 
ing Congress, he married Miss Kortright, 
a young lady distinguished alike for her 
beauty and accomplishments. For nearly 
fifty years this happy union remained un- 
broken. In London and in Paris, as in her 
own country, Mrs. Monroe won admiration 
and affection by the loveliness of her per- 
son, the brilliancv of her intellect, and the 
amiability of her character. 

Returning to Virginia, Colonel Monroe 
commenced the practice of law at Freder- 
icksburg. He was ver}- soon elected to a 
seat in the State Legislature, and the next 
)'ear he was chosen a member oi the Vir- 
ginia convention which was assembled to 
decide upon the acceptance or rejection of 
the Constitution which had been drawn up 
at Philadelphia, and was now submitted 
to the several States. Deeply as he felt 
the imperfections of the old Confederacy, 
he was opposed to the new Constitution, 
thinking, with many others of the Republi- 
can party, that it gave too much power to 
the Central Government, and not enough 
to the individual States. 

In 1789 he became a member of the 
United States Senate, which office he held 
acceptably to his constituents, and with 
honor to himself for four years. 



Having opposed the Constituticjii as not 
leaving enough power with the States, he, 
of course, became more and more identi- 
fied with the Re[)ublican party. Thus he 
found himself in cordial co-operati(jn with 
Jefferson and Madison. The great Repub- 
lican party became the dominant power 
which ruled the land. 

George Washington was then President. 
England had espoused the cause of the 
Bourbons against the principles of the 
French Revolution. President Washing 
ton issued a proclamation of neutralit)' be- 
tween these contending powers. France 
had helped us in the struggle for our lib- 
erties. All the despotisms of Europe were 
now combined t<J prevent the French 
from escaping from tyrannv a thousandfold 
worse than that which we had endured. 
Colonel Monroe, more magnanimous than 
prudent, was anxious that we should help 
our old allies in their extremitv. He vio- 
lently opposed the President's procla- 
mation as ungrateful and wanting in 
magnanimity. 

Washington, who could appreciate such 
a character, developed his calm, serene, 
almost divine greatness bv ap|)ointing that 
very James Monroe, who was denouncing 
the policy of the Government, as the Minis- 
ter of that Government to the republic of 
France. He was directed b^' Washington 
to express to the French people our warm- 
est sympathy, communicating to them cor- 
responding resolves approved by the Pres- 
ident, and adopted by both houses of 
Congress. 

Mr. Monroe was welcomed by the Na- 
tional Convention in France with the most 
enthusiastic demonstrations of respect and 
affection. He was publicly introduced to 
that body, and received the embrace of the 
President, Merlin de Douay, after having 
been addressed in a speech ghjwing with 
congratulations, and with expressions of 
desire that harmony might ever exist be 



36 



PUBS/DENTS OF THE UN/TED STATES. 



tu'ttn the I wo nations. Tlie flags of the 
two repubUcs were intertwined in the hall 
of the convention. Mr. ^^onroe presented 
the American colors, and received those of 
France in retnrn. The course which he 
pursued in Paris was so annoying to Eng- 
land and to the friends of England in 
this country that, near the close of Wash- 
ington's administration, iVIr. Monroe, was 
recalled. 

After his retnrn Colonel Monroe wrote a 
book of 400 pages, entitled " A View of the 
Conduct of the Executive in Foreign Af- 
fairs." In this work he very ably advo- 
cated his side of the question; but, with 
the magnanimitv of the man, he recorded a 
warm tribute to the patriotism, ability and 
spotless integrity of John Jay, between 
wiiom and himself there was intense antag 
onism ; and in subsequent years he ex- 
pressed in warmest terms his perfect 
veneration for the character of Georg-e 
Washington. 

Shortlv alter his return to this country 
Colonel Monroe was elected Governor of 
Virginia, and held that office for three 
years, the period limited by the Constitu- 
tion. In 1802 he was an Envoy to France, 
and to Spain in 1805, and was Minister to 
England in 1803. In 1806 he returned to 
his quiet home in Virginia, and witii his 
wife and children and an ample ci:)mpetence 
from his paternal estate, enjoyed a few years 
of domestic repose. 

In 1809 Mr. Jefferson's second term of 
office expired, and many of the Republican 
party were anxious to nominate James 
Monroe as his successor. The majoritv 
were in favor of Mr. Madison. Mr. Mon- 
roe withdrew his name and was soon after 
chosen a second time Governor of Virginia. 
He soon resigned that office to accept the 
position of Secretary of State, offered him 
by President Madison. The correspond- 
ence which he then carried on with the 
British Government demonstrated that 



there was no hope of any peaceful adjust- 
ment of our difficidties with the cabinet of 
St. James. War was consequently declared 
in June, 1812. Immediately after the sack 
of Washington the Secretary of War re- 
signed, and Mr. Monroe, at tiie earnest 
request of Mr. Madison, assumed the ad- 
ditional duties of the War Department, 
without resigning his position as Secretary 
of State. It has been confidently stated, 
that, iiad Mr. Monroe's energies been in the 
War Department a few months earlier, the 
disaster at Washington would not have 
occurred. 

Theduties now devolvingupon Mr. Mon- 
roe were extremely arduous. Ten thou- 
sand men, picked from the veteran armies 
of England, were sent with a powerful fleet 
to New Orleans to acquire possession of 
the mouths of the Mississippi. Our finan- 
ces were in the most deplorable condition. 
The treasury was exhausted and our credit 
gone. And yet it was necessary to make 
the most rigorous preparations to meet the 
foe. In this crisis James Monroe, the Sec- 
retary of W^ar, witii virtue unsurpassed in 
Greek or Roman story, stepped forward 
and pledged his own individual credit as 
subsidiarv to tiiat of the nation, and thus 
succeeded in placing the city of New Or- 
leans in such a posture of defense, that it 
was enabled successful!)- to repel the in- 
voider. 

Mr. Monroe was trulv the armor-bearer 
of President Madison, and the most efficient 
business man in his cabinet. His energy 
in the double capacity of Secretary, both 
of State and War, pervaded all the depart- 
ments of the country. He proposed to 
increase the army to 100,000 men, a meas- 
ure which he deemed absolutely necessary 
to save us from ignominious defeat, but 
which, at the same time, he knew would 
render his name so unpopular as to preclude 
the possibilitv of his being a successful can- 
didate for the Presidency. 



JAAfES MONROE. 



M 



The happy result of the conference at 
Ghent in securing peace rendered tlie in- 
crease of the army uiuiecessary; but it is not 
too much to say that James Monroe placed 
in the hands of Andrew Jackscjn the 
weapon with which to beat off the foe at 
New Orleans. Upon the return of peace 
Mr. Monroe resigned the department of 
war, devoting himself entirely to the duties 
of Secretary of State. These he continued 
to discharge until the close of President 
Madison's administration, with zeal which 
was never abated, and with an ardor of 



October 24, Mr. Jefferson writes upon the 
supposition that our attem[)t to resist this 
European movement might lead to war: 

" Its object is to introduce and establish 
the American system of keeping out of our 
land all foreign powers; of never permitting 
those of Europe to intermeddle with the 
affairs of our nation. It is to maintain our 
own principle, not to depart from it." 

December 2, 1823, President Monroe 
sent a message to Congress, declaring it to 
be the policy of this Government not to 
entangle ourselves with the broils of Eu- 



self-devotion which made him almost for- j rope, and not to allow Europe to interfere 



getful of the claims of fortune, health or 
life. 

Mr. Madison's second term expired in 
March, 1817, and Mr. Monroe succeeded 
to the Presitlency. He was a candidate of 
the Republican party, now taking the name 
of the Democratic Rciniblican. In 1S21 he 
was re-elected, with scarcely any ()i)position. 
Out cf 232 electoral votes, he received 231. 
The slavery question, which subsequently 
assumed such formidable dimensions, now 
began to make its appearance. The State 
of Missouri, which had been carved out of 
that immense territorv which we had pur- 
chased of France, applied lor admission to 
the Union, with a slavery Constitution. 
There were not a few who foresaw the 
evils impending. After the debate of a 
week it was decided that Missouri could 
not be admitted into the Union with slav- 
ery. This im|)ortant question was at length 
settled by a compromise pioposed by 
Henry Clay. 

The famous "Monroe Doctrine," of which 
so much has been said, originated in this 
way: In 1823 it was rumored that the 
Holy Alliance was about to interfere to 
prevent the establisliment of Rei)ublican 
liberty in the European colonies of South 
America. President Monroe wrote to his 
old friend Thomas Jeflerson for advice in 
the emergency. In his reply under date of 



with tlie affairs of nations on the American 
continent; and the doctrine was announced, 
that any attempt on the part of the Euro- 
pean powers " to extend their system to 
any portion of this hemisphere would be 
regarded by the United States as danger- 
ous to our peace and safety." 

March 4, 1S25, Mr. Monroe surrendered 
the presidential chair to his Secretary of 
State, John Quincy Adams, and retired, 
with the universal respect of the nation, 
to his private residence at Oak Hill, Lou- 
doun County, Virginia. His time had been 
so entirely consecrated to his countrv, that 
he had neglected his |)ecuniary interests, 
and was deeply involved in debt. The 
welfare of his country had ever been up- 
permost in his mind. 

For many years Mrs. Monroe was in such 
feeble health that she rarely appeared in 
public. In 1830 Mr. Monroe took up his 
residence with his son-in-law in New York, 
where he died on the 4th of July, 1831. 
The citizens of New York conducted his 
obsequies with pageants more imposing 
than had ever been witnessed there before. 
Our country will ever cherish his mem- 
ory with pride, gratefully enrolling his 
name in the list of its bcnefact(;rs, pronounc- 
ing him the worthy successor of the illus- 
trious men who had preceded him in the. 
presidential chair. 



38 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 






.^,^,.-jk1'j 



J.*^.-,^;^. _?><J>»4><J>-^ C»»^—,>tJ 



-mm"' 





OHN QUINCY ADAMS, 

the sixth President of the 
United States, 1825-9, 
was born in the rural 
home of his honored 
father, John Adams, in 
Q u i n c y , Massachusetts, 
July II, 1767. His mother, 
a woman of exalted worth, 
watched over his childhood 
diirins:;^ the almost constant 
absence of his father. He 
commenced his education 
at the village school, skiving 
at an early period indica- 
tions of superior mental en- 
dowments. 

When eleven years of age he sailed with 
his father for Europe, where tiie latter was 
associated with Franklin and Lee as Minister 
Plenipotentiary. The intelligence of John 
Quincy attracted the attention of these men 
and received from them flattering marks of 
attention. Mr. Adams had scarcely returned 
to this country in 1779 ere he was again 
sent abroad, and John Quincy again accom- 
panied him. On this voyage he commenced 
a diary, which practice he continued, with 
but few interruptions, until his death- He 
journeyed with his father from Fcrrol, in 
Spaiu, to Paris. Here he applied himself 
for r-ix months to study; then accompanied 



his father to Holland, where he entered, 
first a school in Amsterdam, and then the 
University of Lcyden. In 1781, when only 
fourteen years of age, he was selected by 
Mr. Dana, our Minister to the Russian 
court, as his private secretary. In this 
school of incessant labor he spent fourteen 
months, and then returned alone to Holland 
through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and 
Bremen. Again he resumed his studies 
under a private tutor, at The Hague. 

lu the spring of 1782 he accompanied his 
father to Paris, forming acquaintance with 
the most distinguished men on the Conti- 
nent. After a short visit to England, he re- 
turned to Paris and studied until May, 
17S5, when he returned to America, leav- 
ing his father an embassador at the court 
of St. James. In 1786 he entered the jun- 
ior class in Harvard University, and grad- 
uated with the second honor of his class. 
The oration he delivered on this occasion, 
the " Importance of Public Faith to the 
Well-being of a Community," was pub- 
lished — an event very rare in this or any 
other land. 

Upon leaving college at the age of twenty 
he studied law three years with the Hon. 
Theophilus Parsons in Newburyport. In 
1790 he opened a law office in Boston. The 
profession was crowded with able men, and 
the fees were small. The first vcar he had 




J, ^ . J^loAy^ 



JOHN SiUISCr ADAMS. 



no clients, but not a moment was lost. The 
second year passed away, still no clients, 
and still he was dependent upon his parents 
for support. Anxiously he awaited the 
third year. The reward now came. Cli- 
ents began to enter his office, and before 
the end of the year he was so crowded 
with business that all solicitude respecting 
a suppoit was at an end. 

When Great Britain commenced war 
against France, in 1793, Mr. Adams wrote 
some articles, urging entire neutrality on 
the part of the United States. The view 
was not a popular one. Many felt that as 
France had helped us, we were bound to 
hc'p France. But President Washington 
coincided with Mr. Adams, and issued his 
proclamation of neutrality. His writings 
at this time in the Boston journals gave 
him so high a reputation, that in June, 
1794, he was appointed bv Washington 
resident Minister at tiic Netherlands. In 
July, 1797, hcleft The Hague to go to Port- 
ugal as Minister Plenipotentiary. Wash- 
ington at this time wrote to his father, John 
Adams: 

" Without intending to compliment the 
father or the mother, or to censure an}' 
others, I give it as my decided opinion, 
that Mr. Adams is the most valuable char- 
acter we have abroad; and there remains 
no doubt in my mind that he will prove the 
ablest of our diplomatic corps." 

On his way to Portugal, upon his arrival 
in London, he met with dispatches direct- 
ing him to the court of Berlin, but request- 
ing him to remain in London until he should 
receive instructi(jns. Wiiile waiting he 
was married to Miss Louisa Catherine John- 
son, to whom he had been previously en- 
gaged. Miss Johnson was a daughter of 
Mr. Joshua Johnson, American Consul 
in London, and was a lady endowed with 
that beauty and those accomplishments 
which fitted her to move in the elevated 
sphere for which she was destined. 



In July, 1799, having fulfilled all the pur- 
poses of his mission, .Mr. .\dams returned. 
In 1802 he was chosen to the Senate of 
Massachusetts from Boston, and then was 
elected Senator of the United States for six 
years from March 4, 1804. His reputation, 
his ability and his experience, placed him 
immediately among the most prominent 
and influential members of that body. He 
sustained the Government in its measures 
of resistance to the encroachments of Eng- 
land, destroying our commerce and insult- 
ing our flag. There was no man in America 
more familiar with the arrogance of the 
British court upon these points, and no 
one mf)re resolved to present a firm resist- 
ance. This course, so truly patriotic, and 
which scarcely a voice will now be found 
to condemn, alienated him from the Fed- 
eral party dominant in Boston, and sub- 
jected him to censure. 

In 1805 Mr. Adams was chosen jirolcssor 
of rhetoric in Harvard College. His lect- 
ures at this place were subsequently pub- 
lished. In 1809 '1^ ^vas sent as Minister to 
Russia. He was one of the commissioners 
that negotiated the treaty of peace with 
Great Britain, signed December 24, 18 14, 
and he was appointed Minister to the court 
of St. James in 1815. In 1817 he became 
Secretary of State in Mr. Monroe's cabinet 
in which position he remained eight years. 
Few will now contradict the assertion that 
the duties of that office were never more 
ably discharged. Probably the most im- 
portant measure which Mr. Adams con- 
ducted was the purchase of Florida from 
Spain for $5,000,000. 

The campaign of 1S24 was an exciting 
one. Four candidates were in the field. 
Of the 260 electoral votes that were cast, 
Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine; John 
Quincy Adams, eighty-four; William H. 
Crawford, forty-one, and Henry Clay, 
thirty-seven. As there was no choice by 
the people, the question went to the House 



4' 



PliES/DEiWTS OF THE U.V/TED STATES. 



of Representatives. Mr. Clay gave the 
vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and he 
was elected. 

The friends of all disappointed candidates 
now combined in a venomous assault upon 
Mr. Adams. There is nothing more dis- 
graceful in the past history of our country 
than the abuse which was poured in one 
uninterrupted stream ui)on this high- 
minded, upright, patriotic man. There was 
never an administration more pure in prin- 
ciples, more conscientiously devoted to the 
best interests of the country, than that of 
John Ouincy Adams; and never, perhaps, 
was there an administration more unscru- 
pulously assailed. Mr. Adams took his seat 
in the presidential chair resolved not to 
know an)' partisanship, but only to con- 
sult for the interests of the whole Republic, 

He refused to dismiss any man from of- 
fice for his political views. If he was a faith- 
ful ofificer that was enough. Bitter must 
have been his disappointment to find that the 
Nation could not appreciate such conduct. 

Mr. Adams, in his public manners, was 
cold and repulsive; though with his per- 
sonal friends he was at times very genial. 
This chilling address very seriously de- 
tracted from his popularity. No one can 
read an impartial record of his administra- 
tion without admitting that a UKjre noble 
example of uncompromising dignity can 
scarcely be found. It was stated publicly 
that Mr. Adams' administration was to be 
put down, " though it be as pure as the an- 
gels which stand at the right hand of the 
throne of God." Many of the active par- 
ticipants in these scenes lived to regret the 
course they pursued. Some years after, 
Warren R. Davis, of South Carolina, turn- 
ing to Mr. Adams, then a member of the 
House of Representatives, said: 

" Well do I remember the enthusiastic 
zeal with which we reproached the admin- 
istration of that gentleman, and the ardor 
and vehemence with which wc labored to 



bring in another. For the share 1 had in 
these transactions, and it was not a small 
one, I hope God will forgive me, for I shall 
never forgive myself. 

March 4, 1829, Mr. Adams retired from 
the Presidency and was succeeded by An- 
drew Jackson, the latter receiving 168 out 
of 261 electoral votes. John C. Calhoun 
was elected Vice-President. The slavery 
question now began to assume pretentious 
magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to 
Quincy, and pursued his studies with una- 
bated zeal. But he was not long permittc.'d 
to remain in retirement. In November, 
1830, he was elected to Congress. In this 
he recognized the principle that it is honor- 
able for the General ol yesterday to act as 
Corporal to-day, if by so doing he can ren- 
der service to his country. Deep as are 
our obligations to John Quincy Adams for 
his services as embassador, as Secretary of 
State and as President; in his capacity as 
legislator in the House of Representa- 
tives, he conferred benefits upon our land 
which eclipsed all the rest, and which can 
never be over-estimated. 

For seventeen years, until his death, he 
occupied the post of Representative, tow- 
ering above all his peers, ever ready to do 
brave battle for freedom, and winning the 
title of " the old man eloquent." Upon 
taking his seat in the House he announced 
that he should hold himself bound to no 
party. He was usually the first in his 
place in the morning, and the last to leave 
his seat in the evening. Not a measure 
could escape his scrutin}-. The battle 
which he fought, almost singly, against the 
pro-slavery party in the Government, was 
sublime in its moral daiiiig and heroism. 
For persisting in presenting petitions for 
the abolition of slavery, he was threatened 
with indictment b)' the Grand Jury, with 
expulsion from the House, with assassina- 
tion; but no threats could intimidate him, 
and his final triumph was complete. 



JOHN ^UINCr ADAMS. 



43 



On one occasion Mr. Adams presented a 
petition, signed by several women, against 
the annexation of Texas for the purpose of 
cutting it up into slave States. Mr. How- 
ard, of Maryland, said that these women 
discredited not only themselves, but their 
section of the country, by turning from 
their domestic duties to the conflicts of po- 
litical life. 

"Are women," exclaimed Mr. Adams, 
" to have no opinions or actions on subjects 
relating to the general welfare ? Where 
did the gentleman get his principle? Did 
he find it in sacred history, — in the language 
of Miriam, the prophetess, in one of the 
noblest and sublime songs of triumph that 
ever met the human eye or ear? Did the 
gentleman never hear of Deborah, to whom 
the children of Israel came up for judg- 
ment ? Has he forgotten the deed of Jael, 
who slew the dreaded enemy of her coun- 
try ? Has he forgotten Esther, who, by her 
petition saved her people and her coun- 
try? 

" To go from sacred history to profane, 
does the gentleman there find it ' discredita- 
ble ' for women to take an interest in politi- 
cal affairs? Has he forgotten the Spartan 
mother, who said to her son when going 
out to battle, ' My son, come back to me 
with thy shield, or upon thy shield ? ' Does 
he remember Cloelia and her hundred com- 
panions, who swam across the river uni''er 
a shower of darts, escaping from Porsena ? 
Has he forgotten Cornelia, the mother of 
the Gracchi ? Does he not remember Por- 
tia, the wife of Brutus and the daughter of 
Cato? 

" To come to later periods, what says the 
history of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors ? 
To say noth'ng of Boadicea, the British 
heroine in the time of the Cassars, what 
name is more illustrious than that of Eliza- 
beth ? Or, if he will go to the continent, 
will he not find the names of Maria Theresa 
of Hungary, of the two Catherines of 



Prussia, and of Isabella of Castile, the pa- 
troness of Columbus ? Did she bring ' dis- 
credit ' on her sex by mingling in politics ? " 

In this glowing strain Mr. Adams si- 
lenced and overwhelmed his antagonists. 

In January, 1842, Mr. Adams presented 
a petition from forty-five citizens of Haver- 
hill, Massachusetts, praying for a peaceable 
dissolution of the Union. The pro-slavery 
party in Congress, who were then plotting 
the destruction of the Government, were 
aroused to a pretense of commotion such as 
even our stormy hall of legislation has 
rarely witnessed. They met in caucus, and, 
finding that they probably would not be 
able to expel Mr. Adams from the House 
drew up a series of resolutions, which, if 
adopted, would inflict upon him disgrace, 
equivalent to expulsion. Mr. Adams had 
presented the petition, which was most re- 
spectfully worded, and had moved that it be 
referred to a committee instructed to re- 
port an answer, showing the reason whj 
the prayer ought not to be granted. 

It was the 25th of January-. The whole 
body of the pro-slavery party came crowd- 
ing together in the House, prepared to 
crush Mr. Adams forever. One of the num- 
ber, Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, was 
appointed to read the resolutions, which 
accused Mr. Adams of high treason, of 
having insulted the Government, and 01 
meriting expulsion; but for which deserved 
punishment, the House, in its great mercy, 
would substitute its severest censure. With 
the assumption of a very solemn and mag- 
isterial air, there being breathless silence in 
the audience, Mr. Marshall hurled the care- 
fully prepared anathemas at his victim. 
Mr. Adams stood alone, the whole pro-slav- 
ery party against him. 

As soon as the resolutions were read, 
every eye being fixed upon him, that bold 
old man, whose scattered locks were whit- 
ened by seventy-five years, casting a wither- 
ing glance in the direction of his assailants> 



44 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



in a clear, shrill tone, tremulous with sup- 
pressed emotion, said: 

" In reply to this audacious, atrocious 
charge of high treason, I call for the read- 
ing of the first paragraph of the Declaration 
of Independence. Read it ! Read it! and 
see what that sa3's of the rights of a people 
to reform, to change, and to dissolve their 
Government.' 

The attitude, the manner, the tone, the 
words; the venerable old man, with flash- 
ing eye and flushed cheek, and whose very 
form seemed to expand under the inspiration 
of the occasion — all presented a scene over- 
flowing in its sublimity. There was breath- 
less silence as that paragraph was read, in 
defense of whose principles our fathers had 
pledged their lives, their fortunes and their 
sacred honor. It was a proud hour to Mr. 
Adams as they were all compelled to listen 
to the words: 

" That, to secure these rights, govern- 
ments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the 
governed; and that whenever any form of 
government becomes destructive of those 
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or 
abolish it, and to institute new government, 
laying its foundations on such principles 
and organizing its powers in such form 
as shall seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness." 

That one sentence routed and baffled the 



foe. The heroic old man looked around 
upon the audience, and thundered out, 
" Read that again ! " It was again read. 
Then in a few fiery, logical words he stated 
his defense in terms which even prejudiced 
minds could not resist. His discomfited 
assailants made several attempts to rally. 
After a conflict of eleven days they gave 
up vanquished and their resolution was ig- 
nominiously laid upon the table. 

In January, 1846, when seventy-eight 
years of age, he took part in the great de- 
bate on the Oregon question, displaying 
intellectual vigor, and an extent and accu- 
racy of acquaintance with the subject that 
excited great admiration. 

On the 2 1 St of February, 1848, he rose on 
the floor of Congress with a paper in his 
hand to address the Speaker. Suddenly 
he fell, stricken by paralysis, and was caught 
in the arms of those around him. For a 
time he was senseless and was conveyed 
to a sofa in the rotunda. With reviving 
consciousness he opened his eyes, looked 
calmly around and said, " Tkis is the end of 
earth." Then after a moment's pause, he 
added, " / am cojitent." These were his last 
words, and he soon breathed his last, in the 
apartment beneath the dome of the capitol 
— the theater of his labors and his triumphs. 
In the language of hymnology, he " died at 
his post;" he " ceased at once to work and 
live." 




€^-t?^ 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



47 








'^^NDREW JACKSON, 
^ the seventh President 
of the United States, 
i829-'37, was born at 
^_^^^ the Waxhaw Settle, 

j^oj^ywr^v^^ ment, Union Coun- 
Vi^ ty, North Carolina, 
March i6, 1767. His parents 
were Scotch-Irish, natives of 
Carrickfergiis, who came to 
America in 1765, and settled 
on Twelve-Mile Creek, a trib- 
utar)^ of the Catawba. His 
father, who was a poor farm 
laborer, died shortly before An- 
drew's birth, when his mother removed to 
Waxhaw, where some relatives resided. 

Few particulars of the childhood of Jack- 
son have been preserved. His education 
was of the most limited kind, and he showed 
no fondness for books. He grew up to be a 
tall, lank boy, with coarse hair and freck- 
led cheeks, with bare feet dangling from 
trousers too short for him, ver)' fond of ath- 
letic sports, running, boxing and wrestling. 
He was generous to the younger and 
weaker bo3's, but very irascible and over- 
bearing with his equals and superiors. He 
was profane — a vice in which he surpassed 
all other men. The character of his mother 



he revered; and it was not until after her 
death that his predominant vices gained 
full strength. 

In 1780, at the age of thirteen, Andrew, 
or Andy, as he was called, with his brother 
Robert, volunteered to serve in the Revo- 
lutionary forces under General Sumter, and 
was a witness of the latter's defeat at Hang- 
ing Rock. In the following year the 
brothers were made prisoners, and confined 
in Camden, experiencing brutal treatment 
from their captors, and being spectators of 
General Green's defeat at Hobkirk Hill. 
Through their mother's exertions the boys 
were exchanged while suffering from small- 
pox. In two days Robert was dead, and 
And)' apparently dying. The strength of 
his constitution triumphed, and he regained 
health and vigor. 

As he was getting better, his mother 
heard the cry of anguish from the prison- 
ers whom the British held in Charleston, 
among whom were the sons of her sisters. 
She hastened to their relief, was attacked 
by fever, died and was buried where her 
grave could never be found. Thus Andrew 
Jackson, when fourteen years of age, was 
left alone in the world, without father, 
mother, sister or brother, and without one 
dollar which he could call his own. He 



48 



PRESIDBN'TS Ofr THB UNITED STATES. 



soon entered a saddler's shop, and labored 
diligently for six months. But gradually, 
as health returned, he became more and 
more a wild, reckless, lawless boy. He 
gambled, drank and was regarded as about 
the worst character that could be found. 

He now turned schoolmaster. He could 
teach the alphabet, perhaps the multiplica- 
tion table; and as he was a very bold boy, 
it is possible he might have ventured to 
teach a little writing. But he soon began to 
think of a profession and decided to study 
law. With a very slender purse, and on 
the back of a very fine horse, he set out 
for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he 
entered the law office of Mr. McCay. 
Here he remained two years, professedly 
studying law. He is still remembered in 
traditions of Salisbury, which say: 

" Andrew Jackson was the most roaring, 
rollicking, horse-racing, card-playing, mis- 
chievous fellow that ever lived in Salisbury. 
He did not trouble the law-books much." 

Andrew was now, at the age of twenty, 
a tall young man, being over six feet in 
height. He was slender, remarkably grace- 
ful and dignified in his manners, an exquis- 
ite horseman, and developed, amidst his 
loathesome profanity and multiform vices, a 
vein of rare magnanimity. His temper was 
fiery in the extreme; but it was said of him 
that no man knew better than Andrew 
Jackson when to get angry and when not. 

In 1786 he was admitted to the bar, and 
two years later removed to Nashville, 
in what was then the western district of 
North Carolina, with the appointment of so- 
licitor, or public prosecutor. It was an of- 
fice of little honor, small emolument and 
great peril. Few men could be found to 
accept it. 

And now Andrew Jackson commenced 
vigorously to practice law. It was an im- 
portant part of his business to collect debts. 
It required nerve. During the first seven 
years of his residence in those wilds he 



traversed the almost pathless forest between 
Nashville and Jonesborough, a distance of 
200 miles, twenty-two times. Hostile In- 
dians were constant!}' on the watch, and a 
man was liable at any moment to be shot 
down in his own field. Andrew Jackson 
was just the man for this service — a wild, 
daring, rough backwoodsman. Daily he 
made hair-breadth escapes. He seemed to 
bear a charmed life. Boldly, alone or with 
few companions, he traversed the forests, 
encountering all perils and triumphing 
over all. 

In 1790 Tennessee became a Territory, 
and Jackson was appointed, by President 
Washington, United States Attorney for 
the new district. In 1791 he married Mrs. 
Rachel Robards (daughter of Colonel John 
Donelson), whom he supposed to have been 
divorced in that year by an act of the Leg- 
islature of Virginia. Two years after this 
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson learned, to their 
great surprise, that Mr. Robards had just 
obtained a divorce in one of the courts of 
Kentucky, and that the act of the Virginia 
Legislature was not final, but conditional. 
To remedy the irregularity as much as pos- 
sible, a new license was obtained and the 
marriage ceremony was again performed. 

It proved to be a marriage of rare felic- 
ity. Probably there never was a more 
affectionate union. However rough Mr. 
Jackson might have been abroad, he was 
always gentle and tender at home; and 
through all the vicissitudes of their lives, he 
treated Mrs. Jackson with the most chival- 
ric attention. 

Under the circumstances it was not un- 
natural that the facts in the case of this 
marriage were so misrepresented b}' oppo- 
nents in the political campaigns a quarter 
or a century later as to become the basis 
of serious charges against Jackson's moral- 
ity which, however, have been satisfactorily 
attested by abundant evidence. 

Jackson was untiring in his duties as 



AxDtiEU' ■yACk'SO.^. 



49 



United States Attorney, which demanded 
frequent journeys through the wilderness 
and exposed him to Indian hostilities. He 
acquired considerable propertj- in land, and 
obtained such influence as to be chosen 
a member of the convention which framed 
the Constitution for the new State of Ten- 
nessee, in 1796, and in that year was elected 
its first Representative in Congress. Albert 
Gallatin thus describes the first appearance 
of the Hon. Andrew Jackson in the House: 

" A tall, lank, uncouth-looking personage, 
with locks of hair hanging over his face and 
a cue down his back, tied with an eel skin; 
his dress singular, his manners and deport- 
ment those of a rough backwoodsman." 

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the 
Democratic party. Jefferson was his idol. 
He admired Bonaparte, loved France and 
hated England. As Mr. Jackson took his 
seat, General Washington, whose second 
term of office was just expiring, delivered 
his last speech to Congress. A committee 
drew up a complimentary address in reply. 
Andrew Jackson did not approve the ad- 
dress and was one of twelve who voted 
against it. 

Tennessee had fitted out an expedition 
against the Indians, contrary to the policy 
of the Government. A resolution was intro- 
duced that the National Government 
should pa)- the expenses. Jackson advo- 
cated it and it was carried. This rendered 
him very popular in Tennessee. A va- 
cancy chanced soon after to occur in the 
Senate, and Andrew Jackson was chosen 
United States Senator by the State of Ten- 
nessee. John Adams was then President 
and Thomas Jefferson, Vice-President. 

In 1798 Mr. Jackson returned to Tennes- 
see, and resigned his seat in the Senate. 
Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Su- 
preme Court of that State, with a salary of 
$600. This office he held six years. It is 
said that his decisions, though sometimes 
ungrammatical, were generally right. He 



did not enjoy his seat upon the bench, and 
renounced the dignity in 1804. About 
this time he was chosen Major-General of 
militia, and lost the title of judge in that of 
General. 

When he retired from the Senate Cham- 
ber, he decided to try his fortune through 
trade. He purchased a stock of goods in 
Philadelphia and sent them to Nashville, 
where he opened a store. He lived about 
thirteen miles from Nashville, on a tract of 
land of several thousand acres, mostly un- 
cultivated. He used a small block-house 
for a store, from a narrow window of 
which he sold goods to the Indians. As he 
had an assistant his office as judge did not 
materially interfere with his business. 

As to slavery, born in the midst of it, the 
idea never seemed to enter his mind that it 
could be wrong. He eventually became 
an extensive slave owner, but he was one of 
the most humane and gentle of masters. 

In 1804 Mr. Jackson withdrew from pol- 
itics and settled on a plantation which he 
called the Hermitage, near Nashville. He 
set up a cotton-gin, formed a partnership 
and traded in New Orleans, making the 
voyage on flatboats. Through his hot tem- 
per he became involved in several quarrels 
and " affairs of honor," during this period, 
in one of which he was severely wounded, 
but had the misfortune to kill his opponent, 
Charles Dickinson. For a time this affair 
greatly injured General Jackson's popular- 
ity. The verdict then was, and continues 
to be, that General Jackson was outra- 
geously wrong. If hesubsequently felt any 
remorse he never revealed it to anyone. 

In 1805 Aaron Burr had visited Nash- 
ville and been a guest of Jackson, with 
whom he corresponded on the subject of a 
war with Spain, which was anticipated and 
desired by them, as well as by the people 
of the Southwest generally. 

Burr repeated his visit in September, 
1806, when he engaged in the celeorated 



50 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



combinations which led to his trial for trea- 
son. He was warmly received by Jackson, 
at whose instance a public ball was given 
in his honor at Nashville, and contracted 
with the latter for boats and provisions. 
Early in 1807, when Burr had been pro- 
claimed a traitor by President Jefferson, 
volunteer forces for the Federal service 
were organized at Nashville under Jack- 
son's command; but his energ}- and activ- 
ity did not shield him from suspicions of 
connivance in the supposed treason. He 
was summoned to Richmond as a witness 
in Burr's trial, but was not called to the 
stand, probably because he was out-spoken 
in his partisanship. 

On the outbreak of the war with Great 
Britain in 1812, Jackson tendered his serv- 
ices, and in January, 181 3, embarked for 
New Orleans at the head of the Tennessee 
contingent. In March he received an or- 
der to disband his forces; but in Septem- 
ber he again took the field, in the Creek 
war, and in conjunction with his former 
partner, Colonel Coffee, inflicted upon the 
Indians the memorable defeat at Talladega, 
Emuckfaw and Tallapoosa. 

In May, 1814, Jackson, who had now ac- 
quired a national reputation, was appointed 
a Major-General of the United States army, 
and commenced a campaign against the 
British in Florida. He conducted the de- 
fense at Mobile, September 15, seized upon 
Pensacola, November 6, and immediately 
transported the bulk of his troops to New 
Orleans, then threatened by a powerful 
naval force. Martial law was declared in 
Louisiana, the State militia was called to 
arms, engagements with the British were 
fought December 23 and 28, and after re-en- 
forcements had been received on both sides 
the famous victory of January 8, 181 5, 
rrowned Jackson's fame as a soldier, and 
made him the typical American hero of 
the first half of the nineteenth century. 

In i8i7-'i8 Jackson conducted the war 



against the Seminoles of Florida, during 
which he seized upon Pensacola and exe- 
cuted by courtmartial two British subjects, 

Arbuthnot and Ambrister acts which 

might easily have involved the United 
States in war both with Spain and Great 
Britain. Fortunately the peril was averted 
by the cession of Florida to the United 
States; and Jackson, who had escaped a 
trial for the irregularity of his conduct 
onl}' through a division of opinion in Mon- 
roe's cabinet, was appointed in 1821 Gov- 
ernor of the new Territory. Soon after he 
declined the appointment of minister to 
Mexico. 

In 1823 Jackson was elected to the United 
States Senate, and nominated b)^ the Ten- 
nessee Legislature for the Presidenc3\ This 
candidacy, though a matter of surprise, and 
even merryment, speedily became popular, 
and in 1824, when the stormy electoral can- 
vas resulted in the choice of John Quincy 
Adams by the House of Representatives, 
General Jackson received the largest popu- 
lar vote among the four candidates. 

In 1828 Jackson was triumphantly elected 
President over Adams after a campaign of 
unparalleled bitterness. He was inaugu- 
rated March 4, 1829, and at once removed 
from office all the incumbents belonging to 
the opposite party — a procedure new to 
American politics, but which naturally be- 
came a precedent. 

His first term was characterized by quar- 
rels Taetween the Vice-President, Calhoun, 
and the Secretary of State, Van Buren, at- 
tended by a cabinet crisis originating in 
scandals connected with the name of Mrs. 
General Eaton, wife of the Secretary of 
War; by the beginning of his war upon the 
United States Bank, and by his vigorous 
action against the partisans of Calhoun, 
who, in South Carolina, threatened to 
nullify the acts of Congress, establishing a 
protective tariff. 

In the Presidential campaign of 1832 



ANDREW yACk'SON. 



51 



Jackson received 219 out of 288 electoral 
votes, his competitor being Mr. Clay, while 
Mr. Wirt, on an Anti-AIasonic platform, 
received the vote of Vermont alone. In 
1833 President Jackson jemoved the Gov- 
ernment deposits from the United States 
bank, thereb}- incurring a vote of censure 
from the Senate, which was, however, ex- 
punged four years later. During this second 
term of office the Cherokees, Choctaws and 
Creeks were removed, not without diffi- 
culty, from Georgia, Alabama and Missis- 
sippi, to the Indian Territory; the National 
debt was extinguished; Arkansas and 
Michigan were admitted as States to the 
Union; the Seminole war was renewed; the 
anti-slavery agitation first, acquired impor- 
tance; the Mormon delusion, which had 
organized in 1829, attained considerable 
proportions in Ohio and Missouri, and the 
country experienced its greatest pecuniary 
panic. 

Railroads with locomotive propulsion 
were introduced into America during Jack- 
son's first term, and had become an impor- 
tant element of national life before the 
close of his second term. For many rea- 
sons, therefore, the administration of Presi- 
dent Jackson formed an era in American 
historv, political, social and industrial. 
He succeeded in effecting the election of 



his friend Van Buren as his successor, re- 
tired from the Presidency March 4, 1837; 
and led a tranquil life at the Hermitage 
until his death, which occurred June 8, 

1845. 

During his closing years he was a pro- 
fessed Christian and a member of the Pres- 
byterian church. No American of this 
century has been the subject of such oppo- 
site judgments. He was loved and hated 
with equal vehemence during his life, but 
at the present distance of time from his 
career, while opinions still vary as to the 
merits of his public acts, few of his country- 
men will question that he was a warm- 
hearted, brave, patriotic, honest and sincere 
man. If his distinguishing qualities were 
not such as constitute statesmanship, in the 
highest sense, he at least never pretended 
to other merits than such as were written 
to his credit on the page of American his- 
tory — not attempting to disguise the de- 
merits which were equally legible. The 
majority of his countrymen accepted and 
honored him, in spite of all that calumny 
as well as truth could allege against him. 
His faults may therefore be truly said to 
have been those of his time; his magnifi- 
cent virtues may also, with the same jus- 
tice, be considered as typical of a state of 
society which has nearly passed away. 



52 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 




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ARTIN VAN BU- 
REN, the eighth 
l^v President of the 
United States, 1837- 
'41, was born at Kin- 
derhook, New York, 
December 5, 1782. 
His ancestors were of Dutch 
origin, and were among the 
earliest emigrants from Hol- 
land to the banks of the 
Hudson. His father was a 
tavern-keeper, as well as a 
farmer, and a very decided 
Democrat. 
°* Martin commenced the study 
of law at the age of fourteen, and took an 
active part in politics before he had reached 
the age of twenty. In 1803 he commenced 
the practice of law in his native village. 
In 1809 he removed to Hudson, the shire 
town of his county, where he spent seven 
years, gaining strength by contending in 
the courts with some of' the ablest men 
who have adorned the bar of his State. 
The heroic example of John Ouincy Adams 
in retaining in office every faithful man, 
without regard to his political preferences, 
had been thoroughly repudiated by Gen- 
eral Jackson. The unfortunate principle 
was now fully established, that " to the 
victor belong the spoils." Still, this prin- 
ciple, to which Mr. Van Buren gave his ad- 



herence, was not devoid of inconveniences. 
When, subsequently, he attained power 
which placed vast patronage in his hands, 
he was heard to.say: "I prefer an office 
that has no patronage. When I give a man 
an office I offend his disappointed competi- 
tors and their friends. Nor am I certain of 
gaining a friend in the man I appoint, for, 
in all probability, he expected something 
better." 

In 1812 Mr. Van Buren was elected to 
the State Senate. In 1 8 1 5 he was appointed 
Attorney-General, and in i8i6tothe Senate 
a second time. In 1818 there was a great 
split in the Democratic party in New York, 
and Mr. Van Buren took the lead in or- 
ganizing that portion of the party called 
the Albany Regency, which is said to have 
swayed the destinies of the State for a 
quarter of a centurj-. 

In 1 82 1 he was chosen a member of the 
convention for revising the State Constitu- 
tion, in which he advocated an extension of 
the franchise, but opposed universal suf- 
frage, and also favored the proposal that 
colored persons, in order to vote, should 
have freehold property to the amount of 
$250. In this year he was also elected to 
the United States Senate, and at the con- 
clusion of his term, in 1827, was re-elected, 
but resigned the following year, having 
been chosen Governor of the State. In 
March, 1829, he was appointed Secretary oJ 




O 7 2--^^^ ^^z^J u^c.^.^.,^ 



MARTIN VAN BUR EN. 



SS 



State by President Jackson, but resigned 
in April, 1831, and during the recess of 
Congress was appointed minister to Eng- 
land, whither he proceeded in September, 
but the Senate, when convened in Decem- 
ber, refused to ratify the appointment. 

In May, 1832, Mr. Van Buren was nomi- 
nated as the Democratic candidate for Vice- 
President, and elected in the following 
November. Ma\' 26, 1836, he received the 
nomination to succeed General Jackson as 
President, and received 170 electoral votes, 
out of 283. 

Scarcely had he taken his seat in the 
Presidential chair when a financial panic 
swept over the land. Many attributed 
this to the war which General Jackson had 
waged on the banks, and to his endeavor to 
secure an almost exclusive specie currency. 
Nearly every bank in the country was com- 
pelled to suspend specie payment, and ruin 
pervaded ail our great cities. Not less than 
254 houses failed in New York in one week. 
All public works were brought to a stand, 
and there was a general state of dismay. 
President Van Buren urged the adoption of 
the independent treasury system, which 
was twice passed in the Senate and defeated 
in the House, but finally became a law near 
the close of his administration. 

Another important measure was the pass- 
age of a pre-emption law, giving actual set- 
tlers the preference in the purchase of 
public lands. The question of slavery, also, 
now began to assume great prominence in 
national politics, and after an elaborate 
anti-slavery speech by Mr. Slade, of Ver- 
mont, in the House of Representatives, the 
Southern members withdrew for a separate 
consultation, at which Mr. Rhett, of South 
Carolina, proposed to declare it expedient 
that the Union should be dissolved ; but 
the matter was tided over by the passage 
of a resolution that no petitions or papers 
relating to slavery should be in any way 
considered or acted upon. 



In the Presidential election of 1840 Mr. 
Van Buren was nominated, without opposi- 
tion, as the Democratic candidate, William 
H. Harrison being the candidate of the 
Whig party. The Democrats carried only 
seven States, and out of 294 electoral votes 
only sixty were for Mr. Van Buren, the re- 
maining 234 being for his opponent. The 
Whig popular majority, however, was not 
large, the elections in many of the States 
being very close. 

March 4, 1841, Mr. Van Buren retired 
from the Presidency. From his fine estate 
at Lindenwald he still exerted a powerful 
influence upon the politics of the country. 
In 1844 he was again proposed as the 
Democratic candidate for the Presidency, 
and a majority of the delegates of the 
nominating convention were in his favor ; 
but, owing to his opposition to the pro- 
posed annexation of Texas, he could not 
secure the requisite two-thirds vote. His 
name was at length withdrawn by his 
friends, and Mr. Polk received the nomina- 
tion, and was elected. 

In 1848 Mr. Cass was the regular Demo- 
cratic candidate. A schism, however, 
sprang up in the party, upon the question 
of the permission of slavery in the newly- 
acquired territory, and a portion of the 
party, taking the name of " Free-Soilers," 
nominated Mr. Van Buren. The)' drew 
away sufificient votes to secure the election 
of General Taylor, the Whig candidate. 
After this Mr. Van Buren retired to his es- 
tate at Kinderhook, where the remainder 
of his life was passed, with the exception of 
a European tour in 1853. He died at 
Kinderhook, July 24, 1862, at the age of 
eighty years. 

Martin Van Buren was a great and good 
man, and no one will question his right to 
a high position among those who have 
been the successors of Washington in the 
faithful occupancy of the Presidential 
chair. 



c6 



PRESIDENTS Op THE UNITED STATES. 





■ I^^R ^^T?? RtWt rlTTTl TTtTTTTT' 







<^f 



WILLIAM HENRY HflfiRISDN. W^,. 

It I 1 I I I II I I ■ T I I ■ » ■ ■ I ■ t t ■ t I I r I I I I 1 I II 11 I I I 1 I II M H I 1 I I T I II I 1 I t H H Tl M I I I I I 1 t 1 1 f HM 1 ' T ^ "^ I lU X 



ft^ 








LIAiM HENRY 
HARRISON, the 
ninth President of 
the United States, 
I S4 I, was born 
February g, 1773, 
in Charles Coiintv, 
Virginia, at Berkeley, the resi- 
dence of his father, Governor 
Benjamin Harrison. He studied 
at Hampden, Sidney College, 
with a view of entering the med- 
ical profession. After graduation 
he went to Philadelphia to study 
medicine under the instruction of 
Dr. Rush. 
George Washington was then President 
:>{ the United States. The Indians were 
committing fearful ravages on our North- 
western frontier. Young Harrison, either 
lured by the love of adventure, or moved 
by the sufferings of families exposed to the 
most horrible outrages, abandoned his med- 
ical studies and entered the army, having 
obtained a commission of ensign from Pres- 
ident Washington. The first duty assigned 
him was to take a train of pack-horses 
bound to Fort Hamilton, on the Miami 
River, about forty miles from Fort Wash- 
ington. He was soon promoted to the 



rank of Lieutenant, and joined the army 
which Washington had placed under the 
command of General Wayne to prosecute 
more vigorously the war with the In- 
dians. Lieutenant Harrison received great 
commendation from his commanding offi- 
cer, and was promoted to the rank of 
Captain, and placed in coiumand at Fort 
Washington, now Cincmnati, Ohio. 

About this time he married a daughter 
of John Cleves Symmes, one of the fron- 
tiersmen who had established a thriving 
settlement on the bank of the Maumee. 

In 1797 Captain Harrison resigned his 
commission in the army and was appointed 
Secretary of the Northwest Territory, and 
cx-officio Lieutenant-Governor, General St. 
Clair being then Governor of the Territory. 
At that time the law in reference to the 
disposal of the public lands was such that 
no one could purchase in tracts less than 
4,000 acres. Captain Harrison, in the 
face of violent opposition, succeeded in 
obtaining so much of a modification of 
this unjust law that the land was sold in 
alternate tracts of 640 and 320 acres. The 
Northwest Territory vas then entitled 
to one delegate in C(»ngress, and Cap- 
tain Harrison was chosen to fill that of- 
fice. In 1800 he was appointed Governor 





^/^/f< 



ij3^2-I-*i, 



ly/LiJAM UENnr iiarrison. 



S9 



of Indiana Territory and soon after of 
Upper Louisiana. He was also Superin- 
tendent of Indian Affairs, and so well did lie 
fulfill these duties that he was four times 
appointed to this office. During his admin- 
istration he effected thirteen treaties with 
the Indians, by which the United States 
acquired 60,000,000 acres of land. In 1804 
he obtained a cession from the Indians of 
all the land between the Illinois River and 
the Mississippi. 

In 1812 he was made Major-General of 
Kentucky militia and Brigadier-Genera! 
m the army, with the command of the 
Northwest frontier. In 181 3 he was made 
Major-General, and as such won much re- 
nown by the defense of Fort Meigs, and the 
battle of the Thames, Octobers, 1813. In 
1814 he left the army and was employed in 
Indian affairs by the Government. 

In 1816 General Harrison was chosen a 
member of the National House of Repre- 
sentatives to represent the district of Ohio. 
In the contest which preceded his election 
he was accused of corruption in respect to 
the commissariat of the army. Immedi- 
ately upon taking his seat, he called for an 
investigation of the charge. A committee 
was appointed, and his vindication was 
triumphant. A high compliment was paid 
to his patriotism, disinterestedness and 
devotion to the public service. For these 
services a gold medal was presented to him 
with the thanks of Congress. 

In 1 8 19 he was elected to the Senate of 
Ohio, and in 1824, as one of the Presiden- 
tial electors of that State, he gave his vote 
to Henry Clay. In the same year he was 
elected to the Senate of the United States. 
In 1828 he was appointed by President 
Adams minister plenipotentiary to Colom- 
bia, but was recalled by General Jackson 
immediately after the inauguration of the 
Jatter. 

Upon his return to the United States, 
General Harrison retired to his farm at 



North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, six- 
teen miles below Cincinnati, where for 
twelve years he was clerk of the County 
Court. He once owned a distillery, but 
perceiving the sad effects of whisky upon 
the surrounding population, he promptly- 
abandoned his business at great pecuniary 
sacrifice. 

In 1836 General Harrison was brought 
forward as a candidate for the Presidency. 
Van Buren was the administration candi- 
date; the opposite party could not unite, 
and four candidates were brought forward. 
General Harrison received seventy-three 
electoral votes without any general concert 
among his friends. The Democratic party 
triumphed and Mr. \'an Buren was chosen 
President. In 1839 General Harrison was 
again nominated for the Presidency by the 
Whigs, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Van Buren being the Democratic candi- 
date. General Harrison received 234 elec- 
toral votes against sixty for his opponent. 
This election is memorable chiefly for the 
then extraordinary means employed during 
the canvass for popular votes. Mass meet- 
ings and processions were introduced, and 
the watchwords " log cabin " and " hard 
cider " were effectually used b)- the Whigs, 
and aroused a popular enthusiasm. 

A vast concourse of people attended his 
inauguration. His address on that occasion 
was in accordance with his antecedents, and 
gave great satisfaction. A short time after he 
took his seat, he was seized by a pleurisy- 
fever, and after a few days of violent sick- 
ness, died April 4, just one short month after 
his inauguration. H is death was universally 
regarded as one of the greatest of National 
calamities. Never, since the death of 
Washington, were there, throughout one 
land, such demonstrations of sorrow. Not 
one single spot can be found to sully his 
fame; and through all ages Americans wili 
pronounce with love and reverence the 
name of William Henrv Harrison. 



6o 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 








M^;0^^^^,S^,^m^^^^^^,m^^ 








OHN TYLER, the tenth 
President of the United 
States, was born in 
Charles City County, 
Virginia, March 29, 1790. 
His father. Judge John 
Tyler, possessed large 
landed estates in Virginia, 
and was one of the most 
distinguished men of his 
day, filling the offices of 
Speaker of the House of 
Delegates, Judge of the Su- 
preme Court and Governor 
of the State. 
At the early age of twelve 
young John entered William and Mary 
College, and graduated with honor when 
but seventeen years old. He then closely 
apphed himself to the study of law, and at 
nineteen years of age commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession. When only twenty- 
one he was elected to a seat in the State 
Legislature. He acted with the Demo- 
cratic party and advocated the measures of 
Jefferson and Madison. For five years he 
was elected to the Legislature, receiving 
nearly the unanimous vote of his county. 

When but twenty-six years of age he was 
elected a member of Congress. He advo- 
cated a strict construction of the Constitu- 
tion and the most careful vigilance over 



State rights. He was soon compelled to 
resign his seat in Congress, owing to ill 
health, but afterward took his seat in the 
State Legislature, where he exerted a 
powerful influence in promoting public 
works of great utility. 

In 1825 Mr. Tyler was chosen Governor 
of his State — a high honor, for Virginia 
had many able men as competitors for 
the prize. His administration was signally 
a successful one. He urged forward inter- 
nal improvements and strove to remove 
sectional jealousies. His popularity secured 
his re-election. In 1827 he was elected 
United States Senator, and upon taking his 
seat jomed the ranks of the opposition. He 
opposed the tariff, voted against the bank 
as unconstitutional, opposed all restrictions 
upon slavery, resisted all projects of inter- 
nal improvements by the General Govern- 
ment, avowed his sympathy with Mr. Cal- 
houn's views of nullification, and declared 
that General Jackson, b}' his opposition to 
the nullifiers, had abandoned the principles 
of the Democratic party. Such was Mr. 
Tyler's record in Congress. 

This hostility to Jackson caused Mr. 
Tyler's retirement from the Senate, after 
his election to a second term. He soon 
after removed to Williamsburg for the 
better education of his children, and again 
took his seat in the Legislature. 





-Urc 





JOHN TYLER. 



63 



In 1839 he was sent to the National Con- 
vention at Harrisburg to nominate a Presi- 
dent. General Harrison received a majority 
of votes, much to the disappointment of the 
South, who had wished for Henry Clay. 
In order to concil'ate the Southern Whigs, 
John Tj'lcr was nominated for Vice-Presi- 
dent. Harrison and Tyler were inaugu- 
rated March 4, 1841. In one short month 
from that time President Harrison died, 
and Mr. Tyler, to his own surprise as well 
as that of the nation, found himself an 
occupant of the Presidential chair. His 
position was an exceedingly difficult one, 
as he was opposed to the main principles of 
the party which had brought him into 
power. General Harrison had selected a 
Whig cabinet Should he retain them, and 
thus surround himself with councilors 
whose views were antagonistic to his own? 
or should he turn against the party that 
had elected him, and select a cabinet in 
harmony with himself? This was his fear- 
ful dilemma. 

President Tyler deserves more charity 
than he has received. He issued an address 
to the people, which gave general satisfac- 
tion. He retained the cabinet General 
Harrison had selected. His veto of a bill 
chartering a new national bank led to an 
open quarrel with the party which elected 
him, and to a resignation of the entire 
cabinet, except Daniel Webster, Secretary 
of State. 

President Tyler attempted to conciliate. 
He appointed a new cabinet, leaving out all 
strong party men, but the Whig members 
of Congress were not satisfied, and they 
published a manifesto September 13, break- 
ing off all political relations. The Demo- 
crats had a majoritv in the House ; the 
Whigs in the Senate. Mr. Webster soon 
found it necessary to resign, being forced 
out by the pressure of his Whig friends. 

April 12, 1844, President Tyler concluded, 
rhrough Mr. Calhoun, a treaty for the an- 



nexation of Texas, which was rejected by 
the Senate ; but he effected his object in the 
closing da^-s of his administration by the 
passage of the joint resolution of March i 

1845. 

He was nominated for the Presidency by 
an informal Democratic Convention, held 
at Baltimore in May, 1844, but soon with- 
drew from the canvass, perceiving that he 
had not gained the confidence of the Demo- 
crats at large. 

Mr. Tyler's administration was particu- 
larly unfortunate. No one was satisfied. 
Whigs and Democrats alike assailed him. 
Situated as he was, it is more than can 
be expected of human nature that he 
should, in all cases, have acted in the wisest 
manner ; but it will probably be the verdict 
of all candid men, in a careful review of his 
career, that John Tjdcr was placed in a 
position of such difficulty that he could not 
pursue any course which would not expose 
him to severe censure and denunciation. 

In 181 3 Mr. Tyler married Letitia Chris- 
tian, who bore him three sons and three 
daughters, and died in Washington in 1842. 
June 26, 1844, he contracted a second mar- 
riage with Miss Julia Gardner, of New 
York. He lived in almost complete retire- 
ment from politics until February, 1861, 
when he was a member of the abortive 
" peace convention," held at Washington, 
and was chosen its President. Soon after 
he renounced his allegiance to the United 
States and was elected to the Confederate 
Congress. He died at Richmond, January 
17, 1862, after a short iilness. 

Unfortunately for his memory the name 
of John Tyler must forever be associated 
with all the misery of that terrible Re- 
bellion, whose cause he openly espoused. 
It is with sorrow that history records that 
a President of the United States died while 
defending the flag of rebellion, which was 
arrayed against the national banner in 
deadly warfare 



C4 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UN/TED STATES. 




^^5"> f*»"'--- ejs 



'I- iip -'• (5)SJC^'J-'''5*^Sis) -T- 




'AMES KNOX POLK, 
the eleventh President of 
y^fi^^ the United States, 1845- 
7d , :'' '49, was born in Meck- 

lenburg Count}', North 
Carolina, November 2, 
1795. He was the eldest 
son of a family of six sons 
and four daughters, and was 
a grand-nephew of Colonel 
Thomas Polk, celebrated in 
connection with the Meck- 
lenburg Declaration of In- 
dependence. 

In 1806 his father, Samuel 
Polk, emigrated with his fam- 
ily two or three hundred miles west to the 
valley of the Duck River. He was a sur- 
veyor as well as farmer, and gradually in- 
creased in wealth until he became one of 
the leading men of the region. 

In the common schools James rapidly be- 
came proficient in all the common branches 
of an English education. In 1813 he was 
sent to Murfreesboro Academy, and in the 
autumn of 181 5 entered the sophomore class 
in the University of North Carolina, at 
Chapel Hill, graduating in 1818. After a 
short season of recreation he went to Nash- 
ville and entered the law office of Felix I 
Grundy. As soon as he had his finished 1 



legal studies and been admitted to the bar, 
he returned to Columbia, the shire town of 
Maury County, and openeJ an office. 

James K. Polk ever adhered to the polit- 
ical faith of his father, which was that of 
a Jeffersonian Republican. In 1823 he was 
elected to the Legislature of Tennessee. As 
a " strict constructionist," he did not think 
that the Constitution empowered the Gen- 
eral Government to carr\' on a system of 
internal improvements in the States, but 
deemed it important that it should have 
that power, and wished the Constitution 
amended that it might be conferred. Sub- 
sequently, however, he became alarmed lest 
the General Government become so strong 
as to undertake to interfere with slavery. 
He therefore gave all his influence to 
strengthen the State governments, and to 
check the growth of the central power. 

In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss 
Mary Childress, of Rutherford County, Ten- 
nessee. Had some one then whispered to 
him that he was destined to become Presi- 
dent of the United States, and that he must 
select for his companion one who would 
adorn that distinguished station, he could 
not have made a more fitting choice. She 
was truly a lady of rare beauty and culture. 

In the fall of 1825 Mr. Polk was chosen 
a member of Congress, and was continu- 




<2^ 



Z 



^ 



OCL ':J^ o~-<:>f<_ 



JAMES K. POLK. 



67 



ously re-elected until 1839. He then with- 
drew, only that he might accept the 
gubernatorial chair of his native State. 
He was a warm friend of General Jackson, 
who had been defeated in the electoral 
contest by John Quincy Adams. This 
latter gentleman had just taken his seat in 
the Presidential chair when Mr. Polk took 
his seat in the House of Representatives. 
He immediately united himself with the 
opponents of Mr. Adams, and was soon 
regarded as the leader of the Jackson party 
in the House. 

The four years of Mr. Adams' adminis- 
tration passed away, and General Jackson 
took tne Presidential chair. Mr. Polk had 
now become a man of great influence in 
Congress, and was chairman of its most 
important committee — that of Ways and 
Means. Eloquently he sustained General 
Jackson in all his measures — in his hostility 
to internal improvements, to the banks, and 
to the tariff. Eight years of General Jack- 
son's administration passed away, and the 
powers he had wielded passed into the 
hands of Martin Van Buren ; and still Mr. 
Polk remained in the House, the advocate 
of that type of Democracy which those 
distinguished men upheld. 

During five sessions of Congress Mr. 
Polk was speaker of the House. He per- 
formed his arduous duties to general satis- 
faction, and a unanimous vote of thanks to 
him was passed by the House as he with- 
drew, March 4, 1839. He was elected 
Governor by a large majority, and took 
the oath of office at Nashville, October 14, 
1839. He was a candidate for re-election 
in 1841, but was defeated. In the mean- 
time a wonderful revolution had swept 
over the country. W. H. Harrison, the Whig 
candidate, had been called to the Presiden- 
tial chair, and in Tennessee the Whig ticket 
had been carried by over 12,000 majority. 
Under these circumstances Mr. Polk's suc- 
cess was hopeless. Still he canvassed the 



State with his Whig competitor, Mr. Jones, 
traveling in the most friendly manner to- 
gether, often in the same carriage, and at 
one time sleeping in the same bed. Mr. 
Jones was elected by 3,000 majoritj-. 

And now the question of the annexation 
of Texas to our country agitated the whole 
land. When this question became national 
Mr. Polk, as the avowed champion of an- 
nexation, became the Presidential candidate 
of the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic 
party, and George M. Dallas their candi- 
date for the Vice-Presidency. They were 
elected by a large majority, and were in- 
augurated March 4, 1845. 

President Polk formed an able cabinet, 
consisting of James Buchanan, Robert J. 
Walker, William L. Marcy, George Ban 
croft. Cave Johnson and John Y. Mason. 
The Oregon boundar}- question was settled, 
the Department of the Interior was created, 
the low tariff ol 1846 was carried, the 
financial system of the Government was 
reorganized, the Mexican war was con- 
ducted, which resulted in the acquisition of 
California and New Mexico, and had far- 
reaching consequences upon the later fort- 
unes of the republic. Peace was made. 
We had wrested from Mexico territory 
equal to four times the empire of France, 
and five times that of Spain. In the prose- 
cution of this war we expended 20,000 
lives and more than $100,000,000. Of this 
money $15,000,000 were paid to Mexico. 

Declining to seek a renomination, Mr. 
Polk retired from the Presidency March 4, 
1849, when he was succeeded by General 
Zachary Ta3'lor. He retired to Nashville, 
and died there June 19, 1849, '" the fifty- 
fourth year of his age. His funeral was at- 
tended the following dav, in Nashville, with 
every demonstration of respect. He left 
no children. Without being possessed of 
extraordinar)' talent, Mr. Polk was a capable 
administrator of public affairs, and irre- 
proachable in private life. 



3S 



PRESrDBNTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 




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ACHARY TAY- 
LOR, the twelfth 
President of the 
United States, 
1 849-' 50, was born 
in Orange County, 
Virginia, Septem- 
1784. His father, 
Richard Taylor, was Colo- 
nel of a Virginia regiment 
in the Revolutionary war, 
and removed to Kentucky 
in 1785 ; purchased a large 
plantation near Louisville 
and became an influential cit- 
izen ; was a member of the convention that 
framed the Constitution of Kentucky: served 
in both branches of the Legislature ; was 
Collector of the port of Louisville under 
President Washington ; as a Presidential 
elector, voted for Jefferson, Madison, Mon- 
roe and Clay; died January 19,1829. 

Zachary remained on his father's planta- 
tion until 1808, in which year (May 3) he 
was appointed First Lieutenant in the 
Seventh Infantry, to fill a vacancy oc- 
casioned by the death of his elder brother, 
Hancock. Up to this point he had received 
but a limited education. 

Joining his regiment at New Orleans, he 



was attacked with yellow fever, with nearly 
fatal termination. In November, 18 10, he 
was promoted to Captain, and in the sum- 
mer of 181 2 he was in command of Fort 
Harrison, on the left bank of the Wabash 
River, near the present site of Terre Haute, 
his successful defense of which with but a 
handful of men against a large force of 
Indians which had attacked him was one of 
the first marked military achievements of 
the war. He was then brevetted Major, 
and in 1814 promoted to the full rank. 

During the remainder of the war Taylor 
was actively employed on the Western 
frontier. In the peace organization of 181 5 
he was retained as Captain, but soon after 
resigned and settled near Louisville. In 
May, 1816, however, he re-entered the army 
as Major of the Third Infantry ; became 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighth Infantry 
in 1819. and in 1832 attained the Colonelcy 
of the First Infantry, of which he had beer^ 
Lieutenant-Colonel since 1 82 1 . On different 
occasions he had been called to Washington 
as member of a military board for organiz- 
ing the militia of the Union, and to aid the 
Government with his knowledge in the 
organization of the Indian Bureau, having 
for many years discharged the duties ot 
Indian agent over large tracts of Western 




/ 




'<^l^ 



ZACHARr TATLOR. 



7i 



country. He served through the Black 
Hawk war in 1832, and in 1837 was ordered 
to take command in Florida, then the scene 
of war with the Indians. 

In 1846 he was transferred to the com- 
mand of the Army of the Southwest, from 
which he was relieved the same year at his 
own request. Subsequently he was sta- 
tioned on the Arkansas frontier at Forts 
Gibbon, Smith and Jesup, which latter work 
nad been built under his direction in 1822. 

May 28, 1845, he received a dispatch from 
the Secretary of War informing him of the 
receipt of information by the President 
" that Texas would shortly accede to the 
terms of annexation," in which event he 
was instructed to defend and protect her 
from "foreign invasion and Indian incur- 
sions." He proceeded, upon the annexation 
of Texas, with about 1,500 men to Corpus 
Chnsti, where his force was increased to 
some 4,000. 

Taylor was brevetted Major-General May 
28, and a month later, June 29, 1846, his full 
commission to that grade was issued. After 
needed rest and reinforcement, he advanced 
in September on Monterey, which city ca- 
pitulated after three-days stubborn resist- 
ance. Here he took up his winter quarters. 
The plan for the invasion of Mexico, by 
way of Vera Cruz, with General Scott in 
command, was now determined upon by 
the Govenrment, and at the moment Ta3lor 
was about to resume active operations, he 
received orders to send the larger part of 
his force to reinforce the army of General 
Scott at Vera Cruz. Though subsequently 
reinforced by raw recruits, yet after pro- 
viding a garrison for Monterey and Saltillo 
he had but about 5,300 effective troops, of 
which but 500 or 600 were regulars. In 
this weakened condition, however, he was 
destined to achieve his greatest victory. 
Confidently relying upon his strength at 
Vera Cruz to resist the enemy for a long 
time. Santa Anna directed his entire army 

6 



against Taylor to overwhelm him, and then 
to return to oppose the advance of Scott's 
more formidable invasion. The battle of 
Buena Vista was fought February 22 and 
23, 1847. Taylor received the thanks of 
Congress and a gold medal, and " Old 
Rough and Ready," the sobriquet given 
him in the army, became a household word. 
He remained in quiet possession of the 
Rio Grande Valley until November, when 
he returned to the United States. 

In the Whig convention which met at 
Philadelphia,June 7, 1848, Taylor was nomi- 
nated on the fourth ballot as candidate ji 
the Whig parly for Fresideiu, over Henry 
Clay, General Scott and Daniel Webster. 
In November Taylor received a majority 
of electoral votes, and a popular vote of 
1,360,752, against 1,219,962 for Cass and 
Butler, and 291,342 for Van Buren and 
Adams. General Taylor was inaugurated 
March 4, 1849. 

The free and slave States being then equal 
in number, the struggle for supremacy on 
the part of the leaders in Congress was 
violent and bitter. In the summer of 1849 
California adopted in convention a Consti- 
tution prohibiting slavery within its borders. 
Taylor advocated the immediate admission 
of California with her Constitution, and the 
postponement of the question as to the other 
Territories until they could hold conven- 
tions and decide for themselves whether 
slavery should exist within their borders. 
This policy ultimately prevailed through 
the celebrated "Compromise Measures" of 
Henry Clay ; but not during the life of the 
brave soldier and patriot statesman. July 
5 he was taken suddenly ill with a bilious 
fever, which proved fatal, his death occur- 
ring July 9, 1850. One of his daughters 
married C(jlonel W. W. S. Bliss, his Adju- 
tant-General and Chief of Stafif in Florida 
and Mexico, and Private Secretary during 
his Presidency. Another daughter was 
married to Jefferson Davis. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UN/TED STATES. 




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ILLARD FILL- 
'^ MORE, the thir- 
ds!;.' teenth President 
of the United 
^j_. States, iS5o-'3, was 
"''"'' yv^ born in Summer 
Hill, Cayuga 
County, New York, Janu- 
ary 7, i8oo. He was of 
New England ancestr}', and 
his educational advantages 
were limited. He earl}^ 
learned the clothiers' trade, 
but spent all his leisure time 
in study. At nineteen years 
of age he was induced by 
Judge Walter Wood to abandon his trade 
and commence the study of law. Upon 
learning that the young man was entirely 
destitute of means, he took him into his 
own office and loaned him such money as 
he needed. That he might not be heavily 
burdened with debt, young Fillmore taught 
school during the winter months, and in 
various other ways helped himself along. 
At the age of twenty-three he was ad- 
mitted to the Court of Common Pleas, and 
commenced the practice of his profession 
in the village of Aurora, situated on the 




eastern bank of the Caj'uga Lake. In 1825 
he married Miss Abigail Powers, daughter 
of Rev. Lemuel Powers, a lady of great 
moral worth. In 1S35 he took his seat in 
the House of Assembly of his native State, 
as Representative from Erie County, 
whither he had recently moved. 

Though he had never taken a very 
active part in politics his vote and his sym- 
pathies were with the Whig party. The 
State was then Democratic, but his cour- 
tesy, ability and integrity won the respect 
of his associates. In 1832 he was elected 
to a seat in the United States Congress. 
At the close of his term he returned to his 
law practice, and in two years more he was 
again elected to Congress. 

He now began to have a national reputa- 
tion. His labors were very arduous. To 
draft resolutions in the committee room, 
and then to defend them against the most 
skillful opponents on the floor of the House 
requires readiness of mind, mental resources 
and skill in debate such as few possess. 
Weary with these exhausting labors, and 
pressed by the claims of his private affairs, 
Mr. Fillmore wrote a letter to his constitu- 
ents and declined to be a candidate for re- 
election. Notwithstanding this cemmwni- 





u. 



'CC't^ 



Xj c/Cc^^t- c^ru) 



MILL A an Fir.LMORE. 



7S 



cation his friends met in convention and 
renominated him by acclamation. Though 
gratified by this proof of their appreciation 
of his labors he adhered to his resolve and 
returned to his home. 

In 1847 Mr. Fillmore was elected to the 
important office of comptroller of the State. 
In entering upon the very responsible duties 
which this situation demanded, it was nec- 
essary for him to abandon his profession, 
and he removed to the city of Albany. In 
this 3'ear, also, the Whigs were looking 
around to find suitable candidates for the 
President and Vice-President at the ap- 
proaching election, and the names of Zach- 
ary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became 
the rallying cry of the Whigs. On the 4th 
of March, 1849, General Taylor was inaug- 
urated President and Millard Fillmore 
Vice-President of the United States. 

The great question of slavery had as- 
sumed enormous proportions, and perme- 
ated ever}' subject that was brought before 
Congress. It was evident that the strength 
of our institutions was to be severely tried. 
July 9, 1850, President Taylor died, and, by 
the Constitution, Vice-President Fillmore 
became President of the United States. 
The agitated condition of the country 
brought questions of great delicacy before 
him. He was bound by his oath of office 
to execute the laws of the United States. 
One of these laws was understood to be, 
that if a slave, escaping from bondage, 
should reach a free State, the United States 
was bound to do its utmost to capture him 
and return hiin to his master. Most Chris- 
tian men loathed this law. President Fill- 
more felt bound by his oath rigidly to see 
it enforced. Slavery was organizing armies 
to invade Cuba as it had invaded Texas, 
and annex it to the United States. Presi- 
dent Fillmore gave all the influence of his 
exalted station against the atrocious enter- 
prise. 

Mr. Fillmore had serious difficulties to 



contend with, since the opposition had a 
majority in both Houses. He did every- 
thing in his power to conciliate the South, 
but the pro-slavery party in that section 
felt the inadequency of all measures of tran. 
sient conciliation. The population of the 
free States was so rapidly increasing over 
that of the slave States, that it was inevita- 
ble that the power of the Government 
should soon pass into the hands of the free 
States. The famous compromise measures 
were adopted under Mr. Fillmore's admin- 
istration, and the Japan expedition was 
sent out. 

March 4, 1853, having served one term, 
President Fillmore retired from office. He 
then took a long tour through the South, 
where he met with quite an enthusiastic 
reception. In a speech at Vicksburg, al- 
luding to the rapid growth of the country, 
he said: 

" Canada is knocking for admission, and 
Mexico would be glad to come in, and 
without saying whether it would be right 
or wrong, we stand with open arms to re- 
ceive them; for it is the manifest destiny of 
this Government to embrace the whole 
North American Continent." 

In 1855 Mr. Fillmore went to Europe 
where he was received with those marked 
attentions which his position and character 
merited. Returning to this country in 
1856 he was nominated for the Presidency 
by the "Know-Nothing" party. Mr. Bu- 
chanan, the Democratic candidate was 
the successful competitor. Mr. Fillmore 
ever afterward lived in retirement. Dur- 
ing the conflict of civil war he was mostly 
silent. It was generally supposed, how- 
ever, that his sympathy was with the South- 
ern Confederacy. He kept aloof from the 
conflict without any words of cheer to the 
one party or the other. For this reason 
he was forgotten by both. He died of 
paralysis, in Buffalo, New York, March 8, 
1874. 



76 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 




Fpi]I^mi] PIERCE, t 





RANKLIN PIERCE, 
the fourteenth Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, was born in 
Hillsborough, New 
Hampshire, Novem- 
ber 23, 1804. His 
father, Governor 
Benjamin Pierce, was a Rev- 
olutionary soldier, a man of 
rigid integrity ; was for sev- 
eral years in the State Legis- 
lature, a member of the Gov- 
ernor's council and a General 
of the militia. 
Franklin was the sixth of eight children. 
As a boy he listened eagerly to the argu- 
ments of his father, enforced by strong and 
ready utterance and earnest gesture. It 
was in the days of intense political excite- 
ment, when, all over the New England 
States, Federalists and Democrats were ar- 
rayed so fiercely against each other. 

In 1820 he entered Bowdoin College, at 
Brunswick, Maine, and graduated in 1824, 
and commenced the study of law in the 
office of Judge Woodbury, a very distin- 
guished lawyer, and in 1827 was admitted 
to the bar. He practiced with great success 
in Hillsborough and Concord. He served 



in the State Legislature four years, the last 
two of which he was chosen Speaker of the 
House by a very large vote. 

In 1833 he was elected a member of Con- 
gress. In 1837 he was elected to the United 
States Senate, just as Mr. Van Buren com- 
menced his administration. 

In 1834 he married Miss Jane Means 
Appleton, a lady admirably fitted to adorn 
every station with which her husband was 
honored. Three sons born to them all 
found an early grave. 

Upon his accession to office. President 
Polk appointed Mr. Pierce Attorney-Gen- 
eral of the United States, but the offer was 
declined in consequence of numerous pro- 
fessional engagements at home and the 
precarious state of Mrs. Pierce's health. 
About the same time he also declined the 
nomination for Governor by the Demo- 
cratic party. 

The war with Mexico called Mr. Pierce 
into the army. Receiving the appointment 
of Brigadier-General, he embarked with a 
portion of his troops at Newport, Rhode 
Island, May 27, 1847. He served during 
this war, and distinguished himself by his 
bravery, skill and excellent judgment. 
When he reached his home in his native 
State he was enthusiastically received by 





!m^Z/::^ 



FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



the advocates of the war, and coldly by its 
opponents. He resumed the practice of his 
profession, frequently taking an active part 
in political questions, and giving his sup- 
port to the pro-slavery wing of the Demo- 
cratic party. 

June 12, 1852, tlic Democratic convention 
met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate 
for the Presidenc}-. For four da3-s they 
continued in session, and in thirty-five bal- 
lotmgs no one had received the requisite 
two-thirds vote. Not a vote had been 
thrown thus far for General Pierce. Then 
the Virginia delegation brought forward 
his name. There were fourteen more bal- 
lotings, during which General Pierce 
gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth 
ballot, he received 282 votes, and all other 
candidates eleven. General Winfield Scott 
was the Whig candidate. General Pierce 
was elected with great unanimity. Only 
four States — Vermont, Massachusetts, Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee — cast their electoral 
votes against him. March 4, 1853, he was 
inaugurated President of the United States, 
and William R. King, Vice-President. 

President Pierce's cabinet consisted of 
William S. Marcv, James Guthrie, Jefferson 
Davis, James C. Dobbin, Robert McClel- 
land, James Campbell and Caleb Cushing. 

At the demand of slavery the Missouri 
Compromise was repealed, and all the Ter- 
ritories of the Union were thrown open to 
slavery. The Territory of Kansas, west of 
Missouri, was settled by emigrants mainly 
from the North. According to law, they 
were about to meet and decide whether 
slavery or freedom should be the law of 
that realm. Slavery in Missouri and 
other Southern States rallied her armed 
legions, marched them into Kansas, took 
possession of the polls, drove awa}- the 
citizens, deposited their own votes by 
handfuls, went through the farce of count- 
ing them, and then declared that, by an 
overwhelming majority, slavery was estab- 



lished in Kan.sas. These facts nobody 
denied, and yet President Pierce's adminis 
tration felt bound to respect the decision 
obtained by such votes. The citizens of 
Kansas, the majority of whom were free- 
State men, met in convention and adopted 
the following resolve: 

"Resolved, That the body of men who, 
for the past two months, have been passing 
laws for the people of our Territory, 
moved, counseled and dictated to by the 
demagogues of other States, are to us a 
foreign body, representing only the lawless 
invaders who elected them, and not the 
people of this Territory ; that we repudiate 
their action as the monstrous consummation 
of an act of violence, usurpation and fraud 
unparalleled in the history of the Union." 

The free-State people of Kansas also sent 
a petition to the General Government, im- 
ploring its protection. In reply the Presi- 
dent issued a proclamation, declaring that 
Legislature thus created must be recog- 
nized as the legitimate Legislature of Kan- 
sas, and that its laws were binding upon 
the people, and that, if necessary, the whole 
force of the Governmental arm would be 
put forth to inforce those laws. 

James Buchanan succeeded him in the 
Presidenc)-, and, March 4, 1857, President 
Pierce retired to his home in Concord, 
New Hampshire. When the Rebellion 
burst forth Mr. Pierce remained steadfast 
to the principles he had always cherished, 
and gave his sympathies to the pro-slavery 
party, with which he had ever been allied. 
He declined to do anything, either by 
voice or pen, to strengthen the hands ol 
the National Government. He resided in 
Concord until his death, which occurred in 
October, 1869. He was one of the most 
genial and social of men, generous to 
a fault, and contributed liberally of his 
moderate means for the alleviation of suf- 
fering and want. He was an honored 
communicant of the Episcopal church. 



SQ 



PffES/OE.\TS OF THE LXTTED STATED 








f-^AMES BL'CHAXAX. the 
; -ifteenth President of the 

United States. i857-'6i, 
was bom in Franklin 
County, Pennsylvania, 
April 23, 1791. The 
o ;. a c e where his father's 
cabin stood was called 
Stony Batter, and it was 
situated in a wild, romantic 
soot, in a gorge of mount- 
ii -S vith towering sam- 
: iing all around. He 
_ .: Irish ancestry, his 
father having emigrated in- 
1783, with verr little prop- 
erty, save his own strong arms. 

James remained in his secluded home for 
eight years enjoying veiy- few social or 
intellectual advantages. His parents were 
industrious, frugal, prosperous and intelli- 
gent. In 1799 his father removed to Mer- 
cersburg, where James was placed in 
school and commenced a course in English, 
Greek and Latin. His prepress was rapid 
and in 1801 he entered Dickinson College 
at Carlisle. Here he took his stand among 
the first scholars in the institution, and was 
able to master the most abstruse subjects 
with facility. In 1809 he graduated with 
the highest honors in his class. 

He was then eighteen years of age, tali. 



graceful and in vigorous health, fond ol 
athletic sports, an unerring shot and en- 
livened with an exuberant flow of animal 
spirits. He immediately commenced the 
study of law in the city of Lancaster, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1812. He rose 
very rapidly in his profession and at once 
took undisputed stand with the ablest law- 
yers of the State. When but twenty-six 
years of age, unaided by counsel, be suc- 
cessfully defended before the State Senate 
one of the Judges of the State, who was 
tried upon articles of impeachment. At 
the age of thirty it was generally admitted 
that he stood at the head of the bar, and 
there was no lawyer in the State who had 
a more extensive or lucrative practice. 

In 18 1 2, just after Mr. Buchanan had 
entered upon the practice of the law, our 
second war w4th England occurred. With 
all his powers he sustained the Govern- 
ment, eloquently urging the rigorous pros- 
ecution of the wan and even enlisnng as a 
private soldier to assist in repelling the 
British, who had sacked Washington and 
were threatening Baltimore. He was at 
that time a Federalist, but when the Con- 
stitution was adopted by both parties, 
Jefferson trulv said, " We are all Federal- 
ists: we are all Republicans." 

The opposition of the Federalists to the 
war with England, and the alien and sedi- 





xZ^/n^^ 



(SV^^^ >=^^'> 



/L-^^^T^ 



yAA/ES BUCHANAN. 



o'S 



tion laws of John Adams, brought the party 
into dispute, and the name of Federalist 
became a reproach. Mr. Buchanan almost 
immediately upon entering Congress began 
to incline more and more to the Repub- 
licans. In the storm)' Presidential election 
of 1824, in which Jackson, Clay, Crawford 
and John Quincy Adams were candidates, 
Mr. Buchanan espoused the cause of Gen- 
eral Jackson and unrelentingly opposed the 
administration of Mr. Adams. 

Upon his elevation to the Presidency, 
General Jackson appointed Mr. Buchanan, 
minister to Russia. Upon his return in 1833 
he was elected to a seat in the United States 
Senate. He there met as his associates, 
Webster, Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He 
advocated the measures proposed by Presi- 
dent Jackson of making reprisals against 
France, and defended the course of the Pres- 
ident in his unprecedented and wholesale 
removals from office of those who were not 
the supporters of his administration. Upon 
this question he was brought into direct col- 
lision with Henry Clay. In the discussion 
of the question respecting the admission of 
Michigan and Arkansas into the Union, Mr. 
Buchanan defined his position by saying: 

" The older I grow, the more I am in- 
clined to be what is called a State-rights 
man." 

M. de Tocqueville, in his renowned work 
upon " Democracy in America," foresaw 
the trouble which was inevitable from the 
doctrine of State sovereignt}- as held by 
Calhoun and Buchanan. He was con- 
vinced that the National Government was 
losing that strength which was essential 
to its own existence, and that the States 
were assuming powers which threatened 
the perpetuity of the Union. Mr. Buchanan 
received the book in the Senate and de- 
clared the fears of De Tocqueville to be 
groundless, and yet he lived to sit in the 
Presidential chair and see State after State, 
in accordance with his own views of State 



rights, breaking from the Union, thus 
crumbling our Republic into ruins; while 
the unhappy old man folded his arms in 
despair, declaring that the National Consti - 
tution invested him with no power to arrest 
the destruction. 

Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the Presi- 
dency, Mr. Buchanan became Secretary of 
State, and as such took his share of thf 
responsibility in the conduct of the Mexi- 
can war. At the close of Mr. Polk's ad- 
ministration, Mr. Buchanan retired to pri- 
vate life; but his intelligence, and his great 
ability as a statesman, enabled him to exert 
a powerful influence in National affairs. 

Mr. Pierce, upon his election to the 
Presidency, honored Mr. Buchanan with 
the mission to England. In the year 1856 
the National Democratic convention nomi- 
nated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. 
The political conflict was one of the most 
severe in which our country has ever en- 
gaged. On the 4th of March, 1857, Mr. 
Buchanan was inaugurated President. His 
cabinet were Lewis Cass, Howell Cobb, 
J. B. Floyd, Isaac Toucey, Jacob Thomp- 
son, A. V. Brown and J. S. Black. 

The disruption of the Democratic party, 
in consequence of the manner in which the 
issue of the nationality of slavery was 
pressed by the Southern wing, occurred at 
the National convention, held at Charleston 
in April, i860, for the nomination of Mr. 
Buchanan's successor, when the majority 
of Southern delegates withdrew upon the 
passage of a resolution declaring that the 
constitutional status of slavery should be 
determined by the Supreme Court. 

In the next Presidential canvass Abra- 
ham Lincoln was nominated by the oppo- 
*nents of Mr. Buchanan's administration. 
Mr. Buchanan remained in Washington 
long enough to see his successor installed 
and then retired to his home in Wheatland. 
He died June i, 1868, aged seventy-seven 
years. 



ii4 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 








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B R A H A M LIN- 
COLN, the sixteenth 
President of the 
United States, i86i-'5, 
was born February 
12, 1809, in Larue 
(then Hardin) County, 
Kentucky, in a cabin on Nolan 
Creek, three miles west of 
Hudgensville. H i s parents 
were Thomas and Nancy 
(Hanks) Lincoln. Of his an- 
cestry and early years the little 
that is known may best be 
given in his own language : " M}' 
parents were both born in Virginia, of un- 
distinguished families — second families, per- 
haps I should say. My mother, who died 
in my tenth year, was of a family of the 
name of Hanks, some of whom now remain 
in Adams, and others in Macon County, 
Illinois. My paternal grandfather, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockbridge 
County, Virginia, to Kentucky in 1781 or 
1782, where, a year or two later, he was 
killed by Indians — not in battle, but by 
stealth, when he was laboring to open a 
farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were 
Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks 
County, Pennsylvania. An effort to iden- 



tify them with the New England family of 
the same name ended in n(3thing more defi- 
nite than a similarity of Christian names in 
both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mor- 
decai, Solomon, Abraham and the like. 
My father, at the death of his father, was 
but six years of age, and he grew up, liter- 
ally, without education. He removed from 
Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, 
Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached 
our new home about the time the State came 
into the Union. It was a wild region, with 
bears and other wild animals stiU in the 
woods. There I grew to manhood. 

" There were some schools, so called, but 
no qualification was ever required of a 
teacher bevond ' readin', writin', and cipher- 
in' to the rule of three.' If a straggler, sup- 
posed to understand Latin, happened to 
sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked 
upon as a wizard. There was absolutely 
nothinsf to excite ambition for education. 
Of course, when I came of age I did not 
know much. Still, somehow, I could read, 
write and cipher to the rule of three, and 
that was all. I have not been to school 
since. The little advance I now have upon 
this store of education I have picked up 
from time to time under the pressure of 
necessity. I was raised to farm-work, which 



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ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



87 



I continued till I was twenty-two. At 
twenty-one I came to Illinois and passed 
the first year in Macon County. Then I got 
to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, 
now in Menard County, where I remained 
a year as a sort of clerk in a store. 

"Then came the Black Hawk war, and I 
was elected a Captain of volunteers— a suc- 
cess which gave me more pleasure than any 
I have had since. I went the campaign, 
was elated ; ran for the Legislature the 
same year (183J) and was beaten, the only 
time I have ever been beaten by the people. 
The next and three succeeding biennial 
elections I was elected to the Legislature, 
and was never a candidate afterward. 

" During this legislative period I had 
studied law, and removed to .Springfield to 
practice it. In 1846 I was elected to the 
Lower House of Congress ; was not a can- 
didate for re-election. From 1849 to '854, 
inclusive, I practiced the law more assid- 
uously than ever before. Always a Whig 
in politics, and generally on the Whig elec- 
toral tickets, making active canvasses, I was 
losing interest in politics, when the repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise roused me 
again. What I have done since is pretty 
well known." 

The early residence of Lincoln in Indi- 
ana was sixteen miles north of the Ohio 
River, on Little Pigeon Creek, one and a 
half miles east of Gentryville, within the 
present township of Carter. Here his 
mother died October 5, 18 18, and the next 
year his father married Mrs. Sail}' (Bush) 
Johnston, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She 
was an affectionate foster-parent, to whom 
Abraham was indebted for his first encour- 
agement to study. He became an eager 
reader, and the few books owned in the 
vicinity were many times perused. He 
worked frequently for the neighbors as a 
farm laborer ; was for some time clerk in a 
store at Gentryville; and became famous 
throughout that region for his athletic 



powers, his fondness for argument, his in- 
exhaustible fund of humerous anecdote, as 
well as for mock oratory and the composi- 
tion of rude satirical verses. In 1828 he 
made a trading voyage to New Orleans as 
" bow-hand " on a fiatboat ; removed to 
Illinois in 1830; helped his father build a 
log house and clear a farm on the north 
fork of Sangamon River, ten miles west of 
Decatur, and was for some time employed 
in splitting rails for the fences— a fact which 
was prominently brought forward for a 
political purpose thirty 3'ears later. 

In the spring of 1851 he, with two of his 
relatives, was hired to build a flatboat on 
the Sangamon River and navigate it to 
New Orleans. The boat " stuck " on a 
mill-dam, and was got off with great labor 
through an ingenious mechanical device 
which some 3ears later led to Lincoln's 
taking out a patent for "an im[)roved 
method for lifting vessels over shoals." 
This voyage was memorable for another 
reason — the sight of slaves chained, mal- 
treated and flogged at New Orleans was 
the origin of his deep convictions upon the 
slavery question. 

Returning from this voyage he became a 
resident for several vears at New Salem, a 
recently settled village on the Sangamon, 
where he was successively a clerk, grocer, 
surveyor and postmaster, and acted as pilot 
to the first steamboat that ascended the 
Sangamon. Here he studied law, inter- 
ested himself in local politics after his 
return from the Black Hawk war, and 
became known as an effective " stump 
speaker." The subject of his first political 
speech was the improvement of the channel 
of the Sangamon, and the chief ground on 
which he announced himself (1833) a candi- 
date for the Legislatuie was his advocacy 
of this popular measure, on which subject 
his practical experience made him the high- 
est authority. 

Elected to the Legislature in 1834 as a 



ss 



PRES/DE.VTS OF THE UX/TED STATES. 



'■ Henry Clay Whig." he rapidlv acquired 
that command of language and that homely 
but forcible rhetoric which, added to his 
intimate knowledge of the people from 
which he sprang, made him more than a 
match in debate for his few well-educated 
opponents. 

Admitted to the bar in 1S37 he soon 
established himself at Springfield, where 
the State capital was located in 1839, 
iargely through his influence; became a 
successful pleader in the State. Circuit and 
District Courts ; married in 1842 a lady be- 
longing to a prominent familv in Lexington. 
Kentucky: took an active part in the Pres- 
idential campaigns of 1S40 and 1S44 as 
candidate for elector on the Harrison and 
Clav tickets, and in 1S46 was elected to the 
United States House of Representatives 
over the celebrated Peter Cartwright. 
During his single terra in Congress he did 
not attain any prominence. 

He voted for the reception of anti-slaverv 
petitions for the abolition of the slave trade 
in the District of Columbia and for the 
Wilmot pro\*iso; but was chiefly remem- 
bered for the stand he took against the 
Mexican war. For several years there- 
after he took comparatively little interest 
in politics, but gained a leading position at 
the Springtaeld bar. Two or three non- 
political lectures and an eulogy on Henry 
Clay 1 1S521 added nothing to his reputation. 

In 1854 the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise by the Kansas-Nebraska act 
aroused Lincoln from his indifference, and 
in attacking that measure he had the im- 
mense advantage of knowing perfectly well 
the motives and the record of its author. 
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, then popu- 
larly designated as the " Little Giant." The 
latter came to Springfield in October. 1S54. 
on the occasion of the State Fair, to vindi- 
cate his policv in the Senate, and the " Anti- 
Xebraska" Whigs, remembering that Lin- 
coln had often measured his strength with 



Douglas in the Illinois Legislature and be- 
fore the Springfield Courts, engaged him 
to improvise a reply. This speech, in the 
opinion of those who heard it, was one of 
the greatest efforts of Lincoln's life ; cer- 
tainly the most effective in his whole career. 
It took the audience by storm, and from 
that moment it was felt that Douglas had 
met his match. Lincoln was accordinglv 
selected as the Anti-Xebraska candidate for 
the L'nited States Senate in place of General 
Shields, whose term expired March 4, 1S55. 
and led to several ballots: but Trumbull 
was ultimately chosen. 

The second conflict on the soil of Kan- 
sas, which Lincoln had predicted, soon be- 
gan. The result was the disruption of the 
Whig and the formation of the Republican 
party. At the Bloomington State Conven- 
tion in iS;6. where the new partv first 
assumed form in Illinois. Lincoln made an 
impressive address, in which for the first 
time he took distinctive ground against 
slavery in itself. 

At the National Republican Convention 
at Philadelphia, June 17, after the nomi- 
nation of Fremont. Lincoln was put for- 
ward by the Illinois delegation for the 
Vice-Presidency, and received on the first 
ballot no votes against 259 for William L 
Dayton. He took a prominent part in the 
canvass, being on the electoral ticket. 

In 1S58 Lincoln was unanimoush- nomi- 
nated by the Republican State Convention 
as its candidate for the L'nited States Senate 
in place of Douglas, and in his speech of 
acceptance used the celebrated illustration 
of a "house divided against itself " on the 
slavery question, which was. perhaps, the 
cause of his defeat. The great debate car- 
ried on at all the principal towns of Illinois 
between Lincoln and Douglas as rival Sena- 
torial candidates resulted at the time in the 
election of the latter ; but being widely cir- 
culated as a campaign document, it fixed 
the attention of the country upon the 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



89 



former, as the clearest and most convinc- 
ing exponent of Republican doctrine. 

Early in 1859 lie began to be named in 
Illinois as a suitable Republican candidate 
for tiie Presidential campaign of the ensu- 
ing year, and a political address delivered 
at the Cooper Institute, New York, Febru- 
ary 27, i860, followed by similar speeches 
at New Haven, Hartford and elsewhere in 
New England, first made him known to the 
Eastern States in the light by which he had 
long been regarded at home. By the Re- 
publican State Convention, which met at 
Decatur, Illinois, May 9 and 10, Lincoln 
was unanimousl)- endorsed for the Presi- 
dency. It was on this occasion that two 
rails, said to have been split by his hands 
thirty years before, were brought into the 
convention, and the incident contributed 
much to his popularit)-. The National 
Republican Convention at Chicago, after 
spirited efforts made in favor of Seward, 
Chase and Bates, nominated Lincoln for 
the Presidency, with Hannibal Hamlin 
for Vice-President, at the same time adopt- 
ing a vigorous anti-slavery platform. 

The Democratic party having been dis- 
organized and presenting two candidates, 
Douglas and Brcckenridge, anB the rem- 
nant of the " American" party having put 
forward John Bell, of Tennessee, the Re- 
publican victory was an easy one, Lincoln 
being elected November 6 by a large plu- 
rality, comprehending nearly all the North- 
ern States, but none of the Southern. The 
secession of South Carolina and the Gulf 
States was the immediate result, followed 
a few months later by that of the border 
slave States and the outbreak of the great 
civil war. 

The life of Abraham Lincoln became 
thenceforth merged in the history of his 
country. None of the details of the vast 
conflict which filled the remainder of Lin- 
coln's life can here be given. Narrowly 
escaping assassination by avoiding Balti- 



more on his way to the capital, he reached 
Washington February 23, and was inaugu- 
rated President of the United States March 

4, 1 86 1. 

In his inaugural address he said: " I hold, 
that in contemplation of universal law and 
the Constitution the Union of these States is 
perpetual. Perpetuity is implied if not e.K- 
pressed in the fundamental laws of all na- 
tional governments. It is safe to assert 
that no government proper ever had a pro- 
vision in its organic law for its own termi- 
nation. I therefore consider that in view 
of the Constitution and the laws, the Union 
is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability 
I shall take care, as the Constitution en- 
joins upon me, that the laws of the United 
States be extended in all the States. In 
doing this there need be no bloodshed or vio- 
lence, and there shall be none unless it be 
forced upon the national authority. The 
power conferred to me will be used to hold, 
occupy and possess the property and places 
belonging to the Government, and to col- 
lect the duties and imports, but beyond 
what may be necessary for these objects 
there will be no invasion, no using of force 
against or among the people anywhere. In 
your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-country- 
men, is the momentous issue of civil war. 
The Government will not assail you. You 
can have no conflict without being your- 
selves the aggressors. You have no oath 
registered in heaven to destro}- the Gov- 
ernment, while I shall have the most sol- 
emn one to preserve, protect and defend 
it." 

He called to his cabinet his principal 
rivals for the Presidential nomination — 
Seward, Chase, Cameron and Bates; se- 
cured the co-operation of the Union Demo- 
crats, headed by Douglas ; called out 75,000 
militia from the several States upon the first 
tidings of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 
April 15; proclaimed a blockade of the 
Southern posts April 19; called an extra 



90 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UN /TED STATES. 



session of Congress for July 4, from which 
he asked and obtained 400,000 men and 
$400,000,000 for the war; placed McClellan 
at the head of the Federal army on General 
Scott's resignation, October 31; appointed 
Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War, Jan- 
uary 14, 1862, and September 22, 1862, 
issued a proclamation declaring the free- 
dom of all slaves in the States and parts of 
States then in rebellion from and after 
January i, 1863. This was the crowning 
act of Lincoln's career — the act by which 
he will be chiefly known through all future 
time — and it decided the war. 

October 16, 1863, President Lincoln called 
for 300,000 volunteers to replace those 
whose term of enlistment had expired ; 
made a celebrated and touching, though 
brief, address at the dedication of the 
Gettysburg military cemetery, November 
19, 1863; commissioned Ulysses S. Grant 
Lieutenant-General and Commander-in- 
Chief of the armies of the United States, 
March 9, 1864; was re-elected President in 
November of the same year, by a large 
majority over General McClellan, with 
Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, as Vice- 
President; delivered a very remarkable ad- 
dress at his second inauguration, March 4, 
1865; visited the army before Richmond the 
same month; entered the capital of the Con- 
federacy the day after its fall, and upon the 
surrender of General Robert E. Lee's army, 
April 9, was actively engaged in devising 
generous plans for the reconstruction of the 
Union, when, on the evening of Good Fri- 
day, April 14, he was shot in his box at 
Ford's Theatre, Washington, by John Wilkes 
Booth, a fanatical actor, and expired early 
on the following morning, April 15. Al- 
most simultaneously a murderous attack 
was made upon Wilham H. Seward, Secre- 
tary of State. 

At noon on the 15th of April Andrew 



Johnson assumed the Presidency, and active 
measures were taken which resulted in the 
death of Booth and the execution of his 
principal accomplices. 

The funeral of President Lincoln was 
conducted with unexampled solemnity and 
magnificence. Impressive services were 
held in Washington, after which the sad 
procession proceeded over the same route 
he had traveled four years before, from 
Springfield to Washington. In Philadel- 
phia his body lay in state in Independence 
Hall, in which he had declared before his 
first inauguration "that I would sooner be 
assassinated than to give up the principles 
of the Declaration of Independence." He 
was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery, near 
Springfield, Illinois, on May 4, where a 
monument emblematic of the emancipation 
of the slaves and the restoration of the 
Union mark his resting place. 

The leaders and citizens of the expiring 
Confederac}' expressed genuine indignation 
at the murder of a generous political adver- 
sary. Foreign nations took part in mourn- 
ing the death of a statesman who had proved 
himself a true representative of American 
nationality. The freedmen of the South 
almost worshiped the memory of their de- 
liverer; and the general sentiment of the 
great Nation he had saved awarded him a 
place in its affections, second only to that 
held by Washington. 

The characteristics of Abraham Lincoln 
have been familiarly known throughout the 
civilized world. His tall, gaunt, ungainly 
figure, homely countenance, and his shrewd 
mother-wit, shown in his celebrated con- 
versations overflowing in humorous and 
pointed anecdote, combined with an accu- 
rate, intuitive appreciation of the questions 
of the time, are recognized as forming the 
best type of a period of American history- 
no w rapidly passing away. 





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ANDREW JOHNSON. 



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Andrew JOHNSON, 

the seventeenth Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, 1865-9, was 
born at Raleigh, 
> North Carolina, De- 
''i'i^ cember 29, i8o8. 
His father died when 
he was four years old, and in 
his eleventh year he was ap- 
prenticed to a tailor. He nev- 
er attended school, and did 
not learn to read until late in 
his apprenticeship, when he 
suddenly acquired a passion for 
obtaining knowledge, and devoted 
all his spare time to reading. 

After working two years as a journey- 
man tailor at Lauren's Court-House, South 
Carolina, he removed, in 1826, to Green- 
ville, Tennessee, where he worked at his 
trade and married. Under his wife's in- 
structions he made rapid progress in his 
education, and manifested such an intelli- 
gent interest in local politics as to be 
elected as " workingmen's candidate " al- 
derman, in 1828, and mayor in 1830, being 
twice re-elected to each office. 

During this period he cultivated his tal- 
ents as a public speaker by taking part in a 



debating society, consisting largely of stu- 
dents of Greenville College. In 1835, and 
again in 1839, ^^ ^^'^^ chosen to the lower 
house of the Legislature, as a Democrat. 
In 1 84 1 he was elected State Senator, and 
in 1843, Representative in Congress, being 
re-elected four successive periods, until 
1853, when he was chosen Governor of 
Tennessee. In Congress he supported the 
administrations of Tyler and Polk in their 
chief measures, especially the annexation 
of Texas, the adjustment of the Oregon 
boundary, the Mexican war, and the tariff 
of 1846. 

In 1855 Mr. Johnson was re elected Gov- 
ernor, and in 1857 entered the United 
States Senate, where he was conspicuous 
as an advocate of retrenchment and of the 
Homestead bill, and as an opponent of the 
Pacific Railroad. He was supported by the 
Tennessee delegation to the Democratic 
convention in i860 for the Presidential 
nomination, and lent his influence to the 
Breckenridgc wing of that party. 

When the election of Lincoln had 
brought about the first attempt at secession 
in December, i860, Johnson took in the 
Senate a firm attitude for the Union, and 
in Mav, i86t, on returning to Tennessee, 
he was in imminent peril of suffering from 



9\ 



PRES/DEIVTS OF THE UN /TED STATES. 



popular violence for his loyalty to the " old 
flag." He was the leader of the Loyalists' 
convention of East Tennessee, and during 
the following winter was very active in or- 
ganizing relief for the destitute loyal refu- 
gees from that region, his own family being 
among those compelled to leave. 

By his course in this crisis Johnson came 
prominently before the Northern public, 
and when in March, 1862, he was appointed 
by President Lincoln military Governor of 
Tennessee, with the rank of Brigadier-Gen- 
eral, he increased in popularity b\' the vig- 
orous and successful manner in which he 
labored to restore order, protect Union 
men and punish marauders. On the ap- 
proach of the Presidential campaign of 1864, 
the termination of the war being plainly 
foreseen, and several Southern States being 
partially reconstructed, it was felt that the 
Vice-Presidency should be given to a South- 
ern man of conspicuous loyalty, and Gov- 
ernor Johnson was elected on the same 
platform and ticket as President Lincoln; 
and on the assassination of the latter suc- 
ceeded to the Presidency, April 15, 1865. 
In a public speech two days later he said: 
'•The American people must be taught, if 
they do not already feel, that treason is a 
crime and must be punished; that the Gov- 
ernment will not always bear with its ene- 
mies; that it is strong, not only to protect, 
but to punish. In our peaceful history 
treason has been almost unknown. The 
people must understand that it is the black- 
est of crimes, and will be punished." He 
then added the ominous sentence: " In re- 
gard to my future course, I make no prom- 
ises, no pledges." President Johnson re- 
tained the cabinet of Lincoln, and exhibited 
considerable severity toward traitors in his 
earlier acts and speeches, but he soon inaug- 
urated a policy of reconstruction, proclaim- 
ing a general amnesty to the late Confeder- 
ates, and successively establishing provis- 
ional Governments in the Southern States. 



These States accordingly claimed represen- 
tation in Congress in the following Decem- 
ber, and the momentous question of what 
should be the polic}' of the victorious Union 
toward its late armed opponents was forced 
upon that body. 

Two considerations impelled the Repub- 
lican majority to reject the policy of Presi. 
dent Johnson: First, an apprehension that 
the chief magistrate intended to undo the re- 
sults of the war in regard to slavery; and, sec- 
ond, the sullen attitude of the South, which 
seemed to be plotting to regain the policy 
which arms had lost. The credentials of the 
Southern members elect were laid on the 
table, a civil rights bill and a bill extending 
the sphere of the Freedmen's Bureau were 
passed over the executive veto, and the two 
highest branches of the Government were 
soon in open antagonism. The action of 
Congress was characterized bv the Presi- 
dent as a " new rebellion." In July the 
cabinet was reconstructed, Messrs. Randall, 
Stanbury and Browning taking the places 
of Messrs. Denison, Speed and Harlan, and 
an unsuccessful attempt was made by 
means of a general convention in Philadel- 
phia to form a new party on the basis of the 
administration policy. 

In an excursion to Chicago for the pur- 
pose of laying a corner-stone of the monu- 
ment to Stephen A. Douglas, President 
Johnson, accompanied b}' several members 
of the cabinet, passed through Philadelphia, 
New York and Albany, in each of which 
cities, and in other places along the route, 
he made speeches justifying and explaining 
his own policy, and violently denouncing 
the action of Congress. 

August 12, 1867, President Johnson re- 
moved the Secretary of War, replacing 
him by General Grant. Secretary Stanton 
retired under protest, based upon the ten- 
ure-of-office act which had been passed the 
preceding March. The President then is- 
sued a proclamation declaring the insurrec- 



A r^DRE W JOHNSOK. 



9■^ 



tion at an end, and that " peace, order, tran- 
quility and civil authority existed in and 
throughout the United States." Another 
proclamation enjoined obedience to the 
Constitution and the laws, and an amnesty 
was published September 7, relieving nearly 
all the participants in the late Rebellion 
from the disabilities thereby incurred, on 
condition of taking the oath to support the 
Constitution and the laws. 

In December Congress refused to confirm 
the removal of Secretary Stanton, who 
thereupon resumed the e.xercise of his of- 
fice; but February 21, 1868, President 
Johnson again attempted to remove him, 
appointing General Lorenzo Thomas in his 
place. Stanton refused to vacate his post, 
and was sustained b}' the Senate. 

February 24 the House of Representa- 
tives voted to impeach the President for 
" high crime and misdemeanors," and March 
5 presented eleven articles of impeachment 
on the ground of his resistance to the exe- 
cution of the acts of Congress, alleging, in 
addition to the offense lately committed, 
his public expressions of contempt for Con- 
gress, in " certain intemperate, inflamma- 
tor}' and scandalous harangues" pronounced 
in August and September, 1866, and there- 
after declaring that the Thirty-ninth Con- 
gress of the United States was not a 
competent legislative body, and denying 
its power to propose Constitutional amend- 
ments. March 23 the impeachment trial 
began, the President appearing hy counsel, 
and resulted in acquittal, the vote lacking 



one of the two-thirds vote required for 
conviction. 

The remainder of President Johnson s 
term of office was passed without any such 
conflicts as might have been anticipated. 
He failed to obtain a nomination for re- 
election by the Democratic party, though 
receiving sixty-five votes on the first ballot. 
July 4 and December 25 new proclamations 
of pardon to the participants in the late 
Rebellion were issuer^, but were of little 
effect. On the accession of General Grant 
to the Presidency, March 4, 1869, Johnson 
returned to Greenville, Tennessee. Unsuc- 
cessful in 1870 and 1872 as a candidate re- 
spective!)^ for United States Senator and 
Representative, he was finall\- elected to the 
Senate in 1875, and took his seat in the extra 
session of March, in which his speeches 
were comparatively temperate. He died 
Julv 31, 1875, and was buried at Green- 
ville. 

President Johnson's administration was a 
peculiarly unfortunate one. That he should 
so soon become involved in bitter feud with 
the Republican m?joritv in Congress was 
certainly a surprising and deplorable inci- 
dent; yet, in reviewing the circumstances 
after a lapse of so many years, it is easy to 
find ample room for a charitable judgment 
of both the parties in the heated contro- 
versy, since it cannot be doubted that any 
President, even Lincoln himself, had he 
lived, must have sacrificed a large portion 
of his popularity in carrying out any pos- 
sible scheme of reconstruction. 



y5 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNI TED STATES. 




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^LYSSES SIMPSON 
GRANT, the eight- 
eenth President of the 
United States, i869-'77, 
was born April 27, 1822, 
at Point Pleasant, 
'■^ Clermont County, 
Ohio. His father was of Scotch 
descent, and a dealer in leather. 
At the age of seventeen he en- 
tered the Military Academy at 
West Point, and four years later 
graduated twenty-first in a class 
of thirty-nine, receiving the 
commission of Brevet Second 
Lieutenant. He was assigned 
to the Fourth Infantry and re- 
mained in the army eleven years. He was 
engaged in every battle of the Mexican war 
except that of Buena Vista, and received 
two brevets for gallantry. 

In 1848 Mr. Grant married Julia.daughter 
of Frederick Dent, a prominent merchant of 
St. Louis, and in 1854, having reached the 
grade of Captain, he resigned his commis- 
sion in the army. For several years he fol- 
lowed farming near St. Louis, but unsuc- 
cessfully : and in i860 he entered the leather 
trade with his father at Galena, Illinois. 

When the civil war broke out in 1861, 
Grant was thirty-nine years of age, but en- 
tirely unknown to public men and without 



any personal acquaintance with great affairs. 
President Lincoln's first call for troops was 
made on the 15th of April, and on the 19th 
Grant was drilling a company of volunteers 
at Galena. He also offered his services to 
the Adiutant-General of the army, but re- 
ceived no reply. The Governor of Illinois, 
however, emploj'ed him in the organization 
of volunteer troops, and at the end of five 
weeks he was appointed Colonel of the 
Twenty-first Infantry. He took command 
of his regiment in June, and reported first 
to General Pope in Missouri. His superior 
knowledge of military life rather surprised 
his superior officers, who had never before 
even heard of him, and they were thus led 
to place him on the road to rapid advance- 
ment. August 7 he was commissioned a 
Brigadier-General of volunteers, the ap- 
been made without his 
had been unanimously 
the Congressmen from 
of whom had been his 



pointment having 
knowledge. He 
recommended bv 
Illinois, not one 



personal acquaintance. For a few weeks 
he was occupied in watching the move- 
ments of partisan forces in Missouri. 

September i he was placed in command 
of the District of Southeast Missouri, with 
headquarters at Cairo, and on the 6th, with- 
out orders, he seized Paducah, at the mouth 
of the Tennessee River, and commanding 



the 



navigation 



both of that stream and oi 



ULrSSES S. GfiA.VT. 



99 



the Ohio. This stroke secured Kentucky 
to the Union ; for the State Legislature, 
which had until then affected to be neutral, 
at once declared in favor of the Govern- 
ment. In November following, according 
to orders, he made a demonstration about 
eighteen miles below Cairo, preventing the 
crossing of hostile troops into Missouri ; 
but in order to accomplish this purpose he 
had to do some fighting, and that, too, with 
only 3,000 raw recruits, against 7,000 Con- 
federates. Grant carried off two pieces of 
artillery and 200 prisoners. 

After repeated applications to General 
Halleck, his immediate superior, he was 
allowed, in February, 1862, to move up the 
Tennessee River against Fort Henry, in 
conjunction with a naval force. The gun- 
boats silenced the fort, and Grant immedi- 
ately made preparations to attack Fort 
Donelson, about twelve miles distant, on 
the Cumberland River. Without waiting 
for orders he moved his troops there, and 
with 15,000 men began the siege. The 
fort, garrisoned with 21,000 men, was a 
strong one, but after hard fighting on three 
successive days Grant forced an " Uncon- 
ditional Surrender " (an alliteration upon 
the initials of his name). The prize he capt- 
ured consisted of sixty-five cannon, 17,600 
small arms and 14,623 soldiers. About 4,- 
000 of the garrison had escaped in the night, 
and 2,500 were killed or wounded. Grant's 
entire loss was less than 2,000. This was the 
first important success won by the national 
troops during the war, and its strategic re- 
sults were marked, as the entire States of 
Kentucky and Tennessee at once fell into the 
National hands. Our hero was made a 
Major-General of Volunteers and placed in 
command of the District of West Ten- 
nessee. 

In March, 1862, he was ordered to move 
up the Tennessee River toward Corinth, 
where the Confederates were concentrat- 
ing a large army ; but he was directed not 



to attack. His forces, now numbering 38.- 
000, were accordingly encamped near Shi- 
loh, or Pittsburg Landing, to await the 
arrival of General Buell with 40,000 more; 
but April 6 the Confederates came out from 
Corinth 50,000 strong and attacked Grant 
violently, hoping to overwhelm him before 
Buell could arrive ; 5,000 of his troops were 
beyond supporting distance, so that he was 
largely outnumbered and forced back to the 
river, where, however, he held out until 
dark, when the head of Buell's column 
came upon the field. The next day the 
Confederates were driven back to Corinth, 
nineteen miles. The loss was heavy on 
both sides ; Grant, being senior in rank to 
Buell, commanded on both days. Two 
days afterward Halleck arrived at the front 
and assumed command of the army. Grant 
remaining at the head of the right wing and 
the reserve. On May 30 Corinth was 
evacuated by the Confederates. In July 
Halleck was made General-in-Chief, and 
Grant succeeded him in command of the 
Department of the Tennessee. September 
19 the battle of luka was fought, where, 
owing to Rosecrans's fault, only an incom- 
plete victory was obtained. 

Ne.vt, Grant, with 30,000 men, moved 
down into Mississippi and threatened Vicks- 
burg, while Sherman, with 40,000 men, was 
sent by way of the river to attack that place 
in front; but, owing to Colonel Murphy's 
surrendering Holly Springs to the Con- 
federates, Grant was so weakened that he 
had to retire to Corinth, and then Sherman 
failed to sustain his intended attack. 

In January, 1863, General Grant took 
command in person of all the troops in the 
Mississippi Valley, and spent several months 
in fruitless attempts to compel the surrender 
or evacuation of Vicksburg; but July 4, 
following, the place surrendered, with 31,- 
600 men and 172 cannon, and the Mississippi 
River thus fell permanently into the hands 
of the Government. Grant was made a 



P/iESIDEXT.S OF J HE UMTED :STATb.!S. 



Major-General in the regular army, and in 
October following he was placed in com- 
mand of the Division of the Mississippi. 
The same month he went to Chattanooga 
and saved the Army of the Cumberland 
from starvation, and drove Bragg from that 
part of the country. This victory over- 
threw the last important hostile force west 
of the AUeghanies and opened the way for 
the National armies into Georgia and Sher- 
man's march to the sea. 

The remarkable series of successes which 
Grant had now achieved pointed him out 
as the appropriate leader of the National 
armies, and accordingly, in February, 1864, 
the rank of Lieutenant-General was created 
for him by Congress, and on March 17 he 
assumed command of the armies of the 
United States. Planning the grand final 
campaign, he sent Sherman into Georgia, 
Sigel into the valley of Virginia, and Butler 
to capture Richmond, while he fought his 
own way from the Rapidan to the James. 
The costly but victorious battles of the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna and 
Cold Harbor were fought, more for the 
purpose of annihilating Lee than to capture 
any particular point. In June, 1864, the 
siege of Richmond was begun. Sherman, 
meanwhile, was marching and fighting daily 
in Georgia and steadily advancing toward 
Atlanta ; but Sigel had been defeated in the 
valley of Virginia, and was superseded b}- 
Hunter. Lee sent Early to threaten the Na- 
tional capital ; whereupon Grant gathered 
up a force which he placed under Sheridan, 
and that commander rapidly drove Early, 
in a succession of battles, through the valley 
of Virginia and destroyed his army as an 
organized force. The siege of Richmond 
went on, and Grant made numerous attacks, 
but was only partially successful. The 
people of the North grew impatient, and 
even the Government advised him to 
abandon the attempt to take Richmond or 
crush the Confederacy- in that way ; but he 



fight it 



never wavered. He resolved to 

out on that line, if it took all summer." 

By September Sherman had made his 
way to Atlanta, and Grant then sent him 
on his famous " march to the sea," a route 
which the chief had designed six months 
before. He made Sherman's success possi- 
ble, not only by holding Lee in front of 
Richmond, but also by sending reinforce- 
ments to Thomas, who then drew off and 
defeated the only army which could have 
confronted Sherman. Thus the latter was 
left unopposed, and, with Thomas and Sheri- 
dan, was used in the furtherance of Grant's 
plans. Each executed his part in the great 
design and contributed his share to the re- 
sult at which Grant was aiming. Sherman 
finally reached Savannah, Schofield beat 
the enemy at Franklin, Thomas at Nash- 
ville, and Sheridan wherever he met him ; 
and all this while General Grant was hold- 
ing Lee, with the principal Confederate 
army, near Richmond, as it were chained 
and helpless. Then Schofield was brought 
from the West, and Fort Fisher and Wil- 
mington were captured on the sea-coast, so 
as to afford him a foothold ; from here he 
was sent into the interior of North Caro- 
lina, and Sherman was ordered to move 
northward to join him. When all this was 
effected, and Sheridan could find no one else 
to fight in the Shenandoah Valley, Grant 
brought the cavalry leader to the front of 
Richmond, and, making a last effort, drove 
Lee from his entrenchments and captured 
Richmond. 

At the beginning of the final campaign 
Lee had collected 73,000 fighting men in 
the lines at Richmond, besides the local 
militia and the gunboat crews, amounting 
to 5,000 more. Including Sheridan's force 
Grant had 1 10,000 men in the works before 
Petersburg and Richmond. Petersburg fell 
on the 2d of April, and Richmond on the 
3d, and Lee fled in the direction of L3'nch- 
burg. Grant pursued with remorseless 



C/ZrSSES S. GRANT. 



energy, only stopping to strike fresh blows, 
and Lee at last found himself not only out- 
fought but also out-marched and out-gen- 
eraled. Being completely surrounded, he 
surrendered on the 9th of April, 1865, at 
Appomattox Court-House, in the open field, 
with 27,000 men, all that remained of his 
army. This act virtuall)' ended the war. 
Thus, in ten days Grant had captured 
Petersburg and Richmond, fought, by his 
subordinates, the battles of Five Forks and 
Sailor's Creek, besides numerous smaller 
ones, captured 20,000 men in actual battle, 
and received the surrender of 27,000 more 
at Appomattox, absolutely annihilating an 
army of 70,000 soldiers. 

General Grant returned at once to Wash- 
ington to superintend the disbandment of 
the armies, but this pleasurable work was 
scarcely begun when President Lincoln was 
assassinated. It had doubtless been in- 
tended to inflict the same fate upon Grant; 
but he, fortunately, on account of leaving 
Washington early in the evening, declined 
an invitation to accompany the President 
to the theater where the murder was com- 
mitted. This event made Andrew Johnson 
President, but left Grant by far the most 
conspicuous figure in the public life of the 
country. He became the object of an en- 
thusiasm greater than had ever been known 
in America. Every possible honor was 
heaped upon him; the grade of General 
was created for him b)' Congress; houses 
were presented to him by citizens; towns 
were illuminated on his entrance into them ; 
and, to cap tiie climax, when he made his 
tour around the world, "all nations did him 
honor" as they had never before honored 
a foreigner. 

The General, as Commander-in-Chief, 
was placed in an embarrassing position by 
the opposition of President Johnson to the 
measures of Congress : but he directly man- 
ifested his characteristic loyalty by obeying 
Congress rather than the disaffected Presi- 



dent, although for a short time he had 
served in his cabinet as Secretary of War. 
Of course, everybody thought of General 
Grant as the next President of the United 
States, and he was accordingly elected as 
such in 1868 "by a large majority," and 
four years later re-elected by a much larger 
majority — the most overwhelming ever 
given by the people of this country. His first 
administration was distinguished by a ces- 
sation of the strifes which sprang from the 
war, by a large reduction of the National 
debt, and by a settlement of the difficulties 
with England which had grown out of the 
depredations committed by privateers fit- 
ted out in England during the war. This 
last settlement was made by the famous 
" Geneva arbitration," which saved to this 
Government $1 5,000,000, but, more than all, 
prevented a war with England. " Let us 
have peace," was Grant's motto. And this 
i is the most appropriate place to remark 
I that above all Presidents whom this Gov- 
j ernment has ever had, General Grant was 
the most non-partisan. He regarded the 
Executive office as purely and exclusively 
j executive of the laws of Congress, irrespect- 
ive of "politics." But every great man 
has jealous, bitter enemies, a fact Grant 
was well aware of. 

After the close of his Presidency, our 
General made his famous tour around the 
world, already referred to, and soon after- 
ward, in company with Ferdinand Ward, 
of New York City, he engaged in banking 
and stock brokerage, which business was 
made disastrous to Grant, as well as to him- 
self, by his rascality. By this time an in- 
curable cancer of the tongue developed 
itself in the person of the afflicted ex- 
President, which ended his unrequited life 
July 23, 1885. Thus passed away from 
earth's turmoils the man, the General, who 
was as truly the " father of this regenerated 
country" as was Washington the father of 
the infant nation. 



PNES/DEiVTS OF TUB UXITED STATES. 



i _/;3^ ■. I ^^t'fWfi'l'nrtt'/vii I't'JVJi l i'l nl'Vl'fVf RifYli'l'i ini't¥t'/¥i'i'-ni'il'/i I'l'tH. n'fn 





gi;iiiifi^B;goist) B. ^X¥i^^>'' 






UTHERFORD BIRCH- 

\ ARD HAYES, the nine- 

jAy teenth President of 

^f- the United States, 

i877-'8i, was born in 

?5iS^^' ^^l^^^^'"^' Ohio, Oc- 
'^"^^^p^ tober 4, 1822. His 
ancestry can be traced as far 
back as 1280, when Hayes and 
Rutherford were two Scottish 
chieftains fighting side by side 
with Baliol, William Wallace 
and Robert Bruce. Both fami- 
lies belonged to the nobility, 
owned extensive estates and had 
a large following. The Hayes 
family had, for a coat of-arms, a 
shield, barred and surmounted by a flying 
eagle. There was a circle of stars about 
the eagle and above the shield, while on a 
scroll underneath the shield was inscribed 
the motto, " Recte." Misfortune overtaking 
the family, George Hayes left Scotland in 
1680, and settled in Windsor, Connecticut. 
He was an industrious worker in wood and 
iron, having a mechanical genius and a cul- 
tivated mind. His son George was born 
in Windsor and remained there during his 
life. 

Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, married 
Sarah Lee, and lived in Sirasbury, Con- 



necticut. Ezekiel, son of Daniel, was born 
in 1724, and was a manufacturer of scythes 
at Bradford, Connecticut. Rutherford 
Hayes, son of Ezekiel and grandfather of 
President Ha3^es, was born in New Haven, 
in August, 1756. He was a famous black- 
smith and tavern-keeper. He immigrated to 
Vermont at an unknown date, settling in 
Brattleboro where he established a hotel. 
Here his son Rutherford, father of Presi- 
dent Hayes, was born. In September, 1813, 
he married Sophia Birchard, of Wilming- 
ton, Vermont, whose ancestry on the male 
side is traced back to 1635, to John Birch- 
ard, one of the principal founders of Nor- 
wich. Both of her grandfathers were 
soldiers in the Revolutionary war. 

The father of President Hayes was of a 
mechanical turn, and could mend a plow, 
knit a stocking, or do almost anything that 
he might undertake. He was prosperous 
in business, a member of the church and 
active in all the benevolent enterprises of 
the town. After the close of the war of 1 8 1 2 
he immigrated to Ohio, and purchased a 
farm near the present town of Delaware. 
His family then consisted of his wife and 
two children, and an orphan girl whom he 
had adopted. 

It was in 1817 that the family arrived at 
Delaware. Instead of settling upon his 




s. 






RUTIIERFOIiD li. If AYES. 



'OS 



farm, Mr. Hayes concluded to enter into 
business in the village. He purchased an 
interest in a distillery, a business then as re- 
spectable as it was profitable. His capital 
and recognized ability assured him the 
highest social position in the communit\'. 
He (lied Jul}- 22, 1822, less than three 
months before the birth of the son that was 
destined to fill the office of President of the 
United States. 

Mrs. Hayes at this period was very weak, 
and the subject of this sketch was so feeble 
at birth that he was not e.vpected to live 
beyond a month or two at most. As the 
months went by he grew weaker and weaker 
so that the neighbors were in the habit of 
inquiring from time to time " if Mrs. 
Hayes's baby died last night." On one oc- 
casion a neighbor, who was on friendly 
terms with the family, after alluding to the 
boy's big head and the mother's assiduous 
care of him, said to her, in a bantering way, 
"That's right! Stick to him. You have 
got him along so far, and I shouldn't won- 
der if he would really come to something 
yet." " You need not laugh," said Mrs. 
Hayes, " you wait and see. You can't tell 
but I shall make him President of the 
United States yet." 

The boy lived, in spite of the universal 
predictions of his speedy death; and when, 
in 1825, his elder brother was drowned, he 
became, if possible, still dearer to his mother. 
He was seven years old before he was 
placed in school. His education, however, 
was not neglected. His sports were almost 
wholly within doors, his playmates being 
his sister and her associates. These circum- 
stances tended, no doubt, to foster that 
gentleness of disposition and that delicate 
consideration for the feelings of others 
which are marked traits of his character. 
At school lie was ardently devoted to his 
studies, obedient to the teacher, and care- 
ful to avoid the quarrels in which many of 
his schoolmates were involved. He was 



always waiting at the school-house door 
when it opened in the morning, and never 
late in returning to his seat at recess. His 
sister Fannie was his constant companion, 
and their affection for each other excited 
the admiration of their friends. 

In 1838 young Hayes entered Kenyon 
College and graduated in 1842. He then 
began the study of law in the office of 
Thomas Sparrow at Columbus. His health 
was now well established, his figure robust, 
his mind vigorous and alert. In a short 
time he determined to enter the law school 
at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where for 
two years he pursued his studies with great 
diligence. 

In 1845 he was admitted to the bar at 
Marietta, Ohio, and shortly afterward went 
into practice as an attorney-at-law with 
Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. Here he 
remained three years, acquiring but limited 
practice, and apparently unambitir)us o( 
distinction in his profession. His bachelor 
uncle, Sardis Birchard, who had always 
manifested great interest in his nephew and 
rendered him assistance in boyhood, was 
now a wealth)' banker, and it was under- 
stood that the young man would be his 
heir. It is possible that this expectation 
may have made Mr. Hayes more indifferent 
to the attainment of wealth than he would 
otherwise have been, but he was led into no 
extravagance or vices on this account. 

In 1849 1^6 removed to Cincinnati where 
his ambition found new stimulus. Two 
events occurring at this period had a pow- 
erful influence upon his subsequent life. 
One of them was his marriage to Miss 
Lucy Ware Webb, daughter of Dr. James 
Webb, of Cincinnati; the other was his 
introduction to the Cincinnati Literary 
Club, a body embracing such men as Chief 
Justice Salmon P. Chase, General John 
Pope and Governor Edward F. Noyes. 
The marriage was a fortunate one as every 
bod)' knows. Not one of all the wives ol 



io6 



PBESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



our Presidents was more universally ad- 
mired, reverenced and beloved than is Mrs. 
Hayes, and no one has done more than she 
to reflect honor upon American woman- 
hood. 

In 1856 Mr. Hayes was nominated to the 
office of Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas, but declined to accept the nomina- 
tion. Two years later he was chosen to the 
office of City Solicitor. 

In 1861, when the Rebellion broke out, 
he was eager to take up arms in the defense 
of his country. His military life was 
bright and illustrious. June 7, 1861, he 
was appointed Major of the Twenty-third 
Ohio Infantry. In July the regiment was 
sent to Virginia. October 15, 1861, he was 
made Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment, 
and in August, 1862, was promoted Colonel 
of the Seventy-ninth Ohio Regiment, but 
refused to leave his old comrades. He was 
wounded at the battle of South Mountain, 
and suffered severely, being unable to enter 
upon active duty for several weeks. No- 
vember 30, 1862, he rejoined his regiment as 
its Colonel, having been promoted Octo- 
ber 15. 

December 25, 1862, he was placed in com- 
mand of the Kanawha division, and for 
meritorious service in several battles was 
promoted Brigadier-General. He was also 
brevetted Major-General for distinguished 



services in 1864. He was wounded lour 
times, and five horses were shot from 
under him. 

Mr. Hayes was first a Whig in politics, 
and was among the first to unite with the 
Free-Soil and Republican parties. In 1864 
he was elected to Congress from che Sec- 
ond Ohio District, which had always been 
Democratic, receiving a majority of 3,098. 
In 1866 he was renominated for Congress 
and was a second time elected. In 1867 he 
was elected Governor over Allen G. Thur- 
man, the Democratic candidate, and re- 
elected in 1869. In 1874 Sardis Birchard 
died, leaving his large estate to General 
Hayes. 

In 1876 he was nominated for the Presi- 
dency. His letter of acceptance excited 
the admiration of the whole country. He 
resigned the office of Governor and retired 
to his home in Fremont to await the result 
of the canvass. After a hard, long contest 
he was inaugurated March 5, 1877. His 
Presidency was characterized by compro- 
mises with all parties, in order to please as 
man}' as possible. The close of his Presi- 
dential term in 1881 was the close of his 
public life, and since then he has remained 
at his home in Fremont, Ohio, in Jefferso- 
nian retirement from public notice, in strik- 
ing contrast with most others of the world's 
notables. 



JAMES A. OAltFlELD. 



lOg 






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AMES A. GARFIELD, 

twentieth President of 
the United States, i88i, 
was born November 19, 
1 83 1, in the wild woods 
v o f Cuyahoga County, 
Ohio. His parents were 
Abram and Eliza (Ballou) 
Garfield, who were of New 
England ancestr3\ The 
senior Garfield was an in- 
'' dustrious farmer, as the 
rapid improvements which 
appeared on his place at- 
tested. The residence was 
the familiar pioneer log cabin, 
and the household comprised the parents 
and their children — Mehetable, Thomas, 
Marv and James A. In May, 1833, the 
father died, and the care of the house- 
hold consequently devolved upon young 
Thomas, to whom James was greatly in- 
debted for the educational and other ad- 
vantages he enjoyed. He now lives in 
Michigan, and the two sisters live in Solon, 
Ohio, near their birthplace. 

As the subject of our sketch grew up, he, 
too, was industrious, both in mental and 
physical labor. He worked upon the farm, 
or at carpentering, or chopped wood, or at 
an}^ other odd job that would aid in support 
of the family, and in the meantime made the 



most of his books. Ever afterward he was 
never ashamed of his humble origin, nor for- 
got the friends of his youth. The poorest 
laborer was sure of his sympathy, and he 
always exhibited the character of a modest 
gentleman. 

Until he was about sixteen years of age, 
James's highest ambition was 10 be a lake 
captain. To this his mother was strongly 
opposed, but she finally consented to his 
going to Cleveland to carry out his long- 
cherished design, with the understanding, 
however, that he should try to obtain some 
other kind of emplo3-ment. He walked all 
the way to Cleveland, and this was his first 
visit to the city. After making many ap- 
plications for work, including labor on 
board a lake vessel, but all in vain, he 
finally engaged as a driver for his cousin, 
Amos Letcher, on the Ohio & Pennsyl- 
vania Canal. In a short time, however, he 
quit this and returned home. He then at- 
tended the seminary at Chester for about 
three years, and next he entered Hiram In- 
stitute, a school started in 1850 by the 
Disciples of Christ, of which church he was 
a member. In order to pay his way he 
assumed the duties of janitor, and at times 
taught school. He soon completed the cur- 
riculum there, and then entered Williams 
College, at which he graduated in 1856, 
taking one of the highest honors of his class. 



PRES/DEWTS OF THR UNITED STATES. 



Afterward he returned to Hiram as Presi- 
dent. In his youthful and therefore zealous 
piety, he exercised his talents occasionally 
as a preacher of the Gospel. He was a 
man of strong moral and religious convic- 
tions, and as soon as he began to look into 
politics, he saw innumerable points that 
could be improved. He also studied law, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1859. 
November 11, 1858, Mr. Garfield married 
Miss Lucretia Rudolph, who ever after- 
ward proved a worthy consort in all the 
stages of her husband's career. They had 
seven children, five of whom are still living. 

It was in 1859 that Garfield made his 
first political speeches, in Hiram and the 
neighboring \'illages, and three years later 
he began to speak at county mass-meetings, 
being received everywhere with popular 
favor. He was elected to the State Senate 
this 3'ear, taking his seat in January, i860. 

On the breaking out of the war of the 
Rebellion in 1861, Mr. Garfield resolved to 
fight as he had talked, and accordingly he 
enlisted to defend the old flag, receiving 
his commission as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
Fortv-second Regiment of the Ohio Volun- 
teer Infantr}', August 14, that year. He 
was immediatel}' thrown into active service, 
and before he had ever seen a gun fired in 
action he was placed in command of four 
regiments of infantry and eight companies 
of cavalry, charged with the work of driv- 
ing the Confederates, headed by Humphrey 
Marshall, from his native State, Kentucky. 
This task was speedily accomplished, al- 
though against great odds. On account of 
his success. President Lincoln commissioned 
him Brigadier-General, January 11, 1862; 
and, as he had been the youngest man in 
the Ohio Senate two years before, so now 
he was the 3oungest General in the army. 
He was with General Buell's army at Shi- 
loh, also in its operations around Corinth 
and its march through Alabama. Next, he 
was detailed as a member of the sfeneral 



court-martial for the trial of General Fitz- 
John Porter, and then ordered to report to 
General Rosecians, when he was assigned 
to the position of Chief of Staff. His mili- 
tary history closed with his brilliant ser- 
vices at Chickamauga, where he won the 
stars of Major-General. 

In the fall of 1862, without any effort on 
his part, he was elected as a Representative 
to Congress, from that section of Ohio 
which had been represented f(jr sixty years 
mainly by two men — Elisha Whittlesey and 
Joshua R. Giddings. Again, he was the 
youngest member of that body, and con- 
tinued there by successive re-elections, as 
Representative or Senator, until he was 
elected President in 1880. During his life 
in Congress he compiled and published by 
his speeches, there and elsewhere, more 
information on the issues of the day, espe- 
cially on one side, than any other member. 

June 8, 1880, at the National Republican 
Convention held in Chicago, General Gar- 
field was nominated for the Presidency, in 
preference to the old war-horses, Blaine 
and Grant ; and although many of the Re- 
publican party felt sore over the failure of 
their respective heroes to obtain the nomi- 
nation, General Garfield was elected by a 
fair popular majority. He was duly in- 
augurated, but on Juh' 2 following, before 
he had fairly got started in his adininistra- 
tion, he was fatally shot by a half-demented 
assassin. After ver}^ painful and protracted 
suffering, he died September 19, 1881, la- 
mented by all the American people. Never 
before in the history of this C(^untry had 
anything occurred which so nearly froze 
the blood of the Nation, for the moment, as 
the awful act (jf Guiteau, the murderer. 
He was duh- tried, convicted and put to 
death on the gallows. 

The lamented Garfield was succeeded by 
the Vice-President, General Arthur, who 
seemed to endeavor to carry out the policy 
inaugurated by his predecessor. 




^£^A^ 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



"3 





HESTER ALLEN 
ARTHUR, the tvven- 
t\--first Chief Execu- 
tive of this growing 
republic, i88i-'5, was 
horn in Franklin 
County, Vermont, 
October 5, 1830, the eldest of a 
family of two sons and five 
daughters. His father, Rev. 
illiam Arthur, a Baptist 
nan, immigrated to this 
country from County Antrim, 
Ireland, in his eighteenth year, 
and died in 1875, in Newton- 
ville, near Albany, New York, 
after serving many years as a successful 
minister. Chester A. was educated at that 
old, conservative institution, Union Col- 
lege, at Schenectady, New York, where he 
excelled in all his studies. He graduated 
there, with honor, and then struck out in 
life for himself by teaching school for about 
two years in his native State. 

At the expiration of that time young 
Arthur, with $500 in his purse, went to the 
city of New York and entered the law office 
of ex-Judge E. D. Culver as a student. In 
due time he was admitted to the bar, when 
he formed a partnership with his intimate 



friend and old room-mate, Henry D. Gar. 
diner, with the intention of practicing law 
at some point in the West; but after spend- 
ing about three months in the Westen. 
States, in search of an eligible place, they 
returned to New York City, leased a room, 
exhibited a sign of their business and al- 
most immediately enjoyed a paying patron- 
age. 

At this stage of his career Mr. Arthur's 
business prospects were so encouraging 
that he concluded to take a wife, and ac- 
cordingly he married the daughter of Lieu- 
tenant Herndon, of the United States Nav)', 
who had been lost at sea. To the widow 
of the latter Congress voted a gold medal, 
in recognition of the Lieutenant's bravery 
during the occasion in which he lost his 
life. Mrs. Artnur died shortly before her 
husband's nomination to the Vice-Presi- 
dency, leaving two children. 

Mr. Arthur obtained considerable celeb- 
rity as an attorney in the famous Lemmon 
suit, which was brought to recover posses- 
sion of eight slaves, who had been declared 
free by the Superior Court of New York 
City. The noted Charles O'Conor, who 
was nominated by the " Straight Demo- 
crats" in 1872 for the United States Presi- 
dency, was retained by Jonathan G. Lem- 



114 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



mon, of Virginia, to recover the negroes, 
but he lost the suit. In this case, however, 
Mr. Arthur was assisted by William M. 
Evarts, now United States Senator. Soon 
afterward, in 1856, a respectable colored 
woman was ejected from a street car in 
New York City. Mr. Arthur sued the car 
company in iier behalf and recovered $500 _ 
damages. Immediately afterward all the 
car companies in the city issued orders to 
their employes to admit colored persons 
upon their cars. 

Mr. Arthur's political doctrines, as well 
as his practice as a lawyer, raised him to 
prominence in the party of freedom ; and 
accordingly he was sent as a delegate to 
the first National Republican Convention. 
Soon afterward he was appointed Judge 
Advocate for the Second Brigade of the 
State of New York, and then Engineer-in- 
Chief on Governor Morgan's staff. In 1861, 
the first year of the war, he was made In- 
spector-General, and next, Quartermaster- 
General, in both which offices he rendered 
great service to the Government. After 
the close of Governor Morgan's term he 
resumed the practice of law, forming first a 
partnership with Mr. Ransom, and subse- 
quently adding Mr. Phelps to the firm. 
Each of these gentlemen were able lawyers. 

November 21, 1872, General Arthur was 
appointed Collector of the Port of New 
York by President Grant, and he held the 
office until July 20, 1878. 

The next event of prominence in General 
Arthur's career was his nomination to the 
V ice-Presidency of the United States, under 
the influence of Roscoe Conkling, at the 
National Republican Convention held at 
Chicago in June, i88o, when James A. Gar- 
field was placed at the head of the ticket. 
Both the convention and the campaign that 
followed were noisy and exciting. The 
iriends of Grant, constituting nearly half 



the convention, were exceedingly persist- 
ent, and were sorely disappointed over 
their defeat. At the head of the Demo- 
cratic ticket was placed a very strong and 
popular man ; yet Garfield and Arthur were 
elected by a respectable plurality of the 
popular vote. The 4th of March following, 
these gentlemen were accordingl3- inaugu- 
rated ; but within four months the assassin's 
bullet made a fatal wound in the person of 
General Garfield, whose life terminated 
September 19, 1881, when General Arthur, 
ex officio, was ob'iiged to take the chief 
reins of government. Some misgivings 
were entertained by many in this event, as 
Mr. Arthur was thought to represent espe 
cially the Grant and Conkling wing of the 
Republican party ; but President Arthur 
had both the ability and tne good sense to 
allay all fears, and he gave the restless, 
critical American people as good an ad- 
ministration as they had ever been blessed 
with. Neither selfishness nor low parti- 
sanism ever characterized any feature of 
his public service. He ever maintained a 
high sense of every individual right as well 
as of the Nation's honor. Indeed, he stood 
so high that his successor, President Cleve- 
land, though of opposing poHtics, expressed 
a wish in his inaugural address that he 
could onl}^ satisf}' the people with as good 
an administration. 

But the day of civil service reform had 
come in so far, and the corresponding re- 
action against "third-termism" had en- 
croached so far even upon "second-term" 
service, that the Republican party saw fit 
in 1884 to nominate another man for Presi- 
dent. Only by this means was General 
Arthur's tenure of office closed at Wash- 
ington. On his retirement from the Presi- 
dency, March, 1885, he engaged in the 
practice of law at New York City, where ho 
died Koveniher 18, 1886. 




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OROVRR CrnVELAND. 



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ROVER CLEVE- 
LAND, the twenty- 
second President of the 
United States, 1885—, 
was born in Caldwell, 
Essex Coiintv, New 
J e rs e)- , ^Llrch 18, 
1^ - i*;-^^ 1837. The house in which he 
•^AiZ'S^V' was born, a small tvvo-storv 
wooden building, is still stand- 
^^^^^":^ ing-. It was the parsonage of 
tCji^^J J the Presbyterian church, of 
which his latiier, Richard 
Cleveland, at the time was 
pastor. The family is of New 
England origin, and for two centuries has 
contributed to the professions and to busi- 
ness, men who have reflected honor on the 
name. Aaron Cleveland, Grover Cleve- 
land's great-great-grandfather, was born in 
Massachusetts, but subsequently moved to 
Philadelphia, where he became an intimate 
friend of Benjamin Franklin, at whose 
house he died. He left a large family of 
children, who in time married and settled 
in different parts of New England. A 
grandson was one of the small American 
force that fought the British at Bunker 
Hill. He served with gallantry through- 
out the Revolution and was honorably 
discharged at its close as a Lieutenant in 
the Continental army. Another grandson, 
William Cleveland (a son of a second Aaron 



;<■*•>>»>> 






Cleveland, who was distinguished as a 
writer and member of the Connecticut 
Legislature) was Grover Cleveland's grand- 
father. William Cleveland became a silver- 
smith in Norwich, Connecticut. He ac- 
quired by industry some property and sent 
his son, Richard Cleveland, the father of 
Grover Cleveland, to Yale College, where 
he graduated in 1824. During a year spent 
in teaching at Baltimore, ALiryland, after 
graduation, he met and fell in love with a 
Miss Annie Neale, daughter of a wealthy 
Baltimore book publisher, of Irish birth. 
He was earning his own way in the world 
at the time and was unable to marry; but 
in three years he completed a course of 
prepai:;3tion for the ministry, secured a 
church in Windham, Connecticut, and 
married Annie Neale. Subsequently he 
moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, where he 
preached for nearly two years, when he 
was summoned to Caldwell, New Jersey, 
where was born Grover Cleveland. 

When he was three years old the family 
moved to Fa3'etteville, Onondaga County, 
New York. Here Grover Cleveland lived 
until he was fourteenyearsold, the rugged, 
healthful life of a country boy. His frank, 
generous manner made him a favorite 
among his companions, and their respect 
was won by the good qualities in the germ 
which his manhood developed. He at- 
tended the district school of the village and 



iiS 



PRES/DEXTS OF THE V SITED STATES. 



was for a short time at the academy. His 
lather, however, believed that boys should 
be taught to labor at an earl)' age, and be- 
fore he had completed the course of studv 
at the academy he began to work in the 
village store at S50 for the first year, and the 
promise of $100 for the second vear. His 
work was well done and the promised in- 
crease of pay was granted the second year. 

Meanwhile his father and family had 
moved to Clinton, the seat of Hamilton 
College, where his father acted as agent to 
the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, 
preaching in the churches of the vicinity. 
Hither Grover came at his father's request I 
shortly after the beginning of his second 
year at the Favetteville store, and resumed 
his studies at the Clinton Academv. After 
three years spent in this town, the Rev. 
Pilchard Cleveland was called to the vil- 
lage church of Holland Patent. He had 
preached here only a month when he was 
suddenly stricken down and died without 
an hour's warning. The death of the father 
left the family in straitened circumstances, 
as Richard Cleveland had spent all his 
salary of $1,000 per year, which was not 
required for the necessary expenses of liv- 
ing, upon the education of his children, of , 
whom there were nine, Grover being the 
fifth. Grover was hoping to enter Hamil- 
ton College, but the death of his father 
made it necessary for him to earn his own 
livelihood. For the first year (1853-4) he , 
acted as assistant teacher and bookkeeper in , 
the Institution for the Blind in New York 
City, of which the late Augustus Schell was 
for many years the patron. In the winter 
of 1S54 he returned to Holland Patent 
nhere the generous people of that place, 
Favetteville and Clinton, had purchased a 
home for his mother, and in the following 
spring, borrowing $25, he set out for the 
West to earn his living. 

Reaching Buffalo he paid a hasty visit to 
an uncle, Lewis F. Allen, a well-known 



stock farmer, living at Black Rock, a few 
miles distant. He communicated his plans 
to Mr. Allen, who discouraged the idea of 
the West, and finally induced the enthusi- 
astic boy of seventeen to remain with him 
and help him prepare a catalogue of blooded 
short-horn cattle, knownas " Allen's Amer- 
ican Herd Book," a publication familiar to 
all breeders of cattle. In August. 1855, he 
entered the law office of Rogers, Bowen 
& Rogers, at Buffalo, and after serving a 
few months without pay, was paid $4 a 
week — an amount barelv sufficient to meet 
the necessary expenses of his board in the 
famih' of a fellow-student in Buffalo, with 
whom he took lodgings. Life at this time 
with Grover Cleveland was a stern battle 
with the world. He took his breakfast bv 
candle-light with the drovers, and went at 
once to the office where the whole day was 
spent in work and study. L^sually he re- 
turned again at night to resume reading 
which had been interrupted bv the duties 
of the day. Gradually his employers came 
to recognize the ability, trustworthiness 
and capacitv for hard work in their young 
employe, and by the time he was admitted 
to the bar (1859) he stood high in their con- 
fidence. A year later he was made confi- 
dential and managing clerk, and in the 
course of three 3'ears more his salary had 
been raised to $1,000. In 1863 he was ap- 
pointed assistant district attorney of Erie 
Count}' by the district attorney, the Hon. 
C. C. Torrance. 

Since his first vote had been cast in 1S58 
he had been a staunch Democrat, and until 
he was chosen Governor he always made 
it his duty, rain or shine, to stand at the 
polls and give out ballots to Democratic 
voters. During the first year of his term 
as assistant district attorney, the Democrats 
desired especially to carry the Board of Su- 
pervisors. The old Second Ward in which 
he lived was Republican- ordinarily by 250 
majority, but at the urgent request oi the 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 



119 



party Grover Cleveland consented to be 
the Democratic candidate for Supervisor, 
and came within thirteen votes of an elec- 
tion. The three years spent in the district 
attorney's office were devoted to assiduous 
labor and the extension of his professional 
attainments. He then formed a law part- 
nership with the late Isaac V. Vanderpoel, 
ex-State Treasurer, under the firm name 
of Vanderpoel & Cleveland. Here the bulk 
of the work devolved on Cleveland's shoul- 
ders, and he soon won a good standing at 
the bar of Erie County. In 1869 Mr. 
Cleveland formed a partnership with ex- 
Senator A. P. Laning and ex-Assistant 
United States District Attorney Oscar Fol- 
som, under the firm name of Laning, Cleve- 
land & Folsom. During these years he 
began to earn a moderate professional in- 
come; but the larger portion of it was sent 
to his mother and sisters at Holland Patent 
to whose support he had contributed ever 
since i860. He served as sheriff of Erie 
County, i870-'4, and then resumed the 
practice of law, associating himself with the 
Hon. Lyman K. Bass and Wilson S. Bissell. 



The firm was strong and popular, and soon 
commanded a large and lucrative practice. 
Ill health forced the retirement of Mr. Bass 
in 1879, and the firm became Cleveland & 
Bissell. In 18S1 Mr. George J. Sicard was 
added to the firm. 

In the autumn election of 1881 he was 
elected mayor of Buffalo by a majority of 
over 3,500 — the largest majority ever given 
a candidate for mayor — and the Democratic 
city ticket was successful, although the 
Republicans carried Buffalo by over 1,000 
majority for their State ticket. Grover 
Cleveland's administration as mayor full/ 
justified the confidence reposed in him by 
the people of Buffalo, evidenced by the 
great vote he received. 

The Democratic State Convention met 
at Syracuse, September 22, 1882, and nomi- 
nated Grover Cleveland for Governor 
on the third ballot and Cleveland was 
elected by 193,000 majoritv. In the fall of 
1 884 he was elected President of the United 
States by about 1,000 popular majority, 
in New York State, and he was accordingly 
inaugurated the 4th of March following. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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BENJAMIN HAI^I^ISON. | 



l_5 




ENJAMIN HARRISON, 
the twenty-third Presi- 
dent o-f the United States, 
1889, was born at North 
Bend, Hamilton County, 
Ohio, in the house of his 
grandfather, "William Hen- 
ry Harrison (who was the 
ninth President of this 
country), August 20th, 
1833. He is a descendant 
of one of the historical 
families of this country, as 
also of England. The 
head of the family was a 
Major-General Harrison 
who was devoted to the cause of Oliver 
Cromwell. It became the duty of this Har- 
rison to participate in the trial of Charles 1. 
and afterward to sign the death warrant of 
the king, which subsequently cost him his 
life. His enemies succeeding to power, he 
was condemned and executed October 13th, 
IfitJO. His descendants came to America, 
and the tirst mention made in history of the 
Harrison family as representative in public 
affairs, is that of Benjamin Harrison, great- 
grandfather of our present President, who 
was a member of the Continental Congress, 
1774-5-6, and one of the original signers of 



the Declaration of Independence, and three 
times Governor of Virginia. His son, Will- 
iam Henry Harrison, made a brilliant mili- 
tary record, was Governor of the Northwest 
Territory, and the ninth President of the 
United States. 

The subject of this sketch at an early age 
became a student at Farmers College, where 
he remained two years, at the end of which 
time he entered Miami University, at Ox- 
ford, Ohio. Upon graduation from said seat 
of learning he entered, as a student, the of- 
fice of Stover & Gwyne, a notable law firm at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, where he applied himself 
closely to the study of his chosen profession, 
and here laid the foundation for the honora- 
ble and famous career before him. He spent 
two years with the firm in Cincinnati, at the 
expiration of which time he received the 
only inheritance of his life, which was a lot 
left him by an aunt, which he sold for $800. 
This sum he deemed sufficient to justify him 
in marrying the lady of his choice, and to 
whom he was then engaged, a daughter of 
Dr. Scott, then Principal of a female school 
at Oxford, Ohio. 

After marriage he located at Indianapolis, 
Indiana, where he began the practice of law. 
Meeting with slight encouragement he made 
but little the first year, but applied himself 





'.CK^^ 



BENJAMiy HARRISON. 



>23 



closely to his business, and by perseverance, 
honorable dealing and an upright life, suc- 
ceeded ill building upan extensive practice and 
took a leading position in the legal profession. 

In 1860 he was nominated for the position 
of Supreme Court Reporter for the State of 
Indiana, and then began his experience as a 
stump speaker. He canvassed the State 
thoroughly and was elected. 

In 1802 his patriotism caused him to 
abandon a civil otfiee and to offer his country 
his services in a military capacity. He or- 
ganized the Seventieth Indiana Infantry and 
was chosen its Colonel. Although his regi- 
ment was composed of raw material, and he 
practically void of military schooling, be at 
once mastered military t.ictics and drilled his 
men, so that when he with his regiment was 
assigned to Gen. Sherman's command it was 
known as one of the best drilled organ- 
izations of the army. He was especially 
distinguished for bravery at the battles of 
Kesacca and Peach Tree Creek. For his 
bravery and efficiency at the last named bat- 
tle he was made a Brigadier-General, Gen- 
eral Hooker speaking of him in the most 
complimentary terras. 

While General Harrison was actively en- 
gaged in the field the Supreme Court declared 
the office of Supreme Court Reporter vacant, 
and another person was elected to fill the 
position. From the time of leaving Indiana 
with his regiment for the front, until the fall 
of 1804, General Harrison had taken no leave 
of absence. But having been nominated 
that year for the same office that he vacated 
in order to serve his country where he could 
do the greatest good, he got a thirty-day leave 
of absence, and during that time canvassed 
the State and was elected for another term as 
Supreme Court Reporter. He then started 
to rejoin liis command, then with General 
Sherman in the South, but was stricken down 



with fever and after a very trying siege, made 
his way to the front, and participated in the 
closing scenes and incidents of the war. 

In 1868 General Harrison declined a re- 
election as Reporter, and applied himself to 
the practice of his profession. He was a 
candidate for Governor of Indiana on the 
Republican ticket in 1876. Although de- 
feated, the brilliant campaign brought him 
to public notice and gave him a iVational 
reputation as an able and formidable debater 
and lie was much songht in the Eastern 
States as a public speaker. He took an act- 
ive part in the Presidential campaign of 
1880, and was elected to the United States 
Senate, where he served six years, and was 
known as one of the strongest debaters, as 
well as one of the ablest men and best law- 
yers. When his term expired in the Senate 
he resumed his law practice at Indianapolis, 
becoming the head of one of the strongest 
law firms in the State of Indiana. 

Sometime prior to the opening of the 
Presidential campaign of 1888, the two great 
political parties (Republican and Democratic) 
drew the line of political battle on the ques- 
tion of tariff, which became the leading issue 
and the rallyi'^g watchword during the mem- 
orable camp f."^-n. The Republicans appealed 
to the people for their voice as to a tariff to 
protect home industries, while the Democrats 
wanted a tariff for revenue only. The Re- 
publican convention assembled in Chicago in 
June and selected Mr. Harrison as their 
standard bearer on a platform of ] rinciples, 
among other important clauses being that of 
protection, which he cordially indorsed in 
accepting the nomination. November 6, 
1888, after a heated canvass. General Harri- 
son was elected, defeating Grover Cleveland, 
who was again the nominee of the Demo- 
cratic party. He was inaugurated and as- 
sumed the duties of his office March -1, lSii9. 



TWSTC^'T'bV^S^T^ "W' 



-OF- 



DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS. 



IN GENERAL. 

fcF the large number of counties in this 
great State of Texas, it is universally con- 

^ ceded, not only by the citizens of the 
State, but also by all passing immigrants, that 
for richness of soil, congeniality of climate, 
charming and delightful scenery, a cultivated 
and hospital people, Dallas county can not be 
surpassed. Truly has it been said that she is 
the "banner county of the State." 

Situated in the center of the northern por- 
tion of the State, on what might be called a 
high rolling plateau, it is bounded on the north 
by tlie county of Denton, east by Collin and 
Kaufman, south by Ellis and west by Tar- 
rant. 

GEOLOGY. 

The geological formation of the soil of 
Dallas county and of the strata beneath be- 
longs in geology to that period classed as Meso- 
zoic time and in the Cretaceous period, the 
lower division of this being uncrystaline 
or of aqueous origin. There is a stratum 
of white limestone rock beneath the deep, 
rich, loamy black soil, which appears universal 

through the entire county. Sometimes it 
10 



crops out and extends for miles, scattering 
here and there, giving a mixed soil of black 
with small white and greyish lime rocks. 
Especially is this frequently seen in the west 
ern portion of the county. This soil is very 
superiorly adapted to the growing of small 
grains of almost every kind. 

Beneath this limestone is sometimes found 
beds of gravel, which is most conveniently 
utilized in improving roads and streets. 
These beds are found to be of remarkable var- 
iation of depth and dimensions, and must 
have been formed here when the waters cov- 
ered the surface, having been drifted hither 
and thither by tlie surging waters. This 
gravel is lasting, as it consists chiefly of 
quartz, and of course is never ground into 
powder when used, while the white and gray- 
ish limestone found immediately beneath the 
soil crumbles on being exposed to the ele- 
ments, and of course is not only worthless for 
paving roads and avenues but also for all 
building purposes of an}' kind. 

The very best of lime has been manufac- 
tured out of this stratum of limestone, and, 
owing to this formation,nearly all the springs 
and streams are of hard water. There are 



126 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



exceptions, of course, as in the case of deep 
wells sunk beneath the strata and where water 
is found in gravel or in a stratum beneath 
that of the limestone. 

SOIL AND OTHEE PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

There is what is commonly, and most ap- 
propriately, termed the "black strip" of soil, 
about sixty miles in width, becrinning at Ked 
river, the dividing line between Texas and 
the Indian Territory, sweeping through Texas 
and extending almost to the Gulf of Mexico, 
and embraces the richest and most productive 
soil in the State. Dallas county is largely in 
this strip. While the surface consists in the 
greater ineasure of rolling prairie most de- 
lightful to the eye, especially when clothed 
in spring time with fresh green verdure, it is 
traversed by cross timbers that cluster on the 
banks of the Trinity river, which flows diag- 
onally almost through its center, also on 
smaller streams and ravines. The soil is of 
that black, rich, loamy texture characteristic 
of the most productive known to geologists, 
and in some portions of the county it consists 
of that black, waxy character most charm- 
ingly adapted to almost every product known 
to the Southern climate. 

The rich, black soil sometimes extends to 
the depth of four and live feet, and is said to 
never diminish its strength in giving forth 
produce like that of the sandy or clay-like 
soil. On this the finest vegetation grows. 
When this county was unsettled the wild 
grass would grow to the height of an ordi- 
nary man. It was proverbial that the hunter 
would sometimes become lost in the grass. 



and, straying off from his companions, entail 
upon himself the greatest difficulty to find 
his bearings. This grass was not entirely 
over the county, but only in some sections. 
A heavy mat of turf, however, was extended 
over the entire surface of the soil, especially 
on the prairies, and it was so strongly matted, 
and the black, sticky soil so compact that it 
was of the greatest difficulty to break it up so 
as to make it arable for farming purposes. It 
was, therefore, common to see the farmer in 
primeval days of the county with from six to 
eight yoke of oxen, or with from four to Fix 
mules, hitched to a large plow, breaking up 
his prairie lands, doing what was commonly 
called "sodding;" but as the county became 
more thickly populated and rains fell more 
frequently, thereby moistening the surface, 
this task of "sodding" became less irksome 
— so much so that at the present period of 
development it is common to see the farmer 
seated on his sulky plow, with only two 
horses, plowing this wild laud; in other words, 
sodding his new lands. This soil, once 
thought to produce nothing with any cer- 
tainty but corn and cotton, has been found 
to contain those elements and ingredients 
productive of all kinds of small grains, and in 
fact almost every kind of vegetation known 
to the Southern climate. 



TIMBEK. 



There is but a small quantity of timber, 
comparatively speaking, in the county, and 
that is found as stated, clustering on tlie 
streams, and, while not adapted for building 
purposes, it affords great comfort and con- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



127 



venience to the citizen for fuel in winter a8 
well as protection to stock from the cold 
blasts of the northern winds, commonly 
called the "Texas Norther." This timber 
consists of oak, sycamore, pecan, hackberry, 
walnut, Cottonwood, red and white elm, black- 
jack, box-elder, red haw, locust, hickory, wild 
china, cedar, gum-elastic, ash and "bois 
d'arc" (osage orange); and a peculiarity about 
it is, it does not grow to a great height. It 
is mostly stumpy, except immediately on 
the banks of the Trinity river. Here you 
find occasionally a large cottonwood, elm 
or hackberry. This timber has also an under- 
growth called "underbrush," which makes it 
sometimes very difficult to pass through. 

At an early date, the farmers enclosed their 
farms with rails and brush, hauled for miles 
from tiiese cross timl)erti, iiut as the popula- 
tion increased, and the timber became more 
scarce, and dear in price, bois-d'arc hedges 
were substituted, and afterward the barbed 
wire. 

AGEICULTUKAL. 

At the present period of development, 
almost every farmer in the county has his 
iuclosure fenced witl) barbed wire. The 
introduction of this wire was a great blessing 
to the people. In fact, it would have been 
almost impossible for the people in the 
county to have gotten along without it. 

Cotton, corn, wheat, and oats, raised per 
acre, in Dallas county, cannot be surpassed 
in any county in tlie State. Truly might it 
be said that the quantity per acre on some 

of the choice lands of this county, approxi- 



mates that of the richest soil in the Missis- 
sippi valley. The cotton stalk is known to 
grow so high in places that a man can 
scarcely reach to the top, and the limbs so 
heavy with bolls that they sometimes break 
from the main stem. Corn and wheat are 
raised in great quantities. All vegetables 
are grown with ease. Sweet and Irish pota- 
toes, sorghum, — in fact almost all produce 
raised in a southern climate are produced 
on this soil. The largest, sweetest, finest 
quality of fruit, of almost every kind, such 
as peaches, apricots, apples, grapes, cherries 
pears, plums, etc., are produced. Water- 
melons are a marvel in size, in their season. 
The average yield of wheat per acre is from 
fifteen to thirty bushels; cotton from one-half 
bale to a bale, corn, from thirty to seventy 
bushels; oats, from thirty-five to eighty 
bushels; and hay, both native and cultivated, 
cannot be surpassed. The Johnson and Ber- 
muda grasses, and millet, are raised in 
abundance. All of the abos'e produce always 
brings the very highest prices in the markets 
of the country. 

WATER COOKSES, WELLS, ETC. 

Dallas county is one of the best-watered 
counties in the State. Besides the Trinity 
river, there is the Five- Mile creek, and 
the Ten-Mile creek, — so denominated because 
of the distance from Dallas, the largest and 
central city in its borders. 

Almost all these smaller streams merge 
into the Trinity river. Beside these, there 
are many everflowing springs. 

The people are supplied with water by 



128 



HISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



wells, in which any quantity can be secured 
by digging to only a shallow depth. Very 
frequently, at the depth of from fifteen to 
twenty feet, an abundance is secured. The 
wealthier citizens have flowing artesian wells, 
which are at present becoming quite common 
in this county. After boring down a few 
hundred feet, the artesian water, as clear as 
a crystal, will burst forth, sometimes as high 
as twenty feet above the surface. The water 
from the ordinary wells, springs and creeks 
is principally from magnesian limestone, 
and of course very healthful. That of the 
artesian wells is pure, a little warm, but 
delightful, after remaining exposed to the 
air a short while. Rain-water in cisterns is 
used by many, and more especially in pools, 
called " tanks," which are denominated in the 
East as ponds. These tanks are commonly 
used by farmers for stock. They dam up a 
ravine or dig a place in some low spot on the 
prairie, so the water sometimes can bank up 
for the distance of a half mile. This is a 
very common means of securing water for 
cattle, and it was, indeed, more common with 
earlier settlers than now, when long droughts 
visited the county and lasted for several 
months. During tlie periods of droughts, 
the people would drive their cattle for miles, 
to a neighbor's tank. No such droughts now 
visit the county. 



TEMPERATURE. 



Almost the entire time, during the sum- 
mer season, a cool and delightful breeze is 
blowing: so the temperature in mid-summer 
ranges from about 75 to 90 degrees. The 



nights are generally very pleasant, as a cool 
and delightful gulf breeze prevails almost 
constantly. A sunstroke here is very un- 
common. 

This county is superior in splendid facili- 
ties for traveling by private conveyance, in 
addition to the numerous railroads. The 
county roads, bridges, and all avenues, are in 
first-class order. 

CENStTS. 

The population of Dallas county in 1890 
was 67,003, showing the largest of all coun- 
ties in the State. It contains an area of 900 
square miles, and an assessed valuation of its 
property, in 1890, of $35,849,000. The lands 
are valued at from $10 to $50 per acre, — the 
lands most valuable, near the city of Dallas, 
at from $100 to $200 per acre. 

The following table, taken from the State 
Report of the Agricultural Bureau for 1890, 
shows the value of field crops: 

Crops. Acres. Product. Volne. 

Cotton, bales 64,350 20,175 1807,530 

Corn, busliels 89,433 2,421,537 985,695 

Wheat, bushels 46,924 375,393 363,774 

Oats, bushels 47,763 1,432,890 439,867 

Barley, bushels 175 8,230 5,840 

Rye, bushels 376 15,175 12,020 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 732 79,164 39,345 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 535 63,113 43,489 

Peas, bushels 25 237 468 

Beans, bushels 27 478 873 

Hay, cultivated, tons 2,816 9,417 113,069 

Hay, prairie, tons 6,470 6,533 51,193 

Millet, tons 3,127 8,116 92,417 

Sorghum cane, bbls. molasses. . 1,032 4,111 76,160 

Sorghum cane, tons 327 1,635 9,334 

Tons cotton seed produced 10,087 80,696 

Fruits and Oarden. — Acres in peaches 812, value 
$24,690; in apples 37, value !{!523; in plums 57, value 
$725; in pears 14, value $386; in melons 632, value 
$34,884; in garden 337, valuo $33,119; number of 
grape vines 22,131, value $2,915. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



139 



if»«.— Stands of bees 120; pounds of honey 9,168, 
value $1,100. 

Wool. — Number of sbsep sheared 4,135; pounds of 
wool clipped 16,540, value f2,481. 

Lite Stock. — Number of horses and mules 19,210, 
value 1764,400; cattle ;«,779, value |257,175; jacks 
and jennets 85, value $12,070; sheep 4,138, value 
$4,420; goaU 960, value $^90; hogs 12,364, value 
$32,555. 

GEOLOGY. 

As the preceding sketch is a mere preliini- 
uary bird's-eye view of the section of which 
we are writing, we now present a fuller view 
of the geological character of the district in 
which Dallas county is situated. 

A thorough geological survey of northern 
Texas has never yet been made, but we give 
the substance of the surveys that have been 
made and published in the First Annual Re- 
port of the Geological Survey of the State. 

Dallas county lies in the Cretaceous system, 
characterized by chalk formations. The two 
series of rocks comprising this system occupy 
the area known as the Black Prairie, the 
Grand Prairie and the two Cross Timbers, 
besides unstudied areas in the eastern and 
trans- Pecos regions of the State. 

To these strata the State owes a large part 
of her agricultural and general prosperity, 
for they are the foundation of the rich, black 
waxy and other calcareous soils of this region, 
and in addition to their agricultural features 
they are the most productive source of build- 
ing material, while adjacent to the parting 
between them, extending the entire length of 
the Stale and depending upon their strati- 
graphy, is a remarkable area of natural and 
artesian wells. That these formations are of 



great economic value is also shown by the 
fact that they are the site of our principal 
cities and the rich agricultural soils which 
surround them. 

This is in general a chalky country, and 
uniquely Texan, so far as the United States 
are concerned, constituting a distinct geo- 
graphic region in every topographic, eco- 
nomic and cultural aspect, and one which 
should not be confused with other portions 
of the country. It covers an area of over 
73,512 square miles, or over one-fourth (28.27 
per cent.) the total area of Texas, forming a 
broad belt of fertile territory across the heart 
of the State, from the Ouachita mountains of 
the Indian Territory and Arkansas to the 
mountains of northern Mexico, — an area 
larger than the average American State, and 
equal to the combined area of all the New 
England States. One-third of this region 
lies north of the Colorado river, and the 
remainder to the southwest. 

This region, with its many different prai- 
ries, each covered by its peculiar vegetation, 
its sweeping plains and diverse valleys, its 
undulating slopes clad with "motts" of live- 
oak, its narrow strips of cross timbers, its 
ragged buttes and mesas, presents a landscape 
varied, yet possessing as a whole an individ- 
uality peculiarly its own. All of these fea- 
tures, with their different tints and tones of 
soil and vegetation, with their varied condi- 
tions for human habitation, are but the sur- 
face aspects of the system of chalky rocks 
(chalky sands, chalky clays and chalky lime- 
stones) upon which it is founded, and to 
which is primarily due every physical qtiality 



130 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



of the country. In fact it is the great chalky 
region of the United States. 

The rocks originated as sediments of the 
Atlantic ocean, laid down with great uni- 
formity during two of the long epochs of 
subsidence and emergence when the waters 
covered this region many hundred fathoms 
deep. These ancient sediments are now more 
or less consolidated and elevated into a fertile 
land, which is decomposing under atmos- 
pheric conditions into soils and debris, and in 
turn being slowly transported to the ocean, 
where it will make other rock sheets. .They 
now occur in regular sheets or strata, dipping 
beneath each other toward the sea, while the 
projecting western edges, each of which 
weathers into and imparts its individuality 
to its own peculiar belt of country, outcrops 
in long, narrow belts, sub- parallel to the 
present ocean outline. Thus it is that as one 
proceeds inland from the coast he constantly 
crosses successively lower and lower sheets of 
these formations. The oldest, or lowest, in 
a geological sense, of these outcrops, forms 
the Upper Cross Timbers, those above these 
make the Grand .Prairie, the next sheet forms 
the Lower Cross Timbers, and the next the 
Black Prairie, etc. Each of these weathers into 
a characteristic soil, which in its turn is adapted 
to a peculiar agriculture. Each, too, has its own 
waterconditions and other features of economic 
value. Some of these rock sheets, like the Up- 
per Cross Timber country, may be compara- 
tively unfertile in the region of outcrop, yet 
they may serve to carry the rain which falls 
upon the thirsty sands far beneath the adjacent 
country, where by artesian borings it becomes 



an invaluable source of water supply for a dis- 
tant and more fertile region. 

The Cretaceous country of Texas, as a 
whole, like the system of rocks of which the 
surface is composed, is separable into two 
great divisions, each of which in turn is sab- 
divided still further. These two regions are 
known as the Black Prairie and Grand (or 
Fort Worth) Prairie regions, each of which 
includes in its western border, north of the 
Brazos, an elongated strip of timber known 
as the Lower and Upper Cross Timbers, 
respectively. 

THE BLACK PEAIEIE REGION 

occupies an elongated area extending the 
length of the State from Red river to the Rio 
Grande. The eastern border of the Black 
Prairie is approximately the southwestern 
termination of the great Atlantic timber belt. 
The Missouri Pacific and the International 
railroads from Denison to San Antonio ap- 
proximately mark the western edge. A little 
south of the center, along the Colorado river, 
from Austin eastward to the Travis county 
line near Webberville, the Black Prairie is 
restricted to its narrowest limits. Westward 
this prairie is succeeded by a region of some 
superficial resemblance to it which on closer 
study is found to differ in all essential 
points. This is the Grand, or Fort AVorth, 
Prairie, or "hard- lime-rock region." 

The so-called mountains west of Austin 
are the remains of the Grand Prairie. In 
general, the Black Prairie region consists of 
a level plain, imperceptibly sloping to the 
southeast, varied only by gentle undulations 



HISrOHY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



131 



and deep drainage valleys, unmarked by pre- 
cipitate cafions. It is transected at intervals 
by tlie larj^er streams, whose deep-cut valleys, 
together with their side streams, make indent- 
ations into the plain, but not sufficiently to 
destroy the characteristic flatness of its wide 
divides — remnants of the original plain, or 
topographic marine base level, which has not 
been conjpletely scored by its still youthful 
drainage system. The altitude of the plain 
is between 600 and 800 feet. The surface of 
most of the Black Prairie region is a deep 
black day soil, which when wet becomes ex- 
cessively tenaceous, from which fact it is lo- 
cally called "black waxy." In general it is 
the residuum of the underlying clays, and 
contains an excess of lime, which, acting upon 
the vegetation by complicated chemical 
changes, causes the black color. It is ex- 
ceedingly productive, and nearly every foot 
of its area is susceptible of a high state of 
cultivation, constituting one of the largest 
continuous agricultural regions in the United 
States. Large crops of cotton, corn, etc., are 
annually raised upon its fertile lands; and if 
there were facilities for proper transportation 
it would soon be one of the leading districts 
of our country. 

The Black Prairie is subdivided longitudi- 
nally into four parallel strips of country, dif- 
fering slightly, and distinguishable only by 
slight differences in topographj and in the 
underlying rocks. In the easternmost of these 
divisions north of the Brazos and Colorado 
rivers, however, the sand is hardly percepti- 
ble. Immediately interior of this is located 
the largest and most characteristic area', 



which is marked by the stiffest of the black 
waxy calcareous clay soils. Upon digging 
tlirough this stratum, the subtructure is 
found to consist of a light blue or yellow cal- 
careous clay, called by the residents "soap 
stone" and "joint clay," from its jointed and 
laminated structure. The surface, especially 
of the high undrained divides, is also accom- 
panied in many places by minute depressions 
known as "hog- wallows," which are producd 
by the drying, cracking and disintegrating 
character of these excessively calcareous clays 
in poorly drained places. This, the main 
portion of the Black Prairie, constitutes fully 
two-thirds of its total area. The cities of 
Greenville, Terrell, Corsicana and Kaufman 
are situated near the border of the sandy and 
black waxy strips. Manor, Clarksville, 
Cooper, Taylor and Temple are all situated 
in the main black waxy belt. 

An outcrop of the "white rock" or chalky 
country, forming a narrow strip averaging 
two miles in width, from Red river to the 
Rio Grande, succeeds on the west the main 
black waxy Strip. This chalk region is 
marked by a topography more rounded and 
deeper incised, but still void of the sharper 
lines of stratification that characterize the 
Grand Prairie region. It is usually treeless, 
but occasionally marked by clumps of hand- 
some evergreens and oaks. The western edge 
of this chalky region, as seen at Oak Cliff, 
near Dallas, at Sherman, Ilillsboro and other 
places, usually ends in an escarpment over- 
looking a valley containing the minor Black 
Prairie and Lower Cross Timber strips. It 
is upon this chalk that the most prosperous 



133 



nrSTOR}' OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



of the interior cities of Texas are located, in- 
cluding Paris, Sheiiiian, Mi'Kiiiin'v, Dallas, 
Waxahacliio, Waco, Austin, Now Hrnunfelt* 
and San Antonio, all of which are dependent 
upon the aijrienltural products of the adja- 
cent prairies. 

West of the "white rock" or chalky divis- 
ion, and ivenerally at a slightly lower alti- 
tude, occu[>ying a valley across the State, is a 
second narrow strip of hlack clayey land of a 
nature similar to that of the main black waxy 
area, and likewise accompanied by hog-wal- 
lows. This is the country east of Denton and 
Whitesboro, in the Mountain creek district of 
Dallas county, and along the line of the Mis- 
souri I'acitic railway from Alvarado to 
Waco. 

The Lower Cross Timbers — a narrow belt 
of forest country eutending from the Red to 
the Brazos rivers — represent the westernmost 
strip of the Black I'rairie region, and belong 
to it geographically, as will presently be 
shown. 

Let us now consider the substructure of 
the Black Prairie region in live divisions, 
commencing with the lowest, namely, the 
Upper Arenaceous, or Glauconitic; the main 
Black Prairie, the surface of the marine clays, 
called the Ponderosa marls, the white-rock 
division, which is the outcrop of the Austin- 
Dallas chalk, aggregating about 600 feet in 
thickness; the minor Black Prairie, also com- 
posed of clays like those of the main division, 
and consequently having a similar topo- 
graphy; and the Lower Cross Timbers. All 
the foregoing rock sheets, between which 
there is no stratigraphic break, represent the 



sediment deposited in the oceanic waters dur- 
ing a lung I'ontiniied subsidence, geologically 
known as the Upper Cretaceous period, for 
which collectively wo have chosen the name 
of Black I'rairie series. This Upper Cre- 
taceous series has five conspicuous strati- 
graphic and litlu>lofj;ic divisions, which ap- 
proximately correspond with the topographic 
divisions of the Black Prarie above men- 
tioned. 

1. TUK I.OWKU OKOSS TIMHKR S.\NI1S. 

From the Brazos river ni>rthward to Ived 
river the base of the upper series is composed 
of a brown, more or less ferruginous, pre- 
dominantly sandy littoral deposit, resting un- 
confornnibly upon various horizons of the 
semi-chalky beds of the Washita division, or 
top of the Comanche series. These sandy 
deposits present an intinite variety of condi- 
tions of cross-bedding, clay intercalations, 
lignitic patches, and variation in fineness of 
size and angularity of the uncemented parti- 
cles, characteristic of typical littoral depos- 
its, while occasionally there are found fossi- 
liferous horizons. 

In the vicininity of Denison these sands 
are covered by a post-Tertiary sand, which 
confuses their identity there. 

The Lower Cross Timber region abounds 
in rich saudy soils, which support a vigorous 
timber growth, this structure being especial- 
ly for deep-rooted plants, and are specially 
adapted to fruit-growing, as seen near Deni- 
son and Paris. There is also considerable 
lignite and iron in the beds of this region. 
The lignite is frequently discovered and mis- 



HIBTOBY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



133 



taken for Mtuminous coal. It is doubtful 
whether either exists in sufficietit quantities 
for commercial use. The Cross Timbers are 
also in the line of the Central Texas artesian 
belt, and it is probable that in any portion of 
its area an artesian well sunk through the 
rock of the underlying Comanche series 
would find an abundant flow of water. These 
sands are also valuable for water-bearing 
purposes, and the wells along the margin of 
the minor Black Prairie area are supplied 
from them. 

2. — THE EAGLE FOKD OLAT SHALES. 

These lie to the eastward and immediately 
above the Lower Cross Timber pands,and are the 
foundation of the minor Black Prairie streak. 

Beneath the scarp of the white rock (Aus- 
tin-Dallas chalk) at Dallas, and extending 
westward through the Mountain creek coun- 
try to the Lower Cross Timbers, can be seen 
typical localities of this division, the thick- 
ness of which is estimated at 400 feet. 
These clays in their medial portion are dark 
blue and shaly, highly laminated, and occa- 
sionally accompanied by gigantic nodular 
septariae, locally called "turtles." The upper- 
most beds gradually become more calcareous, 
graduating rather sharply into the chalk. 
There are also occasional bands of thin, im- 
pure limestones, which are readily distin- 
guishable from all other Upper Cretaceous 
limestone by their firmness and lamination. 
Fossil remains of marine animals are also 
found in these clays, including many beauti- 
fully preserved species, the delicate color and 
nacre of shells being as fresh as when the an- 



imals inhabited them. Among these, oys- 
ters, fish teeth, chambered shells and Inocer- 
ami are the most abtindant. 

The chief economic value of the minor 
Black Prairie will ever be its magnificent 
black calcareous soil, while some of the chief 
geological considerations are the ascertain- 
ment of means to make this soil more easily 
handled and less tenacious by devising suit- 
able mixtures, the discovery of road-making 
material, and the increase of water for do- 
mestic and agricultural purposes. Owing to 
its clay foundation the soil now retains for 
plant use treble the quantity of moisture of 
Botne of its adjacent sandy districts, but sur- 
face and flowing water is scarce. Fortunate- 
ly, however, this district is also within the 
Central Texas artesian well area, and an 
abundant supply of water can always be had 
at a depth of less than 1,500 feet, as has been 
proved in the course of our investigations. 
When this fact is fully appreciated the region 
will be one of the most prosperous in Texas. 
In the valleys of most of the streams running 
eastward across the east half of the minor 
Black Prairie, artesian water can be obtained 
at from 100 to 300 feet. The source of this 
water is in the Lower Cross Timber sand. 
Many of the concretions and calcareous lay- 
ers are probably suitable for making cement; 
but tests must be made. The clays may also 
prove of commercial value. 

3. THE WHITE BOOK, OK AU8TIN-DALI.A8 
CHALK. 

Immediately above and to the east of the 
Eagle Ford clays comes the white rock, or 
Austin-Dallas chalk, which is the most con- 



134 



EISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



spiciious representative division of the whole 
Upper Cretaceous system. This occupies the 
narrow strip, as noted in the preceding topo- 
graphic description, marking the western 
border of the main Black Prairie region, sep- 
arating it from the minor Black Prairie. The 
outcrop of this chalk begins in the southwest 
corner of the State of Arkansas and in the In- 
dian Territory. It crosses Red river, the 
exposure continuing westward up to the 
south side of the valley of that stream to the 
north of Sherman, from which place it de- 
flects southward, passing near McKinney, 
Dallas, Waxahachie, Hillsboro, Waco, Bel- 
ton, Austin, New Braunfels, San Antonio 
and SpoiTord Junction, beyond which it 
bends northward, appearing in the disturbed 
mountains in the vicinity of El Paso and 
New Mexico. It is distinguished above all 
by its peculiar chalky substructure. 

The words "limestone" and "chalk" are 
used on these pages as follows: Limestone is 
employed generically for species of widely 
different origin and structure, namely, of five 
kinds: 1. Breccias composed of more or less 
comminuted and cemented shells of ancient 
bottoms or shores. 2. Concretions or seg- 
regations formed by the segregation of lime 
in clays and sands after original deposition, 
rare in our rocks. 3. Chalks are composed 
of amorphous calcium carbonate, usually 
more or less foraminiferous, void of lam- 
inations, and of comparative deep-sea origin. 
These may be hardened by metamorphism 
into firm limestones. Hence the term 
"chalky limestones" will imply chalky origin. 
i. Laminated, impure limestones, occurring 



as alternating beds in sands and clays, indica- 
tive of shallower origin then chalk. 5. Met- 
amorphosed limestones, or any of the above 
which have undergone induration or second- 
ary change. All laminated limestones thus 
far found in the Texas Cretaceous are in the 
basal beds, and are more or less arenaceous 
or argillaceous, further proving their origin 
to have been in shallower water than those 
in which chalk is laid down. 

The rock of the Austin- Dallas chalk for- 
mation is a massive, nearly pure, white chalk, 
usualy free from grit and easily carved with 
a pocket-knife. Under the microscope it 
exhibits a few calcite crystals, particles of 
amorphous calcite, and innumerable shells of 
foraminiferae. The air-dried indurated sur- 
faces are white, but the saturated subterranean 
mass has a bluish white color. The rock 
weathers in large conchoidal flakes, with an 
earthy fracture. 

In composition it varies from 85 to 94 per 
cent, of calcium carbonate, the residue consist- 
ing of magnesia, silica and a small percent- 
age of ferric oxide. 

The thickness of this chalk is about 500 
feet. So far as observed in Texas it averages 
the same thickness at Austin, Sherman and 
Dallas. It is of great uniformity through- 
out its extent; but there are a few local dif- 
ferences in hardness, which are sometimes 
due to surface induration and to igneous ac- 
tion, having been converted into marble in 
some places. 

A great portion of the former extent of 
this chalk has been destroyed by erosion, and 
its western border in Central Texas is now 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUl^TT. 



133 



receding eastward under the influence of ex 
cessive atraosplieric decomposition and denu- 
dation. The group may have extended at 
one time all the way to the liio Grande. 
This formation abounds in fossils, most of 
whicli, however, are but poorly preserved 
easts. 

The economic advantages of the white rock 
are various. It affords good locations tor the 
Ituilding of cities and communities, not only 
on account of the firm foundation for build- 
ing and road-beds and good drainage which 
it always affords, but also on account of its 
sanitary conditions, produced by the imbib- 
ing capacity of the chalk. Wlien accurate 
statistics are kept, it will be proved that 
dwellers upon the chalky lands have a great 
hygienic advantnge over those upon sands 
and clays. The chalks are also water-bearing, 
and while yielding their moisture slowly 
they aflbrd an abundance for domestic pur- 
poses, and play an important part in the 
transmission of the rainfall to depths from 
which it can be abstracted, perhaps, in east 
Texas, by artesian wells. This chalk is also 
valuable for the manufacture of whiting, 
rouge, etc. Chalk is most used in England, 
however, where scientific agriculture has at- 
tained its highest development for dressing 
lands. Thousands of tons are used annually 
on the non-calcareous lands of England, where 
it is usually applied at the rate of twenty tons 
per acre, just as it will ultimately be used 
upon the non-calcareous lands of east Texas 
as soon as our ai^riculture advances to a statre 
where its necessity will be appreciated, 
(ylialk makes a cheap, convenient land 



dressing for non-chalky lands, performing in 
a more satisfactory manner the functions of 
quick-lime in making available other con- 
stituents of the soil, besides contributing to 
it minute but valuable proportions of phos- 
phates, potash and other plant foods. 

The chalk will also prove of great use in 
the manufacture of Portland cements. It is 
the material used in the manufacture of most 
of the imported cements; and when the peo- 
ple of this State properly appreciate what an 
immense industry lies at their doors — a 
natural Texas monopoly — this region will 
become a great cement center for the United 
States. 

4. THE EXOOYRA P0NDER08A MAEL8. 

The name given to these marls is that of a 
large fossil oyster, which occurs in immense 
quantities in certain beds. 

The eastward continuation of the Austin- 
Dallas chalk is covered by what is the most 
extensive and valuable, but least appreciated, 
geological formation in the United States, 
namely, a remarkable deposit of chalky clays, 
aggregating some 1,200 feet in thickness, 
according to reported well-borings and esti- 
mates of the normal dip In fact these clays 
are so little known that no popular name has 
yet been accorded them; and hence they are 
called after the immense fossil oyster found 
in them. 

These clays occupy the whole of the main 
Black prairie region east of the Austin-Dallas 
chalk, and form the basis of the rich, black, 
waxy soil. Notwithstanding their horizontal 
extent, good outcrops of the unaltered structure 



136 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



are seldom seen, owing to their rapid disinte- 
gration. Usually they are seen onlj' in ravines, 
creeks or fresh diggings. They are of a line 
consistency, unconsolidated and apparently 
unlamiuated until exposed to the weather, 
when their laminated character is developed. 
They are light blue before atmospheric ex- 
posure, but rapidly change into a dull yellow, 
owing to the oxidation of the pyrites of iron 
in them. Their chief accessory constituent 
is lime in a chalky condition, and they are 
more calcareous at the bottom than at the top. 
Near the top of these and other exposures 
tiiere is to be seen a rapid transition into the 
black, calcareous, clay soil, characteristic of 
chalk and chalky clays whenever their excess 
of lime comes in contact with vegetation. 
They are more calcareous and fossiliferous at 
their base. 

The economic value of these chalky clay 
marls is in the fact that they are the founda- 
tion and source of the rich soil of the main 
black, waxy prairie, the largest continuous 
area of residual agricultural soil in the 
United States, apparently inexhaustible in 
fertility; for as the farmer plows deeper and 
deeper he constantly turns to light the fertile 
marls which renew the vitality of the surface. 
These soils can be much improved by further 
geologic study. 

5. THE UPPER ARENACEOUS OE GLAUOONITIC 
DIVISION. 

This is the continuation of the Ponderosa 
marls, exhibiting itself chiefly in northeastern 
Texas and southwest Arkansas. 

Dallas county also borders upon the Grand 



prairie or Fort Worth section, the features 
of which are reported at length by the State 
Geologist, so far as studied ; but as it comes 
outside of our district, we omit it here. 

INDIANS. 

The beautiful and fertile section of Texas 
now comprising the populous and wealthy 
county of Dallas, was occupied by the In- 
dians when first approached by the white 
settlers. While they were not as numerous 
as in other sections, they were found scat- 
tered through the timbers, especially on the 
Trinity river, to such an extent as to cause 
the earlier settlers much trouble and annoy- 
ance as well as damage. 

There have been many conjectures as to 
the time this race of people had lived here, 
but whether for a long or short period one 
fact is said to be very evident, namely, that 
the Indians were originally the first people 
that ever trod the soil of Dallas county. 

There are not here any traces of that mem- 
orable, conjectured race of people, the mound- 
builders, as can be seen in other States. If 
this mysterious and unknown, but evidently 
intelligent prehistoric race had ever populated 
this county, or even country, they would 
have left some of their remarkable impres- 
sions, — some traces, — yes, some "foot-prints 
on the sands of time," as they left in other 
sections of North America. 

Whence the origin of this peculiar race 
called the Indian, found here as well as in all 
new countries of America, is certainly a very 
natural question to any reader, and more es- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS C0UTN7. 



137 



pecially to the investigating and philosophi- 
cal mind. (Joncerning this question con- 
jectures after conjectures and theories after 
theories have been advanced by the most 
gifted and learned historians; and even some 
of the most distinguished philologists have 
endeavored to ascertain, by tracing and 
analyzing their means of communication to 
each other, some intelligent origin, but all 
have left us still in the sea of conjecture. 

A popular and somewhat common theory 
accepted by many is that the Indians existed 
in the " conjectural history of the world." 
Others have very sanguinely considered them 
the " lineal descendants of the lost tribes of 

Israel." 

Some affirm that tliey have their origin 
from this, that or the other ancient nation; 
but whatever theory is right, it is neverthe- 
less a striking fact worthy of special mention 
that almost all historians agree that this race 
must have by some means crossed over from 
Asia into this country. It is claimed that 
there was a period in the world's history 
when America and Asia constituted one and 
the same great country, and that it was at 
this remote period of time that the Indian's 
lot was cast upon this soil. But from what- 
ever source, country or climate they came 
from, one fact is apparent and strikingly so, 
namely, that they all bear similar character- 
istics, in manner of living, personal appear- 
ance and means of communication, which is 
said to lie altogether different from any other 
race known to have existed. Tiieir lancruacfe 
has been a stumbling block, so to speak, to 
the most eminent philologist, as there has 



never been found any similarity whatever 
in any of their languages to that of other 
nations. 

To show what widely different theories 
have been assumed and advocated by some of 
the most eminent scholars of the land concern- 
ing this peculiar people found here in Dallas 
county, and as is said to have been found in 
all newly discovered countries of this contin- 
ent, the following is given from Bancroft's 
history: 

" Tiie American Indians, their origin and 
consanguinity have from the day of Colum- 
bus to the present time proved a knotty 
question. School-men and scientists count 
their theories by the hundreds, each sustain- 
ing some pet conjecture with a logical clear- 
ness equaled only by the facility with which 
he demolishes all the rest. One proves their 
origin by holy writ; another by the writings 
of ancient philosophers; another by the sage 
sayings of the fathers; one discovers them in 
Phoenician merchants; another, in the lost 
tribes of Israel. They are tracked with equal 
certainty from Scandinavia, from Ireland, 
from Iceland, from Greenland, across Bering 
Strait, from Asia across the Northern Paciiic, 
from the Southern Pacific, from the P0I3'- 
nesian Islands, from Australia, and even from 
Africa; venturesome Carthaginians were 
thrown upon the Eastern shore; Japanese 
junks on the Western. 

"The breezes that \^afted hither the Amer- 
ican primogenitors are still blowing, and the 
ocean currents by which tliey came cease not 
yet to flow. The finely spun web of logic by 
which these fancies arc maintained would 



138 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



prove amusincr did not the profound earnest- 
ness of their respective advocates render them 
ridiculous. Acosta, who studied tlie subject 
for nine years in Peru, concludes that Amer- 
ica was the Ophir of Solomon. Aristotle 
relates that the Carthaginians in a voyage 
were carried to an unknown island; wher- 
upon Florian, Gomora, Oriedo, and others 
are satisfied the island was Espanola. 

"' "Who are these that fly as a cloud?' ex- 
claims Esaias, or 'as the doves to their win- 
dows?' Scholastic sages answer, 'Columbus is 
the Columha, or dove, here prophesied.' 

"Alexo Vanegas shows that America 
was peopled by Carthiginiaiis: Anahuac is 
but another name for Anak. Besides, both 
nations practiced picture-writing, both ven- 
erated fire and water, wore skins of animals, 
pierced the ears, ate dogs, drank to excess, 
telegraphed by means of tires on hills, wore 
all their finery on going to war, poisoned their 
arrows, beat drums and shouted in battle. 
Garcia found a man in Peru who had seen 
a rock with something very like Greek char- 
acters engraved upon it. Six hundred years 
after the apotheosis of Hercules, Coleo made a 
long voyage; Homer knew of the ocean; the 
Athenians made war with the inhabitants of 
Atlantis; hence the Americans were Greeks! 
Lord Kingsborough proves conclusively that 
these same American Indians were Jews, be- 
cause their symbol of innocence was, in the 
one case, a fawn and in the other a lamb; be- 
cause of the law of Moses, considered in 
reference to the custom of sacrificing children, 
which existed in Mexico and Peru; because 



the fear of tumults of the people, famine, pes- 
tilence and warlike invasions were exactly 
the same as those entertained by the Jews, if 
they failed in the performance of any of their 
ritual observances; because the education of 
children commenced amongst the Mexicans; 
as with the Jews, at an exceedingly early age; 
because beating with a stick was a very 
common punishment among the Jews as well 
as among the Mexicans; because the priest- 
hood of both nations was hereditary in a cer- 
tain family; because both were inclined to 
pay great respect to unlucky omens, such as 
the screeching of the owl, the sneezincr of a 
person in company, and so forth; and because 
of a hundred other equally sound and rele- 
vant auguments. * * * 

"There are many advocates for an Asiatic 
origin, both among ancient and modern specu- 
lators. Favorable winds and currents, the 
short distance between islands, traditions 
both Chinese and Indian, refer the peopling 
of America to that quarter. Similarity in 
color, features, religion, reckoning of time, 
absence of a heavy beard, and innumerable 
other comparisons are drawn on by enthusias- 
tic advocates to support a Mongolian origin. 
Tlie same arguments, in whole or in part, are 
used to prove that America was peopled by 
Ethiopians, by French, English, Trojans, 
Frisians, Scythians; and also that different 
parts were settled by different peoples. The 
test of language has been applied with equal 
weight and facility and enthusiasm to Egyp- 
tian, Jew, Phcenician, Carthaginian, Spaniard, 
Chinese, Japanese, and, in fact to nearly all 
the nations of the earth." 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



139 



MOUND-BUILDEES. 

It wa8 once almost the general belief among 
all writers that a race called " Mound-build- 
ers" originally populated this country; that 
they preceded the red men in ripjht of posses- 
sion ; but of late it is being conceded tliat the 
Indian, the creature such as was found here 
in Dallas county by the original settlers, was 
"one of the Almighty's earliest pieces of 
handiwork." 

THE INDIAN CHARACTER. 

The Indian originally was utterly ignorant 
of the arts and stratagem of warfare, and even 
until this day and time they are less learned 
and skilled in the art of military tactics or 
modern warfare. When he first entered into 
battle with the white man fortifications of 
any kind were unknown to him. Rocks, 
trees, bluffs or anything by chance he might 
come across to ward off danger, was sought 
out by him in time of battle. 

It is supposed that when he came in battle 
with the "Mound-builders" his only weapon 
was a club; but suffice it to say that he soon, 
by that keen perception characteristic of his 
race, learned from his more intelligent adver- 
sary how to make and use the bow and arrow. 

Some writers have contended that the In- 
dian by nature is not disposed to be warlike 
and cruel; that he originally lived in absolute 
peace with all about him; that he occupied 
himself chiefly in hunting wild game, roam- 
ing over mountains and hills, through the 
valley and the forests, or seated by the fire 
in winter or lying beneath the shades of some 



lovely bowers clustering on the banks of some 
silvery stream. Whether this theory be true 
or not, it has been found that the Indian is 
by nature more kind and sympathetic than 
has ever been attributed to him. 

The writer has ever had a feeling of sym- 
pathy for the red man, and in many respects 
the characteristics of this people are to be 
admired. In delineating the character of the 
Indian in a general manner, and as if he now 
populated this country, the eminent and most 
eloquent writer, Washington Irving, wrote 
the following, which we give that the reader 
may Ijetter appreciate the red man as he was 
originally, — yes, as he was by nature and 
before he was driven hither and thither and 
forced to fight for his life and possession: 

"There is a peculiarity in the character 
and habits of the Indian, taken in connection 
with the scenery over which he is accustomed 
to range, — -its vast lakes, boundless forests, 
majestic rivers and trackless plains, — that is 
to my mind wonderfully striking and sublime. 
He is formed for the wilderness as the Arab 
is for the desert. His nature is stern, simple 
and endearing; fitted to grapple with difii- 
culties and to support privations. There 
seems but little soil in his heart for the 
growth of the kindly virtues; and yet if we 
would but take trouble to penetrate through 
that proud stoicism and habitual taciturnity 
that look upon his character from casual 
observation, we should find him linked to 
his fellow man of civilized life by more of 
those sympathies and affections than are usu- 
ally ascribed to him." 



140 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



" In discussing the character of the In- 
dian, writers have been too prone to in- 
indulge in vulgar prejudice and passionate 
exaggeration, instead of the candid temper of 
true philosophy. They have not sufficiently 
considered the peculiar circumstances in 
which the Indians have been placed, and the 
peculiar principles under which they have 
been educated. 

" In general, no being acts more rigidly 
from rule than the Indian. His whole con- 
duct is regulated according to some general 
maxims early implanted in his mind. The 
moral laws that govern him are, to be sure, 
but few; but then he conforms to them all. 
The white man abounds in laws of religion, 
morals and manners, but how many does he 
violate." 

" It is claimed by many that the Indian had 
no civil rights here in this country; that he 
must be treated as a brute; that such is his 
nature that he could not be treated otherwise; 
that with all the kind treatment given him 
the more traitorous and ungrateful he would 
become. Just such ideas were also enter- 
tained by some historians concerning the 
Mexicans; but the writer is glad to state, at 
a time when but little was known of the bet- 
ter class of the population of our noble sister 
country, that a kinder and a more affectionate 
heart could not be found than that possessed 
by some of the crude, rough Indians, — yes, 
such as were found in this section, now Dal- 
las county. When he would find you his 
friend his devotion was remarkable. The 
following touching words, once spoken by an 
Indian chief, strikingly exhibit this remai-k- 



able trait of character, found in the heart of 
almost all these Indians. 

" I appeal to any white man if ever lie en- 
tered Logan's cabin hungry and he gave him 
not to eat; if ever he came cold and naked 
and he clothed him not." Of course the 
wild, savage Indians were exceptions. Still 
the Indian race is like the colored race: the 
characteristics possessed by one tribe or class 
is possessed by all. Education ameliorates 
and civilizes to a certain extent, but does 
not change the characteristics peculiarly im- 
planted in them by Divinity. 

TREATMENT OF THE INDIAN. 

The rights of the Indian have been very 
little regarded and properly esteemed or ap- 
preciated by the white man in any section or 
country. He has been taken advantage of 
in peace, and by stratagem has been the 
'• dupe of artful traffic," and his life or death 
has been regarded as that of a brute, of minor 
importance. The prejudice which existed in 
thf primeval days among the pioneers exist 
to a certain extent at the present time; but, 
much to the credit of certain philanthrophic 
societies throughout the country at present, 
they have endeavored to ascertain the true 
characteristics and inward life of the differ- 
ent Indian tribes. Well has it been said and 
much to the honor not only of our county 
and State governments, but also of our na- 
tional government, that the American govern- 
ment has been indefatigable in its exertions 
to meliorate the situation of the Indians, and 
to introduce among them the art of civiliza- 
tion and civic and religious knowledge. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



141 



Even among the savaojes tliere are some 
who are approachable, and can be influenced 
to humble subjection if properly managed. 
When disputed lords of the land, to go where 
they pleased, and do and act as they desire, 
unmolested, it was perfectly natural for them 
to fight against any intrusions; but on mak- 
ing known to them by kind and humane 
treatment, that the whites mainly did not 
desire to rob them, they have been known to 
exhibit a reasonable degree of reconciliation, 
and after they have become somewhat civil- 
ized have forcibly shown a spirit of kind- 
liness and affection. 

But it is alleged that they are treacherous 
and unreliable as to any agreements they as 
a nation or a class of people might make. 
Concerning these characteristics, the much 
admired historian above quoted, says further: 

" A frequent ground of accusation against 
the Indians is their disregard to treaties, and 
tlie treachery and wantonness with which, in 
times of apparent peace, they will suddenly 
fly to hostilities. The intercourse of the 
white men with the Indians, however, is too 
apt to be cold, distrustful, oppressive and 
insulting; they seldom treat them with that 
confidence and frankness which is indispens- 
able to real friendship; nor is a suflicient 
caution observed not to offend against those 
feelings of pride or superstition, which often 
prompt the Indian's hostility quicker than 
mere consideration of interest. The solitary 
savage feels silently, but acutely. His sensi- 
bilities are not diffused over so wide a surface 
as those of the white man; but they run in 

steadier and deeper channels. His pride, liis 
11 



affections, his superstitions are all directed 
toward fewer objects; but the wounds inflicted 
on them are proportionably severe, and 
furnish motives of hostility which we cannot 
sufliciently appreciate. Where a community 
is also limited in number, and forms one 
great patriarchal family, as in an Indian 
tribe, the injury of an individual is the injury 
of the whole; and the sentiment of vengeance 
is almost instantaneously diffused. One 
council-tire is sufficient for the discussion and 
arrangement of a plan of hostilities. Here 
all the fighting men and sages assemble. Elo- 
quence and superstition combine to inflame 
the minds of the warriors. The orator 
awakens tiieir martial ardor, and they are 
wrought up to a kind of religions despera- 
tion by the visions of the prophet and the 
dreamer. The story where some planters 
had plundered the grave of the sachem's 
mother of some skins, with which it had 
been decorated, is an instance of one of those 
sudden exasperations, arising from a motive 
peculiar to the Indian character, as exhibited 
in the primeval days. 

"The Indians were remarkable for the revr 
erence which they entertained for the sepul- 
chres of their kind. * * * Influenced by 
this sul)lime and holy feeling, the sachem 
whose mother's tomb had been violated 
gathered his men together and addressed them 
in the following beautifully simple and pa- 
thetic harangue, a curious specimen of Indian 
eloquence and an affecting instance of filial 
piety irj the savage: 

" 'When last the glorious light of all the 
sky was underneath this globe, the birds grew 



143 



HISTOJtr OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



silent and I began to settle down, as my cus- 
tom is, to take repose. Before mine eyes 
were fast closed methouglit I saw a vision at 
which my spirit was much troubled, and 
trembling at the sight a spirit cried aloud: 
'Behold, my son, whom I have cherished. 
See the breast that gave thee suck, the hands 
that lapped thee warm and fed thee oft. 
Canst thou forget to take revenge upon those 
wild people who have defaced my monument 
in a despiteful manner, disdaining our an- 
tiquities and honorable customs? See, now, 
the sachem's grave lies like the common peo- 
ple, defaced by an ignoble race. Thy mother 
doth complain and implores thy aid against 
this thievish people who have newly intruded 
on our land: If this be suffered I shall not 
rest quiet in my everlasting habitation.' 

" 'This said, the spirit vanished, and I, all 
in a sweat, not able scarce to speak, began to 
get some strength, and recollected my spirits 
that were fled, and determined to demand 
your counsel and assistance.' 

"This anecdote represents how acts of hos- 
tility suddenly kindled in the breasts of these 
people, which have been attributed to caprice 
or perfidy, did often arise from deep and gen- 
erous motives, which inattention to Indian 
character and customs prevent our properly 
appreciating." 

COWARDICE AND TREACHERY. 

There is another condemnable character- 
istic in the nature of the Indian, in the eyes 
of a great many, and that is a cowardliness, 
siieh as lead him to slip around and stab in 
the back. Of this element in his nature the 



beautiful writer from whom we quoted above 
says: 

"We have stigmatized the Indians also as 
cowardly and treacherous because they use 
stratagem in warfare in preference to open 
force; but in this they are fully justified by 
their rude code of honor. They were early 
taught that stratagem is praiseworthy; the 
bravest warrior thinks it was no disgrace to 
lurk in silence and take every advantage of 
his foe; he triumphed in the superior craft 
and sagacity by which he had been enabled 
to surprise and destroy an enemy. Indeed, 
man is naturally more prone to subtlety than 
open valor, owing to his physical weakness 
in comparison with other animals, which are 
endowed with natural weapons of defense, — 
with horns, with tusks, with hoofs and talous; 
but man has to depend on his superior 
sagacity. In all his encounters with these, 
his proper enemies, he resorts to stratagem; 
and when he perversely turns his hostility 
against his fellow-man he at first continues 
the same subtle mode of warfare. 

"The natural principle of war is to do the 
most harm to our enemy with the least harm 
to ourselves, and this of course is to be 
effected by stratagem. The chivalrous cour- 
age which induces us to despise the sugges- 
tions of prudence, and to rush in the face of 
certain danger, is the offspring of society and 
produced by education. It is honorable be- 
cause it is in fact the triumph of lofty senti- 
ment over an instinctive repugnance to pain, 
and over those yearnings after personal ease 
and security which society has condemned 
as ignoble. It is kept alive by pride and the 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



143 



fear of shame; and thue the dread of real 
evil is overcome by the superior dread of an 
evil which exists but in the imagination. It 
has been cherished and stiiiiulated also bj 
various means. It has been the theme of 
spirit-stirring song and chivalrous story. The 
poet and minstrel have delighted to shed 
round it the splendors of fiction; and even 
tiie historian has forgotten the sober gravity 
of narration, and broken forth into enthusi- 
asm and rhapsody in its praise. Triumph 
and gorgeous pageants have been its reward; 
monuments, on which art has e.xhausted its 
skill, opulence and treasures, have been 
erected to perpetuate a nation's gratitude 
and admiration. Thus artificially excited, 
courage has risen to an extraordinary and 
factitious degree of heroism, and arrayed in 
all the glorious 'pomp and circumstance of 
war.' This turbulent quality has even been 
able to eclipse many of those quiet but in- 
valuable virtues which silently ennoble the 
human and swell the tide of human happir 
ness. 

"But if courage intrinsically consisted in 
defiance of danger and pain, the life of the 
Indian is a continual exhibition of it. He 
lives in a state of perpetual hostility and 
risk. Peril and adventure are congenial to 
his nature, or rather seem necessary to arouse 
his faculties and to give an interest to his ex- 
istence. Surrounded by hostile tribes, whose 
mode of warfare is by ambush and surprisal, 
he was always prepareil for fight and lived 
with his weapons in his hands. As the ship 
careens in fearful sincjleness through the «ol- 
Jtudes of ocean, as the bird mingles among 



clouds and storms, and wings its way a mere 
speck across the pathless fields of air, so the 
Indian held his course, silent, solitary, but 
undaunted throucfh the boundless bosom of 
the wilderness. His expeditions might have 
vied in distance and danger with the pilgrim- 
age of the devotee, or the crusade of the 
knight errant. He travei-sed vast forests and 
plains, exposed to hazards of lonely sickness, 
of lurking enemies, and pining famine.* * * 
His verysubsistence is snatched frjm the midst 
of toil and peril. He gained his food by the 
hardships and dangers of the chase; he wrap- 
ped himself in the spoils of tiie bear, the 
panther and the buffalo, and sleeps among 
the thunders of the cataract. 

"No hero of ancient or modern days could 
surpass the Indian in his lofty contempt of 
death, and the fortitude with which he sus- 
tained its crudest affliction. Indeed, we here 
behold him rising superior to the white man 
in consequence of his peculiar education. 
The latter rushes to glorious deatii at the 
cannon's mouth, the former calmly contem- 
plating its approach and triumphantly en- 
dures it, amidst the varied torments of sur- 
rounding foes and the protracted agonies of 
tire. He even takes a pride in taunting his 
persecutors, and provoking their ingenuity of 
torture; and as the devouring flames prey on 
his very vitals, and the flesh shrinks from the 
sinews, he raises his last song of triumph, 
breathing the defiance of an unconquored 
heart, and invoking the spirits of his fathers 
to witness that he dies without a groan. 

''Notwithstanding the obloquy with which 



144 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



the early historians have overshadowed the 
charters of the unfortunate Indians, some 
bright gleams occasionally break through 
which throw a degree of melancholy on their 
memories." 

THB INDIANS OF NORTHERN TEXAS. 

It is said that two classes of Indians prin- 
cipally occupied, roamed and hunted through 
this section of country now known as Dallas 
county, — the Tonkawas and the nomadic 
tribes. The Tonkawa is said to have been 
much more mild-mannered and civilized than 
the nomadic. So considerate was Placidio, 
chief of the Tonkawas, that it is said he re- 
fuse to join the side of the Union army dur- 
ing the civil war of the United States, as he 
said he "could not fight against Texas, where 
he and his tribe had always lived." The 
nomadic tribes were inclined to be more 
treacherous and warlike. Any one who 
seemed to intrude upon their hunting ground 
for buffalo, which was their game here when 
the white settlers first entered this section, 
now Dallas county, was always most ferocious- 
ly attacked. As stated, the general character of 
all tribes of Indians is the same. Some are 
more civilized than others, and of course 
there is a difference in their mode and 
manner of living. In regard to their personal 
appearance, habits, employments, dress, food, 
manners, customs and so forth, we give the 
following compilation made by one of our 
historians. Their persons were generally 
tall, straight and well proportioned, their 
skins of the well known and peculiar tint. 
In constitution they were firm and vigorous. 



and capable of sustaining great fatigue and 
hardship. 

As to their general character they were 
quick of apprehension and not wanting in 
genius, at times being friendly and even 
courteous. In council they were distin- 
guished for gravity and a certain eloquence; 
in war for bravery and stratagem. When 
provoked to anger they were sullen and re- 
tired, and when determined upon revenge no 
danger would deter them; neither absence 
nor time could cool them. If captured by 
an enemy they would never ask quarter, nor 
would they betray emotions of fear even in 
view of the tomahawk or of the kindling fag- 
got. 

Education amongst these rude savages of 
course had no place, and their only evidence 
of a knowledge of letters was in a few 
hieroglyphics. The arts they taught their 
young were war, hunting, fishing and the 
makinpf of a few articles, most of which, how- 
ever, being made by the females. 

Their language was rude but sonorous, 
metaphorical and energetic, being well suited 
to public speaking, and when accompanied by 
the impassioned gestures and attended with 
tlie deep guttural tones of the savage, it is 
said to have had a singularly wild and impres- 
sive effect. They had some few war songs, 
which were little more than unmeaning 
choruses, but it is believed they never had any 
other compositions which could be called such 
or were worthy of preservation. 

Their manufactures were confined to the 
construction of wigwams, bows, arrows, wam- 
pum, ornaments, stone hatchets, mortars for 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



145 



pounding corn, the dressing of skins, weav- 
ing of coarse mats from bark of trees or a 
wild hemp, and of making ornamental toys 

with beads. 

The articles they cultivated were few in 
number, — corn, beans, peas, potatoes, melons, 
and a few other products. 

Tiieir skill in medicine was confined to a 
few simple preparations and operations. Cold 
and warm baths are said to have been em- 
ployed, and a considerable number of plants 
were used. For diseases they knew but little 
remedy, having recourse to their medicine 
men, who treated their patients by means of 
sorcery. They had few diseases, however, in 
comparison with those prevailing among 
civilized peoples. 

The women ])repared the food, took charge 
of the domestic concerns, tilled the scanty 
fields, and performed all the drudgery con- 
nected with the camp. 

Amusements prevailed to some extent, and 

consisted principally of leaping, running, 

shooting at targets, dancing and gaming. 

Their dances were usually performed around 

a large tire, and in those in lienor of war 

they sang or recited the feats which they or 

their ancestors had achieved, represented the 

manner in which they were performed, and 

wrought themselves up to a wild degree of 

enthusiasm. The females occasionally joined 

in some of the sports, but had none peculiar 

to themselves. 

Their dress was various. In summer they 

wore little besides a covering about the waist, 

but in winter they clothed themselves in the 

skins of wild beasts. Being exceedingly fond 



of ornaments, on days of festivities, the 
sachems wore mantles of deer skins, em- 
broidered with shells or the claws of birds, 
and were painted with various devices. Hid- 
eous was the object aimed at in painting 
themselves, which was intended to strike 
terror into the hearts of their enemies. 

In the construction of their habitations the 
Indians exercised but little judgment, their 
huts or wigwams consisting of a strong pole 
erect^jd in the center, around which other poles 
were driven obliquely in the ground and fas- 
tened against the center pole at the top. 
These were covered with bark of trees, and 
were but poor shelters when considering the 
amount of material to be obtained in primi- 
tive forests. 

The domestic utensils did not extend 
beyond a hatchet of stone, a few shells and 
sharp stones which tliey used as knives; 
stone mortars for preparing their corn, and 
mats and skins to sleep on. They sat, ate 
and lodged upon the ground, and their food 
was of the simplest and coarsest kind, con- 
sisting of the flesh and even the entrails of 
birds and beasts, in addition to the few garden 
products they raised. 

Their money, called wampum, consisted 
of small particles of shells, strung on bells 
and in chains. They rated the value of wam- 
pum by its color: black, blue, white, purple. 

Except when roused by some strong ex- 
citement, the men were indolent, taciturn 
and unsocial; the women too degraded to 
think of little else than toil. Their language, 
though energetic, was barren of words, and 



146 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



in order to be understood and felt it required 
the aid of strong and animated gestures. 

GOVEKNMENT. 

The savawe Indians have no definite form 
of government. What government is esta- 
blished by those less savage is an absolute 
monarchy: the will and command of the 
sachem is their law. While his decisions are 
absolute and final he sometimes honors the 
older numbers of his tribe by calling upon 
them for advice and counsel. This is said to 
be very seldom, however. One praiseworthy 
characteristic of the more civilized and some- 
times of the savage, is that, when one of their 
niimber undertakes to address an assem- 
blage among themselves, the utmost defer- 
ence is paid to the speaker and profound 
silence reigns supreme. This characteristic 
was so striking to one of the early writers that 
he says of them : 

" When propositions for war or peace were 
made or treaties proposed to them by the 
colonial governors, they met the embassadors 
in council, and at the end of each paragraph 
or proposition the principal sachem delivered 
a short stick to one of his council, intimating 
that it was his peculiar duty to remember the 
paragraph. After their deliberations were 
ended, the sachem or some counselors to 
whom he had delegated the office, replied to 
every paragraph in its turn, with an exactness 
scarcely exceeded in written correspondence 
of civilized power, each man remembering 
exactly what was committed to him, and he 
imparting it to the one entrusted in reply to 
the propositions or other matters of debate." 



RELIGION. 

The ideas of religion entertained by the 
tribes of Indians that circulated through 
Dallas county were evidently similar to those 
entertained by all the other Indian tribes. 
They were said to believe in two Great 
Spirits, — a Good Spirit and an Evil Spirit. 
They paid homage to both, and like all others 
of their kind constructed images after their 
conception of their deities. They also were 
found to possess a remarkable reverence for 
all the great elements of nature, and imagined, 
as in the days of mythology, that these forces 
possessed intelligence and some great power; 
as to the sun, lightning, thunder, — whatever 
was mysterious to them, — they with awe 
bowed their knee in reverence. 

These Indians, the Tonkawas and nomadic 
tribes, were very harassing to the earlier 
settlers of Dallas county. After they had 
been driven from the county they would 
often slip in among the settlers and steal their 
horses and pilfer and destroy their property, 
and when an opportunity presented itself 
would murder the citizens. 

An instance of their murderous deeds is 
recorded as late as 1841. During the fall of 
1841, these early settlers had sent a man with 
a wagon to a place on Red river, then the 
most accessible point to secure what pro- 
vision was wanted. 

This party was delayed longer than was 
expected, and three of the citizens, namely, 
Solomon Silkwood, Hamp Rattan and Alex- 
ander W. Webb (now living at Mesquite, in 
Dallas county), leaving their crude homes, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



U7 



went out to hunt for the wagon. They had 
gone only a short distance, only to the east 
side of Elm Fork, — near which point the 
little town of CarroUton in Dallas county 
is now situated, — when they undertook to 
fell a tree which was believed to contain 
honey, and while engaged in doing so Rattan 
was killed by a squadron of Indians concealed 
in the brush. One or two of the Indians 
were killed by Webl)and Silkwood, then they 
escaped to reach their homes in safety and 
convey the sad news of the murder of their 
companion. From the exposure endured on 
this trip, as it was exceedingly cold, the snow 
being at least six or eight inches deep, Silk- 
wood was stricken down with sickness and 
died after lingering only a short time. After 
this one of these brave pioneers entered the 
hunt alone for this relief wagon, and on pass- 
ing by this place, made sad by the killing of 
their esteemed citizen. Rattan's faithful dog 
was found guarding the dead body of his 
kind master I 

THE EARLIER SETTLERS. 

INDUCEMENTS OFFERED BY ACT OF LEGISLA- 
TURE — CONTRACTS FOR I'ETEKS' COLONY. 

On the 4th day of February, 1841, the 
Texan Congress passed an act to attract at- 
tention, and be an inducement to emigrants 
to come and populate this then uncivilized 
country. 

We give the act in full to show the eager- 
ness and liberality shown to get the interest 
of emigrants: 



AM ACT OBANTINO LAND TO lUMIOBANTS, PASSED 
1841. 

" Be it enacted, etc., Tiiat every head of 
a family who has emigrated to this republic 
since the first of January, one thousand eight 
hundred and forty, or who may emigrate be- 
fore the first of January, one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-two, with his family, and 
who is a free white person, shall be entitled 
to six hundred and forty acres of land; pro- 
vided, he settle and actually reside on the 
same for the term of three years, and culti- 
vate an amount of the same not less than ten 
acres; and further, provided, lie shall have his 
land surveyed and plainly marked, so as to 
include his improvements. 

Sk:c. 2. — That each single man over the 
age of seventeen, who has or may emigrate 
as provided in the first section of this act, 
shall be entitled to three hundred and twenty 
acres of laud, upon the same conditions and 
restrictions as the heads of families. 

Seo. 3. — Tliat in no instance shall a patent 
be issued under the provisions of this act 
unless the party produce the official certificate 
of the chief justice of the county where he 
may reside, that he, the said applicant, has 
proven by two respectable and creditable wit- 
nesses, that he has resided on the land for 
which he wishes to receive a patent, and that 
he has cultivated the quantum of land re- 
quired by this act for the term of three 
years, and that he has done and performed 
all the duties required of other citizens; and 
that he has taken the oath of allegiance to 
this republic, provided always, the applicant 



148 



EiaTORT OP DALLAS OOUNTY. 



shall be required to make oath or affirmatiou 
that he has complied with tlie requisitions of 
this act; which oath or affirmation shall be 
properly authenticated. 

Sec. 4. — That the president of the repub- 
lic be and he is hereby authorized to make a 
contract with W. S. Peters, Daniel S. Carroll, 
Alexander McRed, Rowland Gibson, Robert 
Espie, William H. Oldmixon, Daniel Spill- 
man, Robert Hume, John Salmon, W. C. 
Bansanien, John Peters, William Scott, Phin- 
eas J. Johnson, H. S. Peters, Timothy Cray, 
and Samuel Browning collectively, for the 
purpose of colonizing and settling a portion 
of the vacant and unappropriated lands of the 
republic, on the following conditions, to-wit: 
The said contractors, on their part, agree to 
introduce a number of families to be speci- 
fied in the contract, within three years from 
the date of the contract, provided, however, 
they shall commence the settlement within 
one year from the date of said contract. 

Sko. 5. — That the said contract shall be 
drawn up by the Secretary of State, setting 
forth such regulations and stipulations as 
shall not be contrary to the general principles 
of this law and the constitution, which con- 
tract shall be signed by the President and the 
party or parties, and attested by the Secretary 
of State, who will also preserve a copy in his 
department. 

Sec. 6. — That the President shall designate 
certain boundaries to be above the limits of 
the present settlements, within which the 
emigrants under the said contract must re- 
side; provided, however, that all legal grants 
and surveys that may have been located 



within the boundaries so designated pre- 
viously to the date of said contract shall be 
respected ; and any locations or surveys made 
by the contractors or their emigrants on such 
grants and surveys, shall be null and void. 

Sec. 7. — That not more than one section 
of six hundred and forty acres of land, co be 
located in a square, shall be given to any 
family comprehended in said contract nor 
more than three hundred and twenty acres to 
a single man over the age of seventeen years. 

Sec. 8. — That no individual contract made 
between any contractor and the families or 
single persons which he may introduce, for a 
portion of the land to which respectively they 
may be entitled by way of recompense for 
passage, expense of transportation, removal or 
otherwise, shall be binding if such contract 
embrace more than one-half of the land, 
which he, she or they, may be entitled to under 
this law; nor shall any contract act as a lieu 
on any larger portion of such land; nor shall 
any emigrant be entitled to any land, or re- 
ceive a title for such land until such person 
or persons shall have built a good and com- 
fortable cabin upon it, and shall keep in cul- 
tivation and under good fence at least fifteen 
acres on the tract which he may have received. 

Sec 9. — That all the expenses attending 
the selection of the land, surveying title and 
other fees, shall be paid by the contractor to 
the persons respectively authorized to receive 
them; provided, however, that this provision 
shall not release the colonist from the obli- 
gation of remunerating the contractor in the 
amount of all such fees, so soon as it can be 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



140 



done without a sale of their land; and further, 
the President may donate to every settlement 
of one hundred families made under the pro- 
visions of this act one section of six hundred 
and forty acres of land to aid and assist the 
settlement in the erection of a huilding for 
religious public worship. 

Sec. 10. — That the president may allow 
the contractors a compensation for their ser- 
vices, and in recompense of their labor and 
expense attendant on the introduction and 
settlement of the families introduced by him, 
ten sections for every hundred families, and 
in the same ratio of half sections for every 
hundred single men introduced and settled; 
it being understood that no fractional number 
less than one hundred will be allowtd any 
premium. 

Sec. 11. — That the premium lands must 
be selected from the vacant lands within the 
territorial limits defined in the contract; and 
further, all fees incidental to the issue of 
patents for lands acquired under the pro- 
visions of this law shall be paid to the com- 
missioner of the general land office, for the 
use and benefit of the public treasury. 

Sec. 12. — That a failure on the part of the 
contractors and a forfeiture of their contract, 
shall not be prejudicial to the rights of such 
families iind single persons as they may in- 
troduce, who shall be entitled to their re- 
spective quotas of land agreeable to the pro- 
vision of this law. 

Sec. 13. — That the contractors shall be 
required to have one-third of the whole 
number of the families and single persons for 



which they contract, within the limits of the 
Republic before the expiration of one year 
from the date of the contract, under the 
penalty of a forfeiture of the saine; and it 
shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, 
forthwitii, after the expiration of such term 
and failure on the part of tlie contractors to 
comply with tbe provision, to publish and 
declare said forfeiture, unless the President, 
for good, sufficient reasons, shall extend the 
term six months, which he can do; and all 
sul)stitution3 of families livinj; within the 
limits of the Republic by the contractors 
shall not entitle them to any premiums for 
such families, nor shall it operate in favor of 
them for the number of families which they 
are bound to introduce; and this act shall 
take effect from and after its passage." 

Advertisement of this act was extensively 
made in all the other States, and thereby 
much attention was attracted to Texas. But 
few, however, had the courage to come and 
remain as settlers. 

Under this act a contract was made between 
Sam Houston, then President of Texas, and 
Samuel Browning, attorney for a company 
composed of Joseph Carroll, Henry Peters, 
et al , on the 30th day of August, 18.41, in 
which it was agreed that a colony, to be called 
Peters' Colony, should locate in the northern 
portion of the State. It covered a large sec- 
tion of territory, reaching from the southern 
border of the Red river to a line so far south 
as to include a large portion of what is now 
Ellis county. The east border of this colony 
survey took its beginning at the mouth of 



150 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Big Mineral creek on Red river, and coming 
south it cut mto the territory now occupied 
by Dallas county, about ten miles east of the 
city of Dallas. Accordingly the section of 
territory now known as Dallas county was 
included entirely in this colony, with the 
exception of a small strip on the east about 
three miles in width. 

There were many disputes, resulting almost 
in serious difficulties, between some of the 
the settlers and the colonists as to the rights 
of the settlers in this colony, and especially 
the amount of land each family should have 
allotted to it; also the amount each single 
man should be allowed. Finally, the laws of 
the State stepped in and put a quietus to this 
wrangle by setting aside for each family what 
was then and is now called a section, compris- 
ing 640 acres, and to a single man a half sec- 
tion, being of course 320 acres. 

The headquarters of the originators of this 
colony were located at Louisville, Kentucky, 
and the advertisement of the many advan- 
tages of this colony in the way of rich lands, 
delightful climate, etc., caught the attention 
of many, especially in Kentucky; and that 
brave, noble and true-hearted Kentiickian, 
John Neely Bryan, made up his mind to 
brave the dangers and endure the hardships 
of this wild country. So he came and located 
near Dallas, in 1841, and is known as the 
first settler of Dallas county. Others came 
from his State and from Illinois, Missouri 
and Tennessee, and most of them settled in 
this section, comprising Dallas county, — at 
least it received a liberal proportion of the 



immigrants. Up to 1846, all of Dallas 
county east of the Trinity river, belonged to 
Nacogdoches county, and all of Dallas west 
of the Trinity river belonged to what was 
then known as Robertson county. So for 
four years these earlier settlers were com- 
pelled in attending their courts to go the 
distance of about two hundred miles to Na- 
cogdoches, then the county seat, and the set- 
tlers across the Trinity, almost in halloing 
distance, yet the citizens residing in that sec- 
tion of country now occupied by the beautiful 
suburban little city. Oak Cliff, had then to go 
to the rather important and proud village of 
the frontier, old Franklin, about one hundred 
and fifty miles from Houston. Frequently 
these pioneers had to go to their courts to 
serve as jurors by processes of court or to 
transact legal business. What more striking 
example of fortitude, sacrifice and devotion 
could be found showing a determination to 
build up and acquire homes for themselves 
than was exhibited by these faithful and 
patient pioneers! Thus the real settlement 
of Dallas county began with these pioneers 
about 1842. 

ITEMS FROM J. W. BROWN's HISTORY. 

The following is taken from John Henry 
Brown's history of Dallas county, with the 
venerable old gentleman's consent. As he is 
one of the very few pioneers still living who 
knew Dallas county when but a wilderness, 
and has seen her growth to her present won- 
derful status, and remembers the names of 
all the earlier settlers, whence they were and 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



101 



80 forth, we give the following from his his- 
tory: 

" The actual eettleineiit of Dallas county 
began in the spring of 1842, when the first 
cabin was erected and the families of John 
Beeman and Captain Gilbert were the first 
to arrive (Mrs. Martha Gilbert being the first 
American lady) and relieve the loneliness of 
the adventurous and true-liearted avant 
coureur, John Neely Eoyan, who had for five 
or six months been ' monarch of all he sur- 
veyed,' provided, he neither surveyed red 
men of the forest nor the raging Trinity on 
cue of its periodic ' spreads.' He entertained 
tliem with the best he had — chiefly bear 
meat and honey — perhaps without recalling 
the adage about ' entertaining angels una- 
wares,' yet, it was verified in this case, for, 
ere a great while, the lonely son of Tennessee 
gave his heart and hand to a comely and 
pure-hearted daughter of Illinois, in the 
person of Margaret, a daughter of Mr. John 
Beeman. 

In 1842, besides James J. Beeman and 
family, the families of Thomas Kecnan, 
Preston Witt, Alexander W. Webb, John H. 
Cox, Perry Overton and others, arrived. The 
family of William M. Cochran came in March, 
1843. In May came the family of Dr. John 
Cole, with his grown sons, Calvin G., John 
H. and James M., and other children ; and in 
December, George W. Glover and family, 
Elder Amon McCommas and grown sons, 
John, Elisha, Stephen B., and his brothers 
Stephen B. and John C, George L. Leonard 
and family and others. 

In 1844 other members of the Cox family, 



the Cameron family, Isaac B. Webb and 
family, the Jenkins family, the Harwood 
family, the Rawlins family and many others 
came. 

In 1845 came William H. Ilord and faiuily, 
William B. Elam and family, W. Hamp Witt 
and family, Thomas M. Ellis and family, 
John H. Daniel, D. W. Reedy, the Hanght 
brothers, Adam C, Peter and Samuel A., 
with their families, John W. Smith and 
James M. Patterson (afterward the well- 
known first merchants of Dallas) both from 
Green county, Kentucky; John Thomas, wife, 
grown sons and daughters, from Missouri; 
James A. Coats, Marion A., and Tliomas D. 
Coats, John C. McCoy, and others. 

Among those arriving in 1846, were the 
families of Samuel Beeman, Mrs. Mary Ann 
Freeman, Obadiah W. Knight, William 
Traughber, I. N. Webb, John R. Fondren, 
Thomas Collins, James Collins (brothers), 
Albert G. Collins, Rev. James A. Smith, R. 
E. Rawlins and other members of the Raw- 
lins family, Wormley Carter, Asher W. 
Carter, John Anderson, Marquis de Lafay- 
ette Gracy (single) and many others. 

From the history of this venerable his- 
torian, also, we take by permission the fol- 
lowing list of names of all the settlers of 
Dallas county, reaching from the earliest 
settlement in 1841 to 1850, arranged alpha- 
betically: 

SETTLKRS OF DALLAS COUNTY 1841-'50. 

Allen, Simon Bolivar, merchant, in 1848, 

lives in Bonham. 
Atterberry, James and family. 
Atterberry, Stephen C. and family. 



153 



HI STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Atterberry, Jesse and family. 
Atterberry, Nathan (soldier in Mexico), and 
Churchill came single. 

Anderson, John L. and family, came from 
Kentucky, 1846. 

Anderson, James and family, 1846. 

Anderson, Thomas R. and James W., both 
single. 

Armstrong, James and family, came in 1846; 
his daughter, Frances E., came, the wife 
of John Bursey, and is now a widow; 
Martha married Robert Cook, and is a 
widow; Nancy J. married lirst William 
A. Knight, second W. Marion Moon; 
Mary J. married Alexander A. Thomas; 
Anderson, the only son, died in 1848. 

Aytes, John and family, before 1849. 

Archer, Thomas M., and family, 1846. 

Ashlopk, Josiah, and family. 

Andrews, Ben F. and Samuel, came single. 

Alexander, J. J., came single. 

Bursey, John, and wife, ?iee Frances E. Arm- 
strong, came in 1846. 

Badgeley, Daniel A. and family; Job married 
Lydia Marks. 

Balshmire, Henry, married Eliza Goodwin. 

Bryan, James B. (brother of John N)., came 
in 1846; married (second wife) Mrs. 
Elizabeth Harter, nee Beeman; children, 
William, James and Lenore. 

Baird, George W., 1849, married Mary E. 
Thraughber. 

Bethurnm, Robert P., married Electa A. 
Hawpe. 

Bethurum, Ben F., tnarried Nancy P. Elam . 

Bast, Abraham, 1848, married — Myers; chil- 
dren, Morgan, Jack, David, Abraham, 
Julia, Lucinda and Eliza. 

Bledsoe, " A" and family, from Missouri, 
1846; children, Willis A., married Jane 
Boyle; Moses O. to Sadie George; Isaac 
C, to Miss Steele; Virginia, to Captain 



R. A. Rawlins; Bettie, to Thomas Spru- 
ance; Fleming G., to Juliet Samuels. 
Bledsoe, Anthony, married Martha Huitt. 
Bledsoe, Dr. Samuel T. and family, 1845. 
Bernard, Charles H., came from Illinois in 

1847. 
Brown, Young E., and family, 1844. 
Brown, Crawford, and family, 1844. 
Brandenburg, A., and family; Samuel came 

single. 
Beard, Allen, and i'amily. 
Beverly, William, 1846, married Rebecca 
Conover; died in Collin county, in 1887. 
Bennett, Hiram, came in 1845; children, 

Madison, Hardy and C. L. 
Bennett, William H., and family, 1845. 
Bennett, William, and family, 1845. 
Bennett, James M., and family, 1845. 
Bennett, Elisha and Elijah D, came single. 
Burris, Thomas and family. 
Browder, Mrs. Lucy, came in 1845. 
Browder, Isham, son of Lucy and family, 

1845. 
Browder, Edward C, son of Lucy, 1845, 
married Elizabeth Coats; his children, 
Pleasant S.; Annie B. married Edward 
Prickett; Emma married Dr. J. H. 
McCorkle; Fanny married G. M. Over- 
leese. 
Bird, James, and family, from Missouri, 1844. 
Bird, Samuel P., came single. 
Bruton, William, patriarch, from Illinois, 
1845; children, Richard married Eliza- 
beth Cox; James R. married Nancy 
Edwards. 
Britton, Joseph and family, 1848. 
Baker, James M., married Ruth Forester. 
Baker, Artemas, came single. 
Barker, Joshua, married Sarah Hart. 
Bandy, Richard T., married Aurelia A. Raw- 
lins. 
Boyd, William J., married Milburn Bernetta 
Baggett. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



168 



Billingsley, Williatn, married Arena Kirk- 
land. 

Barnes, William D., married Tabitha C. 
Smith. 

Barnes, William, came in 1845, in Grand 
Prairie liffht. 

Burnham, Horace, married Matilda Cole. 

Burnett, William D., came single. 

Brotherton, Robert K., came single. 

Brotherton, H. K. 

Bowles, Rev. William, a Baptist preacher, 
who had married Mrs. Rebecca Self, 
came in 1844. Of the Self children, 
there were Ann, who married Robert 
Walker; Sarah E., who married Judge 
James M. Patterson; Harvin H. and 
Chonac Self. The children of Mr. 
Bowles, by this marriage, are Harrison 
U., living in Kaufman, and Hannah F., 
who married George W. Davis. 

Burford, Nathaniel M., came from Tennessee 
in 1848, married Mary Knight in 1854; 
their children, Mattie, married William 
Morris Freeman in 1886; Nathaniel is 
dead ; Robert Lee, Jeff Mallard and May. 

Barrett, Roswell B.. an orphan of Texas pa- 
rentage, came with James Armstrong in 
1846, married " Babe " Baldridge. 

Barrett, James W., brother of Roswell, still 
single. 

Bledsoe, Allen, came in 1845, in Grand 
Prairie fight. 

Buskirk, Jonas, and family. 

Bradshaw, David, and family. , 

Beeman, John, and family, from Illinois to 
Bowie county, 1840; to iioyd's Fort, 
November, 1841 ; to Dallas county, April 
1842. His wife was Emily Ilunnicut, 
yet living. Their children: Elizabeth 
married tirst Henry Harter in 1844, 
going eighty miles to Bonham for that 
purpose; second, B. Bryam, and third 



William Cumby; Margaret married John 
Neely Bryan; William H. married Mar- 
tha Dye; Samuel H. married ifary Ann 
Weatherford; Isaac H. died in California; 
James H. married Mary Hammond; 
Clarissa married — Walker; Nancy 
married William W. Ilobbs; Ann mar- 
ried John Fugate; Caroline married 
Isaac Fisher; — ten children, nine mar- 
ried. 

Beeman, James J., in St. Charles county, Mis- 
souri, in 1836, married Sarah Crawford; 
ill Dallas, November 29, 1851, he mar- 
ried Elizabeth Baker, from Ohio. By 
the first marriage he had children; Mary 
J. (died in 1884), married first Henry 
Price; second, Wyatt Barnett; Emily T. 
married William T. Baker; Francis M. 
married Amanda McCormick; Melissa 
died in youth. By bis second wife J. J. 
had Charles A., who married Martha 
McCormick, and Sarah E., who married 
L. A. Sweet. 

Beeman, Samuel, married in St. Charles 
county, Missouri, Mary Smelser (both 
now dead), and came November, 1846, 
from Calhoun county, Illinois. Of their 
children John S. married Isabel Bryan 
in Illinois, came with his father; Ruth 
married Adam C. Haught, whose tirst 
wife, Margaret, was a sister of her father; 
Nancy (in Illinois), married William 
Uunnicut; Isaac married Hannah Be- 
thurum; Temperance married — Moore; 
Peter married Matilda Riggs; William 
and Jacob were killed in the Confederate 
army; Kate married Newton Husted. 
The three brothers brought twenty-four 
children to Dallas county, including 
those born here. 

Caldwell, Solomon, and family, from Illinois, 
1842. 



154 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COO NTT. 



Caldwell, William, and family, from Illinois. 

Corley, Adalbert, son of the Rev. Samuel 
Corley, the Mexican war soldier, came 
in 1848; for thirty years has been Clerk 
of Red River county. 

Cole, John P., and family, removed to Tarrant. 

Corcoran, John T., and family, 1845. 

Crabtree, William, and family. 

Cochran, William M., and wife, nee Nancy 
J. Hughes, Tennesseans, came from Mis- 
souri in 1843. He died April 24, 1853. 
She died October 15, 1877; of their chil- 
dren, John H. married Martha Johnson; 
Archelaus M., tirst married Laura, one 
of the Knights of '46. Second, Mrs. 
Mary QoWhx^, nee Jenkins; William P. 
married Amanda M. Lawrence; James 
M., (born in Dallas county June 1, 1846) 
married tirst Maggie B. Lively, second 
Nannie Clark, third Hattie Bourland; 
George W., died single in 1872; Martha 
A., married William Harris. 

Crutchfield, Thomas F., and family, from 
Kentucky, 1845; children: James O. M.; 
Fannie Floyd; Albertus went to Califor- 
nia ; Th. Ella married G. S. C. Leonard; 
Ophelia married John J. Eakins, who 
died in 1886; Minerva, married John W. 
Swindells; Betty married John W. Lane. 

Cousy, Mrs. Nancy, and family. 

Cousy, Thomas W., came single. 

Casey, John, and family. 

Casey, Harvey, came single. 

Casey, Harry, came single. 

Cornelius, Abner P., and family. 

Crumpacker, Daniel and Joel, came single. 

Cheshire, Thomas, and family. 

Cook, John C, married Elvira Maya. 

Carver, Solomon, and family. 

Carver, Abraham, and family. 

Carver, Daniel, came single. 

Chenoweth, James F., and family. 



Chenoweth, Thomas, married Hannah Keenan. 

Clark, A. J. (old Texan), came in 1845, — in 
Grand Prairie; tirst married Sarah 
Myers; their son, H. C, in Dallas. 

Clark, Henry, and family. 

Clark, William, came in 1845; his family 
came with Judge Patterson, in January, 
1846. 

Cates, James, came in 1844; in Grand Prai- 
rie tight; married Elvira Fay. 

Campbell, Thomas J., came single. 

Chapman, John C, and family. 

Chapman, Robert, came single. 

Castor, Jacob, came single. 

Carlock, Jacob G., came single. 

Coats, Samuel, and family, from Illinois, in 
1845. 

Coats, Thomas D., and fiimily, from IlUiuois, 
1845. 

Coats, Marion A., and William B., came 
single. 

Cox, John H., and wife, from Illinois, 1842. 

Cox, George, from Illinois, 1842. 

Cox, James, from Illinois, 1844. 

Cox, David B., from Illinois, 1844. 

Cox, Hartwell B., from Illinois, 1844. 

Cox, Joseph, married Narcissa Elam. 

Cox, William, married Mary Dike. 

Conover, Dr. W. W., came 1845. 

Campbell, Thomas A., married Margaret A. 
Goobes. 

Carr, William, and family. 

Carr, Henry, cam-^ single. 

Connor, William D., married Mary Fikea. 

Carpenter, Timothy, and family came in 1843. 

Crowley, Richard, married Almeda Leake. 

Crowley, Benjamin F., married Edna Leake. 

Calder, Dr., came in 1842, killed by Indians 
in Collin, February, 1843. 

Coombes, William, and family, from Ken- 
tucky, 1843; children: Leven G. married 
Jane H. Heady; Zachariah Ellis married 



HI8T0HY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



155 



Rebecca F. Bedford; Isaac N. married 
Uerrilla K. Myers; Margaret A. married 
Thomas A. Campbell and died in Mis- 
souri, in 1869; Mary M. married Levi M. 
J'limfas; Rebecca F. married AVilliam L. 
Holt, and is dead. Children by a second 
wife, Samuel H.; John AV., and three 
daughters. 

Combs, Joseph, and family, (Cedar Hill) 
came before July 1848; of his children 
Zur married Sarab Evans; William S. 
married Elizabeth J. Evans; Robert. 

Chowning, Robert, came in 1845. 

Chowning. J. W., married Nancy Myers 
in Illinois — in Grand Prairie fight in 
1846; found the niurdered i'helps party 
in 1848; lives in Denton. 

Couch, Henderson, as foreman of the jury at 
the first court ever iield in Dallas county, 
December, 1846; he and his eleven col- 
leagues divorced Mrs. Charlotte M. Dal- 
ton from her hnaband, Joseph Dalton, 
and before the sun of that day glided to 
the "heathen Chinee" side of the globe; 
the said Henderson Conch and Charlotte 
M. Dalton, legally and constitutionally, 
were husband and wife. It was the first 
civil suit — Dalton vs. Dalton — ever tried 
in Dallas county; yet some people of 
this day imagine that the '-early times'' 
of Dallas were of the backwoods, "Ar- 
kansaw Traveler," non- progressive class, 
such as are found stuck away in certain 
spots in New York, New Jersey, I'euu- 
sylvania, and possibly a few in Nortii 
Carolina and Virginia, but never in the 
prairies of the great West or Southwest. 
Let all such realize the electric dispatch 
business in early Dallas days, and be 
convinced of their former erroneous im- 
pression, then tip their beavers to the 



memory of Henderson and Charlotte 
Couch. 

Chenault, Wesley M., and family, in 1845. 

Ghenault, William, came single, a soldier in 
Mexico, married Ruth Ann Jackson, died 
in 1886. 

Cameron, David R., and family, from Mis- 
souri, in 1844; among his children were 
Chris C, L. Frank and T. H. 

Cockrell, Wesley, and family came in 1846. 

Cook, Henry, and family, before 1849. 

Cole, Dr. John, wife and mostly grown chil- 
dren came from Arkansas 184B; their 
children; Calvin G., married in Arkansas, 
Elvira Reeder; James M. married Sarah 
Bennett; John H. married Elizabeth Pres- 
ton ; Martin V. married Maggie Preston ; 
Joseph married Jennie Overton; Ma- 
linda became second wife of James N. 
Smith; Eliza married Jefferson Tilley, 
and is a widow in Arkansas; Louisa 
married A. G. Walker, and is dead; 
Win. A., lives in Medina county, mar- 
ried Mary Bennett. 

Cook, Williford AV., brother of Robert M., 
came in 1845. 

Cook, Robert M., surveyor, came in 1845, 
married Martha Armstrong. 

Connor, Abraham, and family came before 
1846. 

Crockett, John M., and wife came from Ten- 
nessee October, 1847. 

Collins, James, and wife, Nanny, came in 
1846. 

Collins, Thomas, brother of James, and wife, 
Mary, came in 1846. 

Collins, Albert G., and wife, Patnelia, came 
from Kentucky 1846; their children: 
Orzelia married John Shipley, now a 
a widow; James, William, Joel and 
Henry are dead; Foster in Louisana; 
Joseph and Albert G., living; Martha 



156 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



married Jacob Ervay and lives in Wy- 
oniino;; Annie married P. King Taylor 
and lives in Cisco, Texas. The parents 
are still living. 

Carter, Woomley, born in Loudoun, Virginia, 
June 19, 1816; removed from Kentucky 
to Missouri 1843; to Dallas in May, 
1846; married Lucy Anderson; since 
1880 has lived near Lewisville, Denton 
county. 

Carter, Asher W., brother of Worinley, mar- 
ried Elizabeth A. Wood. 

Cockrell, Alexander, came from Missouri in 
1845; was a frontier soldier and partly 
in Mexico; married Sarah H. Ilorton; 
was killed in Dallas April 3, 1858. His 
widovir still resides in the old homestead, 
the abode of hospitality. Their children: 
Aurelia married Mitchell Gray, and is 
dead; Robert married Gillie Jones and 
died in 1866; Frank M. is Alderman 
Cockrell of the Todd mills; Alexander 
married Ettie Fulkerson and is a "rauch- 
ero" on Mountain creek. 

Crow, Wm. M., and family, in 1847. 

Carder, Wm. P., and family came in 1845; 
his sons, Elijaii and Christopher, were 
soldiers in Mexico, and died in the city 
about Christmas, 1847. His wife, nee 
Brumfield, was a sister of Mrs. Amon 
McCommas. 

Dooley, George W., and family, before 1848. 

Durrett, George W., and family, before 1848. 

Daniel, John H., came from Missouri in 1845; 
a soldier in the Mexican war; married 
Rebecca Ray in Dallas county. Their 
children: William R. married Josephine 
McCommas; Mary Frances married 
George H. Alexander, now of Hardeman 
county; "John Henry" died March 5, 
1885; Benj. F.; Sterling Price; Edmund 
W. married first Emma McCommas; 



second, Ettie Wilkinson; Charles A.; 
Martha J., and the last is "Arthur Ellis 
Coombes Daniel." 

Dykes, Thomas, came single in 1845; a sol- 
dier in Mexico, and died in New Orleans 
en route home. 

Durgin, Charles H., merchant, came from 
Massachusetts 1845; married Elizabeth 
B. Thomas, and is long deceased. His 
widow is vice-president of the Dallas 
County Pioneer Association. 

Dakan, Dr. Perry, married Ann R. Walker, 
who died in California. He returned, 
and died in Texas. 

Dye, Benjamin, Sr., and family came from 
Kentucky in 1847. His children: 
Enoch, now dead, married a daughter of 
Rev. Abner Keen; Benj., Jr., and Wm. 
H. died single; Joseph F. went to Cali- 
fornia in 1853; George lives in Dallas 
County; Martha E. is the wife of Wm. 
H. Beeman; Sarah first married Mr. 
Vassella and is now the wife of Dr. 
Mitchell; Miranda married Madison 
Bennett; Addie is the wife of Wm. A. 
McDermett. 

Dye, William, brother of Benj., died single. 

Dawdy, Alanson, married Rebecca Shelton. 

Downing, Wm. W., came single. 

Dunaway, Foster W., came single. 

Dixon, Solomon W., and family. 

Demay (or Dernay) Charles, came in 1845, 
in Grand Prairie fight. 

Davis, Hinson C, and family. 

Davis, John W., Benj. F. and Jeremiah, came 
single. 

Ellis, Thomas M., and wife, nee Witt, came 
from Illinois in 1845. One of their 
daughters married Middleton Perry; 

mar- 



Mary married Jones Green, 

ried AV". L. White; Wm. F. married 
Miss Smith; John T. married Miss 



ffrSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



157 



Stewart; James II. married Mary E. 
Rawlins. 
Elam, Win. B.. wife Mary and family, from 

Illinois, 1845. 
Elam, Isaac, wife Margaret and family, 1847. 
Elam, W. M.. and family. 
Elam, Jesse, and family. 
Elam, Andrew, Benton and several others 

came single. 
Elliott, Sanders, came in 1845. 
Elkins, Smith, elected Chief Justice in 1850, 

and quit the country under a domestic 

cloud. 
Edwards, Isaac, and family. 
Ferris, Morris, and family came before 1840. 
Floyd, Morris, and family came before 1846. 
Fyke, Elisha, and family. 
Fyke, Archer, came single. 
Fyke, Archer, came single. 
Fortner, Milford F., and family. 
Frost, Benj., and family. 
Frost, Tliomas, came single. 
Ferris, Warren A., surveyor, and family came 

from Nacogdoches, in 1846. 
Fleming, Wm., and family, came in 1846. 
Fleming, Geo. W., came single in 1846; 

married Louisa Jane Britton. 
Franklin, Levi, married Xancy Rogers. 

Fletcher, , married Miss Henry. 

Fortner, John, and family, came in 1844; 

now lives at Vinita, Indian Territory; 

his children — Amos, Mary J. married 

George Burgocn; Caroline married 

George Nash. 
Freeman, Mrs. Mary Ann, and family came 

in 1846. 
Freeman, Wm. S., and wife Susan, came in 

1846. 
Fondren, John R., came in 1846. 
Glover, George W., and family, came in 

1843. 



12 



Goodwin, Micajah, and family, came before 
1846. 

Goodwin, Thomas R., came single. 

Galloway, D. li. S. C, married Jane Man- 
ning. 

Gracey, Marquis D. L., came in 1846; mar- 
ried Amanda E. Harris. 

Gracey, Emory A., married Miss Neatlock. 

Gracey, Grundy C, Sabine, and Wm. T.; 
Amanda married Goodni<rht. 

Gill, Eldridge, came in 1849; married Mrs. 
Lucinda McDonald, nee Smith. 

Gunnels, Washington, married Polly Sparks. 

Good, Noah, and family, came in 1846. 

Greathouse, Archibald, and family, came in 
1844. 

Garkins, George, and wife Easter, came in 
1847. 

Gilbert, Mabel, and wife Martha, came from 
Bird's Fort, in March, 1842, Mrs. Gil- 
bert being the first wiiite lady to reach 
Dallas, though followed on the 4th of 
April by Mrs. John Beeman, yet living, 
and her daughter. Mr. Gilbert had for- 
merly 1)ecn a steamboat commander. 

Griffin, Elder Tiiacker Vivian, a preacher of 
the " Christian " church, born 1800, 
came to Dallas in 1S46; organized the 
first church of his denomination in Dal- 
las county, at Hord's ridge, and died in 
1852 or '53. His only son died in the 
Confederate army. His only daughter 
Elizabeth A., is the esteemed wife of 
Dr. Albert A. Johnston. 

Gray. Andrew K., and Daniel II., came 
single. 

Green, Jones, came in 1845; his wife was 
Mary Ellis. 

Graham, Joseph and family. 

Graham, Milton II., came single. 

Goar, John, and family; his daughter Ma- 
tilda married Norvell R. Winniford. 



158 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY - 



Grounds, Kobert, and large family, came in 
1845. 

Green, Mrs. Martha P., and family. 

Garvin, Tliomas, came single. 

Howell, John, and wife Parthena, came in 
1845; their children: Virginiiis, James, 
Hartwell (lost in the Confederate Army), 
Lizzie (Mrs. John Wright), Salome 
(Mrs. John M. Hervay), Charles, married 
Miss Thomas. 

Hicklin, William J., and family came iu 
1845. He was killed out West. 

Horton, Enoch, Sr., and family, from Eus- 
sell county, Virginia, arrived Novem- 
ber 29, 1844. His children (excepting 
a married daughter who came ten years 
later) were Mary, who married Marlin 
M. Thompson; John married Margaret 
Hopkins; James married first Jane 
Phillip, second Mrs. Mollie King, nee 
Morton; Sarah H. married Alexander 
Cockrell; Enoch, Jr., married first Nan- 
cy C. Reed, second Lucy Lanier (now 
Mrs. Sam P. Cross); Robert died single, 
in California; Martha married her 
cousin, Wra. Horton, and died soon after 
reaching Dallas; Rachel died single; 
Lucy married A. B. Lanier; Emarine 
married the late Joseph C. Reed. Of 
all this large family Mrs. Cockrell alone 
survives as one of the honored land- 
marks of early, or rather ante-Dallas, 
days. Mrs. Cockrell died in 1892. 

Hord, Wm. H. and wife Mary J. (wee Crock- 
ett) came from North Carolina 1845: 
their children: Thomas A., Ferdinand 
P., Mattie J. (Mrs. J. A. Crawford). 

Hunt, Edward W., came in 1846; first 
married Jane A. Thomas, second Olivia 
H. Winn. 

Hunt, John L., brother of E. W. came in 



1846, went to California in 1849 or '50 
and lives there now. 

Henry, J. Paul, Sr., married Miss Fletcher. 

Houx, Nicholas, and family came iu 1848. 

Hambrick, N. M., and wife came in 1847. 

Hobbs, Wm. W., came in 1842, married 
Nancv Beeman. 

Huitt, John, and family, came in 1843. 

Huitt, Roland, brother of John came in 
1843. 

Hibbert, J. B., came in 1845. 

Hetherington, John C, came in 1846; 
married Susan A. Drake. 

Hart, Abe, came in 1847, married Elizabeth 
Ray. 

Hill, Mrs. S. J., came in 1845. 

Houx James M., and family. 

Harter, Henry; married Elizabeth Beeman. 

Harwood, Alex. M., and family. Tennes- 
seans, but last from Missouri in 1844. 
The parents died at Harwood Springs, 
as did their son N. B., and his wife, the 
parents of Wm. A. Harwood, formerly 
district Clerk, now of Dimmitt county. 
Their daughter, Melissa T., first married 
Mr. Jacobs, and in 1846 Josiali S. 
Phelps and died about January 1, 
1848, Mr. Phelps being killed by 
Lidians April 9, 1848. Their only child, 
then a few months old, is Mrs. Dickey 
(wife of Hejiry C.) Miller, of Tarrant 
county. A married daughter yet lives 
in Missouri. Susan O. married Wm. A. 
Stewart. 

Harwood, Alexander (so long county Clerk), 
who married Sarah Peak. He died July 
31, 1855. Their son Rifley B., married 
Lucy Keller, and has a son named Alex- 
ander. Their daughter, Juliet, is the 
wife of James J. Collins. 

Henderson, John, married Malviua Kimbell. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



159 



Hickman, Henry, married Elizabeth Newton. 
Han by, J., inarrieJ Susan Smith. 
Hutton, V. J., and wife came in 18-i5 or '46. 
Huster, Harrison and family came in 1845. 
Huster, James G., N. J., S. F. and others 

came single. 
Hargroeder, Mrs. Mary, and family before 

July, 1848. 
Hobbs, James, and family before July, 1848. 
Hobbs, Wm. W., married Nancy Eeeman. 
Hart, Jacob, and family before July 1848. 
Hart, Abraham, married Elizabeth Ray. 
Hanna, Amariah, and family, before July, 

1848. 
Harding, John M., and family before July, 

1848. 
Hughes, William, and family, before July, 

1848. 
Halford, Jeremiah, and family, before 1848. 
Halford, J. W., came single. 
Henderson, Noah, and family. 
Hunnicut, Wm. C, and family, 1844. 
Hall. Jacob C, and family before 1848. 
Hall, John, and family before 1848. 
Halloway, Joseph II., before 1848. 
Hall, Henry H., came single; married — 

Anderson. 
Harris, John, and family, before 1848. 
Harris, William, came before 1848. 
Harris, Daniel, and family, before 1848. 
Haught, Adam C, from Illinois in 1845; 

married first Margarei Beeman, second 

Rnth Beeman. 
Haught, Peter, came in 1845; a soldier in 

Mexico; married S. J. Pruitt. 
Haught, Samuel A., came in 1845; a soldier 

in Me.xico, and rai.sed a large family. 
Jenkins, William, wife and children came 

from Missouri in 1845: died in 1872; 

their children; Mary A., married first 

James Collins, second A. M. Cochran; 

Lizzie married Eugene Lively; Hannah 



E. married Gabriel A. (Dood) Knight; 
America S. married Coany; Miron E. 
married Celeste Brown; Sarah married 
Chas. Fladger; Itufus Henry and Willis 
L. 

Jackson, John, wife and children came from 
Missouri in 1846; their children were 
Andrew Sloan Jackson, a soldier in 
Mexico; married Elizaheth Dye; Will- 
iam was a soldier in Mexico, came home 
sick and died September 12, 1848; 
James E. maried Diana Davis; Good 
married Miss Thomas; George married 
Molly Nash; Ruth Ann married Wm. 
Chenanlt. 

Kuhn, Anton, came in 1845 or '40, — the 
llrst blacksmith in the town of Dallas, 
though Allen, slave of John Uuitt, and 
yet living, was the first, it is said, in the 
whole county. Mr. Kuhn afterward 
emigrated to Oregon. 

Keifer, Benj., came single. 

Keller, Samuel, and family came before 
July, 1848. 

Kimmell, Mrs. Catherine, and family came 
before July, 1848. 

Kimmell, Philip, and family came before 
July, 1848. 

Kirk, John W., came single before July, 
1848. 

Kennedy, Mrs. Mary, and family came before 
July, 1848. 

Keenan, Thomas, and family came in 1842; 
of his children there were Marion; Bet- 
sey married Hiram Vail; Mary married 
James Newby; Hannah married Thos. 
Chenoweth. 

Keen, Rev. Abner, and family, came before 

J nly, 1848. 
Keen, Wm. H., and family, came before 

July, 1848. 



160 



H18T0ET OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Keen, W. W., and family, came before July, 
1848. 

Keen, John 8., married Olive S. Merrill. 

Keen, John W., married Nancy Turner. 

Knight, Obadiah W., first married in Ten- 
nessee Mary Ann Knight, but not a rel- 
ative. She died, and he married in the 
same State Serena C. Hughes, yet living 
in North Dallas. They came here in 
1846. By the first marriage there were 
first Wm. A., who first married Mary 
Stillwell, and second Mary Jane Arm- 
strong (now Mrs. W. M. Moon); second, 
John W., married Sally Stewart (who 
lives in Decatur) and died in 1870; 
third, Mary, married Nat. M. Burford 
in 1854; fourth, Elizabeth B., married 
Jefferson Mallard, of Jacksonville, in 
1857; fifth, Gabriel A., married Han- 
nah T. Jenkins. By the second mar- 
riage came sixth, Henry, who died a 
youth; seventh, Laura, who married A. 
M. Cochran and is dead; eighth, Mon- 
roe D., killed by a horse in youth; ninth, 
Sophronia, died young; tenth, Mattie 
A., married Wm. H. Lemmon, and is 
dead; eleventh, Kate, married John 
Field; twelfth, William H. (second 
Wm.) married Bessie Turner, and lives 
in Hill county; thirteenth, Eppes G., 
married Fannie L. Patton in 1887; 
fourteentii, Robert E. Lee, an attorney, 
member of Dallas bar; fifteenth, Arche- 
lau8 J., still a youth; and sixteenth, 
Josie, died a little girl. 

Knight, Gabriel, brother of Obadiah W., 
came in 184(5, and died a bachelor. 

Kenison, Daniel W., came single, married 
Mary Horn. 

Larner, Wm., married Mary Jennings in Illi- 
nois, came in 1842, raised a large fam- 
ily; both dead and children scattered. 



Leonard, George L., and family came from 
Tennessee in 1843. His children were 
George S. C, married Thomas Ella 
Crutchfield, and both dead; Wm. M.; 
John E..; Jackson L., married Mattie 
Hearne and both dead; Samuel F., mar- 
ried Mattie Miller, and is dead; Wash- 
ington C; Elizabeth, married John W. 
Wright; Mattie; and Joseph A., married 
Annie Jeffries. 

Long, Henry C, came single and is now 
married. 

Lavender, Mrs. M. H., and family, from Illi- 
nois in 1845. 

Lavender, J. J., and wife Lucy A., came in 
1846. 

Laughlin, J. Y., and wife Abby C, came in 
1849. 

Laughlin, J. P., and wife, came in 1849. 

Ledbetter, Oliver V., and wife Margaret, 
came in 1848. 

Ledbetter, W. H., came in 1846. 

Ledbetter, Rev. Arthur, married Elizabeth 
Pearson. 

Lanier, John, and family, came before 1846. 

Lanier, Archibald, son of John, married Lucy 
Horton; Lucy married Enoch Horton. 

Lee, J. B., and family came before 1848; his 
children were John, Thomas, Lee and 
three daughters. 

Lawrence, John P., married Fanny Goats. 

Lynch, John, married Mahala Warner. 

Latimer, James W., founder of the Dallas 
Herald in 1849, came from Red river 
county in that year and died in 1859. 
He was a good writer, — left a widow and 
several children, all or nearly all of whom 
are now dead. His parents came from 
Tennessee to Red river in 1834. His 
deatii was deplored as a loss to Dallas. 

Loving, James, and family, came before July, 
1848. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



IGl 



Loving, Samuel P., came single. 

Leake, Antliony M., and family, before July, 
1848. 

Lacy, Philemon, came single, before July, 
1878. 

Linney, Parry, and family, before July, 1848. 

Longley, Thomas, and family, before July, 
1848. 

Marsh, Harrison C, wife of Polly and family 
came in 1843. Their cliildren: Thomas 
C. married Hannah Ilnsted; Ellen mar- 
ried Henry Doggett; John D. married 
Kebecca Perry; Mary married Mr. 
McAlister; Lizzie married Ephraim M. 
Doggett, Jr.; Martha Ann married 
Mark Elliston; Pollie married Wm. 
Neill. 

McCommas, Elder Amon, with his wife, nee 
Mary Brumtield,and children, came from 
Missouri in 1844. He hailed from Vir- 
ginia, stopping for repairs successively 
in Kentucky, Ohio, lllinuis, and Mis- 
souri. Of his children James B. mar- 
ried Miss Shields before coming; John 
(a soldier in the Mexican war) married 
in Dallas county, Missouri; Tucker; 
Elisha married Rhoda Ann Tucker; 
William M. married Julia Tucker; 
Amon, Jr., married Nancy Seals; Ste- 
phens B. died a soldier in the city of 
Mexico, December 24, 1847; Rosa mar- 
ried Jesse Cox; Armilda married Benj 
F. Fleaman; Mary E. married John W. 
Herndon. 

McCommas, Stephen B., Sr., brother of 
Amon, came with his family. His son, 
Burke, died a soldier in the city of 
Mexico, about Christmas, 1847. Of his 
other children, Serena married Rufus 
Bennett, and of John wc have no data. 

McCommas, John C, brother of Amon and 
St/ephen, came with them, married, was 



a soldier in Mexico, and now lives in 
Young county. 

McCommas, Mrs. Lavinia, a sister-in-law of 
the three brothers, with her family, came 
with them. 

Moore, Benj. S., came single, married Martha 
Weatherford. 

Myers, William, and family, came in 1843; 
his son Meredith married Miss Eddy. 

McCoy, John C, came single in 1845; mar- 
ried Cora M. McDermett, who died in 
1853; he died April 30, 1887. 

Mounts, Jesse V., and family, came in 1844; 
he commanded in Grand Prairie skir- 
mish in 1846. 

Mounts, Thomas A., married Eliza J. Har- 
mison. 

Mounts, George, died a soldier in the city of 
Mexico, December, 1847. 

Mounts J. H. 

Minter, Rev. Green, came before 1846. 

McCants, Joshua, and family, came before 
July, 1845, in Grand Prairie. 

McDermett, J. B., came from Arkansas in 
1847, his sister Lucy lieing of his family. 
Of his children, Mary M. married Joseph 
Parker; William A. married Addie Dye; 
Henrietta married John Tenison, Cora 
M. married John C. McCoy; Dr. David 
Porter married Talitha Smith and lives 
in Pilot Grove; Sam died in New 
Mexico; Josephine A. married Ulysses 
Matthews; Edward J. was killed in the 
naval battle of Mobile. 

McRamy, William C, wife Racliel and family; 
their children: William C, John L., 
Charles and perhaps others. 

Moon, Jesse, and wife Mary J., came from 
Missouri in 1845; of their children, E. 
G. died at fifteen; Jesse in 1872; Julia 
married Ellis C. Thomas; Martha married 
Matt J. Moore; Nancy E. married Jo- 



102 



HlSTOkY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



sepli C. McConnell; W. Marion married 
Mrs. Mary J. KniL^lit, nee Armetrong; 
Sarah J. 

Miller, Madison M., long a merchant at 
Pleasant Run, near Lancaster, came in 
1846; he married first Mary Rawlins, 
second Enima A. Dewey (now Mrs. 
William B. Miller.) 

Miller, William B., wife and children came 
from Kentucky in 1847. By his first 
wife he had children: Charilaus (Chill), 
who married Miss Walker; Alonzo; 
Mattie married S. Frank Leonard; Molly 
married George AV. Guess; Jennie mar- 
ried Charles D. Kanady; Susan married 
Frank Robberson (who died in 1867), 
and is now the wife of Dr. Jacob B. 
Ewing, of Dallas. By his present wife, 
Emma A. (formerly widow of Madison 
M. Miller, of Lancaster, and nee Emma 

A. Dewey), hehas Minnie, wife of Philip 

B. Miller; Charles and Richard. 
Miller, James T., came single, a blacksmith; 

went to California. 

Miller, Stephen H., came single, before July, 
1848. 

Mathew, Ulysses, married Josephine A. Mc- 
Derraett. 

Moorman, John H., married Susan Hick- 
man. 

Markham, George, a soldier in Mexico, mar- 
ried Hannah Cox. 

Moneyham, James J., and family, came in 
came in 1843; moved to Tarrant county 
and iinally left the State. 

Moneyham, Joseph William, and family, came 
in 1843; his son married and died at 
Letot; a daughter married Mr. Taylor. 

Morris, Wm., and family, came in 1844; his 
children; James M., Samuel L. D. and 
Preston W. died single. Melissa mar- 
ried Snyder Kennedy. 



Mooney, James, came in 1845, in Grai)d 
Prairie fight. 

Mitchell, John, came in 1845, in Grand 
Prairie fight. 

Mathis, James, came in 1845, in Grand 
Prairie fight. 

McCarny, Perry, and family, came in 1846. 

Masters, Wm., and family, came in 1846. 

Morris, Richard, young Englishman, came in 
1848— died. 

McCrackin, Anson, and family came in 1844. 

May, William C., and family. 

Merrill, Adolph G. M., came single. 

Merrill, David, and family, came in 1844; 
among his children were Benjamin, 
Robert, Samuel and Eli. 

Myers, Elder David, a Baptist preacher and 
patriarch of a large family, came frma 
Illinois in 1845 — left a fine record as o 
Christian pioneer. Born in Kentucky, 
he came from Jersey county, Illinois. 
Elder Myers organized the first and still 
the well known "Union" Baptist church 
in Dallas county, May 10, 1846, the 
original members being J. B. Lee and 
wife, P. A., Franklin Bowles, Letitia 
Myers and John M. Myers, of whom the 
latter is the only survivor. Thomas 
Keenan ai\d wife, and Mrs. Keziah Myers 
were the three first additions to the 
church. His children is married in the 
following paragraph : 

Nancy, married J. W. Chowning, in 1834, 
came in 1845; John M. (the second 
elder) married in 1842; Keziah Wiley, 
came in 1845; Emeline married J. H.. 
Whitlock, came in 1845, died early; 
Elizabeth, married Wra. Barnes, and 
died soon; Sarah, married A. J. Clark, 
an old Texan (Harvey C. Clark, of 
Dallas, is their son); B. C, married 
Penina Fyke; Jemima, married Archer 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



163 



Fyke; Mary, married D. H. Wise; Geo. 
W., married Lucy Peak, in Illinois; 
Harriet, married A. G. Brant. Elder 
David Myers has a hundred descendants, 
mostly in Te.xas. 
The children of Elder John M. Myers are: 

Elizabeth, married J. S. Bailey; Mary, mar- 
ried William Mosely; Martha, married 
J. J. Stnbbs; J. S., married M. V. 
Cooper; Douglas, married Eugenia Hoff- 
man; G. F., married Ella Kennedy; 
Letty, married James l^fcWhorter; Nancy 
married W.T. McKaray; Lewis, remains 
open to negotiation. 

Merrill, Elder Eli, and wife, Mary, came in 
1844; of their children: Julia married 
John W. Wright; Cornelius married 
Margaret Dickinson; John M. married 
Sue Whitman; Thomas was murdered 
at Van Horn's Wells, near Rio Grande; 
and Geo. C. Merrill. 

Merrill, Charles D., and family. 

McCombs, Joshua, came single. 

McDowell, John, came single, before July; 
1848. 

Munden, Joseph, and family, before July, 
1848. 

Metcalf, John J., and family, came before 
July, 1848, a surveyor, and died in 
Palo Pinto county. 

Moore, James, came before July, 1848. 

Moore, Jesse and John T., came single, before 
July, 1848. 

Marks, Watts, and family, before July, 1848. 

Morse, Frederick, and family, before July, 
1848. 

Manning, Mrs. Delilah, and family, before 
Jnly, 1848. 

Manning, Thomas G., came before 1848. 

Manning, Andrew J., aud family, before 
1848. 

Mills, Edward, and family, before July, 1848. 



Mills, James, came single, before July, 1848. 
Mills, John, came single, before July, 1848. 
McDaniel, Aaron, came single, before July, 
1848. 

Nye, John, came in 1846; his children: Mar- 
garet, married Mr. Malone; D. H., to 
Mary Myers; Francis M., to Caroline 
Drake; Louisa, to Lewis Cook; Sarah, to 
W. J. Anderson; Daniel, to Mary Fyke. 

Newton, Harvey U., and family, before July, 
1848. 

Newton, Charles G., and family, before July, 

1848. 
Newton, Samuel G., came at the same time; 

died in San Antonio. 
Narboe, three Norwegian brothers, came in 

1845 — John P., and wife, died; Peter 

married Jane Robinson; Peter, Paul and 

John, single, went to California, about 

1850 or 1851. 
Noble, John, came in 1845; in Grand Prairie 

fight. 
Nancy, Andrew T., came single, in 1847, 

married Susan Ray; his children: Benj., 

Amos, Levy, Rebecca, and perhaps 

others. 
Norton. Daniel E., came single, married 

Margaret E. Strong. 
Nations, John W., came single, married Dor- 
cas Bongh. 
Mix, John, and family, came before Jnly, 

1848. 
Overton, Aaron, and family, came in 1844. 
Overton, Caswell, and family, came in 1844. 
Overton, John M., and family, came in 1844. 
Overton, Wm. P. and John C, came single, 

in 1844. 
O'Guinn, Wm., and family, came before 

July, 1848. 
O'Guinn, Stephen C. and Leonidas, came 

single. 



164 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Patrick, Callaway H., and wife, came to the 
county in 1846. He had been in it in 
1841, with an Indian scout. He married 
Khoda I., daughter of Abraham T. 
Smith, killed by Indians in Young 
county, in 1841. 

Phelps, Josiah Smith, came in 1845, and was 
a surveyor; in March, 1846, at Ilarwood 
Springs (Kleburg), this still being 
Nacogdoches county; he married Mrs. 
Melissa T. Jacobs, daughter of Alex. 
M. Harwood, Sr. She died about Jan- 
uary, 1848, leaving an only infant child 
" Dickey," now Mrs. Henry C. Miller, 
Azle P.O., Tarrant county. Mr. Phelps 
was killed by Indians, April, 1848. 

Pancoast, Josiali, a soldier in the Grand 
Prairie fight, and in Mexico, married 
Mary Ann Young; moved to San An- 
tonio, reared seven daughters, and died 
there. He was a brother of the cele- 
brated medical author, Dr. Pancoast, 
of Philadelphia. 

Pearson, Wm. H., and family, came in 1844. 

Pearson, Dudley F., a soldier in Mexico. 

Potiiewell, Simcoe, single. 

PuUiam, Wm. H., and family, came in 1845. 

Pnlliam, Marshall S., single, came in 1845. 
•Pulliam, John L., single, came in 1845, sol- 
dier in Mexico. 

Pruitt, William, and family. 

Pruitt, Martin, single. 

Parks, Elias C, came in 1845. 

Pruitt, Wm. A., married Elizabeth Freeman. 

Prigmore, Joseph, and family, came in 1845. 

Prigmore, Benjamin J., came single in 1845. 

Parks, Alfred J., married LydiaA. Rawlins. 

Parker, Joseph, came from Shelby county, 
Texas, 1848, married Mary McDermett 
and died 1878. Their children are: 
Theodore, Clementine, wife of Robert 



P. Toole, and Cora J. (Mittie) is Mrs. 
Littlefield. 

Perry, Mrs. Sarah and family, came 1844 or 
1845. 

Perry, Alexander W. and wife, nee Sarah 
Hoffman, came from Illinois in 1844. 
Their children: Margaret, married J. 
M. Smith; Harriet, married} Thomas 
Warner; J. H. married Susan Poor; W. 
F. married Amanda Cox; Carrie, mar- 
ried Clinton Hoffman; Lillie Dale, mar- 
ried W. D. Fyke; Rosey Ann, married 
N. N. Puller. 

Perry, Weston and family, came in 1846. 
His children: Nancy was married to 
Page Plackwell; F. S. to Miss McCants; 
W. M. to Miss Blackwell; Rebecca to 
William Rowe; Eliza to James Cox; 
Ellen to A. F. Fonts; Ann to William 
Kennedy; Eveline to Preston Buchanan; 
Theodore, Commodore and John are 
dead: thirteen children and ten married. 

Perry, Middleton, came in 1845, married in 
Illinois, a daughter of Thomas M. Ellis, 
raised a large family in Dallas county. 

Patterson, Jaines M., from Warren county, 
Kentucky, in January, 1846; married 
Sarah E. Self, merchant from 1846 to 
'54; Chief Justice of the county 1854 
'66; his children: Florence Belle is the 
wife of John Spellman; Kitty is the 
wife of Joseph Shuford; Charles L. is 
dead; James M. and Edward are single; 
Rowena is the wife of Thomas H. Pat- 
terson; Emma is single. 

Pryor, Dr. Samuel B., and young wife from 
Virginia and last from Arkansas, came 
1846. His first child, Ashton R. (late 
police officer] was born in Dallas, Octo- 
ber 29, 1847. Dr. P. was district clerk 
from December, 1846, to August, 1850; 
was the first mayor of Dallas, in 1856-'57 



niSrOHY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



16J 



and died in 1867. His widow and other 
children reside in southwestern Arkan- 
sas. 

Porter, John F. and family, came before 
July, 1848. 

Porter, George R., came single. 

Paxton, Edwin H., came single, before 1848. 

Pound, Bales O. C, came single, before 1848. 

Peuiberton, Gideon, came single, before 
1848. 

Eoland, Joseph, and family, came before 
1848. 

Ricketts, Zedekiah, and family, before 1848. 

Ricketts, Daniel D. and David M., single. 

Reed, Benjamin, and family, before 1848. 

Ramsey, Samnel, and family, before 1848. 

Runyon, Silas R., and family, came before 
1848. 

Reedy, David W., came in 1845; his wife, 
Mary E., in 1844. 

The Rawlins family from Illinois. 

Rawlins, Elder Roderick and wife, came 
in 1844. Of their children, Louisa, 
married Lewis Hull; Nancy, married 
Pleasant Taylor (both living in Dallas); 
Pleasant King married Mrs. Lydia 
Spruance: he died June 6, 1887; Lu- 
cinda married Samuel Keller; Tabitha 
married Carlos Wise; Mary married M. 
M. Miller; Roderick A. (Captain Aleck) 
married Virginia Bledsoe; Elder William 
married in Illinois. 

Rawlins, Pleasant K., as above; his stepson, 
Thomas Spruance, married Bettie Bled- 
soe; his son A. IL Rawlins married 
first Maggie Swindells, second George 
Rogers; R. D. (Dod) married Henrietta 
Jacobs; John S., married Mary Peacock; 
Lncy A., married Robert Brotherton, 
who died in 1866 or '67, and she is now 
the wife of Irvine Lavender; Mary E., 



married James Henry Ellis; Benjamin 
S., died in 1863. 

Rawlins, Elder William, son of Elder Rod- 
erick, and family, came in 1846. His 
children are Hubbard M., George, Allen, 
Frank, Malinda, Lucinda, and Mrs. Rich- 
ard T. Bandy. 

Rogers, Elijah, married Lowina Crowley. 

Robinson, John B., came before July, 1848. 

Robertson, Mrs. Elizabeth, and family before 
July, 1848. 

Robertson, Hugh, and family, before July, 
1848. 

Robertson, Joseph M., came single, before 
July, 1848. 

Rhodes, Elisha L., and family, before July, 
1848. 

Rhodes, Frederick, and family, before July, 
1848. 

Ray, Robert, and family came from, Illinois 
in 1845. Of his children, all coming 
with him, Susan married Andrew T. 
Nanny, and Mary married Benjamin F. 
Andrews, both in Illinois; William mar- 
ried Lucinda Hart; Elizabeth married 
Abe Hart; Rebecca married John H. 
Daniel, a soldier in the Mexican war; 
Nancy married Timothy Caldwell; Jane 
married Joseph Lockett; of twin boys, 
Robert married Emeline Mc Comas, and 
Samuel married Miss White; Martha 
married James Kinchelow, who died a 
prisoner in Camp Douglas, Chicago: 
ten and all married. 

Ray, George M., came in 1846, from Tennes- 
see. His wife Subrina is now the widow 
of James Sheppard, residing in Dallas, 
with her stepdaughter Mrs. E. A. (Dr. 
A. A.) Johnston. 

Rowe, William, and family, before July, 1848. 

Rowe William 15., and family, before July, 
1848. 



166 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Kowe John M. and William H., single, before 
July, 1848. 

Kiley, James R. and family, before, July 1848. 

Riley Thomas, came single, before July, 1848. 

Eamsey, Isaac, and family, before July, 1848. 

Romine, William, came single, before July, 
1848. 

Reedy, E. L., came single, before July, 1848. 

Renfro, Creath, and family, removed to the 
frontier, where he and his son were killed 
by the Indians in 1859 and '60. 

Ray, James, came single, before July, 1848. 

Ream, Mrs. Sarah, and family, before July 
1848. 

Ream, Sylvester, came single, before J uly, 
1848. 

Roberts, Joel, and family, before July, 1848. 

Ramsey, Samuel, and family, before July, 
1848. 

Rattan, Thomas, and family, came from Illi- 
nois in 1841; settled in Collin. Of his 
children, Hamp, then of Bird's Fort, 
was killed by Indians, one and one-half 
miles southwest of Carrollton, Dallas 
county, Christmas day, 1841; Littleton; 
John died in Collin; Mary married 
William Fitzhugh; Harriet married An- 
drew J. Witt, and died in Dallas; Ann 
married James W. Throckmorton; Hugh 
married a daughter of David Turner; 
Jennie married Mr. Moore, and died in 
Collin; Tollie married Robert Dowell, 
and lives in Collin; Edward married 
Miss Stiff, and lives in Collin; Louisa 
married Ilogan Witt (cousin in Preston), 
of Collin; Temperance married John 
Kincaid; Thomas lives near Van Al- 
styne. 

Robinson, William, married Ann Matterson. 

Robinson, J. M., married Louisa Newton. 

Sheppard, Mrs. Subrina, daughter of Hugh 
IJrown, of Georgia, came to Dallas the 



wife of George M. Ray, in 1846; her 
second husband was Elder Thacker V. 
GrifBn, and she is now the widow of 
James Sheppard, residing with her step- 
daughter, Mrs. E. A. (Dr. A. A.) John- 
ston. 

Smith, Patrick P., a soldier at Monterey in 
1846; son of Abraham T. Smith, who 
was killed by Indians on the Brazos 
river in 1841; now dead. 

Shahan, David, and family, came in 1844 or 
1845. 

Shahan, William P., came single, in 1844 or 
1845. 

Smith, Chilton, and family, came in 1844 or 
1845. 

Sprowls, William, and family, came from Illi- 
nois in 1844 or 1845. 

Samson, Dr. Jonathan L., came in 1845; 
visited California and died. His widow 
married the late Mr. Bourgeois. 

Sharrock, James, and family, before 1848. 

Sharrock, Everard, and family before 1848. 

Sharrock, Everard, Jr., came single, before 
1848. 

Sharrock, George W., came single before 
1848. 

Simmons, James A., and family, died early. 

Stewart, Samuel A., and family, before 1848. 

Sloan, Robert (a gallant and early Indian 
fighter), and family, came from Red 
River county in 1844. He commanded 
a scouting party through Dallas county 
in 1840; died in Stephen ville, in 1886. 

Sloan, Samuel (brother of Robert), came from 
Red River county in 1844; was a soldier 
in the Texan army of 1836. He now 
lives in Stephens county. 

Stewart, William A., married Susan O. Har- 
wood. 

Slayback, Anderson, married Lucinda Chap- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



167 



StODP, Thomas, married Elizabeth Koss. 

Scroggins, William, married Lucretia Strong. 

Smith, ilev. James A., and family, came from 
Mississippi in 184f5. He, his twin 
brother Wesley, now of Eastland county, 
and his brother William A., superin- 
tendent of the State Blind Asylum 
during the war, were all Methodist 
preachers, and each one in the locality 
of his residence; from his ruddy com- 
plexion and bristly hair, was known by 
the sobriquet of "Cedar Top," — by the 
way, three excellent and sincere men. 
James A. Smith's children were: John 
Wesley, married Miss Wilburn; Joshua 
La Fayette, married Miss Daniels; was 
a captain in Stone's Sixth Texas Cavalry; 
murdered in Dallas, in 1867, by Wilson, 
an attache of the Freedmen's Bureau, 
who fled the country; Robert married 
Sophronia Winn; Fanny Killen married 
John M. Laws, and is dead. 

Swing, Matt L., came in 1848; now in New 
Jersey. 

Snow, William J., came single before 1848; 
married Eleanor Otwell. 

Snow, J. M., came from Arkansas in 1848. 

Stadden, Seth, and family, from Illinois in 
1846. 

Story, John L., before 1848. 

Scrutch, Nathan, single, before 1848. 

Story, Thomas C, single, before 1848. 

Starkey, Jesse S., before 1848. 

Simpson, Lionel, before 1848. 

Smith, Absalom, and family, before 1848. 

Snyder, John D., single, before 1848. 

Scurlock, John, and family, before 1848. 

Sewell, James M. and Thomas J., single, be- 
fore 1848. 

Sweet, Levi J., and family, before 1848. 

Sage, Daniel, before 1848. 

Taylor, Pleasant, in Illinois married Nancy, 



daughter of Elder Roderick liawlins; 
came in 1844. Their children were Al- 
fred, Alonzo, Addie, I'aris, all dead; 

, killed by a pet bear; living — 

Pleasant King, who married Annie Col- 
lins, and Sophronia, wife of R. P. Aun- 
paugh. Alfred married Lizzie Green, 
now the wife of Frank M. Ervay. 

Tuggle, llenry, married Minerva A. Riffle. 

Trees, Crawford, came in 1845; in 1846 
married Annie M. Kiminel, being the 
first couple married in the new county, 
in July or August, 1846, the record 
being destroyed, ller name is errone- 
ously printed Henderson on a former 
page. 

Thomas, John (the first chief justice in Dal- 
las county); wife Hannah and children 
came from Missouri in 1844. Their 
children: John died a soldier in Mexico; 
Alex. A., also a soldier in Mexico, mar- 
ried Mary E. Armstrong; Ellis C. mar- 
ried Julia Moon; Elizabeth B. married 
Charles II. Durgin; Eliza married Reese 
Jones; Sarah A. married P. A. Sayre. 

Turner, William A., came single, before July, 
1848; married Alinda Turner. 

Toliver, J. M., from Illinois in 1846. 

Tilley, Jefierson, came in 1844; married Eliza 
Cole. 

Thompson, Marlin M., came in 1848; mar- 
ried Lucy liorton. 

Turner, Levi, and family, before 1848. 

Turner, William, and family, 1848. 

Turner, William (?), single, before 1848. 

Taylor, Calvin, single, before 1848. 

Trimble, William C, single, before 1848. 

Tucker, John S., and family, before 1848. 

Vance, Thomas, and family, before 1848. 

Vance, John C. and family, before 1S48. 

Vance, Charles K., and family, before 1848. 

Valentine, Henry K., and family, before 1848. 



168 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



Yernoy, Thomas, came single in 1845, mar- 
ried Julia A. Bast and died early. 

Vernoy, Julia, married first Mr. Bast and 
second William Jones. 

Yail, Hiram, came single, married Betsey 
Keenan. 

Weatherford, Money, and family, from Illi- 
nois in 1845. 

"Weatherford, Hairbird, single, from Illinois 
in 1845. 

Wampler, Thomas J., and family, before 1848. 

Wampler, Valentine, and family, before 1848. 

Wampler, Martin, J. S., Austin C. and Will- 
iam K. came single. 

Walker, William J., and family, from Ten- 
nessee, 1846. 

Walker, A. G., from Kentucky, 1845. 

Wilson, Richard, and family, before 1848. 

Wilson, Aaron B., and family, before 1848. 

Wilson, George, and family, from Missouri 
in 1840; from Lamar county in 1848. 
Among his children areTliomas,Charle8, 
James K. P. and Nancy E., wife of 
James N. Wittenburg. He yet lives, 
over eighty, near Cedar Hill; was Lieu- 
tenant Colonel in Young's regiment at 
the close of the Mexican war. 

Williams, Thomas C, and family, from Ten- 
nessee in 1845. Among his children 
are T. J., J. B., E. A., M. J. and R. H. 

Wright, John W., and family, before 1848. 

Wright, John W. (2), and family, before 1848. 

Wright, John, and family, before 1848. 

Wand, Henry, and family, before 1848. 

Wilburn, Edward, and family, came in 1845. 

Wilburn, Hiram, and family, came in 1845. 

Winn, Francis A., and family came in 1845; 
among his children were Berry; W. M. 
married Ann R. West; Emma, married 
John R. West; Viola H., married Ed- 
ward W. Hunt; Helena, married T. J. 
Winn. 



West, James, and family, l)efore 1848. 
Whitlock, John, and family, before 1849. 
West, Robert J., and family, came in 1845; 

of his children: Ann R. married Dr. C. 

C. Gillespie; Alice married Thomas H. 

Floyd; John R. married Emma Winn; 

Robert H. lives in violation of Genesis, 

chapter 2d, verse 24, notwithstanding 

he was the first native to be county 

judge. 

Warner, John, came single before 1848. 
Webb, Alexander W., from Hlinois to Bowie 

county in 1840; to Bird's Fort in 1841; 

escaped when the Indians killed Rattan ; 

settled with his family in Dallas county 

in 1842. 
Webb, Isaac B., and family, from Tennessee 

in 1844; of his children, William D. 

married Olivia Merrill; J. Whit; Sarah; 

J. N. was born in Dallas county, July 

1, 1846. 
Winneford, Norvell R., married Matilda 

Goar. 
Winneford, William, came single. 
Witt, Preston, came in 1842, died in 1877; 

his widow lives in Kansas. 
Witt, Wade H., and family, came in 1845. 
Witt, Andrew J., came in 1845; married 

Harriet Rattan; both dead. 
Witt, Pleasant, twin of Preston, came in 

1842, and is dead. 
Witt, Eli, and family. 
Witt, John, came single. 

The above were all brothers, from Illinois. 
Wise, Carlos, came single before 1848; mar- 
ried Tabitha Rawlins. 
Young, John and family, came before 1848. 
Zachary, Mrs. Sarah, and two cliildren came 

from Kentucky in 1845; her daughter 

married Henry C. Long and died early. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



169 



EARLY INCIDENTS 
Dallas News of .Tuly, 1892. 

Jiuige Mat. M. Burtbrd was among the first 
officials to serve Dallas county in a judicial 
capacity after it was organized. He pos- 
sesses a ready memory and is an interesting 
conversationalist. Judge Burford came from 
Smith county, Tennesse, to Jeifersoii, Texas, 
in February, 1846. He lived in Jefferson 
until October, 1848, when he came to Dallas, 
where he has since continuously resided. His 
official career began wlien he was elected dis- 
trict attorney of the fourteenth judicial dis- 
trict in 1850. He was re-elected in 1852, 
and in February, 1856, he was elected Judge 
for the new Sixteenth Judicial District, which 
had just been created of the counties of 
Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Cooke, "Wise, Denton 
Parker, Montague, Jack, Young, Johnson and 
Ellis. 

While he was serving as district judge in 
1862 he entered the Confederate army, a 
member of Good's battery, and in the fall of 
that year he was discharged by the secretary 
of war and authorized to raise a regiment of 
infantry or cavalry as to him seemed best. 
He came home and soon had formed the 
Nineteenth Texas Cavalry. He was elected 
Colonel and he reported in person to the 
secretary of war at Richmond, Virginia. He 
commanded the regiment in Arkansas, Louisi- 
ana and Missouri, but owing to failing health 
he resigned and returned home in 1864. In 
1862, at the outbreak of the war, it is said 
that the Congressional Democratic convention 
which met in Dallas, would have nominated 



him for Congress, but war had been declared 
and the convention declined to nominate. 

In 1866 he was Speaker of the House of 
Itepresentatives of the Eleventh Texas Legis- 
lature. In 1872 or 1874 he was elected 
County Judge of Dallas county; in 1878 he 
was elected Judge for the new district com- 
posed of the counties of Dallas and Ellis. He 
served two years and resigned on account of 
failing health, terminating his long career as 
a public officer. " I have no more aspirations 
to get office," he said in a short speech at the 
reunion. "There is not an office in the 
world that I would have. All that I desire 
is to have the love and respect of my neigh- 
bors and friends and to be permitted to spend 
my remaining days in peace. I have nearly 
reached three-score and ten and I want to be 
ready to answer my Maker's call." 

" When I was elected District Judge in 
1856," said, Judge Burford, " the district 
was composed of twelve counties, and now 
with the county of Dallas divided into two 
districts there are, 1 believe, five times as 
many cases tried in either court at one term 
as I tried in my district in a whole year. I 
believe this is true of civil suits tiled. Even 
taking into consideration the increase of pop- 
ulation, 1 think the increase of crime has ex- 
ceeded the growth in number of the people. 
Crime has increased in its enormity, but I 
don't know that there has been any increase 
in misdemeanors. When I was District Attor- 
ney my income arose largely from gaming 
cases prosecuted in the older counties of the 
district. During my first term as District 



no 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Judge I tried only three murder cases; the 
other felony cases tried were for horse-steal- 
ing. The high crime of murder increased with 
the advent of railroads. They brought a float- 
ing population, adventurers and people of un- 
settled habits, and robbery and murder began 
to increase. The people who came before the 
railroads came with the intention of facing 
the dangers of a new country and settling 
homes for their children. They were plain, 
honest people who were not roving about 
over tlie country, and the old pioneers knew 
each other, they shared with each other, they 
welcomed the honest toiling stranger and in 
social ties they became cemented with a bond 
of brotherhood. In the trial of cases these 
days there are more continuances and post- 
ponements than we had. 

"I remember a remarkable case which I 
had to prosecute when I was District Attor- 
ney," Judge Burford continued as lie drew 
together the threads of the past. "Tliere 
was a promising young man by the name of 
Steelman, a grandson of Judge Underwood 
of Georgia. He came to this country at the 
age of nineteen early in the '50s and he soon 
got to drinking and dissipating. One day at 
Palestine he entered a saloon drunk, and an- 
other young man was in there playing a fiddle. 
Steelman passed close to the fiddler, whose el- 
bow struck him, whereupon Steelman turned 
upon him and tired in his face with a small 
pistol loaded with bird shot, putting his eyes 
out. The young man testified that the flash 
of the pistol was the last light he ever saw. 
Steelman as soon as he had fired turned and 
ran out of the saloon and jumped on a horse. 



which was standing at the rack near the sa- 
loon. The horse ran with him about two 
miles and drew up at a house, where Steel- 
man dismounted and going into the house 
got on the bed. It turned out that he had 
mounted the horse of the young man whose 
eyes he had shot out, and the horse carried 
him to the home of the widowed mother of 
the young man, where he was found by the 
oflBcers! The shooting aroused considerable 
prejudice against him, and General Thomas J. 
Rusk, the United States Senator, who had 
known Sleelman's father back in Georgia, 
caitie from Nacogdoches to defend him when 
the case came up for trial. He succeeded in 
getting a change of venue to Athens, in Hen- 
derson county. The case was called for trial 
there, and when court met Steelman received 
a letter from Rusk to the effect that his wife 
was sick and could not come. He told Steel- 
man to try and get the case continued, and if 
he could not get a continuance tj get Judge 
John H. Reagan, now chairman of the Texas 
Railroad Commission, to defend him. As 
soon as Steelman read the letter he said he 
knew that the reason why General Rusk did 
not come was because he could not bear to 
see a grandson of Judge Underwood sent to 
the penitentiary. Steelman never denied the 
shooting. He said that he might have done 
it, but if he did he had no recollection of it. 
He was forced to go to trial and Judge Rea- 
gan defended him. 

" The jury returned a verdict of guilty and 
assessed his punishment at seven years' con- 
finement in the penitentiary. Judge Bennet 
H. Martin was on the bench, and I never 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



171 



shall forget the scene when he sentenced 
Steelman. He said to him: "Now, you are 
hardly grown and you liave a sliort sentence. 
It should be a lesson to you, and you will be 
discharged in time to yet make a sober, up- 
right citizen.' Steelman, in receiving the 
sentence, replied: 'Judge, you know there 
is no respectable society that will receive an 
ex-convict. I can never dismiss the thought 
from my mind, no matter where I go, that I am 
an e.\-convict. I have disgraced my family and 
I am not worthy of the position of an honest 
and upright citizen. I have severed all the 
sacred family ties that bound me to ray 
mother and my kindred, and by my own act I 
will be disgraced with the stripes of a con- 
vict. If I should get out and try to lead a 
sober life and be a respectable citizen some 
man would some day say 'That man has been in 
the penitentiary,' and then. Judge, I would 
try to kill him. There is a society along the 
Rio Grande that receives ex-convicts, but I 
cannot go there. No, sir; I will remain in 
the penitentiary.' Steelman cried while he 
talked to the judge, and his candor, earnest- 
ness and his despair at the thought of his 1)e- 
ing a convict caused a number in the court- 
room to weep. This trial and sentence oc- 
curred in 1853. In November, 1855, Gen- 
eral Rusk, who was supporting the Texas and 
Pacific railway bill in congress, came to Te.xas 
to look over the line for the proposed road 
from Marshall to the Colorado river. He 
camped near Dallas and he came in to see me. 
He told me that he wanted to go to Austin 
to secure a pardon for Mr. Steelman. He said 
that he had been laboring industriously for six 



months past to get Steelman to accept a pardon. 
He says, 'He is the most remarkable man I ever 
seen. The superintendent of the peniten- 
tiary writes to me that he has not locked 
Steelman up the last year. He says he works 
hard, carries the key to his own cell, has 
nothing to do with anybody, and declares 
that he would not leave the penitentiary, and 
they have agreed to keep him employed there 
his life-time. But at last,' said General 
Rusk, 'I got him to consent to accept a par- 
don upon the condition that I would take 
him direct from the penitentiary to New 
York and secure him a place in the United 
States navy. He would not agree to serve 
unless he was sent to foreign shores. I have 
secured a commission for him and he is to 
ship from New York to Africa.' About 
that time Governor Rell was elected to con- 
gress and " Smoky Jim " Henderson, a per- 
sonal friend of General Rusk, became gov- 
ernor upon the resignation of Governor Bell. 
Henderson granted the pardon and General 
Rusk and took Steelman to New York. He re- 
fused to even pass through his native State, 
and he said that he did not want his mother 
and his old Georgia acquaintances to know 
what had become of him. I was told that he 
remained two days in New York and then 
shipped to Africa, as General Rusk said he 
would do. I have never since heard of Steel- 
man. In all my dealing with men charged 
with crime he was the most remarkable man 
that I ever met." 

THE PIONEER ASSOCIATION 

Of Dallas county, Texas, was organized 
July 13, 1875. Following is a list of the 



172 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



original members. Those marked (*) are 
dead. Those marked (-j-) have moved. 
Anderson, John, and wife, Emily J. 
*Browder, Edward C. 
*Beeinan, Samuel, and wife, *Mary A. 
Beeman, Wm. H., and wife, Martha. 
*Baird, George W., and wife, Mary E. 
Burford, Nathaniel M., and wife, *Mary J., 

who died March 23, 1888. 
Brown, John Henry, and wife, Mary Mitchell 

Brown. 
Cox, John E., E. A., D. B., M., H. B. and 

Mrs. L. 
*Cochrau, Mrs. Nancy J. and her children, 

viz.: John 11. and wife, Martha; Arch- 

elaus M. and wife, Mary A.; "William P. 

and wife, Amanda; James M. and wife, 

*Maggie B. 
*Cameron, David E., and wife, *Susan. 
*Cameron, Chris C, L. Frank Cameron, E. A. 

Cameron. 
*Crockett, John M., died August 4, 1887. 
*Cole, James M., and wife, Sarah A.; John 

H. Cole, and wife, Elizabeth; Martin V. 

Cole, and wife, Maggie; -j- Joseph Cole, 

and wife, -j-Jennie. 
*Collin8, James, and wife, -f-Nancy; -j-Thoraas 

Collins, and wife, -j-Mary; *Albert G. 

Collins, and wife, Pamelia. 
*Coats, James A., and wife, *N. A.; Marion 

A. Coats. 
■j-Carter, Wormley, born in Loudoun county, 

Virginia, June 16, 1816, — married in 

Dallas county Lucy Anderson, and lives, 

since 1880, near Lewisville, Denton 

county. 
Coombes, Z. Ellis 
Durgin, Mrs. Elizabeth B. 
Daniels, John H., and wife, Rebecca. 
Ellis, Mrs. Thomas. 
*Elam, Wm. B., and wife, Mary. 



*Elam, Isaac, and wife, *Margaret. 

Freeman, Wm; S., and wife, *Susan. 

*Fondren, John R. 

*Good, John J., and wife, -j-Susan A., now of 
El Paso. 

Gracey, Marquis D. L. ; Emory A. Gracey. 

•j-Gaskins, George, and wife, j-Easter. 

•f-Glover, George W., and wife, *M. 

Hord, William H., and wife, *Mary J. 

Hart, Abram, and wife, Elizabeth. 

*Hill, Mrs. S. J. 

*Harwood, Alexander, died July 31, 1885. 

■j-Haught, Peter, and wife, Susan J. ; -j-Samuel 
A. Haught; *Adam C. Haught. 

Jenkins, Mrs. Cynthia. 

*Jones, Mrs. Eliza. 

Knight, Gabriel A., and wife, Hannah E. 

*Keenari, Thomas. 

Lawrence, nee Coats, Mrs. John P. 

*Laws, Mrs. Fanny. 

•j- Murphy, nee Witt, Mrs. Lucy V. 

*McCorama8, Elder Amon. 

*McCoy, John C, died April 30, 1887. 

Patrick, Callaway H., and wife, Rhoda E. 

Reedy, David W., and wife, Mary E. 

Rawlins, R. A., and wife, Virginia Bledsoe; 
R. E. Rawlins. 

Smith, John W., and wife, *Lucinda Black- 
burn. 

Sayer, Mrs. S. A. 

*Thomas, Alexander A., and wife, Mary. 

*Witt, Preston, and wife, fMrs. H. A. Witt; 

fWade H. Witt, and wife, f Mrs. D. G.; 

John T. Witt, born in Dallas county in 

1846 ; G. A. Witt, born in Dallas county 

in 1848. 
Webb, Alexander W, and wife, *Lucinda; 

*Isaac B. Webb, and wife, *Mary H.; 

Wm. D. Webb, and wife, Olivia; J. 

Witt Webb; Miss Sarah Webb; *L N. 

Webb, and wife, Fanny. 
Williams, Thomas C. 



These were the original members. 



The 



niSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



173 



original officers were John C. McCoy, presi- 
dent; "William H. Uord, Mrs. Elizabeth B. 
Durgin, Isaac B. Webb, Mrs. Nancy J. Coch- 
ran, vice presidents; Edward C. Browder, 
secretary; John W. Smith, treasurer; Elder 
Amon McCommas, Ciiaplain. E.\ecutive 
Committee: Mrs. E. B. Durgin, John M. 
Crockett, John H. Cochran, Mrs. Martha 
Beeman, Mrs. Fanny Laws, Win. B. Elam, 
R. A. Rawlins and Mrs. Thomas Ellis. 

Nine years passed without another meet- 
ing, but, beginning at Shady View Park in 
1884, there have been annual reunions ever 
since, — in 1885 at the same place, in 1886 
and 1887 in the City Park; and in 1888 at 
the Park Pavilion in Oak Cliff. John C. 
McCoy was president till his death in April, 
1887; and since the reunion in July, 1887, 
John Henry Brown has been president. 

The membership has largely increased, not- 
withstanding the deaths and removals from 
the county, and some not so marked are 
doubtless dead and others have removed. 
Among the members as old Te.xans from 
other counties, but now resident in Dallas, 
are Mrs. Angeline Keiper, Mrs. Julia Hens- 
ley, Mrs. Gabriella Snodgrass, Richard D. 
Martin and his wife Jane, fifty year.s in Te.xas, 
Mrs. Clara Brown Mitcliell, born on Mata- 
gorda bay, Mrs. Rebecca Murdock, Mrs. 
Emeline Flinn, Mrs. Martha Hoyt, Mrs. 
Lizzie Roberts, Mrs. Robert M. Forbes, Mrs. 
Virginia Randall, Mrs. Augusta E. Randall, 
Dr. Frederick E. Hughes and wife Mary E., 
♦Charles C. Bryant, *Mr6. Welthea Bryant 
Leach man. 

This association has met annually ever since 

13 



its organization. We have been unable to 
get the proceedings of each meeting. 

The following is the report of the last 
meeting of the association at Garland as 
printed in the Dallas JVews; also incidents 
that occurred in pioneer days of the county, 
as related by different members. 

Garland, Texas, July 13. 

Dallas county pioneer association, organ- 
ized July 13, 1875, in reunion here. The 
officers are John Henry Brown, president; 
Win. H. Hord, Elisha McCommas and Mrs. 
C. B. Durgin, vice presidents; Rev. John M. 
Myers, chaplain; Gabriel A. Knight, treas- 
urer; Win. C. McKamy, secretary. 

Executive Committee — M. D. L. Gracey, 
John H. Cole, Wm. H. Beeman, Dr. James 
H. Swindells, Mrs. Rlioda Ann McCommas, 
Mrs. Martha Beeman and Mrs. Martha E. 
Gracey. 

Coiumitteeon badges and printing — -W. H, 
Beeman and Mrs. Martiia Bpeman. 

Garland committee of arrangements — T. F. 
Nash, John H. Cochran, John H- Whitfield, 
John T. Jones, B. J. Prigmore, James H, 
Pickett and J. S. Strawther. 

Hon. T. F. Nash welcomed the gathering. 

Mrs. Mary Guilliot Potter's poem was read 
as follows : 

The mem'ries of years, 

To braye pioneers, 
Are dearer and brighter each day; 

As dreams of a song, 

The past that is gone. 
Comes back to your heart alway. 

In a land wildly new, 

Your stout hearts and true, 
The banner of progress unfurled, 

With hands brave and strong 

You labored full long — 
A lesson of thrift to the world. 



174 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Tho' dangers were great, 

Tho' none knew the fate 
In a country to Indians a prey. 

Tour strong frontier arm 

Protected from barm 
Your dear ones thro' perils each day. 

Your labors are done; 

The glorious sun 
Of prosperity shines in its power; 

And cities have grown 

From seeds you have sown, 
And the country develops each hour. 

Where little homes stood, 

Made of stout forest wood. 
There are mansions and churches with spires; 

And carriages roll 

On streets where of old 
Patient oxen slow drove thro' the mires. 

There is life everywhere — 

Sounds of work in the air, 
Of forges and factories full blast; 

And lights brightly gleam 

Where of old the stars beam 
Thro' shadows of forests were cast. 

The years have brought change; 

Where wild cattle ranged 
There are hamlets and picturesque towns; 

And Dallas the queen 

Of our county, serene 
On her river enthrones, and is crowned. 

With hopes brighter still,— 

For boat whistles shrill 
Will re-echo her green shores along; 

And factories grim 

Will rise on the rim 
Of the river, with hum and with song. 

In every age 

There's a brighter page 
To each country and nation dear; 

And historians write 

With a pen of light 
The deeds of the pioneer. 

Hon. J. H. Cochran was elected secretary. 

The president announced the deaths, since 
the last meeting, as follows: Captain Middle- 
ton Perry and his wife, Mrs. Ellen Perry, 
one of the vice presidents; Mrs. Nancy P., 
widow of Pleasant Taylor; Mrs. Sarah H. 
Cockrell, Mrs. Emily Beeman (the oldest fe- 



male resident of the county, having settled in 
it in April, 1842);Ethiel S. Miller, Hamilton 
McDowell, Colonel Charilaus (Grill) Miller, 
Thomas M. Williams, Mrs- Adaline Newton, 
J. H. Holloway, I. C. Atterberry, Mrs. Mary 
A. Martin, J. H. Moss, Mrs. Virgie Rawlins, 
Mrs. Rosa Anderson and Mrs. W. P. Arm- 
strong. 

The event was celebrated by two weddings: 
Mr. Jackson was united to Miss Amelia 
Rainey and Mr. Mike C. Roupe to Mrs. F. P. 
Williams. 

Garland, Texas, July 14. 

At 4 o'clock this afternoon the eighteenth 
annual reunion of Dallas county pioneers 
closed its session, and the pioneers are leav- 
ing for their homes singing the praises of 
Garland and community for the unbounded 
hospitality and good cheer that has been be- 
stowed upon the visitors. Yesterday there were 
fully 2,500 people in attendance, and to-day's 
attendance was estimated at 2,000. Dinner 
wag spread under the beautiful shade trees in 
Garland park both days. Everybody was 
fed, and there were taken up several basket- 
fuls of fragments. A vote of thanks was 
passed by the association to the Garland peo- 
ple for their hospitality. 

Dr. Arch Cochran's memorial of the dead 
was pronounced a touching and eloquent ad- 
dress, and it brought tears to the eyes of many 
of the old pioneers. He spoke nearly an hour 
and a half. The remainder of the day was 
spent in short talks by various members of the 
association, including President John Henry 
Brown, C. H. Patrick. Jack Cole, T. F. Nash 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



175 



Colonel J. S. Strother, Gustave H. Schleiclier 
of Cuero, Dude Knight and others. 

Major John Henry Brown, the pioneer his- 
torian and tlie president of the association, 
delivered a short address just before the ad- 
journment. Touching claims of Baptist his- 
tory recalled in a short address by Chaplain 
Myers, Major Brown said that his mother's 
father, a Baptist preacher in 171)9, preached 
where St. Louis now stands the first Protest- 
ant sermon ever delivered west of the Mis- 
sissippi river. He (the speaker) came to 
Texas, he said, in 1834, " and," he proceeded, 
" iny old mother would have thought it as 
bad as a grave robbery to charge a man for a 
night's lodging. I never charged a man and 
1 never will. You old pioneers never charged. 
Things have changed. People are grasping. 
They are in a hurry to get rich. We were 
contented with what we had and we enjoyed 
it with our neighbors and our fellow man. 
When a boy went to see his girl he rode a 
pony, and if he didn't have a pony he walked. 
He went on Sunday; people were busy every 
other day. They were hard-working and 
honest." 

Major Brown advised the young men to be 
industrious, to observe and adopt the simple 
habits and bterlinc; iiitet£ritv of their ances- 
tors, for in those qualities, he said, lie the 
true principles of noble manhood and royal 
citizenship. 

The election of officers resulted in the re- 
election of the old board, as follows: John 
Ilenry Brown, president; William II. Hord, 
Elisha McComas, Mrs. C. B. Uurgin, vice- 
presidents; Elder John M. Myers, chaplain; 



Gabriel A. Knight, treasurer; William C. 
McKamy, secretary. Executive cemmittee — 
E. A. Gracy, John H. Cole, William H. Bee- 
man, Tolbert Lavender, Mrs. Rhoda Ann 
McComas, Mrs. Martha Beeman, Mrs. Mar- 
tha E. Gracy, Mrs. Emily Gray, John Bryan 
and Elisha Halsell. 

Farmers' Branch was selected as the next 
place of meeting and the eighteenth annual 
session of the Dallas County Pioneers' Asso- 
ciation then adjourned with the benediction 
of the chaplain, liev. John M. Myers. 

Soon after adjournment the old pioneers 
and their descendants and guests began to 
scatter in every direction to their homes. 
Some drove as far as ten miles in two-horse 
wagons to attend the reunion. 

At the Missouri, Kansas & Texas depot, 
people for Dallas were congregated in num- 
bers sufficient to till three coaches. Wlien 
the train rolled in it had only two cars and 
they were already partially tilled. The 
scramble of the crowd on the platform for 
seats and standing room in the cars exceeded 
anything of tlie kind ever seen in Dallas, not 
exceptingthe Confederate re-union. Onelady 
carrying a little three-year-old girl in her 
arms was knocked down and knocked off the 
platform in the mad rush. A gentleman 
picked her up. She was not seriously hurt. 
The crowd gave no heed the placard " For 
Negroes," which greeted the view in each 
coach; and a gentleman remarked that if the 
governor prosecuted under this infringement 
of the separate-coach law about fifty ladies 
would appear as defendants. The excursion 



176 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



train to Dallas was crowded like a street car 
during the State Fair. 

The pioneers were full of the history and 
tradition of Dallas county, much of which 
was sacred to the memories of the past. 

Mr. W. P. Overton, although seventy-one 
years old, has a light step, lithe form and 
clear blue eyes, while his tlowing white beard 
gives him a patriarchal appearance. He 
came to the county in 1844, and a few years 
afterward opened a farm live miles south of 
the city of Dallas, which is his home to this 
day. 

"When 1 first came to Dallas," he began, 
his mind stretching back nearly half a cen- 
tury, "there was a little pole hut on the bank 
of the Trinity, occupied by John Neely Bry- 
an, and a rough courthouse made out of post- 
oak logs, and that's all there was of Dallas. 
John Neely Bryan was living under bond to 
marry his wife. It was to far to go to get 
a marriage license then. I think license for 
the first marriage in Dallas county was is- 
sued from Nacogdoches, in 1845. There 
were very few preachers in the country in 
those days. Among the number was Amy 
McComas of Missouri, long since dead. 

"My father put up tiie first gristmill ever 
built in the county. It was a horse-mill and 
the first bushel of wheat ground was for old 
uncle John Cole, Jack Cole's father. Before 
the mill was put up the people ground their 
corn and wheat in mortars or hand mills. 
Coffee mills were frequently used to grind 
the meal. When we put up our mill people 
brought grist to it from 100 miles away, and 
I have seen as many as twenty-seven wagons 



there at the same time waiting for their turn. 
We grouud out about 100 bushels a day, 
which was considered a good day's work. 1 
have lived in Dallas county ever since I came 
here except two years that I was in Califor- 
nia along in 1849-'50. Texas is the best 
country in my opinion under the sun. Cal- 
ifornia is a good country, but it has only two 
seasons, wet and dry. I don't think that 
God ever made a better country than Texas. 
Take a belt through Grayson, Collin, Dallas, 
Ellis and Navarro counties and you have, in 
my opinion, the best country in Texas. In 
its early settlement it was dry, but we al- 
ways made enough to do ns and sometimes 
something to spare. We have as fine crops 
this year as 1 have ever seen in the county. 
We had better times before the railroads 
came, we could sell everything we raised, 
money was more plentiful and everybody had it 
then. A ten-year-old boy had more money 
then than the average farmer has to-day. It 
has gone into the hands of the few and we can't 
get it as we used to. The winter that I re- 
turned from California I bought pork, but I 
never have bought any meat since, though I 
have sold thousands of pounds. When I first 
came to this country it was no more like it 
is now than chalk is like cheese. Men were 
not trying to swindle each other. I could 
go to Dallas and lie down with $100,000, 
and it would be there next morning. There 
was no stealing those days, and if you wanted 
to borrow $500 or such au amount you didn't 
have to give a mortgage to get it. I knew 
men to borrow $500 and never give a note. 
"I was a member of the first jury impa- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



177 



eled in Dallas county: Mrc. Dalton, a daugh- 
ter of John Hewitt, asked for a divorce from 
her husband. We gave it to her. and before 
sun down that day Henderson Couch, fore- 
man of the jury, married her! 13ill Ochiltree 
was the judge. The first legal lianging was 
in 1853 or 1854. A iiegress was executed 
for knockins a man in the head with an ax 
at Cedar Springs. He had her hired and 
she murdered him while he was asleep. I 
can't recall their names. 

"The town of Dallas burned July 8, 1860. 
A lot of men had been smoking that Sunday 
around Sam Prior's drug-store, and I think the 
fire started from that. Crill Miller's house 
(the burning of which was mentioned in last 
Sunday's News) was not burned, but his 
wheat stacks and cribs were burned. A chunk 
of fire had been placed on a bed beneath the 
mattress, but when the mattress was turned 
back it smothered the tire out and the house 
did not burn. Crill's negro boy, Brnce, told 
about another negro, Spence, giving him a 
dollar to fire the house. I think the hanging 
of the three negroes for burning the town 
was unjust, because I don't believe they were 
guilty. At the courthouse, when the com- 
mittee was investigating the fire, there came 
near being a squally time between Judge 
Nat M. Burford and Colonel John C. McCoy. 

"I am a broad and a dyed-in-the-wool 
Democrat, and I am a Clark Democrat. I 
believe in giving every man a show at oflice." 

Calaway H. Patrick settled in Uobertson, 
now Leon, county, April, 1841. November, 
1846, he removed to Dallas county and set- 
tled tive miles southeast of Wilmer, where he 



has since resided. He is an old Mexican war 
veteran and an Indian fighter. " One evening 
in the year 1843," he said, "I was engaged 
with others building a fiatboat at the fall of 
the Brazos. I went out of camp a short dis- 
tance and 1 thought I heard an owl hooting. 
I listened, and 1 soon decided that the owls 
which I thought I heard were Indians, be- 
cause when a man mimics an owl there is an 
echo, but there is no echo to a genuine owl- 
hoot. I got lost from camp, and not long 
after I heard the Indians I saw some deer 
running from me. I wouldn't have fired at 
them for any money, but it was a good oppor- 
tunity for me to run and I took after them. 
I swam a bayou and found my way into the 
town of Bucksnort. The next morning we 
made up a party there and went out to look 
for the Indians. AVe found that they had 
followed me the evening before up to the 
bank of the bayou, but they had left the 
locality and we could not find them. In 
1843 a treaty was held with the Indians at 
Grapevine prairie. I was there, and after the 
treaty a party of us went to Cedar Springs, 
and we came on down the trail now known 
as McKinney avenue to John Neely Bryan's 
log cabin, which was located at the foot of 
what is now Main street in Dallas. I bought 
eight quarts of whisky from him, at 25 cents 
a quart, and it was whisky, too. He had 
about a barrel and a half of whisky, a keg of 
tobacco and some lead, powder and caps, 
which he had hauled from Shreveport. That 
was his stock. When you went to a man's 
house in those days, if he was fortunate 
enough to have a iiouse, you slept in the 



178 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



same room with the family. There ■was no 
house of several rooms and a stairs; it was 
all one room. Of course the men folks would 
leave the room while the women went to bed. 
You would go up to a man's house and he 
would ask you to have your horse hobbled or 
staked. There were no stables to put them 
in. I have struck many a place where they 
didn't have a bite to eat, but after people had 
been here a year or two you generally found 
them with plenty to eat. The early settlers 
lived on game, which was plentiful, and they 
got bread the best they could. We had no 
use for money much, because what the 
country couldn't get and didn't have money 
wouldn't buy, no matter how much a fellow 
had of it. In those days we had for money 
the 'Texas red-back.' It was money of the 
Republic, and it was something like the old 
Continental money. Then after that we had 
the Republic exchequer bill. Now many 
people will tell you that Texas was annexed 
to the Union in 1845, but it was not annexed 
until 1846 , the 19th day of February, when 
J. Rinkney Henderson was swoim in as gov- 
ernor and Anson Jones retired as president 
of the Republic. The convention met in 
July, 1841, and framed a constitution which 
was submitted to a vote of the people, who 
ratified it the first Tuesday in November, 
1845. After the meeting of the House of 
Representatives the constitution adopted by 
the people of Texas was sent to the Congress 
of the United States, and it did not get back 
to Texas until February, 1846, when the 
change of government was made. I voted 
against annexation at a voting box where 



Oak Cliff now stands. I was a member of 
Colonel Tom I. Smith's company of rangers; 
six of our company voted against it and five 
for it. I opposed it because I wanted the 
Republic to continue." 

Mr. W. H. Beeman, while a quiet and 
retired old gentleman, was one of the most 
interesting of the old pioneers attending the 
reunion at Grarland. He came to Texas from 
Illinois with his father in 1840, and settled 
in what is now Dallas county in 1842. Mr. 
Beeman was the first to break the sod for 
agricultural pursuits in the county, in the 
spring of 1842. It was a plat of seven or 
eight acres about four miles east of the city 
of Dallas. At the same time he erected the 
second house built in Dallas county, the 
first being a log structure put up by John 
Neely Bryan, the founder of Dallas, a few 
weeks before, whose cabin stood, Mr. Beeman 
says, at the foot of Main street. Speaking of 
early life in Dallas county, Mr. Beeman said 
to a News reporter: "We lived very hard at 
first. We had wild meats and bread. I 
dressed the buckskins and made my mocca- 
sins and clothes, except shirts, for three years. 
We finger-picked cotton which the women 
used in weaving clothes and shirts for the 
men. For two years we beat our meal for 
bread on a mortar or ground it in a hand 
mill. We had to buy corn in Fannin county. 
I rode in the first wagon and cut the road as 
we went into Dallas. We came in after cedar 
timber, which we cut to build a fence around 
Ham Rattan's grave. Rattan, who was a 
brother-in-law of Governor Throckmorton, 
was killed by the Indians on Elm Fork while 



HISTOnr OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



179 



out bear hunting. He was buried twenty- 
miles west of Dallas, at Bird's fort, but no- 
body knows to-day where his grave is." 

Althoutrh Mr. Bcemau was one of the most 
active participants in the organization of the 
connty and has been a constant resident of 
the county, he has never held and never 
sought office. "When the county was organ- 
ized in 1846," he said, " I went and got the 
order from the county court of Robertson 
county at Franklin. I rode a mustang and 
went alone. It was an Indian country then, 
and the trip was attended with considerable 
risk. I camped out each night. AVhen I 
was returning home one night on the other 
side of liichland creek, I saw a herd of bufl'a- 
loes. A storm approached that night and 
the buffaloes gathered in a great herd, which 
became wild with fright, and I could not tell 
the roar of the storm from the sound of the 
moving buffaloes. I sought protection in a 
skirt of timber close by. 

"I assisted in building the first ferryboat 
that was ever put in the Trinity at Dallas. 
We took two large cottonwood logs, and after 
digging them out like canoes, we fastened 
them together with puncheon. This was the 
floor. We had no rope; buffalo rawhide 
stretched so that we could not use it, so we 
took buffalo hair and twisted it into a rope 
with which we towed the boat. Tiie l)oat 
was located at what is now the foot of Com- 
merce street ])ridge, and we carried across 
the river in it all the early settlers of the 
county. 

"The Indians used to give us a great deal 
of trouble. When we came to Dallas county 



we left our teams of horses at Honey Grove, 
fearing the Indians would get them if we 
brougiit them farther. We drove o.xen from 
Honey Grove to Dallas. Once the Indians 
made a raid just across the river from Dallas 
and stole about eighteen head of horses. A 
party of nineteen of us followed them to 
Wise county, and there we lost track of 
them among the friendly Indians. When we 
started home we ran out of provisions and 
bought some meat from the Indians. It was 
said to be horse meat, but it tasted good to a 
half starved man. We traveled the next day 
without anything to eat, and that night I shot 
a wild turkey on Denton creek. Nineteen 
men fed on it and we got up hungry. When 
we struck Elm fork I killed a deer, which we 
roasted and ate without salt or bread; but, 
fortunately for us, we reached home the next 
night. 

" We lived peaceably and enjoyed ourselves 
those days. We had no trouble. Everybody 
was honest. 1 remember the first case of 
stealing that I ever heard of in the county. 
A young man was driving sheep down Elm 
fork to Dallas. On the way down he entered 
a place and stole a butcher knife and comb 
and some other little articles. He was over- 
taken and the parties gave him his choice be- 
tween a certain number of lashes and prose- 
cution in the courts at Dallas. He said that 
he would take the lashes, but he wished a 
thou.sand rails that he had not committed the 
theft. That was a common expression of re- 
gret those days. To split a thousand rails 
was a big task. I believe if more of that 



180 



HISTORY OP DALLAS OOUNTY. 



kind of punishment was inflicted to-day we 
would have less stealing. 

" I remember the l)nrninw of Dallas in 
1860. I was not in town that day. 
The fire started on the west side of 
the square at Wallace Peak's drug store. 
While the people were at work trying to 
check it at that point it broke out on the 
east side, and then they told nie it broke out 
here and there so fast that they could not 
keep up with it. There is no doubt but the 
negroes tired the town. They said they did, 
and the two white preachers, whom they said 
had put them up to it, were whipped and 
Bent out of the country. Just before tlie tire 
Alex. Cockrell had built a three-story brick 
tavern. The building was 50 x 100 feet, and 
it was the largest and finest building in all 
North Texas. It burned. A brick ware- 
room on the north side of Commerce Street 
covers the spot where this tavern was bnilt. 
I kept the first tavern in Dallas in a small 
house on the north side of the square. Old 
man Tom Crntchfield rented it, and finally he 
built the old Crutchfield house on the north- 
west corner of the square, which was burned 
several times. But speaking of the hanging 
of the three negroes for setting fire to Dallas, 
in 1860, when excavations were being made 
for the Texas & Pacific railway bridge across 
the Trinity at Dallas, their bones were un- 
earthed. They were buried there after they 
were hanged. 1 remember the first legal 
hanging in the county. It was the first trial 
for murder, and the negro woman, who had 
split a man's head open with an ax, while he 
was asleep, was hanged. 



" I remember when steamboats were on 
the Trinity. I made the trip on the Sallie 
Ilaynes from Magnolia to the mouth of East 
Fork. I am a firm believer in the navigation 
of the Trinity to Dallas. I think it can be 
done with the expenditure of a little money 
in cleaning out drifts and cutting overhang- 
ing timber, and I believe that boats can be 
run here six to nine months each year. 

''We were subjected to many privations 
and many hardsiiips in the early days. When 
we left home we did not know but that on 
our return we would find our families 
butchered by the Indians or that we ourselves 
would be shot and killed. A part of the time 
we were in constant dread and fear and we 
invited immigration. We welcomed the new- 
comer and divided what we had with him. 
We wanted him to increase our numbers and 
help keep l)ack the foe." 

Mr. Beeman married Miss Martha E. Dye 
near now what is now the town of Garland in 
1851. They have eight children and a num- 
ber of grandchildren. His sister Margaret, 
who is yet living, was the wife of John iSIeely 
Bryan. 

Mr. M. D. L. Gracy, who now lives at 
Mineral wells, was one of the forty-fivers 
that settled in Dallas county near the present 
town of Lisbon. He was at the reunion of 
the old pioneers, renewing old acquaintances 
and reviving past memories. " When I came 
here," he said, " I ran away from my home 
in Illinois at the age of fifteen years, and I 
began freighting. The first trip I made was 
from Shreveport to Dallas, and then I com- 
menced hauling from Houston to Dallas. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



181 



The tirst two or three years I worked for 
wages and drove an ox team. After that I 
got a team of ray own. We charged from 
$1.50 to $5 per 100 pounds for hauling from 
Houston, and we hauled about 6,000 pounds 
at a load. We used bois d'arc wagons with 
iron a.xles, drawn by five and six yokes of 
steers; aud in the spring and summer, when 
the roads were good, we made the trip in 
about four weeks, though I liave been as long 
as six weeks on the road. After hauling 
awhile I bought a certificate from the State 
and located 320 acres of land which 1 have 
held ever since. Corn, wheat, watermelons 
and pumpkins were about the only crops we 
tried to raise at first. There was little mar- 
ket for anything and we only raised enough 
for ourselves and to 8upj)ly tlie settlers as 
they came in. We used to spend Sunday 
grinding our week's supjtly of meal before 
dinner, and after dinner we would go hunting 
and kill game enough to last us through the 
week. 

" When the first railroad came to Dallas I 
know some men in the county who took stock 
in it and who never saw it. I am seemg the 
fourth courthouse put up in ihe county. The 
first was a pole building, witli only one room, 
about sixteen feet square. It was burned by 
some boys who were on a spree one night. 

" Times have changed since then. I be- 
lieve the grand juries in Dallas return more 
bills of indictment in one day now than were 
returned in a whole year then. We scarcely 
ever heard of anything being stolen then. 
Sometimes the Indians would steal horses, 
but our people were a quiet, industrious. 



law-abiding class, and when anybody did do 
wrong punishment was sure to follow." 

ORGANIZATION OF DALLAS 
COUNTY. 

The first lesislature of the State of Texas 
passed an act March 30 th, 1846, creating 
Dallas county, consisting of a territory em- 
bracing 900 square miles, or 576,000 acres. 

AN AOT CREATINO THE COUNTY OF DALLAS. 

Section 1. — Be it enacted by the Legis- 
lature of the State of Texas, that all that 
territory included within the following limits, 
in Robertson and Nacogdoches counties, to 
wit: Beginning on the southern boundary 
line of Fannin county, three miles east of the 
eastern boundary of Peters' colony grant; 
thence, south thirty miles; thence, west thirty 
miles; thence, nortii thirty miles to Fannin 
county line; thence east with said line to the 
beginning, — be and the same is hereby cre- 
ated a new county to be known and called by 
the name of Dallas. 

Sec. 2. — Be it further enacted, that the 
inabitants residing within said limits, shall 
be entitled to all the rights and privileges 
enjoyed by the inhabitants of the several coun- 
ties in the State, except as to the right of 
separate representation until entitled by num- 
bers to separate representation and the rights 
of having a separate land district. 

Skc. 3. — Be it further enacted, that this 
act shall take effect from and after its passage. 

Approved March 30, 1846. 

April 18, 1846, another act was passed 
by the legislature, and provided that the 
town of Dallas should be the county-seat of 
Dallas county, and all the courts should of 
course be held there until otherwise provided 
by said legislature. The following is the act 



183 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE SEAT OF JUSTICE OF 
DALLAS COUNTY. 

Section 1: — Be it enacted by the Legisla- 
ture of the State of Texas, that until otlierwise 
provided by law the town of Dallas shall be 
the seat of justice for Dallas county, and all 
courts for said county shall be held thereat. 

Sec. 2. — Be it further enacted, that this 
act shall be in force from and after its passage. 

Approved, 18th April, A. D. 1846. 

As the previous acts did not provide for 
election of officers or for any one to manage 
the elections and make returns of the same, 
the following act was passed in May, 1846: 

AN ACT PBOVIDING FOE THE ELECTION OF OFFI- 
CERS FOE DALLAS COUNTY. 

Section 1. — Be it enacted by the Legis- 
lature of the State of Texas, that John N. 
Bryan be and he is hereby authorized to 
appoint managers to hold and give notice of 
an election to be held in Dallas county, for 
a chief justice, sheriif, coroner, clerk of 
the county court for said county, and that 
said election be conducted in all respects ac- 
cording to the existing laws governing elec- 
tions; and the said Bryan shall, in the order 
directing the holding of said election, re- 
quire that the returns thereof be made to him 
within the time provided by law; and the 
said Bryan shall give to each person elected 
a certificate of his election and make returns 
of said election to tlie Secretary of State. 

Sec. 2. — Be it further enacted, that the 
officers elected at said election shall en- 
ter on the discharge of their respective 
duties immediately after giving bond and 
taking tlie oath of office prescribed by law; 
and that this act shall be in force from and 
after its passage. 



Approved 12th May, A. D. 1846. 

In the year 1850 another act of the legis- 
lature was adopted with reference to the 
seat of justice, as follows: 

AN act to provide FOE FIXING THE SEAT OF 
JUSTICE OF THE COUNTY OF DALLAS. 

Section 1. — Be it enacted by the Legis- 
lature of the State of Texas, that the second 
Saturday of May, one thousand eight hundred 
and forty-eight, be fixed as the day of holding 
an election in the county of Dallas for 
the selection of a suitable place for the 
permanent location of the county seat of 
justice of said county; and it shall be the 
duty of the chief justice of said county to 
give public notice of the same in writing, to 
be posted up at the different precincts, imme- 
diately after the passage of this act, and to 
issue writs of election to the different pre- 
cincts, at least ten days prior to said election. 

Sec. 2. — Be it further enacted, that it 
shall be the duty of said chief justice to re- 
ceive and make public in writing posted up 
at the different precincts such propositions 
as may be offered by the citizens of the 
county, as inducements in favor of the selec- 
tion of places recommended as suitable loca- 
tions, for the county seat of said county. 

Sec. 3. — Be it further enacted, that the 
propositions submitted to the chief justice 
in compliance with the second section of this 
act shall be in the shape of penal bonds, and 
shall be collected at the suit of said chief 
justice or his successor in office, in the Dis- 
trict Court, for the use of the county, and 
the proceeds applied to the erection of county 
buildings. 

Sec. 4. — Be it further enacted, that the 
election for said county seat shall be con- 
ducted in conformity with the existing laws 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



183 



regulating elections at the time thereof, and 
the returns made to the chief justice, in ten 
(lays after the election, who shall declare the 
place receiving the highest number of votes 
to be the legal seat of justice of said county, 
provided, any one place shall have received a 
majority of all the votes polled at said elec- 
tion; but in the event that no one place 
shall receive a majority as aforesaid, then and 
in that case it shall be the duty of the chief 
justice to proceed to order another election 
after giving notice as in the first instance, 
putting in nomination the two places that 
have received the greatest number of votes, 
which shall be conducted and returns made 
as heretofore provided, and the place then 
receiving the highest number of votes shall 
be declared the county seat of justice, pro- 
vided it shall not be more than five miles 
from the center of said county. 

Sec. 5. — Be it further enacted, that Will- 
iam Jenkins, James J. Beeman, William 
Hoarde, Micajah Goodwin and R. J. West, 
of whom three may constitute a quorum to 
do business, shall be and they are hereby 
appointed commissioners to lay out and sell 
lots if necessary, and to superintend the car- 
rying out of such propositions as may have 
been made in behalf of the location selected, 
and report to the chief justice, whether or 
not the bonds containing propositions in fa- 
vor of said selected place have been strictly 
complied with by the makers and obligors 
of the same. 

Sec. G. — Be it further enacted, that as soon 
as the county buildings are received by the 
commissioners and reported to the chief jus- 
tice, the clerks of the District and County 
Courts, sherifl' and district surveyor, shall 
remove their offices and papers to the place 
selected as the county seat, and all courts 
thereafter shall l)e held at the same county 
seat. 



Sec. 7. — Be it further enacted, that all 
laws and parts of laws, conflicting with this 
act are hereby repealed ; and that this act take 
eifect and be in force from and after its pas- 
sage. 

Approved March 20, 184«. 

It is probable that the above failed to meet 
requirements in settling this election; so the 
following act was passed concerning a gen- 
eral election. 

AN ACT TO LOC.VTE THE SEAT OF JUSTICE OF 
DALLAS COUNTY. 

Section 1. — Be it enacted by the Legis- 
lature of the State of Texas, that the day of 
general election for county officers in the 
year one thousand eight hundred and fifty 
be and is hereby fixed as the day for holding 
an election in the county of Dallas, for the 
selection of a suitable place for the perma- 
nent location of the seat of justice of said 
county; provided the north boundary of said 
county shall be established by that time; and 
if not, directly after it is established. 

Sec. 2. — That the chief justice of said 
county shall give public notice of the same 
in writing, posted up at the different pre- 
cincts at least ten days before the election. 

Sec. 3. — That he shall receive and make 
public, in writing as aforesaid, such proposi- 
tions as may be ofi'ered as inducements in 
favor of the selection of places recommended 
as suitable locations for the seat of justice of 
said county. 

Sec. 4. — That the propositions submitted, 
as aforesaid, shall l)e in the shape of penal 
bonds, and may be collected at the suit of 
said chief justice or his successors in office, 
in the District Court, for the use of tlie 
county, and the proceeds applied to the erec- 
tion of county buildings for said county. 



184 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



Sec. 5. — That the election for said couuty 
seat shall be conducted in conformity with 
the existing laws regulating elections at the 
time thereof, and the returns made in ten 
days to the chief justice of said county; 
who shall declare the place receiving the 
highest or greatest number of votes to be 
the legal seat of justice of said couuty; pro- 
vided any one place shall have received a 
majority of all the votes polled at said elec- 
tion; but in case no one place shall have re- 
ceived a majority as aforesaid, then the chief 
justice shall immediately order another elec- 
tion, giving ten days' notice thereof, posted 
up as before stated, putting in nomination 
the two places that receive the greatest num- 
ber of votes; which said election shall be con- 
ducted and returns made as heretofore pro- 
vided; and the place then receiving the great- 
est number of votes shall be declared to be 
the county seat of justice of said county; 
provided it does not exceed tive miles from 
the center of said county. 

Sec. 6. — That Rev. James Smith. Amon 
McComas, R. J. West, W. J. Walker and Mi- 
cajah Goodwin, of whom three may consitute 
a quorum to do business, shall be and they are 
hereby appointed commissioners to lay out, 
sell and transfer lots, if necessary, and to 
superintend thecari-yingout of such proposi- 
ti .'S as may have been made in favor of the 
iocat.i me :c c , and report to the chief justice 
whether or no tue ocnds containing propo- 
sitions in favor of said place have been strict- 
ly complied with by the makers and obligors 
of the same. 

Sec. 7. — That as soon as the county build- 
ings are received by said commissioners, and 
reported to the chief justice, the clerks of 
the districts and couuty courts, sheriffs and 
county surveyors shall remove their offices 
and papers to the place selected for said 



county seat; and all courts shall be held there- 
after at the said county seat. 

Sec. 8. — That all laws and parts of laws 
conflicting with this act be, and the same are 
hereby repealed; and that this act take effect 
and be in force from and after its passage. 

Approved Jan. 11, 1850. 

Under the above and last act the general 
election was held August 5, 1850, for lo- 
cating the county seat, and resulted as fol- 
lows: 

For Dallas 191 

" Herd's Ridge (now O ,k Cliff) 178 
" Cedar Springs 101 

Total 470 

236 votes being necessary for a choice, on 

the 31st of the same month, August, 1850, 

another election was held, resulting thus: 

For Dallas 244 

" Hord'a Ridge 316 

Total 460 

231 being necessary for a choice, Dallas 
was chosen as the county seat. 

The following certificate as to the correct- 
ness of the above acts was made and certified 
to by the chief clerk of the secretary of said 
State. 



State of Texas, 
Uepaetment of State 



.[ 



I. J. R. Curl, Chief Clerk and acting 
Secretary of State of the State of Texas, do 
hereby certify that the within and foregoing 
is a true and correct copy of the acts of the 
Legislature of the State of Texas entitled as 
follows with date of approval: "An Act 
creating the county of Dallas," approved 
March 30, 1846; "An Act to establish the 
seat of justice of Dallas county", approved 
April 18, 1846; "An Act providing for the 
election of officers for Dallas county", ap- 
proved May 12, 1846; "An Act to provide 
for fixing the seat of justice of the county 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



185 



of Dallas," approved March 20, 1848; "An 
Act to locate the seat of Justice of Dallas 
countj", approved January 11, 1850; the 
original enrolled bills of said act being now 
on file in this departement. 

Witness my official signature and the Seal 
of State affixed at tiie city of Austin, this 
the 20th day of April, A. D. 1892. 

^8EAL. ^ Chief Clerk and Acting 
^' ^^ Secretary of State. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

By order of Commissioner John Neely 
Bryan, on the 13th day of July, 1846, an 
election was held to choose the first county 
officers for Dallas county, who were to hold 
their olBce for the term of two years, and 
below are given not only the names of the 
officers elected at this election, but also all 
who have held the offices of Dallas county 
from 1846 to 1892, tlie present year, either 
by election or appointment, as shown on the 
records of the county: 

JULY, 1846, TO AUGUST, 1848. 

Chief Justice John Thomas 

Probate Judge Dr. John Cole 

District Clerk John C. McCoy; 

also Dr. Samuel B. Pryor, who was ap- 
pointed to finish the term which was 
declared vacant because of the resigna- 
tion of McCoy before his term of four 
years, the length of the term at that 
time, had expired; 

County Clerk William M. Cochran 

Sheriff John Huitt 

Coroner Anson McCrackin 

Assessor Benjamin Merrill 



1848 TO 1850. 

Chief Justice William H. Ford 

County Clerk John W. Smith 

Sheriff Roland Huitt 

District Clerk Dr. Samuel B. Pryor 

Assessor Benjamin Merrill 

Coroner Anson McCrackin 

1850 TO 1852. 

Chief Justice Smith Elkins, 

who resigned, and John W. Latimer was 
elected June 30, 1851, to finish his term ; 

District Clerk Edward C. Browder 

County Clerk Alexander Harwood 

Sheriff Trezevant C. Hawpe 

Assessor and Collector.. William M. Leonard 
County Commissioners — A. C. Haught, 
William J. Walker, J. V. Mounts, and 
Joseph A. Chapman. 

Coroner Anson McCrackin 

Justice of the Peace for Precinct No. 1 

John Scurlock 

Constable John H. Daniel 

County Treasurer. . . . Dr. John Perry Dakan 

1852 TO 1854. 

Chief Justice James W. Latimer 

Sheriff T. C. Ilawpe 

County Clerk Alexander Ilarwood 

District Clerk Edward C. Browder 

Assessor and Collector N. T. Stratton 

Treasurer Dr. A. D. Ilice 

Coroner J. B. Robinson 

County Commissioners — Jeremiah Hal- 
ford, William H. Chenanit, William O'Guinn 
and James Chapman. 

Justice of tiie Peace for Precinct No. 1 

Allen Beard 

Constable F. G. Eakins, 

who resigned in 1853 and John H. Dan- 
iel was elected to fill out the term. 



186 



HISTOUY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



1854 TO 1856. 

Chief Justice James M- Patterson 

District Clerit Edward C. Browder 

County Clerk William W. Peak 

Sheriff Adam C. Haught 

Assessor and Collector.. Thomas C. Williams 

Treasurer R. J. West 

County Commissioners — S. A Fisher, 
A. M. Horn, F. A. Winn and Creath Renfro. 
Justice of Precinct No. 1 Allen Beard; 

which office, having been vacated by 

Beard in August, T. C. Idawpe was 

elected to fill the same. 

Constable John H. Daniels 

County Surveyor John H. Cole 

(This office was then lately created.) 

District Judge N. M. Burford 

District Attorney John C. McCoy 

1856 TO 1858. 

Chief Justice James M. Patterson 

District Clerk E. C. Browder 

County Clerk W. K. Hasten 

Sheriff Henderson 

Treasurer R. J. West 

County Surveyor D. C. Smith, 

and he having resigned John H. Cole 

was elected. 
Assessor and Collector. .Thomas C. Williams 
Justice of Precinct No. 1. . .James N. Smith 

Constable Wormley Carter 

County Commissioners — F. A. Winn, S. 
A. Fisher, A. M. Horn, and James Chapman. 

1858 TO 186C. 

Chief Justice James M. Patterson 

County Clerk W. K. Hasten 

District Clerk E. C. Browder 

Sheriff Wormley Carter 

Treasurer Edwin M. Hunt 



Surveyor William H. ThomsiS 

Assessor and Collector. . James P. Goodnight 
Justice of Precinct No 1 . . . James N. Smith 

Constable Asher W. Carter 

County Commissoners — James Chapman, 
who resigned and A. J.Witt was elected in his 
stead; F. A. Winn, William Sprowls, and 
S. A. Fisher. 

1860 TO 1862. 

James M. Patterson Chief Justice 

Allen Beard Sheriff 

William H. Thomas Surveyor 

Ed. W. Hunt Treasurer 

George W. Laws County Clerk 

Ed. C. Browder District Clerk 

James P. Goodnight. .Assessor and Collector 

J. L. Smith Justice of Precinct No. 1 

James Sheppard Constable 

County Commissioners — William Sprowls, 
Thomas J. Nash, James H. HoUoway and 
J. McCants. 

1862 TO 1864. 

James M. Patterson Chief Justice 

N. 0. McAdams Sheriff 

Ed. C. Browder District Clerk 

George W. Laws County Clerk 

John H. Cochran Assessor and Collector 

J. P. Thomas Treasurer 

William H. Thomas Surveyor 

John J. Eakins Justice of Precinct No. 1 

John E. Lindsey Constable 

County Commissioners — ^William Sprowls, 
Isaac B. Webb, James H. Holloway and 
Thomas J. Nash. 

1864 TO 1866. 

James M. Patterson. , Chief Justice 

George W. Laws Couuty Clerk 

N. O. McAdams Sheriff 

John H. Cochran Assessor and Collector 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



187 



James P. Tliomas Treasurer 

William H. Thomas Surveyor 

Dr. A. D. Rice. . ..Justice of Precinct No. 1 

Benjamin F. Jones Constable 

County Commissioners — Isaac 1>. Webb, 
George W. Barton, James II. llolloway and 
Josiah Claypool, — all of whom served till the 

provincial government of 1865-6. 
Under the constitution of 1866, the follow- 
ing served as officers: 

Z. E. Coombes, County Judge 

James P. Thomas County Clerk 

William C. Young District Clerk 

Jeremiah M. Brown Sheriff 

James P. Goodnight.. .Assessor and Collector 

James Sheppard Treasurer 

William H. Thomas Surveyor 

John Neely Bryan, ) Justices of Precinct 
John W. Lane, \ No. 1. 

Matt J. Moore ■ • • • Constable, 

Who resigning, George V. Cole was appointed 
to serve out the term. 
County Commissioners — Isaac B. Webb, 
J. P. Stratton, George W. Barton and J. R. 
Clements. 

1867— '68— '70. 

UNDEK KADICAL RULE. 

In 1867 all Democrats who were holding 
offices in the State from Governor down, in- 
cluding those of each county, were removed 
by military order as impediments to recon- 
struction. Afterward the following were ap- 
pointed: 

County Judge A. Bledsoe 

County Clerk Samuel S. Jones 

District Clerk E. B. Spillman 

superseded by Ben Long. 

Sheriff N. R. Winnitbrd 

Treasurer A.J. Gouffe 



Mishel Therenet. .appointed District Clerk 
in the fall of 1868. 
County Commissioners — Isaac B. Webb, 
John M. Rollins, Samuel C. Phelps and 
Lewis B. Long. 

MARCH 1870, UNDflRTHE CONSTITUTION OF 1869: 

Presiding Justice John D. Kerfoot 

Associate Justices W. J. Halsell, B. 

F. Ricketts, Meredith Meyers, Robert S. 

Guy. 
District and County Clerk . . . .John M. Laws 

Sheriff. Jere M. Brown 

Treasurer. .James P. Goodniglit, M. Y.Cole, 

elected in 1872. 

Surveyor N. A. Keen 

Constable A. H. Hardin, 

appointed December 30, 1872. 

ELECTION, DECEMBER, 1873. 

District and County Clerk 

Alexander Harwood. 

Sheriff James E. Barkley 

Treasurer M. V. Colo 

Surveyor Robert M. Cooke 

Presiding Judge John D. Kerfoot 

Justices Thomas D. Coats, Charles 

Barker, Thomas L. Frank and William 

Sprowl. These justices all constituted 

also the county court. 
Presiding Judge Nat. M. Burford, 

elected April 6, 1875, to fill vacancies. 

Justice N. O. McAdams 

District Attorney John T. Ault, 

who died, and E. G. Bower completed 

his term. 

1876 TO 1878. 

County Judge Robert H. West 

County Attorney George N. Aldridge 

County Clerk Alexander Uarwood 



188 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOONTY. 



District Clerk William A. Harwood 

Sheriff W. M. Moon 

Assessor Jatnes P. Goodnight 

Collector William H. Prather 

Treasurer J. M. Berrjinan 

Surveyor R. M. Cook 

Justices of Precinct No. 1 . . . . E. C. McLure 
and W. W. Peak. 
County Commissioner — Fleming G. Bled- 
soe, N. O. McAdams, Wade H. Witt and 
T. J. Nash. 

1878 TO 1880. 

County Judije R. E. Burke 

County Clerk Alexander Harwood 

District Clerk William A. Harwood 

County Attorney Robert B. Seay 

Sheriff W. M. Moon 

Assessor R. D. Rawlins 

Collector William H Prather 

Treasurer J. M. Berryman 

Surveyor John T. Witt 

Justices of Precinct No. 1 William M. 

Edwards, William W. Peak. 

Constable A. H. Hardin 

County Commissioners — William J. Kel- 
ler, N. O. McAdams, W. L. Knox and R. N. 
Daniels. 

1880 TO 1882. 

County Judge R. E. Burke 

County Attorney Robert B. Seay 

County Clerk Alexander Harwood 

District Clerk William A. Harwood 

Sheriff Benjamin F. Jones 

Assessor R. D. Rawlins 

Collector William H. Prather 

Treasurer J. M. Berryman 

Surveyor Jesse M. Strong 

Justices Precinct No. 1 William M. 

Edwards and W. H. Price. 
Constable A. H. Hardin 



County Commissioners. — William J. Kel- 
ler, N. O. McAdams, N. K. Grvoe, and 
W. L. Knox. 

1882 TO 1884. 

County Judge R. E. Burke 

County Attorney Charles F. Clint 

County Clerk W. M. C. Hill 

District Clerk Heury W. Jones 

Sheriff William H. W. Smith 

Assessor Beverly Scott 

Collector Charles B. Gillespie 

Treasurer J. T. Downs 

Surveyor Jessie M. Strong 

Justices Precinct No. 1 William M. 

Edwards, T. S. T. Kendall. 

Constable George Miller 

County Commissioners — William J. Kel- 
ler, W. A. Orr, J. D. Cullom and N. O. 
McAdams. 

1881 TO 1886. 

County Judge Edwin G. Bower 

County Attorney Charles F. Clint 

County Clerk W. M. C. Hill 

District Clerk Henry W. Jones 

Sheriff William H. W. Smith 

Assessor Beverly Scott 

Collector Charles B.Gillespie 

Treasurer Henry H. Smith 

Surveyor Jesse M. Strong 

Justices of Precinct No. 1. .T. G. T. Kendall 
and Henry Schuhl. 

Constable George Miller 

County Commissioners — M. V. Cole, W. 
A. Orr, W. J. Keller, and N. O. McAdams. 
1886 TO 1888. 

County Judge Edwin G. Bower 

County Attorney J. H. Taylor 

County Clerk W. M. C. Hill 

District Clerk Henry W. Jones 

Sheriff Henry Lewis 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



189 



Assessor Beverly Scott 

Collector Charles B. Gillespie 

Treasurer Henry H. Smith 

Surveyor Charles Archer 

Justices of Precinct No. 1 . . . .T. G. T. Ken- 
dall and William Braswell. 

Constable Dean 

County Commissioners — Enoch Strait, 
N. O. McAdams, Layfayette Bailey, and 
W. A. Orr. 

1888 TO 1890. 

County Judge Edwin G. Bower 

County Attorney D. A. Williams 

County Clerk S. Beverly Scott 

District Clerk Joe H. Stewart 

Sheriff W. H. Lewis 

Assessor John T. Witt 

Sara Hnnnicutt was declared elected tax 
assessor by the commissioners' court and was 
installed in office. Mr. Wittcontested the elec- 
tion, brought suit for the position, and as the 
office is a good one pecuniarily, one of the best 
in the county, the suit ended only when it 
reached the court of last resort, the Supreme 
Court of Texas, which declared in favor of 
Mr. Witt, and the office was turned over to 
him by Mr. Ilunnicutt during the summer 
of 1889. 

Collector of Taxes Chas. B. Gillespie 

County Trea.surer Henry H. Smith 

Surveyor Charles Archer 

County Commissioners — Enoch Strait, N. 
O. McAdams, Wiley Garner and W. A. Orr. 

Justices of the Peace, Precinct No. 1 — 
John Henry Brown and S. N. Broswell. 
Constable Louis Jacoby 

1890 TO 1892. 

County Judge Edwin G. Bower 

County Attorney D. A. Williams 

14 



County Clerk S. Beverly Scott 

District Clerk Joe H. Stewart 

Sheriff William H. Lewis 

Assessor of Taxes John T. Witt 

Collector of Taxes Louis Jacoby 

County Treasurer W. N. Coe 

County Surveyor John M. Young 

County Commissioners — Tom B. Fisher, 
N. O. McAdams, E. M. Halsell and W. A. 
Orr. 

Justices of Peace, Precinct No. 1 — Ed. S. 
Lauderdale and S. N. Braswell. 
Constable W. F. Morton 

EEPBESENTATION IN CONSTITUTIONAL 
CONVENTIONS. 

To the secession convention, January 28 to 
March 25, 1861, the delegates representing 
Dallas county were Pleasant Taylor, Thomas 
J. Nash, E. P. Nicholson, W. S. J. Adams. 

John Henry Brown, now of Dallas, repre- 
sented Bell and Lampasas counties in the same 
convention, and was author of tho declaration 
of the causes which impelled the State of 
of Texas to secede from the Federal Union. 

To the constitutional convention of l866, 
under President Johnson's proclamation: 
Alexander Harwood and James K. P. Record. 

To the reconstruction convention of 1868 
-'89: A. Bledsoe, known as « Big A." 

To the constitutional convention of 1875: 
John Henry Brown, of Dallas; Nicholas H. 
Darnell, of Tarrant, and John W. Ferris, of 
Ellis (one district). 

Wra. B. Wright, for some years since of 
Dallas, represented Lamar county in that con- 
vention. William L. Crawford, now of Dallas, 
represented Marion county. 



190 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNT r. 



Under the general head of Dallas county 
as organized, it is proper to place the names 
of all those who have been officially con- 
nected with it as a county, including the 
representation at constitutional conventions 
and legislative bodies. 

Owing to the close of the war and provis- 
ional goverinent by the appointment of Pres- 
ident Johnson, there was no election in 1865, 
The president appointed A. J. Hamilton pro- 
visional governor, who served from July 25, 
1865, to August 1866. 

Under the constitution of 1866 and the 
session in that year J. K. P. Kecoi-d, of 
Dallas, was senator. The constitution and 
government were overthrown by the recon- 
struction act of Congress of March 2, 1867, 
and various supplementary acts, and from 
July 30, 1867, to April 16, 1870, the State 
was under military government. 

The reconstruction convention of 1868, in 
its dual sessions, was largely, but by no means 
entirely, composed of irresponsible adventur- 
ers, lately enfranchised slaves and political 
mendicants, with a sprinkling of men who 
can be described as ignoramuses. The follow- 
ing delectable morceau, introduced by a dele- 
gate claiming to be a native Kentuckian, is 
illustrative of the latter species of the genus 
homo. By this convention a new (com- 
monly called the "recoustrnction") consti- 
tution was framed by a convention assembled 
in Austin in June and December, 1868, 
when many thousands of the people were dis- 
franchised, while the negro, for the first time, 
was allowed to vote. 



Following a four days' election, commenc- 
ing on the first Monday in December, 1869, 
this constitution, by the military commander, 
was declared ratified by a majority of those 
permitted to vote. At the same time and by 
the same authority a full set of State, district 
and county officers were declared elected. 
Eut this new constitution and the officers so 
elected, including that rara avis in American 
government, the twelfth legislature assumed 
legal effect only on the 30th day of March, 
1870. Under this regime Dallas, Collin and 
Tarrant constituted a senatorial district and 
were entitled to three representatives. Samuel 
Evans, of Tarrant, was the senator till 1873, 
when Amzi Bradshaw, of Ellis county, was 
elected, the district, under the census of 1870, 
having been changed to Dallas, Tarrant and 
Ellis. 

In February, 1876, under the new (pres- 
ent) constitution, Robert S. Guy, of Lancaster, 
a clear-headed lawyer and an ex-captain of 
the Confederate anny, was elected senator 
from Dallas, Tarrant and Ellis counties, and 
served for four years with marked fidelity. 
He was succeeded in 1880 by Anson Rainey, 
of Ellis county, in 1882, under a new appor- 
tionment, by Barnett Gibbs, of Dallas, and 
in 1884 by Joseph O. Terrell, of Kaufman, 
who was succeeded by R. S. Kimbrough, of 
Mesquite, Dallas county, the present incum- 
bent. 

SENATOES FKOM 1846 TO 1866. 

In 1846, when Dallas county was created, 
Joseph L. Hogg, of Nacogdoches, represented 
in the senate the east half of the county, and 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



191 



Henry J. Jewett, of Robertson county, the 
west half. 

In 1849, in a new district, Albert G. 
Walker, of Dallas, was elected over John H. 
Reagan (present United States senator), of 
Anderson, the senatorial term being four 
years. In 1851 Walker resigned and Samuel 
Bogart, of Collin county, was elected to fill 
the unexpired term. 

From 1858 to 1857 Jefferson Weatherford, 
of Dallas county, was senator. From 1857 
to 1861 Albert G. "Walker, of Tarrant, was 
senator. From 1861 to 1865 Jefferson 
Weatherford again served. 

REPRESENTATIVES OF DALLAS COUNTY 1847 

TO 1887. 

1847-9, Win. M. Cochran; 1849-'51, Jef- 
ferson Weatherford; 1851-53, John M. 
Crockett; 1853-'59. three terms, Andrew 
Jackson Witt; 1859-'61, Nicholas H.Darnell; 
1861-63, James P. Thomas, resigned in 1862 
and James P. Goodnight elected ; in 1863-'65, 
George Wilson, resigned and John C. McCoy 
elected; in 1865, no election; 1866, under 
new constitution, Nathaniel Burford and 
Archelaus M. Cochran; 1869-'72, under re- 
construction constitution, John W. Lane; in 
1872-'73, John Henry Brown, of Collin dig- 
trict, Tarrant and Dallas; 1873-'75, John H. 
Cochran, in district: 1876, under new constitu- 
tion, John H. Cochran and J. T. Downs; 1878, 
John H. Cochran, speaker of the house, and 
John W. Daniel; 1880, John W. Daniel and 
Thomas F. Nash; 1882, John H. Cochran and 
Thomas F. Xash; 1884, R. S. Kimbrough and 
Z. Ellis Coombes; 1886, Jesse M. Strong and 



J. C. Rugel; 1888, Jesse M. Strong and — 
Rowland; 1890-'92, John H. Cochran and — 
Rowland. 

otiib:k officers. 

In regard to State and other officers, citizens 
of Dallas liave filled the following positions: 
From 1861 to 1863, during the war, John M. 
Crockett was Lieutenant Governor; from 
1884 to 1886, Barnett Gibbs was Lieutenant 
Governor. 

From 1880 to 1887 James Madison Hurt 
was judge of the Court of Appeals, and for 
a second term has some time yet to serve. 

Sawnie Robertson was appointed in 1884 
to till a vacancy in the Supreme Court, and 
served till the next election, but refused to 
serve further. 

From 1878 to 1886 Olin Welborn repre- 
sented this district in Congress, his last term 
expiring March 3, 1887, soon afier which he 
removed to and settled in San Diego, Cali- 
fornia. 

Reuben A. Reeves, for a number of years 
a judge of the Supreme Court, at one time 
resided in Dallas, but not at the time of his 
election. In 1887, he was appointed by 
President Cleveland a judge of the Supreme 
Coqrt of New Mexico, and now resides there. 
Being absent it is admissible to say that all 
Te.xas indorsed the appointment of Judge 
Reeves as eminently judicious. He is 
thoroughly qualified, and a more modest and 
honest gentleman does not exist. 

FIRST FKECINCT BOUNDARIES. 

The first division of Dallas county into 
precincts was made by John Neely Bryan, 
the county being divided into seven precincts, 
with boundaries as follows: 



192 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Precinct No. 1. — Commencing at the 
mouth of Five-Mile creek, thence up said 
creek to the source of North prong; thence 
north to west fork of Trinity, thence down 
said stream to mouth; thence up the Elm 
fork to mouth of Thompson's creek; thence 
up said creek to the source of South fork; 
thence east to the divide road east of White 
Rock; thence with said road to the mouth of 
White Rock; thence down Trinity river to 
beginning. 

Precinct No. ^. — -Commencing on the 
West fork at the western boundary of Pre- 
cinct No. 1; thence south with said boundary 
to the Mountain road; thence with said road 
to the bouthern boundary of the county; 
thence west with said boundary to corner; 
thence north with western boundary of the 
county to the West fork; thence down said 
stream to the beginning. 

Precinct No. 3. — Commencing at the 
mouth of the West fork; thence up said 
stream to the western boundary of the county; 
thence north with said boundary to corner; 
thence east with the northern boundary of 
the county to the Elm fork; thence down 
said stream to beginning. 

Precinct No. 4-. — Commencing at the 
mouth of Thompson's creek; thence up said 
creek to the source of South fork; thence east 
to the divide road east of White Rock; thence 
up said road to the northern boundary of the 
county; thence west with said northern 
boundary to the Elm fork; thence down the 
Elm fork to the beginning. 

Precinct No. 5. — Commencing at the 
northeast corner of the county; thence west 
with the northern boundary of the county to 
the divide road east of White Rock; thence 
south with said road to where it crosses the 
national road; thence east with said national 
road to the eastern boundary of the county; 



thence north with said eastern boundary to 
beginnino;. 

Precinct No. 6. — Commencing at the south- 
east corner of the county; thence north with 
the eastern boundary of the county to the 
national road; thence west with said road to 
where it crosses the Divide road; thence with 
said road to the mouth of White Rock; 
thence down the Trinity to the southern 
boundary of the county; thence east with 
said southern boundary to beginning. 

Precinct No. 7. —Commencing at the mouth 
of Five-Mile creek; thence up said creek to 
the source of the North fork; thence west to 
the Mountain road; thence south with said 
road to the southern boundary of the county; 
thence east with said southern boundary to 
the Trinity river; tiienee up said river to 
beginning. 

The above precincts were laid off in the 
early part of July, 1846, the description of 
which, as above given, being recorded on the 
20th day of July, 1846. The above boundary 
lines of these precincts have many times beeu 
changed since they were thus located, and 
the couiity is now divided into eight pre- 
cincts (justices'), the boundaries of which 
will not here be given, as they can be dis- 
cerned by reference to a map of Dallas county. 
The towns included in the different precincts, 
however, are as follows: Precinct No. 1, the 
city of Dallas and suburbs and Calhoun ; Pre- 
cinct No. 2, Farmers' Branch, Carrollon, 
Trinity Mills and Richardson; Pi-ecinct No. 
3, Rose Hill, Pleasant Valley, Garland, New 
Hope and Reinhardt; Precinct No. 4, Scyene, 
Mesquite, Haught's Store, Seagoville and 
Kieburg; Precinct No. 5, De Soto, Hutchins, 
Wilmer, and Lancaster; Precinct No. 6, 
Duncan ville and Cedar Hill; Precinct No. 7, 
Lisbon, Eagle Ford, Grand Prairie aud Oak 
Cliff; Precinct No. 8, Sowers. 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



193 



There are fifty-seven voting precincts in 
the county, each of the above named towns 
and surrounding territory constituting a vot- 
ing prejiiiL't, except the city of Dallas, in 
which each ward is a voting precinct, there 
being twelve wards in the city. Besides 
these there are otiiers which are not hsre 
named, as they are places of minor import- 
ance. 

FIRST RECORDS. 

The first marriage in the county after its 
orcranization was Crawford Treece to Annie 
M. Kimrael, by Justice W. H. Hord. 

The first deeid, dated October 7, 1846, 
authenticated before William B. Ochiltree, 
district judge, November 12, and recorded 
November 20, was from John Neely Bryan 
and his wife, Margaret, to Henry Harter, to 
lots 5 and 0, block 3, in the town of Dallas. 

A l)ill of sale from the sheriff was recorded 
June 19, 1847, to a " runaway " slave named 
Henry, who, being duly advertised according 
to law and unclaimed, was sold to S. G. New- 
ton and William J. Walker, for $350. 

George W. Cox was married to Mary Car- 
ver, August 30, 1846, by Joseph Key. 

The first marks and brands recorded were 
those of John Neely Bryan, John Heeinan 
and John Young, on the 28th day of Septem- 
ber, 1846. 

The first will was that of J. A. Simmons, 
and was recorded July 23, 1846. 

A bill of sale dated March 17, 1844, of 
a negro woman, Jane, made by Edward Wei- 
born to JohuYoung, and was recorded Au- 
gust 9, 1846. 

EARLY RECORDS OF THE COURTS. 

The first records of a marriage in the 
county after its organization was Crawford 
Treece to Anna Minerva Kimmel, and as the 



record is one of the oldest in the county we 
will give it in full: 

State of Texas, ) To any regularly ordained 
Dallas county. [ minister of the gospel, dis- 
trict judge or any justice of the peace for 
the county: 

You are hereby authorized to solemnize the 
rites of matrimony between Crawford Treece 
and Anna Minerva Kimmel and due return 
make to me according to law, this 20th of 
July, A. D. 1846. 

WM. M. COCHRAN, C. C. D. C. 

1 hereby certify that I solemniz ed the rite 
of matrimony between Crawford Treece and 
Anna Minerva Kimmel on Wednesday, 23d '^~ 
day of July, A. D. 1846. 

AAKON IJ. WILSON, .F. I". 

Following the above license and certificate 
on the record appears this indorsement: 

Mr. Cochran, Clerk of the Court for 
County of Dallas: 

Sir: This is to let yon know that I am 
willing that my daughter, Anna Manervy, 
shall be united in matrimony to Crawford 
Treece. 

Kathrine Kimmel. 

July 20, 1846. 

The above license was issued on Sunday; 
and on same day it was executed, — the 23d 
day of July, 1846, — a license was issued to 
J. T. Miller and Sarali Hanght, and also to 
Jo.seph Graham and Catherine Kimmel, the 
mother of the lady who was one of the parties 
to the first marriage. 

In the same old record appears the record 
of the marriatje of William P. Overton and 
Martha Ann Newton. William P. Overton 
was one of the Dallas county pioneers, and 
is still living in the county, a few miles south- 
west of the city of Dallas. 

The first l)ill of sale recorded in the county, 
August 9th, 1846, was from Edward Welborn 
to .Fohn Young, and is as follows: 

I have this day sol<l to John Young, a 
negro woman named Jane, and child, aged 



194 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



about twenty years, which said negro I war- 
rant to be sound both in body and mind, and 
a slave for life. The paid John Young, in 
consideration of said property, has this day 
paid to me the sum $400. I bind myself to 
warrant and defend the title of said negro 
unto said Young, his heirs and assigns for- 
ever. 

Given under my hand this 17th of March, 
1844. 

his 
Edward X Welbokn. 
mark 

Appeared before me, Charles H. Durgan, 
deputy clerk for Dallas county, Mary Ann 
Young, and after being duly sworn sayeth 
she saw Edward Welborn sign the within 
bill of sale and acknowledge the same to be 
his act and deed and done for the purposes 
therein named. 

Given under my hand this 9th day of Au- 
gust, A. D. 1846. 

The first land patent was recorded Septem- 
ber 1, 1846: "Anson Jones, President of the 
Republic of Texas, to Samuel Monroe Hyde, 
640 acres of land on White Rock creek in 
Dallas county, near the military road from 
Austin to Red river;" and on the same day 
was recorded a power of attorney from Samuel 
M. Hyde to his father, John H. Hyde, to sell 
the above section of land patented to him by 
the Republic of Texas, which power of attor- 
ney reads as follows: 

" State of Texas, 

" County of J^acogdoches. 

"Know all men by these presents: That 
I, Samuel Monroe Hyde, do hereby nomi- 
nate and appoint my father, John H. Hyde, 
my true and lawful agent and attorney for 
me, and in my name to sell and in a lawful 
and complete manner convey my headright 
of land, containing 640 acres, located, sur- 
veyed and patented in my name, lying in the 



new county of , upon such terms as to 

the said John H. may seem meet, hereby 
ratifying and confirming all the acts of my 
said attorney in the premises. Given under 
my hand and scroll, by way of seal, on this 
25th day of May, A. D. 1846. 

"S. MoNKOE Hyde." 

"The State of Texas, 
" Nacogdoches County. 

" Personally appeared before the under- 
signed authority, S. Monroe Hyde, and 
acknowledged that he executed the above 
power of attorney for the use and purposes 
therein expressed. Given under my hand 
and seal of ofiice at Nacogdoches this 25th 
day of May, A. D. 1846. 

"W. "W. WiNGFIELD, 

'■'■Ofiief Justice and ex officio Notary Pub- 
lic Nacogdoches County.^'' 

The first mark and brand recorded was 
that of William P. Carder, which was dated 
August 7, 1846, and recorded September 1, 
1846, and reads as follows: 

" State of Texas, 
" County of Dallas. 

"This my ear mark for cattle, hogs and 
sheep: a smooth crop of the right ear and a 
swallow fork in the left ear. 

" William P. Cardek. 

"August 7, 1846." 

The first will was that of J. A. Simmons, 
which was recorded September 17, 1846, and 
reads as follows, viz.: 

" State of Texas, ) July 23, 1846. 

" County of Dallas. \ 

"I, J. A. Simmons, considering the uncer- 
tainty of this life, and being weak in body 
yet of sound inind and memory, do make 
and publish this my last will and testament, 



n I STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



19S 




to wit: tliat is to say, I do give and bequeath 
to tuy son Joseph, choice of my horses, sad- 
dle and bridle, one head. Secondly, I do 
give and bequeath unto my beloved wife, 
Hannah S. Simmons, all the rest of my 
property, both real and personal, and all 
money that I have on hand or may have 
coining to me in any way, during her natural 
life, and at her death it is my will that after 
giving to the younger children equal to what 
I have f^iven the five oldest, that the rest be 
equally divided amongst all my children; 
and lastly I do hereby appoint Hannah S. 
Simmons my sole executor, to act without 
giving security in any way and be at liberty 
to move property where she pleases. 
"Witness my hand and seal. 

"J. A. Simmons." 

"Acknowledged, sealed and delivered in 
presence of 

"John G. Glidewell, 
"Daniel Fkeeman." 
" State of Texas, 
" County of Dallas. 

" September 17, 184G, personally appeared 
before me, William M. Cochran, at ottice, 
Daniel Freeman, and made oath in due form 
of law that he seen J. A. Simmons sign the 
within will for the purposes therein named, 
ami that the said J. A. Simmons was of sound 
mind when he signed the same day and date 
above written. Witness tny hand and private 
eeal, having no seal of office. 

" William M. Cocuean, 
'■'■County Clerk Dallas County^ 

The first deed recorded in the county was 
from John Neely Bryan and wife to Henry 
Horter, dated October 7, 1846, authenticated 
before William B. Ochiltree, district judge, 
JSoveniber 12, 1846, conveying lots 5 and 6 



in block 3, in the town of Dallas, for a con- 
sideration of 8160. It was recorded on the 
28th day of November, 1846. 

Among other things of interest in the first 
records can be found an oddity in the form 
of a bill of sale to a runaway slave, recorded 
June 19, 1847, which reads as follows: 
" State of Texas, ) 
" County of Dallas. ) 

" Runaway Slave Henry, sold by SheriflT. 

"To all whom it may concern: Know ye 
that by virtue of the power in me vested by 
law, concerning the sale of runaway slaves 
in this State, I, John Hewitt, sheriflp of Dal- 
las county. State aforesaid, have this day sold 
at public outcry, at the courthouse in the 
town of Dallas, county aforesaid, a negro 
man named Henry, a runaway slave, said 
slave having been in my custody, and due 
notice given of the fact according to law. 
Now, this is to say that for the sum of $350, 
cash in hand to nie paid, S. G. Newton and 
William J. Walker became the purchasers, 
and they have according to law all right to 
keep, sell or dispose of said Henry, a slave, 
in any way for their own or their heirs' in- 
terest and benefit. 

" Given under my hand this the 11th day 
of May, the year of our Lord 1847. 

" John Hewitt, 
'■'■Sheriff Dallas County, Texas^ 

DI8TBI0T JUDGES OF DALLAS. 

1846 TO 1847. 
After the creation of district courts in the 
State, the following district judges presided 
over the district courts of Dallas county, 
although residing elsewhere than in the 
county, as their district embraced a large ter- 
ritory from 1846 to 1856. 



196 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



"William B. Ochiltree, father of the illus- 
trious Colonel Thomas P. Ochiltree, held the 
first court in the county, and was followed by 
Amos Clark, Bennett H. Martin, and John 
H. Reagan. N. M. Burford was elected judge 
in 1856, of a new district created in 1852. 

John W. Ferris of Ellis county succeeded 
Bnrford, and held same until the election 
provided under the constitution of 1866. 

Then followed John J. Good, of Dallas, 
who was chosen and held the same until re- 
moved in 1867, by the authorities during the 
reconstruction days, claiming that he was 
" an impediment to reconstruction." 

D. O. Norton, of Parker county, was ap- 
pointed in his stead, and, he having been 
removed by death, A. Banning Norton of 
Dallas, was appointed to the office. He 
served until 1870, when Governor Davis 
appointed C. T. Garland. Garland was fol- 
lowed by Hardin Hart, who resigned in 1873. 
Hickerson Barsdale of Dallas followed Hart. 
N. M. Burford was elected in 1876, and 
served until about July, 1877, at which time, 
he having resigned. Governor Hubbard ap- 
pointed Zimri Hunt his successor. Then 
George N. Aldridge, in 1878, was elected, 
and served until 1888. 

In 1888, Robert Emmett Burke was 
elected, and his term of office will last until 
November, 1892. 

Dallas county being one of the most popu- 
lous counties In the State, and the city of 
Dallas, having grown to such proportions as 
to be very justly denominated the " metropo- 
lis of the State," the vocations of her citizens, 
have correspondingly become numerous; and 



as different men see different things in differ- 
ent light litigation also kept pace with the 
rapid growth and numerous industries of 
the city and country, and the necessity for 
more courts became obvious; and to that end 
a bill for the division of Dallas county into 
two judicial districts was introduced into the 
Twenty-first Legislature of the State, which 
convened at the city of Austin, January 8, 
1889. The bill passed both branches of the 
legislature and became a law, and the result 
was the establishment of an additional dis- 
trict court known as the district court of the 
Forty-fourth Judicial District of Texas; and 
the south half of Dallas county, or that part 
south of the Texas & Pacific railroad, which 
is supposed to divide the county equally, 
passing through from east to west, is the 
dividing line of the two districts. 

Hon. Charles Fred Tucker was appointed 
to the office of judge of this new court, by 
Governor Ross, and served out his term, and 
so popular was he as a district judge that he 
was elected, at the general election in Novem- 
ber, 1890, to succeed himself without oppo- 
sition. So the reader will see that Dallas 
county now has two district courts in almost 
continuous session, and a county court, which 
have both civil and criminal jurisdiction. 
The term of office of district judges is for 
four years. 

Below is given the act of the legislature 
creating the forty-fourth judicial district of 
Texas, and thereby making two judicial dis- 
tricts of Dallas county, and giving her two 
district courts. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



197 



JUDICIAL DISTRICTS FOURTEENTH AND FOKTY- 

FOCRTH DALLAS COUNTY. 

Chap. 128 [S. 15. No. 8 J. An act to 
amend section 14 of an act to redistrict the 
State into judicial districts, and fix the terms 
for holding courts therein, and to provide for 
the election of judges and district attor- 
neys in said districts at the next general elec- 
tion, to be held on the first Tuesday after the 
first Monday in November, 1884, approved 
April 9, 1883; to create the Fortieth Judicial 
District of the State of Texas, fix the time 
for holding court therein, and provide for the 
appointment of a district judge for said dis- 
trict, approved March 27, 1885; to create 
the Forty-fourth Judicial District of the 
State of Texas, fix the times for holding 
court therein, and to provide for the appoint- 
ment of a district judge for said district. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legisla- 
ture of the State of Texas, That section 14, 
of the above recited Act, approved March 27, 
1885, be so amended as hereafter to read as 
follows: 

Section 14 [1]. — All that part of Dallas 
county lying north of the following line, viz.; 
beginning at the point on the east boundary 
line of said county, where the same is inter- 
sected by the center of the track of the Texas 
& Pacific railroad; thence in a western direc- 
tion, with the center of the track of said 
railroad to a point in the city of Dallas 
where the same is crossed by Jefferson street; 
thence in a southern direction along the 
center of said street, to a point directly oppo- 
site to the center of the courthouse situated 



in said city; thence in a western direction, 
directly through tlie center of said court- 
house to the Trinity river; thence up said 
river to the point where the same is crossed 
by said railroad ; thence in a western direc- 
tion with the center of the track of said rail- 
road to the point where the same crosses the 
western boundary line of said county, shall 
constitute the Fourteenth Judicial District; 
and the district court shall be begun and 
held therein as follows; On the second Mon- 
days in March, May, September and Decem- 
ber, and may continue in session until the 
business is disposed of. 

Sec. 2. — All that part of said county of 
Dallas Ivincr south of the line as defined 
in the foregoing section of this act, shall 
constitute the Forty-fourth Judicial District, 
and the district courts shall be begun and 
held therein as follows; On the first Mon- 
days in January, April, June and October, 
and may continue in session until the busi- 
ness is disposed of. 

Sec. 3. That said district courts of the Four- 
teenth and Forty-fourth Judicial Districts, 
shall have concurrent jurisdiction throughout 
the limits of said Dallas county, of all mat- 
ters civil and criminal, of which jurisdiction 
is given to the district court by the constitu- 
tion and laws of the State; and the grand and 
petit juries for said courts respectively shall 
be selected and drawn from the body of the 
county; 

Provided, that the judge of the Fourteenth 
Judicial District shall cause a grand jury to 
be drawn for, and organized at the March and 
September terms of said court, and the judge 



198 



HI8T0RY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



of the Forty-fourth Judicial District shall 
cause a grand jury to be drawn for and organ- 
ized at the January and June terms of said 
court; 

Provided further, that either of said j udges 
may in his discretion have a grand jury 
drawn for, and organized at any other time, 
or terms of this court. 

Sec. 4. — That the judge of the Fourteenth 
Judicial District as heretofore constituted 
shall continue as the judge of the Fourteenth 
Judicial District, as herein constituted, until 
the expiration of the term of his office, and 
until his successor shall be elected and quali- 
fied. 

Sec. 5. — Immediately after this act takes 
effect, the governor shall appoint a suitable 
person as judge of the Forty-fourth Judicial 
District, who shall hold said office until the 
next general election held for State and 
county offices, and until his successor shall 
be elected and qualified. 

Sec. 6. — If any election precinct in Dallas 
county or ward in any incorporated city or 
town therin shall be situated in part in each 
of the districts hereby created, then each 
voter thereof shall vote for the district judge 
only, of the district in which such voter 
resides. 

Sec. 7. — When this act takes effect, the 
clerk of the district court of Dallas county 
shall make up a docket for each of said courts, 
by placing thereon alternately the cases, civil 
and criminal, now pending in the district 
court of Dallas county; tliat is, said clerk 
shall place the first case on said docket upon 
the docket of the Fourteenth Judicial District, 



and the next upon the docket of the 
Forty-fourth Judicial District, and so on to 
the end of said docket, so that the pending 
business may be as equally divided between 
said courts as can in this mode be accom- 
plished; and all cases, prosecutions and pro- 
ceedings thereafter filed with said clerk, 
shall by him be entered upon the dockets of 
said courts alternately, so that the business 
may be equally distributed between said 
courts: Provided, Either of said judges may 
in his discretion transfer any case or cases, 
pending in his court, to the other district 
court herein provided for, by order or orders 
entered upon the minutes of his court; and 
where such transfer or transfers are made 
the clerk of the district court of Dallas county 
shall enter such case or cases upon the docket 
of the court to which the transfer is made. 

Sec. 8. — All process, heretofore issued or 
served, returnable to the district court of 
Dallas county, shall be considered as return- 
able at the times as herein prescribed, and all 
such process is hereby legalized and validated 
as if the same had been made returnable to 
the court, and at the time herein prescribed. 

Sec. 9. — That all laws and parts of laws 
in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 10. — The crowded condition of the 
docket of the district court of Dallas county 
creates an imperative public necessity and 
emergency that requires that the constitu- 
tional rule requiring bills to be read on three 
several days be suspended, and that this bill 
be placed upon its passage, without being so 
read, and that this act take effect, and be in 
force from its passage; and it is so enacted. 



ai STORY OF DALL^iS COUNT r. 



100 



[Note. — The foregoing act originated in 
the Senate, and passed the same by a vote of 
23 yeas to -i nays, and passed the House by a 
vote of GO yeas to 34 nays. 

[Note. — The act was presented to the 
Governor of Texas, for his approval, Febru- 
ary 27, 1889, and was not signed by him, 
nor returned to the house in which it origi- 
nated, with his objections thereto, within the 
time prescribed by the constitution, and 
thereupon became a law without his signa- 
ture — J. M. Moore, Secretary of State. 

THE COURT HOUSES. 

The lirst courts of Dallas county, we learn 
from old settlers, were held in a rough crude 
log house, the best that could be afforded at 
that stage of civilization and development of 
this section of country, and probably it was 
good enough for a new frontier country, as 
the few people here then were not so much 
interested in an imposing house in which 
they could assemble to mete out justice as 
they were in the abstract fact of obtaining 
justice. 

While there are no records of the plans 
and specifications of the first courthouse, it 
is said that after the use of the loji house a 
building was erected for the clerks of the 
county and district courts, in which the 
courts were held for some time. 

The contract was awarded to J. 13. McPher- 
son on the 9th day of December, 1850, but 
the records fail to show at what contract 
price. The building is described as follows: 
" 16 feet wide by 32 feet long, and 9 feet 
between the floor and joists; to be well 



framed; the sills to be 8 inches thick by 10 
inches wide and placed on blocks 18 inches 
long, put 12 inches in the ground; the plates 
to be 4 inches thick by 6 inches wide; the 
studding to be 4 inches thick; corner posts 
well braced; joists to be two feet apart, hewn 
or sawed straight on the under side; to be 
well covered with good shingles; the sleepers 
to be stout and 18 inches apart; the floors to 
be laid of good plank flooring well jointed; 
a partition wall run across the center of the 
building; said partition and the outside walls 
to be weather-boarded up with four-foot 
boards well shaved; with a good stone chim- 
ney, to be built in the center of the building, 
with a fire-place in each room; one door of the 
usual size in each room, well cased up 
with plank of proper thickness, with a good 
batten shutter to each door and a knob lock 
on each; two twelve-light windows in each 
room (one in the side and one in end); also 
plank shutters, with bolts to fasten; also one 
bookcase in each room alongside the chimney, 
with various apartments sufficient to contain 
the books and papers of the two clerks' 
offices of the county." 

On October, 1855, the contract for a court- 
house was let to Moore & Wilkes, the con- 
tract price being $7,400. The plans and 
specifications for this new courthouse were 
drawn by John J. Good, James M. Patterson 
and W. W. Peak, and provided for a building 
to be built of the best brick that could be 
manufactured in this county. In dimensions 
it was fifty feet square and two stories high, 
to be covered with the best quality of lead 
roofing, all wood used, to be pine, except the 



200 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



columns, sleepers and joists, which were to 
be of sound oak, and lintels, which were to 
be of good heart cedar. There was a brick 
chimney in each corner of the house, with a 
fire-place in each, three feet high and three 
feet wide. There were thirty-two small win- 
dows, and four large windows, seven and 
one half by ten feet each; four large doors 
seven and one half by ten feet each, the doors 
to be paneled work and well finished. The 
building was painted white on the inside ex- 
cept the bar, jury box and clerk's desk, which 
were of a walnut color. John J. Good, James 

N. Smith and Jennings superintended 

the construction of this, then magnificent, 
structure. 

Dallas county held her courts in this build- 
ing for about fifteen years, or until 1871, 
when it was condemned by the court as un- 
safe and sold for the paltry sum of $465, in 
two notes of $232.50 each, due in six months 
and one year, respectively, from date, April 29, 
1871. 

In this year the county contracted for an- 
other courthouse. The contract was let to 
James Donegal), but he failed to complete 
the work, and in November, 1871, the county 
paid him for the material on the ground and 
the labor he had done, and relieved him of 
the responsibility on the contract. 

Tills building was made of stone quarried 
in Dallas county. It was two-stories high, of 
white stone, and made a very pretty building, 
which was used as a temple of justice till 
1880, when it was partially destroyed by fire, 
the four walls being all that remained after 
the dreaded monster bad completed its work. 



The walls not being damaged to any great ex- 
tent the inside was rebuilt, the walls repaired, 
and a third story added, and a tower was 
built in the center, and a beautiful as well 
as substantial building was the result. Trees 
were planted in the yard around the building 
and an iron fence built around the square; 
and, all in all, it presented a very beautiful ap- 
pearance; but it was no fire-proof, and again in 
1890, just ten years and three days after the 
first fire, Dallas county was again without a 
courthouse. 




THE COURTHOUSE AS REBUILT, 1880. 

On the 7th day of February, 1890, about 
three o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Moore, 
deputy sheriff, and Mr. Jackson, deputy 
county clerk, were in Judge E. G. Bowers' 
court room, when all on a sudden they 
heard a roaring behind them, and upon 
looking around discovered the building to be 
on fire. The alarm was sounded, and the fire 
department promptly responded, but the 
wind being high and tlie water scarce they 
could do little good, and in little more than 
an hour the parts of four charred walls were 
all that were left of Dallas county's fourth 
courthouse! 

Though unfortunate in losing two court- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



201 



houses by fire, yet, fortunate for the citizens 
of the county, the records have never been 
lost, as a tire-proof building separate and 
apart from the courthouse, but adjacent to 
the same, was used for the safe-keeping of 
valuable papers and records. 

TIIp; PRESENT COURTHOUSE. 

This being the banner county in the State 
in wealth and population and enterprise, after 
the destruction of the old courthouse by this 
last tire, it was the wish of the people that 
Dallas county should have a courthouse 
second to none in the South. 

The new courthouse, which is just being 
completed, is constructed of Little Rock (Ar- 
kansas) blue granite and Pecos red sandstone, 
using eight columns of Texas granite the same 
as in the capitol, two being placed at each of 
tlie four entrances. The tirst story is built 
entirely' of the blue granite and the remainder 
of the building of the red sandstone, with 
trimmings of the blue granite. The body 
of the building is three stories high, the 
summit of the eight round towers which 
are placed on the main building being 
118 feet from the surface of the ground. 
The height of the main tower in the center of 
the building is 205 feet. The building is 
188 feet and eight inches long, by 106 feet, 
eleven inches wide. There are six court rooms 
in the building, 40 x 50 feet, and two library 
rooms, of the same size. These eight rooms 
are situated on the second and third 
floors. On the tirst floor are located all the 
county offices, fifteen in number, which will 
be used by county officers. On the second 



floor there are seven offices, and on the third 
floor nine offices, besides the court rooms 
mentioned. The first floor has two toilet 
rooms; the second floor, four; third floor, 
two; and fourth floor, two. The fourth floor 
has eight offices. 

There are two passenger elevators in the 
building, one on each side of the main stair- 
way. 

It is a fire-proof building, ail structural 
work being iron, as is the stairway. The 
floors in corridors and toilet rooms are of en- 
caustic and vitreous tile, and the wainscoting 
of Tennessee marble, the wainscoting risino- 
to a height of three feet and six inches in the 
corridors and five feet in the toilet rooms. 
The floors of the court rooms and libraries 
are covered with linoleum tile. The wain- 
scoting is of white oak, as is also the entire 
wood finish of the building. 

The roof is slate, laid in horizontal bands 
of red, blue and green, excepting the eight 
round towers which are covered with red 
slate only. 

All sheet metal work about the building is 
of fourteen and sixteen ounce copper. Water 
service throughout the building will be per- 
fect, and for lighting purposes combination 
fixtures are provided, and either gas or elec- 
tric lights can be used. 

In the main tower is placed a clock of the 
E. Howard make, being a number-three 
striker, having four illuminated glass dials 
nine feet six inches in diameter. The clock 
strikes the hours only, with a bell weighing 
4,500 pounds. 

The writer, not !»eing well versed in archi- 



203 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



tectural work, can only give an incomplete 
description of this magnificent building, but 
suffice it to say that it is tlie finest courthouse 
in the South, and one of the finest in the 
Union, and not only reflects credit on Dallas 
county and her citizens, but also on the entire 
State, and is a monument to the industry 
and enterprise of her people. 




THE PRESENT COURTHOUSE, ERECTED 1891-'92. 



THE FIRST JAIL. 

In the early settlement of the county, there 
being but few people here, crime was almost 
unknown among the pioneers; but there is 
no country in which it is altogether wanting, 
and the necessity for a place for the safe 
keeping of those who were charged with 
offenses against the laws of the State soon 
became apparent. To that end, on the 9th 
day of December, 1850, the county court let 
the contract for the building of a jail to one 
James Chapman. The following is a full 
description of it as taken from the minutes 
of the court: 



" The foundation to be of cedar posts three 
feet long, set on end and buried even with 
the surface of the earth and placed against 
each other so as to form a wall; the outside 
wall to be hewn to the thickness of eight 
inches and edged down to a joint sixteen feet 
square and nine feet high between the floors; 
a sill to rest on said posts (inside of the out- 
side wall), for the floor to rest on; the floor 
to be of oak timber ten inches thick and 
fitted to a joint; the inside wall to rest on 
the floor and to be made of the same mate- 
rial, and in like manner as the outside wall, 
and placed eight inches from the outside wall, 
and the space between to be filled with hewn 
timber eight inches thick, set upon end; the 
upper floor to be made of oak timber ten 
inches square and closely fitted together; the 
roof to be of good shingles well nailed on, 
and the gable ends weather- boarded up with 
well shaved boards or plank; with one door 
to be cut out three and one-half feet wide 
and five feet high, cased np with oak casing 
six inches thick and two feet wide, and put 
on with large iron spikes; with two shutters, 
one to open inside and the other outside, 
both to be made of oak plank two inches 
thick, and two thicknesses of said plank, one 
across the other, fastened together with 
wrought rivets, and a ten-penny nail driven 
in every inch square on each side of each 
shutter, to be hung on such hinges and 
secured by such locks as will be approved by 
said commissioners; to have one window ten 
by sixteen inches cased up with slab iron 
sufficiently wide to fasten to each wall and 
spiked strongly to the same with two wid - 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



203 



iron bars passing horizontally across the win- 
dow through the casing and into the walls, 
and three and one-fourth-inches square iron 
bars, placed i)erpendicularly, passing through 
the horizontal bars and casing into the wall 
above and below." 

DALLAS BAR. 

The first lawyer that arrived in Dallas 
county was John C. McCoy, in 1845, from 
Jeifersonville, Indiana; next came Hon. Nat. 
M. Burford, in 1848; then Hon. John J. 
Good, in 1857; shortly afterward came John 
M. Crockett. 

As can be seen in records of the officers of 
the county, each of these gentlemen attained 
distinction and eminence in their profession 
and tilled high places of honor. Onward has 
the bar of Dallas grown in reputation for 
lawyers of superior ability until to-day it is 
regarded as equal to any bar in the South, 
and that of any city of the population of 
Dallas in the United States. 

Some of its members at present are 
honored with some of the highest offices in 
the State, viz.: John L. Henry is a member 
of the Supreme Court, Judge J. M. Hart, 
member of the Court of Appeals, and Charles 
A. Culberson, Attorney General of the State. 

The following is a list of the present mem- 
bers of Dallas Bar: 
Alexander and Clark, W. A. Kemp, 
R. B. Allen, J. A. Kelley, 

J. R. Astin, R. E. L. Knight, 

Ba88ett,Seay& Nurse, A. S. Lathrop, 
F. J. Bell, H. P. Lawther, 

J. C. Bigger, S. A. Leake, 



W. A. Bonner, Leake, Shepard and 
Bookhont and McLau- Miller, 

rin, S. S. Long, 

E. G. Bower, R. S. Lovett, 

C. W. Boyer, E. P. Marshall, 

H. E. Bradford, Eugene Marshall, 

Wharton Branch, L. H. Mathis, 

E. M. Browder, A. M. May, 

J. W. Brown, S. C. McCormich, 

R. E. Bumpas, McCormich and 
N. M. Burford, Spence, 

R. E. Burke, W. L. McDonald, 

T. L. Camp, McKamy and Haw- 
CardenandBrownrigg, kins, 

E. Chambers, D. P. McKay, 
Wm. Charlton, M. W. Miller, 

F. K. Chase (colored), T. B. Miller, 
R. M. Claxk, C. H. Mills, 
Charles F. Clint, W. M. Minyard, 
Cobb and Avery, C. Monroe, 

G. C. Cole, J. W. Moore, 

T. M. Conner, Richard Morgan, 

Coombes and Gano, S. P. Morris, 

W. N. Coombes, Morris and Crow, 

L. Myers Connor, H. L. Obenchain, 

F. D. Cosby, I. R. Oeland, 
R. D. Coughanour, J. C. Patton, 
R. E. Covart, M. M. Parks, 
K. R. Craig, H. I. Phillips, 
Crawford and Craw- G. H. Plowman, 

ford. Porter and Reed, 

J. D. Crutcher, Robertson and Coke, 

M. C. CuUen, Robertson and Gray 
L. M. Dabney, (Robertson deceased), 

G. W. Davis, Russell, Cooper and 
J. O. Davis, Lemmon, 
Dickson and Moroney,U. F. Short, 



204 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Y. B. Dowell, 
J. T. Downs, 
M. L. Dye, 

Oatis S. Eaton, 



Sinikins, Morrow and 
JRoberts, 

Simpson and Robert- 
son, 



Edward and Blewett, C. P. Smith, 

W. M. Edwards, J. W. Smith, 

D. A. Eldridge, C. E. Stewart, 
C. I. Evans, W. T. Strange, 
Field and Howan, Thomas and Edmond- 
Fitzhugh and Wozen- son, 

craft, Thompson and Thorap- 
Kenneth Force, son, 

J. D. Fowraker, Wm. Thompson, 

Freemen, Hall and W. L. Thompson, 

Leake, Stonewall Tingle, 

M. D, Gano, M. Trice, 

J, W. George, Charles Fred Tucker, 

B. Gibbs, Turney and Brooks, 

E. E. Gibson, Watts Aldredge and 
Gillespie and Capers, Eckford, 

G. G. Goldman, J. P. C. Whitehead, 

G. I. Gooch, J. E. Wiley, 

De E. Greer, D. A. Williams, 

J. M. Haynes, E. G. Williams, 

V. H. Hexter, W. L. Williams, 

V. O. Hildreth, Wooten and Kim- 
T. T. HoUoway, brough, 

C. E. Hooker, Jr., R. H West, 

A. J. Houston, Alexander White, 

E. O. Howell, Word and Reeves, 

A. I. Hudson, T. A. Work, 

S. H. Hurlock, A. P. Wozencraft, 

Kearby and McCoy, G. G. Wright. 



MEDICAL. 

PIONEER PHYSICIANS. 

Among the old pioneers who deserve 
special mention on the pages of history are 
the old pioneer physicians. Among that 
number is Dr. A. A. Johnson, of Dallas, who 
graduated at the University of Louisville, 
Kentucky, in the winter of 1856 and came 
immediately to Dallas, where he first "hung 
out his shingle," and where he has since con- 
tinued to practice except when serving as 
surgeon in that branch of the Confederate 
service known as the Army of the Tennessee. 
It is not quite easy to determine who was the 
first physician to locate within the present 
boundaries of the county of Dallas, but from 
tl>e information at hand the honor appears to 
belong to a Dr. Conover, who came about 
1843 or '44, prior to the organization of Dal- 
las county, settling at Cedar Springs, on the 
lot where Jack Coles' handsome residence 
now stands, and part of the old orchard 
planted by his hands remains to mark the 
spot where he lived. 

A short time after came a Dr. Sampson, 
and was known among old settlers as the 
" hot-water and steam doctor." 

The third and best remembered of the first 
doctors was Dr. Jerry Dakin. He had been 
deprived of a complete literary education 
but, as one of his friends in Dallas expresses 
it, he was a •' natural -born doctor," and was 
regarded by his brother physicians who came 
later as a successful practitioner. A few 
years ago, broken down in health and for- 



UI8T0UY OF DALL^iS COUNTY. 



205 



tune, he laid his burden down and rested by 
the wayside. 

The next to come, in 1846, was Dr. S. B. 
Pryor. About four years later his brother, 
Dr. Charles li. Pryor, joined him here. 
These gentlemen were scions of an old Vir- 
ginia family, and were noted both for their 
social and intellectual culture as well as their 
professional ability. Dr. S. B. Pryor died 
here and is buried in the cemetery of Dallas. 
The widow is living and spending her de- 
clining years in the State of Arkansas. 

In 1851 Dr. David King came from Ten- 
nessee and located on the Lancaster road 
about three miles south of Dallas (a sketch of 
his life appears in the biographical part of 
this work). 

Dr. James Wright came in the '508, locating 
about four miles west of Dallas. Dr. James 
Swindell also came in the '508, and located in 
Lancaster, where he now resides. 

Dr. J. E. Thomas came in 1854. At the 
beginning of the Civil war he abandoned his 
practice here and went out as surgeon in 
Colonel Nat. M. Burford's regiment and 
promptly entered upon his duties in the field. 
The months of lingering camp life in pesti- 
lential swamps and morasses, the days and 
nights of weary march amid the heat, cold, 
chilling sleet and drenching rain, planted in 
him the seeds of consumption, from which he 
died in 1868. 

On many occasions these old pioneer doc- 
tors were called up at the hour of midnight 
to ride twenty-five or thirty miles to attend 
a sick-bed. There were no railroads here 



16 



then, and the only travel was in the saddle. 
The country was sparsely settled and fre- 
quently through the cold and the rain 
and tlie mud and the dark these old pioneer 
doctors would take these long, lonely rides, 
not so much for pecuniary gain as to relieve 
the sufferings of their fellow-men, for they 
treated all alike, whether they had money or 
not. No prescriptions were written in those 
days: the doctor carried his drugstore in his 
saddle-bags and dealt out the doses, fre- 
quently administering the medicine with his 
own hand and remaining with the patient 
until he was out of danger. He was in truth 
a benefactor, and, like the people whom he 
served, he must share the hardships and 
struggles of life in a new country, away from 
conveniences of all kinds, where his lonely 
rides often carried him for many miles with- 
out seeing a solitary habitation of a fellow- 
man. The medicines which he carried were 
often exceedingly costly, yet they were dealt 
out without stint whenever his professional 
services were in demand. His fees were 
small, and as money was an article not pos- 
sessed in abundance by many of the settlers, 
he was obliged to take his pay in such prod- 
ucts as the afflicted person could provide. 
Often the doctor's ministrations were a labor 
of charity, for his fees were not always forth- 
coming; yet he lived and toiled on in his 
work of relieving the sick and distressed and 
shared with the people their prosperity or 
adversity. 

Dr. Johnson, who came in 1856, is the 
only one of the pioneer physicians now 



206 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



practicing in Dallas. The doctor ranks among 
his patients some of the leading men and 
and women of Texas, both of the past and 
the present, and from the period of his ar- 
rival in this country has highly distinguished 
himself as a physician, as a surgeon and as 
an obstetrician, and all who know him well 
speak in the highest praise of his many noble 
qualities. Honor, integrity and lofty-minded 
strength of purpose, with a scrupulous re- 
gard for the true ethics of his profession, 
are qualities he possesses and holds dearer 
than anything else upon earth. Although 
nearing the sixtieth mile-post of life, the 
highly preserved state of his health visibly 
indicates a long life. The pleasant relations 
that have existed between Dr. Johnson and 
the people of the country and the trust they 
have reposed in him is fully appreciated. 
Indeed he cherishes with genuine pride, as 
well he may, the esteem and kindly regard in 
which he has been held by the good people 
of this community during the many years he 
has lived in Dallas county. His learning and 
skill, his high sense of professional honor 
and his kindly nature have combined to give 
him a warm place in the hearts of the old 
Texan. They fully believe that as a phy- 
sician he has been the means of saving hun- 
dreds of lives; and only those who are 
familiar with the affectionate way in which 
the people speak of him can appreciate how 
strong is their friendship for him. 

MEDICAL ASSOCIATIONS. 

The first medical association in Dallas was 
organized in 1872. Dr. A. A. Johnson was 



elected its president, It lived only about a 
year, and, as the doctor expresses it, " it died 
a-teething." Several others were organized, 
but never got out of their swaddling clothes. 
The influx of doctors were such that in 
1884 the leading physicians deemed it ad- 
visable to organize an association. So, on 
April 3, 1884, the leading physicians of Dal- 
las met for the purpose of organizing a 
medical association. The following is taken 
from the records of the society: 

" Dallas, Texas, April 3, 1884. 
" The following gentlemen met at Drs. 
Chilton & Smith's office Tuesday, April 3, 
1884, for the purpose of organizing a conntj' 
medical association. Dr. Morton was called to 
the chair to act as temporary chairman and Dr. 
Veal to act as temporary secretary of the meet 
ing. Present also: Drs. Thompson, Moseley, 
Elliott, Leake, Eagon, Sutton, Chilton, Smith 
and Meeks. A committee of three, composed 
of Drs. Leake, Sutton and Elliott, was ap- 
pointed to notify the physicians in the city 
and county of Dallas (Dr. Leake acting as 
chairman of said committee) that a meeting 
be held at Drs. Chilton & Smith's olhce Sat- 
urday at 3 F. M., April 12, 1884, for the pur- 
purpose of effecting a permanent organiza- 
tion. Upon motion the meeting adjourned 
until Saturday, 3 p. m., April 12, 1884. 

Saturday, April, 12, 1884. 

Dr. Morton, temporary chairman, called 
the meeting to order and asked for minutes 
of last meeting, which were read by the sec- 
retary, after which the following resolutions 
were offered by Dr. Thompson, before com- 
mencing the business of the meeting: 

Resolved, First, that we, the regular prac- 
ticing physicians of the city and county of 
Dallas, in convention assembled, adopt the 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



207 



rules of the State Medical Association re- 
ganiiiig admission of members, which are as 
follows: Article Third of the constitution 
says there shall be only one class of members 
in this association, namely: Every regularly 
educated man within the limits of the county 
who is a graduate of a regular medical col- 
lege in good standing, and who adopts and 
conforms to the code of ethics of the Ameri- 
can Medical Association, shall be eligible to 
membership in this body. 

Resolved, That the temporary chairman 
appoint as a judicial council three physicians 
of the city and two of the county, known to 
be regular graduates in medicine, whose 
duty it shall be to decide upon the eligibility 
of candidates for membership and to whom 
all applications for membership shall be re- 
ferred. 

The above resolution being unanimously 
adopted, the chairman appointed a commit- 
tee of five, viz.: Drs. Thompson, Sutton, Al- 
len, Smith and Dr. Thompson acting as 
chairman of said committee. 

After a judicial examination of the names 
brought before the committee the chairman 
reported thirty-seven as eligible to member- 
ship in the society. 

The next important point for considera- 
tion being the election of officers, the result 
was as follows: Dr. Morton, president; Dr. 
Leake, first vice-president; Dr. Thruston, 
second vice-presidant; Ur. Smith, treasurer; 
Dr. Veal, secretary. 

On a committee of by-laws the following 
were appointed by the president: Drs. Eagon, 
Johnson and Newsom, also a judiciary com- 
mittee, comprised of Drs. Leake, Thotnpson, 
Sutton and Eagon. 

The name and style of this society is "the 
Dallas County Medical Society," and is auxil- 



iary to the "Texai State Medical Associa- 
tion." The object of this society is to organ- 
ize the medical profession of the county in 
the most efficient maimer possible: to encour- 
age a high standing of professional qualifica- 
tions and ethics and to promote professional 
brotherhood. Tiie meetings of the society 
have been both pleasant and instructive. 
Many interesting and instructive essays have 
been prepared and impressively read by dif- 
ferent members to which the society listened 
with great attention and growing interest. 
Tliese essays, on different diseases and topics 
pertaining to the medical profession, showed 
careful construction and gave every evidence 
of long experience and earnest reflection on 
the part of the different authors. These 
essays were invariably open for discussion, 
when nearly every member found tongue in 
either questioning the author's argument or 
adding something to the paper by recounting 
personal observations and experiences. The 
object of the society is a noble one and has 
done much towards strengthening and elevat- 
ing the standard of the medical profession of 
Dallas county. 

The following preamble and resolutions 
were taken from the records of the society on 
the death of its first president, J. H. Morton. 

At the death of the first prfi8i<ient of this 
society. Doctor J. II. Morton, a meeting vf&& 
held, and the following resolution expressive 
of the feeling of the society were spread on 
the minutes: 

WuEKEAS, we are again called upon to 
mourn the death of a fellow of our society, 
as on the 18th of July, 1887, Dr. John H. 



208 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



- Committee. 



Morton, the iirst president of our society, after 
a long and painful illness passed quietly 
away, it becomes us to express our deep sor- 
row at his death and our appreciation of his 
labors; Therefore, be it 

Resolved, First, that in the death of our 
fellow Dr. John H. Morton, the first presi- 
dent of the society, we have lost one of our 
brightest and most laborious members, our 
city one of its best citizens and society one of 
her most polished members; Secondly, That 
we extend to his widow our sincerest condo- 
lence in this her deep affliction, and that a 
copy of this preamble and these resolutions 
be spread upon our minutes and a copy be 
sent to his widow and to the Courier Record 
for publication. 

[Signed] 

W. H. Sutton, M. D., 

Chairman . 
L. D. Thurston, M. D., 
D. H. TucKKK, M. D. 
The present officers of the Association are: 
Dr. John D. Parsons, president; Dr. B. L. 
Rawlins, treasurer; Doctor G. W. Grove, 
secretary. 

PHYSICIANS OF THE PBESENT. 

Dallas being the largest city in the largest 
county in the largest State in the Union, it 
is reasonable to conclude that here is to be 
found the largest as well as the most efficient 
corps of physicians; and the writer states 
without fear of contradiction that no county 
in the State of Texas can excel in ability and 
talent the medical fraternity of Dallas county. 
They are men of culture and refinement, and 
the most of them are men who have had 
every advantage of a literary as well as medi- 
cal education. The practice of their profes- 



sion is not all sunshine. Many shadows fall 
across their paths of life, many scenes and 
experiences frequently cause them to carry 
home an aching heart. The pleadings of an 
almost heartbroken mother for the life of her 
little one which has passed beyond his skill, 
her wailings of despair, as she watches the 
life tide of her darling ebb and flow, the de- 
spairing angnis!. of the fond, affectionate wife 
as she stands by the deathbed of the husband 
who won her heart when her cheeks were 
rosy with the blushes of girlhood, the deep 
groans of manhood as the devoted husband 
sees the life slowly leaving the form that for 
years has lain upon his breast, — these and 
many other scenes cause sorrow to come into 
the life of the physician. No profession on 
earth does more work of charity, and in many 
cases receive in return only ingratitude. 

In the following list of physicians of Dal- 
las will be found some of the brightest 
minds in the medical world: 



PHYSICIANS OF 

James L. Adams, 
E. W. Aldrich, 
R. W. Allen, 
Anderson & Phipps, 
Y. P. Armstrong, 
Lawrence Ashton, 
E. H. Ayers, 
W. T. Baird, 
J. T. Baker, 
G. Beaumont, 
D. H. Benton, 
Betts & Betts, 
A. R. Bibb, 



DALLAS COUNTY. 

J. V. Ghilders, 
J. M. Coble, 
J. W. Cormick, 
J. F. Conan, 
A. P. Davis, 
K. E. Davis, 
F. Davis, 
E. E. Dickson, 
T. J. Dickey, 
Daniel DuPre, 
Samson Eagon, 
L. Elliott, 
H. M. Elmore, 



niSTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



209 



M. A. Bingley, 


W. D. Evans, 


DALLAS COUNTY IN THE MEXICAN 


B. R. liluitt, 


Jacob Ewing, 


WAR. 


J. D. Boyce, 
F. M. Bruner, 
E. Brunson, 
A. C. Graham, 
P. Gray, 


E. M. Fanon, 
G. A. Fenton, 
John L Fort, 
S. J. Gano, 
J. C. Gebhardt, 


The following concerning the Mexican 
war we take from Judge John Henry Brown's 
history, i)y his permission. After inter- 
viewing several pioneers none could give 
facts concerning this war as could Judge 


G. W. Grove, 


John H. Gibbs, 


Brown, the pioneer historian of the county. 


J. W. Gurley, 


R. S. Gilbert, 


"Early in 1847, pending the war between 


D. G. Hall, 


J. V. Martin, 


the United States and Mexico and before 


C. P. Iludson, 


J. A. McCarty, 


Dallas county was a year old, a call was made 


J. A. Hunter, 


W. A. McCoy, 


by Colonel John C. Hays of San Antonio, for 


A. A. Johnson, 


D. R. P. McDermott' 


volunteers to constitute what became subse- 


A. A. Johnston, 


H. L. McLaurin, 


quently distinguished as Hays' Second Regi- 


A. P. Keever, 


R. L. Mc Means, 


ment of Texas Rangers in that war. 


E. A. Kitzmiller, 


J. R. Meeks, 


"A company was formedat Dallas composed 


H. L. Kyle, 


J. H. Mitchell, 


partly of men from Fannin, Collin and Dallas 


W. J. Lane, 


H. A. Mosely, 


counties. The various companies of the regi- 


J. C. Langford, 


M. M. Neusom, 


ment were mustered in at San Antonio for 


H. K. Leake, 


W. H. Orr, 


twelve months, or during the war, in April 


Lee Wing Sun 


Pace & Thomson, 


and May, 1847 (he Dallas and last company 


(Chinese), 


J. D. Parsons, 


late in June), and were discharged in May, 


A. J. Lengel, 


G. E. Peters, 


1848, so that each company served twelve 


J. D. Letcher, 


B. A. Pope, 


months. (The war began at Palo Alto May 9, 


J. P. Lynch, 


B. L. Rawlins, 


1846; the treaty of peace was signed at Gua- 


D. Mackay, 


T. D. Rodgers, 


dalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, and the 


G. Schiff, 


C. M. Rosser, 


American army evacuated Mexico in June, 


L. C. Schoolfield, 


D. H. Tucker, 


1848) 


C. H. Sherman, 


A. A. Vanstenburgh, 


"Of this famous regiment of mounted men, 


J. G. Sims, 


(Electropathic) 


John C. Hays was Colonel, Peter H. Bell 


J. B. Smoot, 


G. T. Veal, 


(afterward governor from 1849 to 1853) 


A. J. Stovall, 


I. C. West, 


was lieutenant colonel, and (after October, 


W. R. Stovall, 


R. Whitis, 


1847) Alfred M. Truitt was major, having 


W. U. Sutton, 


0. L. Williams, 


been to that time one of the captains, and 


Thatcher & Hines, 


R. G. Williams, 


John S. Ford was the adjutant. 


S. 1). ThruBton, 


Williams & Williams. 


The captains were Samuel Ilighsmith, 



310 



HISrOBT OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



James S. Gillct, Middleton T. Johnson, Jacob 
lioborts, Gabriel M. Armstrong (succeeded 
in October 1847 by First Lieutcnaiit Alfred 
Evans), Isaac Ferguson (died in the city of 
Mexico, January 1, 1848, and succeeded by 
Ephraim M. Daggett), Stephen Kinsey (re- 
signed in October, 1847, and succeeded by 
First Lieutenant Preston Witt), Chaucer 
Asliton (successor to Captain Truitt, died in 
the city of Mexico, December 14, 1847, and 
succeeded by Alexander E. llandley), Henry 
W. Baylor, Shapley P. Ross and Hammond 
Warfield after August, 1847. 

"The companies of Captains Johnson, 
Koss, Highsmith, Gillett and Baylor were 
stationed at different jioints on the frontier 
of Texas, under Lieutenant (^olonel Bell. All 
the others went with Hays to Mexico. They 
marched from San Antonio to Laredo, and 
down the west side of the Rio Grande to its 
mouth, about three hundred miles, and were 
transported in steamers to Vera Cruz, where 
their brilliant career began, and where, on 
the return of peace, they re-embarked for 
home. The Dallas company was discharged 
in Vera Cruz about May 6, 1848. 

"Rev. Samuel — Corley, of the Cumber- 
Iniul Presbyterian church, faithfully dis- 
charged the double duties of soldier and 
chaplain, and was beloved by the whole regi- 
ment. 

PARTIAL MUSTEK ROLL OF THE COMPANY. 

t 

" 1 can only give an incomplete list of the 
men, after consulting Messrs. iXaniel, Jackson 



and McCommas, three survivors in Dallas 
county. 

"Officers — Stephen Kinsey, of Fannin, 
was captain till October, 1847; then Preston 
Witt, formerly first lieutenant; Josiah Pan- 
coast, second lieutenant and regimental com- 
missary, became first lieutenant October, 
1847; John L. Terry, of Collin, and Kiiich 
Hensley, of Fannin, third lieutenants; Wm. 
E. Crook, orderly sergeant, promoted to 
lieutenant, drew the maps of Peters' colony, 
died in Shelby county; John H. Daniel, com- 
missary sergeant; Shelton Robbins, succeeded 
Crook as orderly. 

"Privates — Nathan Atterberry, Rufus An- 
derson (of Collins); Libner Barnard (Fan- 
nin); .lames Barrow, died in Mexico; James 
S. Barker, lives in Shelby county ; Wm. Ben- 
ton; Stephen Conrad, died in San Angel, 
valley of Mexico; Jesse Cox, died in Dallas 
county; Wm. Chenault, died in Dallas 
county, 188G; Elijah Carder and Christopher 
Carder, brothers, died in Mexico; George R. 
Counts, came home sick and died in Mis- 
souri; Thomas Dykes, died New Orleans en 
route home; Calvin Green; James Glenn, 
lives in Denton ; John B. Gorbett, substituted 
on the Rio Grande by George Markhain ; 

Hatfield, deserted on the Rio Grande 

to avoid prosecution for a row; (had too much 
of the good old Methodists' hell-cat in him); 

James Hensley, of Fannin; Hart, of 

Collin ; Hunter, killed by his own pistol 

at tialapa; Peter Ilaught and Samuel A. 
Haught, brothers, living in Dallas county; 
Hatter, of Fannin; -Humphreys, 



nia^TORY OF DALLAS COUNT Y. 



211 



drowned in Kaufman county; Wnj. Ilicklin, 
afterward killed in an impromptu duel; 
Win. Herald, of Fannin, died in Puebla; 
John Herald, brother of William; Andrew 
Sloan Jackson, liviny in Dallas county; his 
brother, Wm. C, came home sick and died 
September 12, 1848; Wm. Keen; Benjamin 
Keen; Benjamin Lindsey, of Fannin; Andrew 

Lawson; Moss (1) ; Moss (2) ; John 

McCommas, living in Dallas, discharged sick 
in the city of Mexico, January 14, 1848: got 
home in March; John C. McCommas, same 
as his nephew John, lives in Young county; 
Stephen B. McCommas, Jr., brother of John, 
died in the city of Mexico December 24, 
1847; Burke McCommas, cousin of John, 
died near the same time; George Mounts, 
died about the same time; George Markham, 
substitute for John B. Gorbett (his children 
living in Dallas county); Ben Noggle or 
Noagle, of Fannin; John Newton; John L. 
Pulliam; Benjamin J. Prigmore (still holds 
the fort near Richardson, Dallas county, and 
is still not "of age" under the now pension 
law, lacking three or four years of being 
sixty-two!); Dudley F. Pearson; Anderson 
Pruitt (his 'society' title in camp life being 
'Piny Woods'); George II. Paschal, eighty 
years old, lives at Terrell, and has a youthful 
desire to migrate to the land of gold and 
grow up with the country, because his elder 
kindred oppose his using tobacco; Chris- 
topher C. Porter; William Romme, died in 
Mexico; William Scrutch; Nathan Scnitch; 
George W. Smith; William Sliahan, died in 
castle Perotc; -Shahan, brother of 



William; Iliram Shirley, died and was 
buried at sea en route home February, 1848; 
Alexander A. Thomas, died in Dallas county; 
John, his brother, died in Mexico; James 
Vance, now dead; James Welborn, wont 
early to California, and died recently; Hogan 
Witt, lives in Collin; Wm. Wilhite, died in 
Mexico, as also his brother, McKinsey Wil- 
hite — seventy-one; Benjamin Abbott; Gilbert 
R. Brush, of Fort Bend county, and ex-Mier 

prisoner; Thomas Callahan ; Cotton, who 

was wounded in the service; Goodman, 

called "Old Music;" Gardner, whose 

revolver burst in Vera Cruz, wounding his 
hand and killing his horse; John Euitt (not 
the same who was sheriff of Dallas county); 
Jolly (1), Jolly (2), brothers, af- 
terward of Ilopkins county; Kaufman; 

Benjamin Leppard; James Newton; 

llobbins (brother of Shelton); William Swin- 
son, who married a Mexican and remained 
in that country; Alfred Siss, killed in a row 

in the city of Mexico; Vance, a youth; 

Milton Vincent, and Harvey Vanslyko, who 
died in Puebla. This is a total of eighty- 
nine names out of what was probably ninety- 
five, though some of the survivors say 110, 
114 and 121, all of whom are believed to bo 
mistaken." 

Judge Brown acknowledges the services 
of Messrs. Samuel A. Haught and Benjamin 
J. Prigmore, who assisted in furnishing the 
above list of names, and stated that in regard 
to the total number that Mr. I'rigmore was 
confident the number was ninety-five. 



ais 



BISTORT OF DALLAS 00UNT7. 



DAIJ.AS IN THE CIVIL WAR. 

To roct.rd in liiHtory tlin brave and valiiint 
deeds of those who from a consciousneBS of 
duty fought for tlieir country's interest, 
either on the battlefield or otherwise, is the 
duty of every liistorian who undertakes to 
write that people's career. And in no spirit 
of sectionalism does the compiler write of 
the Confederates, hut with the sentiment, 
"All honor to whom honor is due," would 
say that the brave deeds of the noble and 
gallant Confederate soldiers of the South will 
ever be honored juid revered by their de- 
scendants, and will bo kept fresh and green 
in their memories for time immemorial. 

The cause for which the Soutliern States 
fou<i;ht involved, as the Texans thought, a 
principle which aroused them with a spirit of 
loyalty and devotion to the Confederacy, and 
into line she stepped with the other States. 
Dallas county furnished some of the bravest 
of these Texas soldiers. They were led by 
seven Confederate colonels, — Nicholas II. 
Darnell, B. Warren Stone, T. C. Ilawpe, Nat. 
M. iJurford, John J. Goodo, John T. Coite 
and W. E. Hughes. There were other com- 
missioned officers from this county. These 
officers and soldiers from Dallas county were 
as brave and as chivalrous as any that fought 
in the Confederacy. 

STERLING PRICE CAMP. 

To perpetuate the memory of these ex- 
Confederates, living and dead, and to pre- 
serve and maintain that sentiment of frater- 
nity naturally enkinilltHJ in their bosoms for 



each other, the ex-Confederates of Dallas 
county, under the leadership of General W. 
L. Cabell, organized on the 13th day of Octo- 
ber, 1889, in the city of Dallas, at the Grand 
Windsor Hotel, a "camp," naming it after 
the gallant and beloved Confederate general. 
Sterling Price. To state the object of the 
camp in full and in detail, we quote from the 
constitution adopted by the camp: 

"The object of this cam]) shall be for 
social purposes; to perpetuate the memory of 
our comrades, living and dead; to preserve 
and maintain that sentiment of fraternity 
born of hardship and dangers, shared in the 
marcl), the bivouac and the battlefield, and to 
erect a monument in the city of Dallas to 
the Confederate dead of all armies, com- 
memorative of their heroic deeds; to aid in- 
digent comrades, their widows and orphans; 
to give to our children a true history of the 
incidents on the march, life in camp, and 
deeds done on the battlefield ; to avoid every- 
thing that partakes of partisanship in i-eligion 
and politics, but to extend courtesies on every 
fitting occasion to our late adversaries in 
arms and to aid and assist in the maintenance 
of law and preservation of order." 

The broad and liberal purposes set out in 
the above statement of the object of this or- 
ganization can but be admired, it occurs to 
the writer, by all sections and even by the 
once strong foe to the Confederacy. The 
last sentence, — " to extend courtesies on every 
fitting occasion to our late adversaries in arms 
and to aid and assist in the maintenance of 
law anil preservation of order," — is the link 



niSTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



213 



that liinds all, friend and foe, together. 
Tlie Grand Army of the Republic have a 
branch of their great and powerful organiza- 
tion here in Dallas, a history of which we 
give later on ; and to show the reader what 
kind feelings of friendship exist here, as 
elsewhere in the South, between the ex-Con- 
federates and the members of the G. A. R., 
we give the following communications, which 
are self-explanatory: 

THE WLUE AND THE OKAY. 

" Dallas, Texas, May 5, 1890. 
"Colonel W. D. Wylie, Dallas: 

'■'■Dear Sir: — I am directed by Sterling 
Price Camp, ex- Confederate Veterans, to say 
to you and through you to your companions 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, that on 
to-morrow, the 6th inst., Sterling Price Camp 
will have memorial services, and will deco- 
rate the graves of tiio sleeping veterans of the 
Confederate army. The Grand Army of the 
Republic are cordially invited to participate 
witii us in thus honoring our dead heroes. 
It is the purpose of the association to deco- 
rate the graves of those heroes who wore the 
blue, as well as the gray. 

" W. L. TllOMI'BON, 

'^'^ Adjutant Sterling Price Camp, ex-Confed- 
^erate Veterans.'''' 

"Respectfully referred to Colonel J. M. 
Steere, commanding G. II. Thomas Post. 

" W. D. WVLIE." 

The invitation was favorably accepted, and 
the following notice was given to the posts 
of the G. A. R.: 

" Dallas, May 5. 

"As per invitation this day received from 
Sterling Price Camp, ex-Coiife<!erate Vet- 
erans, the members of George II. Thomas 



Poet, No. 6, and John A. Dix Post, No. 11, 
Grand Army of the Republic, Department of 
Texas, are liereby earnestly requested to meet 
at Merchants' Exchange hall, on Tuesday, 
May 6, at 10:30 a. .m., to unite with Sterling 
Price Camp, ex-Confederate Veterans, in deco- 
rating the graves of the heroes of the late 
war. James M. Steere, 

'■^Commander Oeorge II. Thomas Post. 
" David McKay, 
'■'■Commander John A. Dix Post.'''' 
The Sterling Price Camp is one of the 
numerous associations organized under the 
union of the United Confederate Veterans, 
which has different departments through the 
South and is the headquarters of the " Trans- 
Mississippi Department." The following are 
the officers: Lieutenant-Goneral, W. L. Ca- 
bell, Commanding; W. L. Thompson, Adju- 
tant-General and Chief of Staff; General 
George Moorman, Assistant Adjutant-Gen- 
eral, Louisiana; F. \'>. Trotman, Colonel and 
Assistant Adjutant-General; Dr. S. D. Thrus- 
ton, Surgeon-General; II. W. Grabor, Quar- 
termaster-General; S. P. Mendez, Commis- 
sary-General; Hugh F. Ewing, Inspector- 
General; W. G. Veal, Brigadier-General and 
Chief of Ordnance; W. II. Gaston, Rrigadier- 
General and Aid-de-Camp; F. Waltam, Briga- 
dier-General and Aid-de-Camp; li. B. Stod- 
dard, Brigadier-General and Aid-de-Camp; 
Charles A. Harris, Brigadier-General and 
Aid-de-Camp, Louisiana; John M. Ilarrell, 
Brigadier-General and Aid-de-Camp, Arkan- 
sas; J. O. Shelby, Brigadier-General and Aid- 
de-Camp, Missouri; D. N. Mcintosh, Briga- 
dier-General nn<l Aid-dc-Canip, Indian Terri- 
tory ; J. T. Harris, Brigadier-General and Aid- 



214 



HISTOUr OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



de Camp; Paul Conrad, Colonel and Aid-de- 
Camp, Louisiana; R. B. Coleman, Colonel 
and Aid-de-Camp, Indian Territory; R. E. 
Burke, Judge Advocate General; A. T. Watts, 
Brigadier- General and Aid-de-Camp and As- 
sociate Judge Advocate General; Dr. A. P. 
Smith, Chaplain General. It has done great 
good for the old ex-Confederates and their 
families in the way of charities. It was the 
prime factor in establishing the ex-Confeder- 
ate Home at Austin, Texas. 

Under an order of General W. L. Cabell, 
of Dallas, calling for the ex-Confederates of 
the State of Texas, and in fact of all those in 
the trans-Mississippi territory, to come to- 
gether and organize into camps, and all join 
each other in Dallas in April, 1892, so as to 
attend in a body the great reunion of all the 
camps of the ex-Confederacy at New Orleans, 
Louisiana, April 8, 1892, there was gathered 
in Dallas an assemblage of old soldiers. An 
ex-Confederate was a wonder to the citizens 
of Dallas, and more especially to the genera- 
tion reared up since the war in which these 
ex- Confederates fought. To see the old 
soldiers, some with one arm, some with one 
leg, some with scarred faces, effects from 
fights upon the battlefield, and some with no 
effects visible, all proudly and happily meet- 
ing and embracing each other on the streets 
of the city, was a sight never to be forgotten 
by those who were present. It is one event 
in the history of this city that should never 
be obliterated. 

It was estimated that from 20,000 to 30,- 
000 people, including the ex-Confederates 



and their friends, assembled here on that 
occasion, — some from the Indian Territory, 
some from Kansas, and some from Arkansas. 
The railroads were taxed to their utmost 
capacity to accommodate the tremendous 
crowds; but under the efficient management 
of the executive committee, composed of Dr. 
S. D. Thrustou, chairman, S. P. Mender, W. 
H. Gaston, Pat Waltnian, W. H. Graber and 
W. L. Thompson, who had every courtesy 
extended by the railroad companies reaching 
to New Orleans, transportation was effected. 

The following is the list of members of 
the Sterling Price Camp, the present resi- 
dence of each member, rank, company and 
regiment in which he served in time of the 
war, as far as could be secured from the 
enrollment books in the secretary's office, 
copied in full as the books show. The omis- 
sions made were because the books fail to 
give the names: 

membership of sterling price camp. 

Names. Residence. Rank. Co. and Reg. 

W. H. Brewson . . . 

J. O. Lewis 

J. C. Gorham Austin. 

E. Trapp 

W. F.M.Cannon.. 
Samuel P. Mendez. Dallas. 

A. M. Elmore 

Joseph Head .... 

J. H. Sharpe 

W. K. White 

R. W. Pittman Dallas. 

J. B.Wade Dallas. 

D. L. Stewart Dallas. 

W. L. Cabell Dallas. 



Capt. 



Sergt. F, 12 Va. 



B jn. M. Melton . . . Dallas. 



Private. A, 14 Tenn. 
Capt. A, 57 N. C. 
Brig. Gen., Armies of 

Tenn. and Mo. 
Capt. E, 6 Miss. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



215 



H. F. Ewing Dallas. 

F. N.Tucker Dallas. 

RE. Burke Dallas. 

H. H. Dickey Dallas. 

W. A. Jones Dallas. 

John J. Miller . . . .Dallas. 
T. M. Daniel Torney, Dal- 
las Co. 

B. D. Wilson Dallas. 

G. M. Vaughn Waxahachie 

T. A. West Dallas. 

W. H. Elankenship . Dallas. 

A.U.Smith Dallas. 

C.M.Terry 

S. B. Clownly 

W. B. Tarver 

W. J. Betterton Dallas. 

W. L. Crawford. . .Dallas. 

L.T. Bolt 

J. T. Carter 

J. T. Crawford 

J. Bruster Bell Co. 

John W. Roach 

J. B. McLeod (Deceased.) 

J. K. Cummiug . ..Dallas. 
J. L. Thomson . . . Dallas. 

Nat. M. Burford . . Dallas. 
John W.Taylor... 
L. P. Montgomery. 
James B. Simpson. Dallas. 

Wm. C. Wolff Dallas. 

Joe W. Record Dallas. 

W. S. Stockdell . . . 

John H. Brown . . . Dallas. 

Wm. P. Cole Dallas. 

John C. Story Dallas. 

H.C.Wallace ...Dallas. 

N. M. Dawson 

John T. Carter Dallas. 

Dennis Corcoran.. 

Jack Duhig 

Coleman D. Payne. 

B. N. Bryant 

Q. W. Cambell.... 



Capt. and Gen'l Staff, 
Hardee's Corps. 



Capt. 


C, 2 Ga. Inf. 


Private. 


D, 10 Ga. C. 


Private. 


K, 2 Tex. C. 


Private. 


C,4Tex.Inf. 


Capt. 


C, 9 Tex.Inf. 



Lt. Col. 



Col. 



Adjt. 



Col. 



Col. 



15 N. C. 

C, Ward's 
Tenn. Cav. 



I, 19 Miss. 
B, 1 I. C. V. 



19 Tex. Inf. 

D, 154 Tenn. 

E, 26 Tenn. 
H.llTenn.C. 



A, Ala. Art. 
3 Tenn. Inf. 
— Tex. 



19 Ark. 



K, lOTex. C. 



12 Tenn. Inf. 



B, 52 Ga. Inf. 



17 Ark. 



Ga. Cav. 



M. M. Fleming . . .Dallas. 

J. J. Adams Bryan. 

I. G. Fennelle Bryan. 

L. N. Cole Wolfe City. 

A. P. Smith Dallas. Capt. 

Thos. Padgett Dallas. 

J. Pink Thomas . . . Dallas. E, 

Clifton Scott Dallas. 

Dan. M. Spence. .. 

J. L. Williams Dallas. 

J. P. C. Whitehead. Dallas. Capt. 

CW. Gentry 

T.C.Bailey Dallas. 

W. L. Larrance Col. 

S. H.Grantham Grand Prairie. 

J. S. Mooring Bryan. 

J. G. Prezedmoyski. 

T. A. Porter 

Joe Ingram 

F. Waltman 

J. N. Leeper Dallas. 

W. M. Parks .... 

Lewis Fredric .... 

Jehn W. Spencer. .Dallas. 

George Waller 

C. T. Park Dallas. 

J. M. StemmoDs. .(Deceased.) 

George W.N eely. . 

K. M. McMuUen.. 

W. H. Birdsong... 

A.G. Swor 

J. C. Woodside.... 

B. A. Clark 

George Garrett . . . 

J. V. Davenport. . . 

George W. Carey . . Maj. 

John W. Daniels . . Col. 

J. C. Richardson . .Ft. Worth. 

John C. Conroy Dallas. 

J. W. Owen 

0. P. Howe 

M. G. Whitsitt Capt. 

H. M. Bryan Dallas. Sergt. 

Wm. L. Thompson . Dallas. Private. 



2 8. C. Inf. 

"T," Terry's 

Tex. Cav. 

17 Tex. C, also 

E, 18 Tex. Cav. 



1 Va. Inf. 
D, 47 Ala. 
34N. C. 



8 Mo. Inf. 



F, 1 La. 

E, 14 Va. 
16 Mo. Inf. 

E, 36 Va. 

F, 24 Ala. 
F, 27 Miss. 
D, 34 N. C. 
D, 6 Mo. 

C, 14 S. C. 
44 Ala. 
15 Tex. 

B, 1 Md. 

D, 12 Miss. 
15 Tex. 

D, 10 Ga. C. 
D, 10 Ga. C. 
G, 4 La. 



216 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



P. M. Maddox Bledsoe's Co., Tenn. Troop. 

M. W. Putman. . . .Ft. Worth. C, 15 Miss. 

George W. Waller . Dallas. Col. 

M. H.VanDusen.. C, 4 Tex. C. 

E. Dreyeaae . Col. —Mo. 

J. W. Bowen Dallas. Capt. G, G Mo. 

John F. Elliot Dallas. Col. 

Sam. A. Hayden . .Dallas. Capt. 16 La. 

Dr. F. H. Gibbs. . .Dallas. Surg. 

W. F. Morton Dallas. C, 11 Ark. 

A. D. Sadler Dallas. Capt. 

P. W. Wolfe Dallas. Capt. D, 9 Tenn. 

R. M. Gano Dallas. Brig. Gen'l, Morgan's 

Cavalry. 

E. G. Bower Dallas. Lieut. G, 3 Mo. C. 

George W.Neeley. Dallas. Lieut. 10 Mo. C. 

A. M. Gains Dallas. G, 4 Tenn. C. 

Geo. D. Harrison . . 

E. P. Marshall .... Dallas. B, 7 Tex. 

A. T. Obenchain . . 

A. G. Brown 

T. J. Wolf 

J. M. Tergurson. . . 

W. H. Harrell 

J. J. Miller Fitzhugh's Regt., 

Texas Cavalry. 

H. W. Graber Dallas. 8 Tex. Cav. 

O.C.George 4 Va. 

J. S. Cautes 9 Va. Cav. 

P. H. Wood Dallas. 1 S. C. 

John H. Cochran. .Dallas. C, 6 Tex. C. 

Chas. P. Teel Dallas. E, 3 Tex. C. 

John W. Stevens. . K, 5 Tex. 

Marsden Campbell. A. Driaux's 

La. Bat. 

T. W. Wolfe D, 9 Tex. C. 

J. S. Edmonston. . . 

J. O.Lewis B,7S.C.Cav. 

J. C. McKay A, 1 Ky. Cav. 

R. G. Cheesman. . . B, 8 Tex. C. 

G.T.Macon K, 31 Ala. C. 

H. C. Wright Dallas. F, 4 Tex. 

Wm. I. Jones Dallas. Sergt. A, 1 La. 

R. L. UDshaw. . . . Torney's Texas Div. 

Richard H. Lacy. . 1 Ky. Cav. and 

Morgan's Cav. 



B. W. Hoyt 33 Tex. Cav. 

W. F. Purnell L, 3 Ga. 

T. B. Trotman Dallas. 4 Ala. Cav. 

J. A. P. Travis F, 20 Tex. 

J. W. Ragsdal Capt. K, 23 Miss. 

J. R. Brown F, 2 La. 

Robt. N. Hoffman. Dallas. B, 3 Va. 

W. W. Cox Dallas. L, 6 Ala. 

Jas. H. Sullivan. . .Dallas. 30 Miss. 

John W. Smith. . . .Dallas. — Miss. 

Geo. R. Fearn Dallas. I, 10 Miss. 

R. M.Brown Dallas. B, 3 Tenn. ' 

B. H. Meams 2 La. Cav. 

J. S. Reese Dallas. Pellsman's Cadets, 

Mobile, Ala. 

S.F.Moore E, 3 Ala. C. 

S. N. Braswell . . . .Dallas. K, 33 Tex. C. 

J. Leopold Dallas. C, 6 S.C. Cav. 

W. W. Lang Dallas. 

R. H. Jones Dallas. Surg. 37 Ala. 

Jas. F. Vanhorne. .Dallas. Midshipman Ship Selma. 

Wm. W. Hobbs Dallas. E, 23 Miss. 

Milton Park Dallas. A, 39 Ala. 

Charles L. Martin..Dallas. Capt. 66 Tex. Cav. 

Enoch Strait Dallas Co. Sergt. E, 18Tex. C. 

G. B. Strait Dallas Co. Sergt. E, 18 Tex. C. 

W. H. Looney Dallas. A, 10 Ala. 

Alexander Lacy Dallas. Capt. Houston Co., 

Gen'l Coast of Tex. 

Walton Portor Dallas. Private. D, La. Inft. 

W. C. Arnett Dallas. I, 18 Ga. 

I. F. Wynn Mesquite. H, 32 Ga. 

G. P. Holcombe Dallas. B, 3 La. 

Daniel Buckmaster.Dallas. B, 3 La. Inft. 

H. L. Goldman Dallas. 38 La. 

T.J.Goldman Dallas. 28 Ga. 

Mike Lobe Dallas. A, 16 Miss. 

A. O'Hara 3 Confed., Pat Cle- 
burne's Regl. 

O. P. Bowser Dallas. E, 18 Tex. C. 

Granbury's Brig. 

Wm. Worthington.. Dallas. 

Henry Cooke Dallas. Midshipman C. 8. Navy. 

Tom Barry Dallas. 

Nick Barrj' Dallas. 

Kirk Hall Dallas. 



niSTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



217 



A. J. Slovall 


.Dallas. 




K, 19 Miss. 


John S. Orifflth.. 


..Dallas. 


Brig. 


Gen. Tex. Inft. 


L. Ashton 


.Dallas. 


Mosby's Command. 


E. A. Gracey 


..Dallas Co. 


Ist Lt 


1 Tex. Cav. 


Geo. M. Steerer... 


..Dallas. 
..Dallas. 


t 


enner's La. Bat. 
G, 26 La. 


J. A. Pruitt 


..Dallas Co. 
..Dallas. 




I 30 Tex C 


J. E Labatt 


W.H. Rivers 


I. 2 S. C. 


J. A. McCulloch... 


..Dallas. 






Jas. W. Raines.... 


.Dallas. 


IstSergt. H, 6Ark. 


G. W. Nivins 


.Dallas. 




G, 5 Ark. 


L F. Hagland 


..Dallas. 




A, 44 Miss. 


H. Losee 


..Dallas. 




K, 6 Tex. 


R. J. Selvidge 


..Dallas. 




A, 12 Ten. C. 


E. L. Lambert .... 


.Dallas. 




Lt. Com., Navy. 


S.J. Mcintosh.... 


..Dallas. 




F, 29 Ga. 


J. L. Mills 


.Dallas. 




C, 56 Va. 


M. I. Cordell 


..Dallas. 




C, 31 Ga. 


F. M. Kussell 


.Dallas. 




H, 15 Miss. 


Joe H. Stewart.... 


..Dallas. 




B, Blacker's 


H. C. Lamar 


.Dallas. 




A, Chambers' 








Bat. Art. 








Battalion. 


Dave A. Williams 


..Dallas. 


Col. 


Bat. Shelby's 


Sam. McLaughlin 


..Dallas. 


Col. Shelby's La. Bat. 








Brigade. 


B. S. Wathem 


..Dallas. 


Military Eng. C. S. A. 


H. C. Latham 


..Dallas. 




K, - Miss. 


W. C. Brigbam.... 


.Dallas. 




I, 21 Ark. 


A. J, Reynolds.... 


..Dallas. 


I, 


Baylor's 2 Brig. 


A.Green 


.Dallas. 




C, 8 La. 


W. J. Stewart 


..Dallas. 




E, 12 Tex. 


John A. Grant .... 


.Dallas. 


Capt. 


Ga. Com. 


Wm. M. Luck 


..Dallas Co. 




E, 3 Tex C. 


Gaston Mesleer ... 


..Dallas. 


Capt. 


Ala. Com. 


L H.Elder 


..Dallas Co. 




A, 21 Ga. 


Sim Sligh 


.Dallas. 




Berrings' Brig., 


C. W. Felter 


..Dallas Co. 




B, 1 Tex. C. 




..Dallas. 




A. N. Va. 
3 Mo. Art. 


J. W. Reeder 


.Dallas Co. 






A. W. Scripture... 


Thos. Buries 


D, 14 Tex. 


J. D. Marsh 

W. H. H. Braley . 
B. J.Musenbeiraei 
G. W. Kussell 


..Dallas Co. 
.Dallas. 
..Dallas. 
..Dallas. 


F, Wells' Tex. Regt. 
Private. A, 14 Tex. 


John N.Simpson. 

A. T. Watts 

H. J. Hartigan.... 
C. H.Patrick 


..Dallas. 

..Dallas. 

.Dallas. 
..Wilmer. 


Lieut. 
Maj. 


I, 4 Tenn. 
16 Miss. 
C, 7 La. 


L M. Morn 


..Dallas. 


Private. F, SSMiss.C. 


B. M. Bradford.... 


..Dallas. 






W. L. Parrott 

Wharton Branch. 


..Dallas. 
.Dallas. 




B, 12 Ky. C. 


Wm. C. McKamy. 


..Dallas. 


Capt. 


Bowland's 
Tex. Cav. 


J.W.Caskey 


.Dallas. 


Chap. 


18 Miss. 


W. L. A. Ellis .... 


.Dallas. 


Maj. 


8 Ga. Cav. 


J. H. Keyser 


.Dallas 


Capt. 


A. Q. M., 
10 Miss. Bat. 


H.E. Cullom 

J. T.Trezevant.... 


..Dallas. 
..Dallas. 




K, 2 N. C. 


B. H. Keyser 


..Dallas. 


Henderson's Scouts. 


W. J. Coyle 


..Dallas. 




P, Ala. Cav. 


B. VV. Bogan 


.Dallas. 


Lieut. 


F, Ark. Inft. 


J. VV. Faust 


..Dallas. 




H, 2 Mo. C. 


Henry L. Nelson. 


.Dallas. 


Lieut. 


A. Q. M., Tap. 


J. A. McMurry.... 


..Dallas. 




F, 15 Ten. C. 








pan's Brig. 


J. D. Reamer 


..Dallas. 




B, 10 Va. 


Geo. A. .lanes 


..Dallas. 


Sergt. 


K, 1 La. Cav. 


Wm. Ryan 


..Dallas. 




F, 30 Tex. C. 


T. M.WorthingtOE 


..Dallas. 


Private. F, 1 La. Cav. 


Jas. E. Russell .... 


..Dallas. 




B, 10 Mo. C. 


J. V. Spellman.... 


..Dallas. 




C, Mo. Cav., 


W. J. Pruitt 


..Dallas Co. 




C, 18 Te.x. C. 








Shelby's Brig. 


R. M. Combs 


..Dallas Co. 




C, 18 Tex. C. 


J. F. Lovett 


..Dallas. 




I, 18 Tex. C. 


J. R. Humphress. 


.Dallas Co. 




K, 1 Fla. 


Sylvester McClain 


..Dallas. 
..Dallas. 




E, 19 Tex. 


Geo. W.Rice 


..Dallas. 




C, Tex. Cav. 
P, 20 S. C. 


J. G. Lee 


8. G. Rook 


..Dallas. 


H. V. McGregor.. 


..Dallas. 




B, 14 Tenn. 


Jas. E. Murphrey. 


..Dallas. 




D.R.Va.Bal. 


Wm. Selby 


..Dallas. 




C, 32 Va. 


J. W. Dauner 


..Dallas. 




U, 1 N. C. C. 


G. G. Deen 


..Dallas. 




B, 17 Ala. 


Joe Thompson .... 


..Dallas. 






A.J. Ball 


..Dallas. 




E, 8 Tex. 


John Carroll 


..Dallas. 




I, 28 Va. 



218 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



James B. Tyson Dallas. 

J. F. Ramsey Dallas Co. 

B. A. Hoyt Dallas. 

Wm. Whitsel Dallas Co. 

N. P. Pace Dallas Co. 

J. T. Hays Dallas Co. 

Alf. Pemberton Dallas Co. 

T. W. Henry Dallas Co. 

Jas. M. Cochran Dallas Co. 

M. M. Farmer Dallas Co. 

O. P. Scott Dallas Co. 

J. H. Tate Dallas Co. 

Wm. H. Gaston Dallas. 

J. F. Metcalf Dallas. 

Joseph S. Fuqua ...Dallas. 

B. E. Harris Dallas. 

Henry Smith Dallas. 

Wm. J. Keller Dallas. 

Thos. J. Avirett Dallas. 

J. T. Ousley Dallas. 

Wm. F. Turnell Dallas. 

J. D. Mitchell Dallas. 

Sam. Turner Dallas. 

R. M. Cornwall Dallas. 

Geo. H. Aldredge... Dallas. 

Joe E. Hardy Dallas. 

N. L. Cooper Dallas. 

A. J. Burden Dallas. 

W. A. Night Dallas. 

John T. Jones Dallas Co. 

S. E. Scott Dallas Co. 

W. O. Goble Dallas. 

John Rosenburg ...Dallas. 

Ben. Watkins Dallas. 

Robt. L. James Dallas. 

W. A. Russell Dallas. 

J. A. Crawford Dallas. 

L. A. Pires Dallas. 

L. G. Connally Dallas Co. 

M. M. Clark Dallas Co. 

R. H. Lyle Dallas. 

W. R. Tisher Dallas. 

John F. Fallard 

Russell Myrick Dallas. 



D, 15 Miss. 
Ist Lieut. F, Ga. Cav. 

K, 33 Tex. C. 

E, 18 Tex. C. 
L, 4 Va. C. 
B, 1 Bat. Inf. 
A, 6 Tex. C. 
A, Ky. Cav. 
I, 80 Tex. C. 
E, 20 Tex. C. 

E, 18 Tex. C. 

A, 15 Ala. 
H, 1 Tex. 

F, 5 Ky. Mtd 

Infantry. 

B, 30 Va. C. 

C, 7 La. 

A, 51 Ga. 
F, 5 Ga. 
L, 3 Ga. 
C, F. B. Cav. 
A, Tex. D. C. 



B, 13 Ky. C. 

1st Lieut. E, 18 Ga. B. 

E, Selby's B. 
3d Lieut. C, 2 Tenn. 

30 Tex. Cav. 
A, 31 Tex. C. 
A, 5 Ark. 
K,3Tex. C. 



B, a Ark. C. 
3 Mo. Bat. 

C, 26 Tenn. 
E, Tex. Cav. 
E, 45 Va. 

E, 34 Ten. C. 



C. M. Tucker Dallas. 

B. S. Luper Dallas 

H. L. Boone Dallas. 

D. W. Myers Dallas. 

Angelo Sala Dallas. 

G. J. Gooch Lallas. 

Geo. F. Alford Dallas. 

Hamilton P. Boone. Dallas. 

Jas. W. Allen Dallas. 

Geo. A. Green Dallas. 

W. A. Shaw Dallas. 

Chas. A. Hotchkiss.Dallas. 
Robt. H. West Dallas. 



K, Bufford's 
19 Cal. P. B. 



Adjt. Gen Taylor's D. 



G, 4 La. 
H, Tom Green's 
Regt. Tex. Vol. 



RELIGIOUS SERVICES IN THE SOUTHERN CAMPS. 

Rev. Howard Henderson, D. D., a forcible 
writer, very strikingly presents in an article 
published in the Western Christian Advocate, 
May 25, 1892, the religious services, and by 
whom conducted, in the Southern camps 
during the Civil war; and as some of the 
prominent leaders in those services were also 
commanders of many of the old soldiers who 
are now residents of Dallas county, it may 
be some of them were participants in many 
of these religious services, and some of the 
boys who " wore the blue," now living in 
Dallas, were among those who stood on the 
banks of the liapidan and joined in the 
hymns. 

" Of drum and trumpet history we have 
had a surfeit; but there is a religious chroni- 
cle awaiting record. It told upon the morale, 
the courage, and constancy of the Southern 
army. Many of the generals were clergy- 
men, notably Lieutenant-General Leonidas 
Polk, Protestant Episcopal bishop of Louisi- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



219 



ana; W. N. Pendleton, chief of artillery, 
Episcopalian; Major-General C. E. Evans, 
General D. C. Kelley, and Colonels Fountain 
• E. Pitts, George W. Carter, C. C. Gillespie, 
F. C. Wilkes, C. Calloway, Methodist; and 
majors, captains, lieutenants, and privates of 
the various churches. Dr. Dabney, Presby- 
terian theologue, served on Stonewall Jack- 
son's staflp. General Henry A. Wise said: 
♦The best soldier of the Captain of Salvation 
makes the best soldier in our camps.' It was 
an old proverb, 'The worse the man, the 
better the soldier.' My observation is the 
otiier way. The men who feared God were 
the bravest in fronting men. The men, too, 
who love God are the men who love their 
fellows. At the cross the blue and gray 
touch breasts and are brothers. 

" Among the chaplains, missionary and 
commissioned, were: Enoch Marvin, J. C. 
Gran berry, afterward bishops in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, the latter losing an 
eye in battle; Drs. Quintard and Beckwith 
(afterward Episcopal bishops); Dr. John B. 
McFerrin, A. L. P. Green, C. W. Miller, C. 
K. Marshall, Hardie Brown, W. W. Bennett, 
Methodists; Drs. B. T. Lacy, A. C. Hopkins, 
Theodorick Pryor, George W. Leyburn, Pres- 
byterians; and Dr. L. Burrows, the Drs. 
Broadus, J. C. Hiden, and J. Wni. Jones, of 
the Baptist Church. The Catholics had their 
representatives: among them Father Ryan, 
the poet; Bishop Gallagher, late bishop of 
Louisiana, and Dudley, of Kentucky, were 
officers of the line. Generals Sterling Price 
and K. M. Gano (now a resident of Dallas) 



were preachers in the Christian church. A. 
large number of the surgeons were local 
preachers in the Methodist church. There 
was an army church in almost every brig- 
ade: at the first many companies, while full, 
held weekly prayer-meetings. Two-thirds of 
the men in the regiment with which I went 
out were members of the Church, mostly 
Baptist and Methodist. 

"Among the Generals, Lee, Jackson, 
Hardee, Albert Sydney and Joseph E John- 
ston, Bragg, Polk, Trappier, Manigault, 
Evans, Pendleton, Gordon, Colquitt, Vance, 
Barton, Bee, Garnett, Price, Stuart, Rhodes, 
Hampton, Ewell, Longstreet, Kelley, "Walker, 
Laws, Cobb, and Kirby Smith were devout 
and openly active in promoting religion by 
encouraging tract distribution and Bible cir- 
culation, observing the Sabbath, and furnish- 
ing facilities to the chaplains and mission- 
aries. Many of tliem had prayers at their 
headquarters daily, and Sabbath services. 
Lee and Jackson offered prayer publicly. 
The American Bible Society furnished a 
cargo of Bibles, and the vessel sailed past 
fleets and forts unchallenged, the white flao- 
at tlie inast-iiead giving it passport. The 
Missionary Society of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church advanced $16,000 to the mission- 
aries of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, in China. 

"During the great revival in Gordon's 
Georgia brigade, baptism by immersion was 
administered in the Rapidan in open view 
and easy range of the Federal army. Gen- 
eral Gordon was alway.s present, offering a 



220 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



splendid target to the Union pickets on the 
bank, but to the honor of 'the boys in blue' 
they refrained from firing, and stood rever- 
entially looking on the sacred scene. No 
danger was apprehended while the ordinance 
was being administered. On several occa- 
sions the Federal pickets joined in the hymns. 

'The bravest are the tenderest, 
The loving are the daring.' 

"During the revivals in Lee's army more 
than 27,000 men are known to have professed 
conversion, among them several general offi- 
cers. 

"The famous Rockbridge artillery, on 
July 4, 1861. contained seven masters of 
a,'rts of the University of Virginia, forty-two 
graduates of other colleges, nineteen theolog- 
ical students (including R. E. Lee's son), 
nearly all of whom were professed Christians. 
Nearly every company left home after 
prayers, and each man carried a Testament 
in his pocket. 

" 'The Liberty Hall Volunteers,' of Wash- 
ington college, elected Professor "White their 
captain. All the officers and more than one- 
half the privates were Christians, and one- 
fourth were candidates for the ministry. Dr. 
Patterson, president of Hampden-Sidnej, 
organized a company from his own college 
and Union Theological Seminary, nearly all 
church members. 

"During the war. Generals R. H. Ander- 
son, Baylor, Ewell, Hood, Hardee, Pender, 
Paxton. Rhodes, Colonel Lamar, and a mul- 
titude of other officers, were won to Christ. 
In July, 1862, General Lee issued a general 



order as follows: 'Habitually all duties, ex- 
cept those of inspection, will be suspended 
during Sunday, to enable the troops to attend 
religions services.' He uniformly attended 
public worship. While his army was cross- 
ing the James in 1864, hurrying to the de- 
fense of Petersburg, he took with hi in a minis- 
ter in the woods, and engaged with him in 
prayer that God would give him wisdom and 
grace for the campaign on which he was then 
entering. 

General G. E. B. Stuart, the Prince Ru- 
pert of the South, was a pure, earnest Chris- 
tian, who lived nobly and died triumphantly. 
He asked, when dying. Dr. Peterkin to sing 
'Rock of Ages,' and joined in the song. 
The hymn concluded, he said, '1 am resigned; 
God's will be done,' and then fell asleep. 
General Gordon was accustomed to lead 
prayer-meetings in his command, and at the 
revivals made strong appeals to the uncon- 
verted. He would kneel by privates and point 
them to Christ. General D. H. Hill was 
very active in promoting religion. General 
Polk, Episcopal bishop of Louisiana, never 
preached, but frequently attended the service, 
and had Sabbath preaching at his camp. 

"The churches all of them expended their 
energies in sending their ablest ministers to 
the camps. It was under such auspices that 
Drs. Palmer, Quintard, Markham, Granberry, 
McFerrin, Green, Broadns, Marvin, Crouch, 
Miller, Rogers, and many others served the sol- 
diers. Many served as officers of the line or 
staff, some of whom — Kogar,Crouch, Baldwin, 
Heard, and others — were killed. Three local 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUJ^'T. 



221 



pastors, servinof as militia, were killed at the 
the assault on Selma by General Wilson. 

"I preached almost every Sabbath while in 
the field, and a number of times, while com- 
misssioner for the exchange of prisoners of 
war, in the military prisons and parole-camp, 
and buried many of 'the boys in blue' with 
Christian rites. I also, when within the 
lines under flag of truce, preaclied in Vicks- 
burg, Memphis, and on the Federal fleet. 
The amenities of religion scarfed the should- 
ers of the war-cloud with a baldric of mercy, 
and lent to the desolations of brand and 
battle a beauty born of lieaven. 

GRiND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 

The Department of Texas of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, was organized on the 
15th day of March, 1885, with six posts and 
250 members. It now consists of fifty-six 
posts, with a total membership of nearly 
2,000. 

The Dallas posts are "Geo. H. Thomas, 
No. 6," organized in October, 1883, by J. C. 
Bigger, and the "John A. Dix," organized 
in September, 1886, by Joiin L. Boyd, J. C. 
Bigger and others. 

The Grand Army of the Republic is said 
to be the most powerful secret organization 
in the United States. Their members are 
well organized in Texas, and especially in 
Dallas. They are a broad-minded, liberal 
people, and, as stated above, join, on certain 
occasions, with ex-Confederates in decoratino- 
the graves of the Blue and the Gray, showing 
that all feelings of animosity caused by the 



old struggle have died out. Below we give 
the list of members of the two posts here in 
Dallas, which consists of some of the bravest, 
best, truest, most noble, most loyal and most 
highly honored citizens of Dallas county and 
city. 



Name. 



ReCKNT RseiDENOB. RiNK. 



Co. Reoikent. 



..B . 

..F 



W. P. Anderson 

J. W. Aehbury Farmer's Branch 

Geo. Ash Dallas Private ....B 

B.D. Atwell Uutchlns AcUt 

E. Aines 

F. A. Austin Dallas Private.. 

J.C. Bigger " Serg't... 

Dr.JohnBell 

Leopold Bohuey.. .Dallas Private . 

Jno. Borgeman 

Jno.n. Burbett 

Wm. Brown Dallas Private .. 

.\. Brownlee " Private... 

James M. Boggs.. . ** " 

Wm. Burr " let Lieut. 

C. H. Bancroft. ...Mesqnite Private... 

W. A. Beach Dallas 1st Serg't 

John .J. Boyle Decatur Captain.. 

W. E. Beach Dallas 1st Serg't . 

Daniel Cooper . . " O.M. Dep't. 

W. F. Cotlman... " Ist Sergt..E 

A.B.Clinton llutchins E 

G.W. Capinall .. .Dallas 

Marcus F. Cutting " 2nd Lieut. F 

Geo. W. Clark. -. . " Landsman on 

(Recnlieted)... " Private ...K 

n. B. Davis 

A. J. Dowell, Cleburne 

A. E. De Beck 

Jno. W. De Lany.. Dallas Captain.. 

Evan Davis " 



.34N. Y. Vol 
.36 Mich. Vol. 



,10Vt. Inf. 
.92 Ills. 



F . 5-3 Pa. Inf. 



..A. 
.B. 
.C. 
.L.. 
..D 
..C 
..C . 
c . 



..3 N. Y. Cav. 
..3 Iowa Cav. 
.33 Mo. Inf. 
.12 N. Y. Cav. 
..103 Ohio Inf. 
..49N. Y.Vol. 
.65 Ills. Inf. 
.49 N. Y. Vol. 

.14 Mo. Inf. 
..145Pa. VoL 

2nd Mich. Cav. 
U. S. S. Victory. 
.2nd Mo. Cav. 



H.Sthlll. Cav. 



W. E. Dan forth.. 


" 


..Private .. 




.15 Ohio Bat. 


J. S. Unnlap 

Jos. W. Dunlap .. 


(1 


tt 


n 


.S. Tenn. Inf. 


.New Hope . 


..Private .. 


.K 


.% " " 


Andrew Dowing.. 


Dallas 


..H. Stew'd. 


.F 


. 1 Teias Cav. 




. . Private . . 




.1 Ky. Battery. 
.2 Mo. Cav. 


W. F. Fisher 


Denton 


.2nd Lieut. 


.E. 






..Private .. 


.A. 
W 








.22 1118. 








.B. 




Wm. 11. Farley... 


.Dallas 


. . Private . . 


.49 Iowa Inf. 


Jacob Furbyville. 


" . . .. 


" 


.P. 


.149 1116. 


J. W Fortune 


(i 


(1 


.U 
B 


.8 Ills. Cav. 


Wra. Fitzpatrick. 


(1 


«{ 


.51118. 


ThoB. B. Florer.. 


. Waxahachie. 


. Surgeon.. 




..26Ind.VoI.Inf. 


Chns. H. Froese . 


Dallas 


Private 


.K 


.8 Ills. Inf. 


S. F. FriHbie 


" 


. Corporal . 


.C 


.22 Vet. R.C. 


II. W. Gillingham 


" 


..Private . 


.H 


.53 Ohio. 


O W Oillcoat 




















Wm. C. Oivens. . 


Dallas 


.Private .. 


.F 


.53 Pa. 


Benj. R. Graham. 


" ... . 


..Serg't. . 


.L. 


.let Ark. Cav. 


Jas. J. Gannon... 


«i 


. . Private . . 


.H 


.1.14 Ills. 


Chas. Gordon 


'* 


..Ist Serg't 


..D. 


.let D. C. Vol. 



223 



lIllSTUnY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



A. M. Greenlnnd.. 

BoiiJ. Oulro 

Pctor UriHliiim ... 

(KeinsliKi'd). .. 

Michiill Kfitlu 

John Henry 

Piitur lluiidrick 

OliiiH. K. Henry.... 

J. A. IliiruecJ 

Jdlin Hurnliin . .. . 
(■IiiiH. W. lliirtnip.. 

J. S. UinuH 

ITeliry Hunt 

Geo. W. Hyinan.. 

Wni. Hcllol 

J. E. .linkinB 

(.'linton Jack 

(UeinHtuted)... 

H.C. Kelly 

Wm. H. Kiirty 

Uoorije A. Knlf^ht. 

Jii». h.. KelloKt^ 

W. Long 

L. E. LeiiRott 

J. T. Lowery 

J.J. Liiri'e 

George Loomlei 

John T^uciiR 

\V. J. Meilley 

1{. O. MeCulloiiKh 

Wm. Morrlyon 

T. L. Miicy 

A. McWhirk 

I). A. Clinton 

Edwin Miller ... 

John Meidert 

Diivid McKay 

II II 

Kob McCormack.. 
II II 

Henry Meyer 

I.eL'rand McMlUen 
(lielnmaU-d)... 

Frank Nauzler 

Terrcuce O'Nlel.. . 

L. N. Owene 

Henry Prlugle 

J. C. Hrewltt 

K. A.Perelval 

W. I, Purnell 

n. B. I'lenee 



Private . . 

Corporal . 

Co Prlvote . 

Serg'l. .. 

Co Private . , 

Q.M.D.. 

Captain. 

Private . 



.K. Ind.H.O.V.H.A 
.B..13a N. Y. Vol. 
..K..65N. Y. Inf. 
.K.. " " " 
.E..44 Illc. Inf. 
.D..2BM0. Inf. 



iBt Lieut. 

Co Private .. 



.A.. 42 Ohio Inf. 
,. UnaHHit{ne{l reg't 
..G .and Mo. Inf. 
..P ..mind. 
.E ..117 Ills. 
..B..l8t U. S. Bat. 



Dallas Private 



. A . 55 Kv. 



Oak Cllfl'. 



Ilutchlns. 
Dalian.... 



" ....A..8Tenn. Inf. 
.I'rlvato ....C ..1 Pa. " 
. " ....I ..SI HIb. Inf. 
,. " ....P .:il I'a. Inf. 
.Captain.... A ..IHHO. V. I. 
.Ut Corp'I.D .115 N. Y. Inf. 
.Private — M.,4 0hioCav. 
£..14.^ Pa. Vol. 



.Serg't ... 
.Private . . 



48 N. Y. Inf. 
,4 Mich. Cav. 
,18 Conn. Inf. 
2li Ky 
I!) Ky. Inf. 
a Md. 



Dallas Private . ..D 

" ....1 

" " ....I 

" " ....E 

*' Asst.Surg. 

" Sur;;eon. . . 

" Sailor 

" Drumnier..B 

" Private C 

" ....B 

" 1st Lieut. .K 

Dallas Buglef P 



.U. S. N. 
.a4 Mass. 
.S2 Ills. 
.73 0. V.I. 
.4 01|io Cav. 
711 N. Y. Inf. 
.aiU.S.C.Troops 
.Sloop of War. 
.S(i N. Y. 
,.3alnd. Inf. 
.7 Io>va Cav. 
..15 Mich. Vol." 
..3dU. S. Art. 



Dallas Private.... C . 31 Ills. 



Mosquito. 
Dallas.... 



.Captain... II 



Honry F. Poory... 
S. Parsla 

C. Rick 

H.T.Ruo 

D. J. Kundali . . . . 
F. I'. Heymuller.. 

(Ue-enliMted) . 

A. Rockhold.... 
iUe-enlited).. 

B. F. Sheffleld.... 

C.8. Stover 

H. W. Swttiu 

J. S. Splear 

A. L. Smith 

T. H. Smith 

J. O. Stannage... 



Kaufman Co. Private I , 

Dallas " ....A 

'* Cai)tain. ..C 

" Private... 

" K 

Waxahachio . Private A 

...1st Lieut. K 

.Dallas Private ....G 



.UO Ind. Inf. 

,127 1116. 
.8 Md. Inf. 
U. S. Ounhont 
Black Hawk. 

.171118. Inf. 

,8 Ills. Cav. 

4 Mo. Int. 
..8 01)10 Bat. 
..5 Mich. Cav. 
..8 Mo. Inf. 
,.S7 " " 

.33 Ohio. 



. ..A. Ist Ohio. 



Dallas 



.11. 16 Ind. 



Dallas Private E 6 Mo. 

. " Bugler ....G. 11 Ohio V. C. 

" Captain and A. C. S. 



A. B. Sheets 

C. Si)iekenk()tler,. 
Peter J. Shandley. 

.lohn Shilling 

James M. Steere. . . 
llclnstaled ... 



Corporal . . .U . , 12 Ills. Vol. 

Private ...G..1 Ind. II. A. 

" ....II..2K. I. 

" .. D...4MO. Inf. 

" ....D. 1 R. I. Cav. 

C.S. Serg't.. ..3R. I. Cav. 

James Sharp Oak Cliff Private ,. I ..7Tenn. Inf. 

James G. Sanies,.. Dallas Surgeon 10 Tenn. Vol. 

J. S. Thatcher.... " MldBliipman ..U. 8. N. 

J. C. 'I'urner 

S. 8. Taylor Dallas Private 

Carl II. Titlcy " " 



...A.. 
. I.. 
...L. 
...H. 



. Inf 



89N.Y. 

.81 Ills. 

3 Ohio Cav. 

.20 Ills, Inf. 
.. Landsman. U. 8.Gnnl)oat Ohio. 

..ToA. A.Surg 810. V. I. 

. . A. A. Surg. Post, Brenham.Tox. 
...Private ...D. .2 Iowa Inf. 
. .H'p't Sfrt. U. 8. A. 



W. F. Thatcher . , 

J. C. B. Tabor 

Charles Taylor 

F, A. Williams... 

Uidnstated 

W. D. Wylic 

Ri^iuBtated 

John W. White,., 
.lohn II. Whitman 
J. C'. Wainscott. . . 

N. K. Wright 

Ciias. Weisenborn 
F. (). Worden 

Reinstated 

Ilulibard Wells . . 
(J. W. Wallace.... 
John F. Whipple, 
Henry Wagner 

Reinstated " Sergeant. ..C. ..77 Pa. " 

Kane J. Williams.. Jefferson St'n.. Private K...6 Iowa Inf. 

Asa J. Whitsell... .Dallas " ....B ..2 Ills. Inf. 



. Dallas Private . . 

" Captain. 

" Private.. 



.(ireeuville Corporal 



..B..33MO. Inf. 
..K..1 Minn. Inf. 
, .1.. ,1 Kansas. 
, .B..13 Mo. Inf. 
. .K...'* IllB. Inf. 
..I. ..52 His. Inf. 
..I,. .3 Minn. 
,A..l Mich. H. A. 
..C...77PU. Vol. Inf. 



.Corporal. ..B. .3 Ills. Inf. 
.Quarter Gunner. 



.Private. 



.A.. 23 Ohio Inf. 
E..4U. S. Cav. 
.D..7Pa. Cav. 
.A. .11 Pa. Inf. 
.A. .141 IllB. 
.11. .38 Ind. Inf. 



Reinstated " ... 

F. Zimmerman ... " ... 
Josepli Zenlenka. . " ... 

Reinstated " " 

Klrchner 

J. W. Fories Dallas Private ., 

0. H. Cooper " " 

B. P. Carr " " ... 

W. II. Williams... " 

W E. Brown " Private.., 

Jas. Abbott Ellis Co., Tex. .Corporal 

W. II. McClellen.. Oak Cliff, Tex,. " 

Willis A. Caffel... .Dallas.... Private 

J. .^. Nelson Dallas Co Ist Serg't.. H.. 8 Iowa Cav. 

ilames Baxter Rockwall Co... Surgeon.. .A.. 8 Tenn. Cav. 

Jacob ZuBfan Dallas Private A,. 32 Ind. Inf. 

George Ji'nnings.. Rockwall Co.. .Ist Serg't. .K. 8 Mich. Inf. 
Job. T. Barrett ... " Private. ...G. ,4 Tenn. Inf. 



A... 81 Ills. Inf. 
.A.. 7 Ind. Inf. 
F..121 Ohio Inf. 



.I...5Pa. R, C. I. 
.K..a Tenn. Inf. 



W. 11. Hucy Alma, Ellis Co. " 

Groonviiie Loyd. ..Royce, Rock- " 

wall county. 

K.M.Peterson.... " " 

M. Mullen Dallas Co " 

David M. TindalL.l'edar Iliii.Dal- " 

las Co., Texas. 

M. Piilborry Dallas " 

J.K.Austin Wilmer, Dallas " 

county. 
R, B. Kelly Dallas " 

LIST OF POST NO. 11. 

N.\ME Rksidkncb Rank Co. Keoiment 

II. B. Davis Dallas Sergeant.. D.. 21 Ind. Inf. 

John L. Boyd " Private ...II.. 98 N. Y. Inf. 

1. B. Gibson " Major B Ills. Cav. 



.B 


.47 111. Inf. 


.K 


,1.3Si Pa. Inf. 


D. 


.8 Mo. Inf. 


C. 


40 Wis. Inf. 


.1. 


.1 Ark. Cav. 


..F 


. .7 Ills. Inf. 



lIlSTOIiY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



i'iw 



T. H. Nareo 


Dallas 


...Lieut 

. . Private 


..B. 

.B. 
.B. 

.A. 

.n. 

0. 

.F. 
..B. 

.B 

.C. 

.A 

.A. 
.K. 

.C. 

H. 
.K. 

.A. 
K.. 

.A. 
.B. 
.K. 
.C. 
.F. 
.A. 
.B. 
D. 
.C, 
.G 
..K 
.A 
..E 
.C 
.K 
..L 
B 

n. 

.O 
..B 

F 

..F 

G 

A. 

..C 

..A 

..K 

leut 

I 

D 
..D 




W. N. Johnson ** Muslolan RO Pa Inf 


Geo. W. llynson.. 
P. J. Sheehan. .. 


.1 Ky. Inf. 


BcnJ. StiDC " Private.... K .11 Ills. Cav. 

J. B. Moore ... . ** . Sonrcunt M 9 Iowa Cav 


J. T. Waiuscott.. . 


.33 Mo. Inf. 
.47 Iowa Inf. 


Corporal.. U.. 7 Mo. Cav. 
Frnncte Harris ** Prlvntu I) 1 Ark Rnt 


W.W. Parley 

U. B. Horn 










Wm.Wtttkins " Corporal. . .11.. 12 W. Va. Inf. 

B.F.Lancaster " Privote.. ..A.. 18 Ky. Inf. 

Christian Rletzel . '* Musician 177 Pa Inf 


John W. White... 








John 8. Veach . . . 








B. P. Winfrey 

A. C. Smith 








Thomas M. Orr " Private.. ..B.. 184 Ohio. 

UovidBryant " Corporal.. G.. 26 Mirh. Inf. 

8. E. Kichardson " Ist Lieut.. D.. 166 Ind. Inf. 






James Carey . . . 






.89 N. Y. Inf. 


Prlv»te...C..llInd. Inf. 
E.S.Randall " " .. .0 .186 Ohio Inf. 


S.S.Taylor 




..Private... 


R. C. Mcfollah . . 


E. P. Brown 








.8 Ilia. Cav. 

llnd. II. A. 
.14 Ind Hat. 
.2 Mass. Inf. 

92111s. Inf. 
.47 Ind Inf. 
150 N. Y. Inf. 

U. S. Sig. S. 
.27 Ind. Inf. 
.3 Ind. Cav. 
4 Ohio Cav. 
47 Ind. Inf. 
8 Mo. Inf. 
.36 Mass. Inf. 
79 N. Y. Inf. 
7 N. Y. Inf. 
12 Kan. Inf. 
17 Wis. 
11 Mo. Cav. 

7 Ky. Inf. 

8 Ilis. Inf. 

25 Mich. Inf. 
.29 111s. Inf. 
.97 Ills. Inf. 

1 N. Y. M. K. 
20 Ind, Inf. 
.67 Ind. Inf. 
.31 N. Y. Inf. 
. 18 Ills. Inf. 
.2 La. Cav. 
.7 Mich. 
.WN. Y. Inf. 
.21 N. J. 

OTenn. Cav. 
.118 1118. Inf. 
M W. Va. 
.40 {owa Inf. 
.3 Iowa Cttv. 
.2 Ills. Art. 
.I2«llls. Art. 

R Pa. R. 
.m Ills. Inf. 
.1 Ark. 
.123 Ohio Inf. 
.40 Ills. 


B. W. McCulloiigh... Dallas Sergoont.. .F..20 O. V. L 

C.Dickson " Captain. . .F.. 9 N.Y. Cav. 

J. Spray " Private.... C. .34 Iowa Inf. 

T. Beckwith " " F..3Wis. Cav. 


John W. Delaney. 
John Curley 




..Captain.. 


Chas Spikerkotter 




.. Private... 




J.T.Cooper " .Captain G. .144 Ills. Inf. 

E. M. Ishom " Private E. .29 Ohio Inf. 

W.R Avery " Ensign U. 8. S. Mohawk. 

S.Parker " Private 5 Ind. L. Art. 

P. 0. Dwyer •' .. '* ..I 28 Iowa Inf 


J. cum 

J. C. Bigger 

Oeargo Adalcta.. 
8. F. Noyes 




. . Lieut. Col 
...Sergeant. 
...Private... 


J.P.Lake 




.. " ... 


Wm. Murphy " " . .1 28 Iowa Inf. 


J. M. Foes 


J. W. Ridge " " E .liW Pa. Inf. 


E. B. Yamell ... 




. . . Sergeant . 


Smith Irwin " Corporal A..8Mo.Inf. 

John Hunter " Private C..73N.Y.Inf. 


Henry Allen 

Henry Kinkel 

John L. Finney... 




. . . Corporal . 
...Private .. 

. ..Surgeon.. 
...Privato... 


J. M. Kindred " Q. M 8 Ky. Inf. 

II. Van Ness '■ Privato Q..89 N. Y. Inf. 

Jocob Uogeman ... " •' A. .19 Ills. luf. 




Jos. O. Plchc " 


Wra. Schroodor 

H. O. Gage 


Alfred H. King " Privato F.. 141 Ills. Inf. 

Geo. W. Burgees .. . " Drummer D..90Pa.Inf. 


A O. Malloy 

Edward Glavln 




..Colonel... 
. Ist Lieut 


0. B. S. Miller " Engineer.... E..1 N. Y. E. C. 

Thos. Wodsworth... " 


Woodward Little.. 




..Private 


W.W.Walker " Seaman. . ..U. S. 8. Clara D. 


J. W. Ayres 




II 


J. W. Coleman " Steward U. 8. 8. 


L. C. Leoda 




..Sergeant. 

..Captain.. 

>i 


Alfred Billows " 2nd Lieut . .A. 48 Ind In/. 


D.M.Baker 

W. E. Best 


Wm.R. Marshall.... " Private D. .4 Ky. Ind, Inf. 


Francis Felling 

J- E. Rnst.... ... 

N. W. Thompson.. 
W. II. Bates 




..Sergeant. 
...Private... 


MEMORIAL DAY. 

In writing the history of Dallas county, not 


Jes Ennison 




„ 


the least in the annals of this great county is the 
good and fraternal feeling existing between 
the old soldiers of the late war, and the writer 
has had uiic.xceptional)lo opportunities to ascer- 
tain the true feeling of tlie j)eople. There is 
the best of feeling in Dallas county regarding 
the introduction of Northoni capital and im- 


Wm. II. Iliestaud. 
O.W. McCormick. 




...Captain.. 


Thomas Burke 

E.G. Rust 

Thos. A. Newman 
Thos. W. Horst .. 
Henry B. Furbul.. 
Wm. T. Balrd 


.Dallas Co.. 
.Dallas 

11 

II 

II 

II 


..Private .. 
...IstSerg't. 
. . . Corporal . 
. ..Captain . 
. ..adSerg't. 


C. 8. Woodworth. 
M. W. Mann 


II 


... Private... 
. . igt Licnt 


A. 8. Lee 

Geo. W. Colo 




..Private . 
li 


W. Willie 


II 


„ 


migration into the State, and any Northern 
man can only realize the cordial welcome he 
will receive by actual contact with the people, 
and it is with pleasure the discoursu tilled 
with geme of patriotic sentiments delivered 


G. W. Gilcoat 

Geo. A. Wehalcr . 
W. A. Metcalf .. . 
F. 0. Brown 


II 

II 
II 

II 


. . 8d Serg't 

. ..Sergeant. 
II 

. ..Engineer 
...Privote... 
also 2d L 
...Private.. 
...Drummer 
iBt Liont 


Wm. McKenna 

O.W. Frost 

K. D. L. Hunter... 
Geo. S. Nash .... 


.8 Mass. Inf. 
. 31 Mass. Inf. 
.2 Ohio Inf. 
.4 Muss. Inf. 
.1 Mo. L. Art. 
.1 Mich. L. Cav. 


J. W. Church 


II 


...Mulor.... 


by Rev. E. M. Wheelock on Memorial day 



234 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



is published with this history. Also, in this 
same connection, is published an address de- 
livered by Colonel W. D. Wylie, formerly of 
the Second Iowa, and afterward of the regu- 
lar array, the first Department Commander 
of the Grand Army of the Republic in Texas; 
and also an address by Colonel W. L. Craw- 
ford, a gallant soldier who wore the gray; and 
it is hoped that this history of this great 
county, showing as it does the complete his- 
tory of our reconciliation, will do something 
toward cementing the fraternal feeling now 
existing, and in doing good for our common 
country. The words "memorial day" cause a 
feeling of rest and peace to come into our 
hearts, but it is so graphically and politically 
expressed in the memorial discourse by Rev. 
E. M. Wheelock, it is published in full: 

" Greater love hath no man than this, that 
he lay down his life for his friend. — John 
XV, 13. 

" Through all past time, among all past 
peoples, the memory of the soldier dead has 
been sacredly cherished. For conquering 
kings pyramids were built; for chiefs, war- 
riors, heroes, triumphal arches reared their 
stately fronts. Pillars pierced the sky to 
point the victories of nations, while the mon- 
ument and the mausoleum testify to the grief 
for the fallen. The chiseled marble, the 
sculptured vase and urn, the cenotaph of 
brass are the enduring monuments of grief, 
the tributes of a nation's sorrow to her most 
gallant and deserving sons. 

" But the American republic year by year 
decorates the graves of its citizen soldiers. 



not in sorrow, not in mourning, not with the 
cold symbols of metal and stone, but rather 
with the high gladness of a solemn festival. 
So, in the springtime of nature, from every 
city and town and hamlet of this broad conti- 
nent, gather the people of this, the proudest of 
all nations, to commemorate the valor and the 
victory of their soldier dead. They strew their 
last resting place with the most fitting decora- 
tion that can be brought to a true man's grave 
— flowers, fresh as the remembrance we carry 
in our hearts for the departed brave; flowers 
as fragrant as the full-blossomed glory of 
their deeds in the annals of the age; flowers 
perishable like the bodies of kindred dust, but 
like the immortal soul of man to be renewed 
year by year forever. Their true symbol is 
the starry flag which they carried to enduring 
victory from sea to sea; their true arch of 
triumph, the government of free and equal 
laws which they made to span the continent 
like the bow of promise, giving assurance of 
equality of duties and of rights under lav.s 
founded on the will of the people alone. 

" Thus arises a grander and more imperish- 
able memorial than ever the pomp of king- 
doms or the wealth of selfish conquest have 
raised to commemorate their warriors and 
their chiefs; a national purpose which has the 
dignity and solemnity of funeral rites without 
their sadness. We celebrate not a new be- 
reavement, but an old one; not around a 
freshly made grave, but remembering those 
already clothed with grass and blooms. To 
Nature's signs of tenderness we but add our 
own. Not ashes to ashes, dust to dust, but 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



225 



only blossoms to blossoms, laurels to the lau- 
reled. After war, peace; after carnage, flow- 
ers; after death, the new life of the soul. 

"The great volunteer army of the nation 
has long since disbanded. Its tents are 
struck, its camp fires put out, its muster rolls 
laid away. But there is another army that no 
presidential proclamation can disband and no 
general orders reach. In every cemetery we 
stand amidst its camping grounds; those 
white stones are its tents, its muster rolls are 
in our memories, its camp fires burn in our 
hearts. 

" When the great soldier of Napoleon, La 
Tour d'Auvergne — surnaraed 'the First Gren- 
adier of France"— fell in battle the Emperor 
ordered that his heart should be embalmed 
and carried always at the head of his regi- 
ment, that his name should be called at every 
roll call and that some comrade should an- 
swer for him, ' Dead upon the field of honor.' 

" So have we embalmed the hearts of our 
heroes in our imperishable affections; we 
carry them to the front, and when we hear 
read their lengthened muster rolls our love 
makes answer for each, ' Dead upon the field 
of honor.' 

'On Fame's eterniil camping ground 

Their silent tents are spread, 
And Glory guards, with solemn round, 

The bivouac of the dead.' 

" Tliey had learned the great lesson that 

' Whether on the tented field 
Or in the battle's van, * 

The fittest place for man to die 
Is where he dies for man.' 



" We read in the old Roman story that one 
day in the center of the imperial city, and 
right through its forum, the earth suddenly 
opened and a vast chasm yawned to the bot- 
tomless deep. Every hour it crumbled and 
widened until it threatened to engulf the 
proud temples and palaces of Roine. Vain 
was every eflfort to stay the growing horror. 
The whole population labored in vain to fill 
it; all that they cast in disappeared. The 
tired swarms of laborers returned at morning 
from their brief slumbers to find their toil of 
yesterday wasted and the gulf still wider and 
deeper than before. Despairing and dreading 
the vengeance of the offended deities, of 
whose wrath they saw in this the visitation, 
the senators of the trembling city consulted 
the soothsayers and the seers. The answer 
was given that the chasm would never be 
filled and its growth never stayed until the 
thing that Rome held to be her highest 
wealth, value and preciousness, should be cast 
into the dreadful pit. There was much de- 
bate as to what the most precious thing might 
be, and on the morrow the multitude gath- 
ered around the quaking edge of the gulf, 
bearing in their arms gold and jewels, gems 
and pearls, and their choicest wealth. 'Sud- 
denly among them appears a young soldier 
mounted and armed as for battle. 

" ' These lifeless things that you bear in 
your arms, O, Romans,' ho cries, ' are not 
your best gifts. Your strength, your hope, 
your most priceless wealth arc youth and 
valor, and life freely given for the redemption 
of one's country.' He plunges into the abyss. 



226 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY- 



Its horrid jaws slowly close over liiin. Its 
ravages are stayed, and soon no trace of the 
gulf is left on the green sward. 

" Our fathers founded this nation on jus- 
tice. They laid the corner stone of the Re- 
public in the cement of universal liberty, ' all 
men are created equal,' but the political walls 
were builded with un tempered mortar. The 
conflict between hostile systems of labor had 
long been gathering. It was not an affair of 
transient impulse. The battle was being set 
in array even from the time the new nation 
had been brought forth. The clash of discus- 
sion was heard in every nook and corner of 
the land. Then came the passionate appeal 
to arms. A great gulf suddenly yawned, 
stretching from ocean to desert, dividing the 
people into hostile camps. That war did not 
end nor that gulf close till we had cast therein 
our most precious possessions, the growth, 
the strength, the virtue, the patriotism of the 
land. 

" From homes where gray-haired grandsires 
still spoke of Washington ; from the cabin 
which sheltered the emigrant of yesterday; 
from the lap of luxury and the hut of poverty; 
from the wayside shop of the blacksmith and 
the broad acres of the fanner; from the clear- 
ing of the pioneer and the cave of the miner; 
from the college halls where students gathered 
and the marts of trade where merchants 
thronged, they came in a grand array. 

" Life was as dear to them as to others, 
death just as unwelcome. But life must end 
and death must come to all, and their hearts 
sang the song of the old hero ' who kept the 
bridge bo well.' 



" 'Then out spoke brave Horatius, 

The captain of the gate: 
' To every man upon the earth 

Death cometh soon or late; 

And how can man die better 

Than facing fearful odds 

For the ashes of his fathers 

And the templfe of his gods?' 

" The gulf closed at last, but the land 
ridged and scarred with 300,000 graves re- 
minds us how deadly the danger and how 
great the sacrifice. 

" Not till man had wasted from before 
the cannon's mouth, like snow flakes from 
the noonday sun; not till her voice of mourn- 
ing was heard in every hamlet and town; not 
till the reaper Death had gathered a harvest 
of the noblest and best into his voiceless gar- 
ner; not till rivers of blood in crimson 
streams cried from earth to heaven did that 
chasm close. The sweat of agony is the 
price of purification. 'Via crucis via lucis:' 
the way of the cross is the way of light. 
The bodies of brave men, sown thick in the 
furrows of war, are the seed from which 
springs enduring national life. That is the 
costly price we pay for the glory of an un- 
broken republic. 

'•From the soil stained with their blood has 
sprung the consummate flower of impartial 
freedom, equal laws, a common birthright, 
a perpetual nationality, au enduriug destiny, 
one name. These comrades fell that the na- 
tion might rise with the resurrection of a 
nobler, fuller humanity. They died that 
liberty might live. Every forward step, every 
new right gained for the race, has been 
reached through human blood and pain. 
Thus mankind moves onward. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



227 



" Had these, our biotliers, not set their 
breasts a living barricade against the iron 
hail of war, where would this nation be to- 
day? The index of civilization wonld have 
been turned back on the dial of the world. 
The republic broken in twain, dismembered 
exhausted by a fierce civil war, demoralized 
by the loss of its unity and name, would have 
become in the eyes of the European world 
like Mexico or Chile. 

" What foreign power cares for a nest of 
little jealous States like South America? But 
those who are careless of a hundred sparrows 
learn to respect the mighty eagle. Our fallen 
brothers won for themselves a grave, for us 
a country. They fell in the field, died in the 
hospital, wasted in the prison, that American 
union and American freedom might not per- 
ish from the earth. They crystallized the 
Declaration of Independence into organic law 
and fact. Through the glittering stars on 
onr shield we read the grand result — not a 
State lost, not a slave breathing on our soil, 
the press free, education universal, the school- 
house and the church side by side everywhere 
— all the children of one nation. 

" We are to-day not only united but welded ; 
bound together from ocean to ocean by 
links of iron and fastened to the central 
heights with a silver tie and a spike of gold. 
The streams that roll from the north spin and 
weave, grind our corn and hammer our iron 
in their swift passage to the sea: the field and 
plantations now grow whiter than before 
with a richness that intelligent labor inspires, 
while the worker mingles with the sound of 
well requited toil the sweeter. 



" The past is settled, and so settled that 
never again on our soil shall hostile graves be 
closely dug for miles and filled with Amer- 
ican dead. The citizens soldiers died not 
only for the blood-bought land, but for the 
world. The might of our victorious example 
pushes England forward toward an enlarged 
franchise, free schools, a free church and 
justice to the sister nation of Ireland a half 
century earlier than otherwise she would. 
Prussia, Protestant Prussia, her bayonets 
pointed with thought, has smitten down des- 
potic Austria and torn the diadem from 
France. Resurrected Italy gathers round a 
new and better Rome. Imperial Russia lib- 
erates her serfs. China and Japan, the old- 
est of the dynasties of time, reverse the order 
of the sun's rising and take from us, the 
youngest of the nations, their first lessons in 
the civilization of the time. Yet what has 
been achieved is as the green and tender blade 
of wheat whicli waves in the field to-day com- 
pared with the heavy-headed grain which will 
bend in golden ripeness in the coming har- 
vest time. O Liberty! Liberty! All the com- 
ing ages are thine own, and the blood of our 
brothers has not been shed in vain. 

" Yet a day and a great nation bows in 
reverence at the tomb of its patriotic dead. A 
mighty people minglegarlands with the ashes 
of its buried defenders, in token that their 
memory sweetly blossoms from the dust. The 
sun will look down over a tenth of the wide 
world, upon the sacred communion of the 
republic with the spirits of its preservers. 
From shore to shore of the two great oceans 



228 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Freedom's sons turn with bated steps to the 
last resting places of Freedom's martyrs. 
From countless hills and valleys ascends the 
music to the martial dirge. Chaplets and 
wreaths crown ail of virtue that could die of 
our valiant host. The measured cadence of 
the memorial gun, answering from city to 
city and from State to State, stirs the heart of 
the laud. The national banner, heavy with 
the symbols of our loss, canopies the tombs 
of those who upheld it, even to the shadow 
of death. The soldier tread of veterans re- 
calls the scene in which those whose memory 
we revive to-day acted so well their part. 

"They sleep, that silent host; some with 
their kindred dust, others under the sod of 
Virginia, beside the rocks of the Alleghanies, 
and on all the red fields from the peninsula 
to the Appomattox; from Gettysburg to the 
gulf. They sleep at Arlington, at Shiloh, at 
Andersonville, in the wilderness, in the 
romantic southwest, and all along the great 
march from Atlanta to the sea. In an espe- 
cial manner we were in fellowship with those 
who rest from their labors; yea, and we are 
in fellowship with them still. To us they 
will always be what they can not be to those 
who were not permitted to share with them, 
as we did, the days, the scenes and experiences 
that made us comrades. 

" Tlie glorious fraternity of the camp, the 
march, the battle, the trenches, the vigils that 
wearied out the stars, can not be dissolved by 
death. Those of our companions in war who 
have halted and lain down in the bivouac 
that no trumpet shall disturb are yet of us 



and so forevermore will be. We are again 
in the dust of the charging column, in the 
rifle pits, or on the raid. "We hear once 
more the shriek of the shell and the thrilling 
notes that sound the charge. We know, as 
others can not, how our fallen brothers suf- 
fered, fought and fell. By the beating of 
our hearts we feel their spirits with us to- 
day, and we breathe a vow, like Lincoln, reg- 
istered in heaven, that so far as in us lies 
they shall not have died in vain. 

" Our army is marching on. Slowly but 
surely moves the long array. As one by one 
we pass the picket at the gates of death, our 
lessening ranks will mark the flight of time 
till the last veteran totters from the field. 
Yes, the hour hastens when at the order of 
our great commander we must follow our de- 
parted comrades. Every year our lines are 
thinning, our numbers growing less. When 
a few more summers shall have passed but a 
handful of bent and aged men will be left to 
represent the Grand Army of the Republic 
and to repeat the dirge of the dead. Next 
they, too, will be mustered out and the sav- 
iors of America will be numbered with the 
brothers who have gone before, and even the 
graves whei-e they sleep will disappear. But 
ere the story of their valor dies out, or the 
result of their heroism ceases to uplift man- 
kind, the rivers by which they sleep will be 
dry and the mountains where they fought 
will be level with the plains. 

" And the women of 1861 — wives, sisters, 
mothers — who can say enough of their devo- 
tion? Their ministrations, counsels, gifts, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



gave hope in the darkest hours. The hands 
that never tired were women's hands, when 
for the soUliers they knit and sewed and rolled 
the lint, while their tears fell fast on their 
work. A hundred hospitals were filled by 
them with comforts and luxuries, which no 
hospital ever had before. Others went to the 
front to nurse the sick and the wounded and 
comfort the dying, and she whose shadow 
English soldiers bent to kiss in the Ci'imean 
hospitals was not more revered than they. 
Untold were their griefs, for death entered 
every wliere; on all sides were home circles 
broken, hearts bereft and dear ones gone. I 
believe that for every drop of blood shed on 
the battle field, a tear-drop fell on a distant 
pillow; and for every pulseless breast at the 
front there was a broken-hearted woman at 
the hearthstone far away. 

" Finally we would cast a glance of frank 
brotherly sympathy toward the graves of 
those who died fighting against us. They 
were as sincere as we. They acted up to the 
measure of their light as we to ours. If they 
conld come back, they would be one with us 
to-day. It was their fate, not their fault, to be 
drawn into the dreadful vorte.x of war. There 
was a Providence in all that terrible past, and 
in the madness that precipitated the conflict 
both sides were but working out the will of 
the Over-Soul. The providences of battle 
are the arrangements of God. Tiie old flag 
with its growing family of stars is now the 
ensign of the South also, and the valor of the 
Southern army, and the military genius and 
generalship of its chiefs, fill an imperishable 



and heroic page in our country's annals 

By the flow of the inlaad river, 

Whence the tleetsof iron have fled, 
Where tlie blades of the new grass quiver, 
Asleep are the ranks of the dead. 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day, 
Under the one the blue, 
Under the other the gray. 

These ia the robing of glory. 

Those in the gloom of defeat, 
All, with the battle blood gory, 
In the dusk of eternity meet. 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day. 
Under the laurel the blue. 
Under the willow the gray. 

No more shall the war cry sever, 

Or the winding river be red ; 
They banish our anger forever, 
When they laurel the graves of our dead. 
Under the sod and the dew. 

Waiting the judgment day. 
Love and tears for the blue. 
Tears and love for the gray. 

"The sentiments of the foregoing can be 
taken to the hearts and the homes of both 
' the blue and the gray,' for the pen picture 
is one that applies equally to them and ap- 
peals to the heart of every true American 
soldier and citizen." 

The following accounts of the Memorial 
day services in the city of Dallas, May 30, 
1887, and May 30, 1890, are copied from old 
issues of the local press. On the former 
occasion the memorial address was delivered 
by Colonel W. D. Wylie, who "wore the 
blue," and on the latter by Colonel W. L. 
Crawford, who " wore the gray," thus show- 
ing that "grim-visaged war has hid her bra- 
zen front" and the winged angel of peace 
again hovers over the land. 



230 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



MEMORIAL DAY OF MAT 30, 1887. 

This Memorial day, which is observed 
throughout the length and breadth of the 
Union, from the snow-capped mountains of 
Alaska to the flowery glades of Florida, and 
from ocean to ocean, dawned clear, and was 
duly regarded by botli the blue and the gray, 
who blended in the decoration of the graves 
of their dead as one common people of the 
land of the free and the home of the brave. 

This morning ex-Federal and ex-Confed- 
erate soldiers gathered at the headquarters 
of the George H. Thomas Post to take part 
in the ceremonies. The large float, bearing 
a pyramid of thirty-eight lovely girls, dressed 
in white trimmed with red and blue, a com- 
bination of the national colors, holding bas- 
kets of flowers, attracted much attention. 
The float was elaborately decorated, and Miss 
Hattie Stover, who gracefully represented 
Texas, sat at the apex of this pyramid of 
beauty. The young ladies who represented 
the other States were: May Parnell, Minnie 
Graham, Susan Acton, Mollie Stover, Mary 
Graham, Nettie Stover, Dora Burgan, Ida 
Stover, Edith Norton, Eustice McCormick, 
Rosa "Warden, Veneda Tazell, Vina Glenn, 
Ida and Ada Jenkins, Lena Cottmau, Ruth 
Kelly, Delia Harold, Nettie Clark, Susie 
Montgomery, Lena Lap pell, Maggie Burget, 
Lena Lawson, M. Greelun, Lotta Dillard, 
Fannie Amos, Mana Meeley, Lena Harold, 
Willie Hall, Elma Bly, Kate Stearcy, May 
Adams, Minnie Meeley, Sue Meeley, Lena 
Otto, Mattie and Mary Ramsey. 

The march was taken up in the following 



order to the Trinity cemetery at eleven 
o'clock, under Colonel W. D. Wylie and Col- 
onel Ewing, grand marshals of the day: 

Band of music. 

Ex-Confederate soldiers. 

G. H. Thomas Post and ex-Federal soldiers. 

Float with thirty-eight young ladies repre- 
senting an unbroken Union of thirty-eight 
States, with baskets of flowers. 

Military organizations of the city. 

Civic societies. 

Carriages with city and county officers. 

Carriages with citizens. 

A salute was fired by Battery Crawford 
over the grave of Colonel L. M. Lewis, who 
fought in the Confederate cause, and also 
over the grave of Captain White, who fought 
on the Federal side. The other cemeteries 
were visited and the graves garlanded. 

After services at the cemeteries and gar- 
landing the graves of the dead, memorial 
services are being held at the City Park pa- 
vilion. A large crowd was present. 

The memorial address was delivered by 
Colonel W. D. "Wylie, past department com- 
mander department of Texas, G. A. R. 

COLONEL WTLIE's ADDRESS. 

"To-day we meet again to pay a loving 
tribute to those of our comrades in arras, who, 
nearly a quarter of a century ago, marched 
side by side with us in the vigor of youth 
and young and patriotic manhood, and who, 
at the bugle call of the great Creator, have 
answered the roll call above, and to-day we 
all realize that the number of comrades who 
remain are growing smaller day by day. Our 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



331 



heads are growing gray, and many of our 
comrades are growing feeble from age and 
exposure on the field of battle, while battling 
for the great principles of American liberty. 
As it will not be but a few years when there 
will be but two old soldiers — one who wore 
the blue and one who wore the gray — march- 
ing with sad and feeble steps to the cities of 
the dead on this sacred day, strewing the 
rose and the lily over the last one of their 
departed comrades, we of to-day cannot but 
realize that it is within ourselves to foster 
and keep green the memory of our heroic 
dead. As we grow old we fully realize that 
the heroism of the past in the early history 
of the Government almost looks mythical to 
us, but to-day we are building, by our devo- 
tion to the memory of our comrades, a monu- 
ment that will last for ages in the hearts of 
future generations, who will look back with 
pride and shower blessings on their fore- 
fathers, who crowned themselves with a dia- 
dem of heroic deeds. Gone, but not forgot- 
ten; faded from view, but set like priceless 
jewels in the coronet of memory. 

"Memorial day! How much is embraced 
in those two significant words! Each rising 
mound but marks the spot where some loved 
one sleeps. 'Somebody's darling lies buried 
there.' We have garlanded their graves and 
wreathed with flowers each soldier's narrow 
bed. One held aloft the stars and stripes, 
the other grasped, with equal heroism, the 
stars and bars. During the dark days of 
bloody strife those brave men faced each 
other on fields of death, which made mothers 



weep and orphans wail, till all this blessed 
land of ours was bathed in tears. But when 
the olive branch of peace spread its loving 
foliage o'er our land it dispelled the dark and 
gloomy clouds of war, and broke the ])right 
and glorious day once more, and then those 
surviving met each other face to face and 
smoked the pipe of peace in one eternal truce. 
While we to-day with loving hands were 
garlanding the graves of our departed com- 
rades, we cannot help but feel that some 
sainted mother, long since gone beyond the 
great river of time, was spreading her angol 
wings over us in heavenly benediction on the 
loving services we were doing to the memory 
of some loving son, who sacrificed his life on 
the altar of his country. Our beautiful land 
has had its baptism, a baptism of blood, and 
we have come out cleansed and purified, and 
the soldier of America has risen like a Phce- 
nix from the ashes of his desolation and has 
achieved almost the acme of national great- 
ness, — but at what a sacrifice! To-day the 
soldier of the North and the soldier of the 
South mingle together their tears while pay- 
ing tribute to the memory of the heroic dead, 
whose glory, whose memory is the common 
heritage of America. And may all the heroic 
dead, whose dust lies scattered over the battle- 
fields and in many a flowery city of the dead, 
rest in eternal peace, and their spirits from 
the grand army above spread their loving 
wings over this land of peace, to secure which 
they, like the martyrs of old, laid down their 
lives on the altar of their country. The 
memory of a Grant, a Lee, a Mcl'herson, a 



333 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Jackson, a Logan and a Johnston is a com- 
mon heritage to all, and the memorj of those 
illnstrious chieftains, who covered themselves 
with a mantle of glory contending for a prin- 
ciple which they believed to embody the 
grand principles of American liberty, belong 
to the bine and the gray alike. 

"We, of to-day, have lived to see the ani- 
mosities of the war die out, and the snow- 
white dove of peace spreading her wings over 
a free, contented and happy people, and we 
see the soldiers and chieftains of both armies 
marching side by side to the music of a re- 
united brotherhood. We behold great Con- 
federate leaders mourning at the death of 
great Union captains and soldiers of the Fed- 
eral armies, and today the soldiers of the 
Union army are sorrowfully placing flowery 
chaplets on the graves of their brave and 
great opponents. To-day we have no North, 
no South, no East, no West, but one common 
country, one common object, i. e., the paying 
tribute to our heroic dead. Children of the 
same family, attending in our youth divine 
services in the same tabernacle, lisping lov- 
ing words to the great God of love in our 
childhood at the same Sabbath-school, and 
finally separated in bloody strife by a bloody 
fratricidal war, we to-day feel that we are 
gathered once more around the old hearth- 
stone, and worship the God of our forefathers, 
sheltered and protected by one common flag. 
That there should have been for a time heart 
burnings and sectional animosities is but 
natural ; but now there has come to us, 
through the light of a renewed prosperity, a 



greater tolerance and a deeper respect, a hope 
for a grand national future to be transmitted 
to our children— born, it may be true, from 
the echoes of thousands of marching feet, 
from the heroic courage of many a battle- 
field, from the lonely cot in many a hospital. 
History has written on many a page the 
heroic bravery of the sturdy son of the North 
and the impetuous son of the sunny South 
alike, and we of the blue and the gray, for 
ourselves and our children, can thank the 
God of love that from the chilly clime of 
Alaska to tiie flowery everglades of Florida, 
from the Atlantic to the Jb*acitic, we are one 
free, undivided and happy people, and rever- 
entially kneel under one banner of universal 
liberty, and thank Divine Providence for our 
renewed prosperity and an unbroken Union. 
To you, my brothers and friends who wore 
the gray, I, who wore the blue, for myself 
and my old comrades in arms, can say with 
true and heartfelt sincerity that you have 
made a record for devotion to a principle, 
bravery on the field of battle and loyalty in 
time of peace that is worthy the emulation 
of the civilized world, and added an addi- 
tional luster to the stars that illuminate the 
written and unwritten record of the Ameri- 
can soldier; your record is ours and ours is 
yours, and when future generations look back 
your children and our children will have an 
equal pride in claiming that their forefathers 
were American soldiers. 

"1 see around me to-day a large attend- 
ance of ladies. The women of America ! 
What a halo of glory clusters around the 



HI STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



brow of that greatest, that purest of God's 
great creation, whicli by the inacrnetisin of 
love throws tlie mantle of protection from 
the temptations wliicli surround the sterner 
sex, and, as in days of chivalry, to win whose 
love and approbation is the incentive to the 
great deeds of heroism which inspires the 
soldier to greater deeds of valor. 

" Looking back a centnry ago, to the the 
mothers of the Revolution which gave liberty 
to millions of oppressed people, you see 
to-day, in this fourth generation, the same 
heroic fortitude and devotion that character- 
ized the heroines of our early history. The 
heroism and bravery of the women who gave 
loving and brave encouragement to the 
American soldier during that terrible winter 
at Valley Forge has been transmitted to their 
children of the present generation, who are 
fit representatives of their heroic mothers. 
What soldier within the hearing of my voice 
can look back and not cherish the memory of 
some loving hand on the fevered brow of 
some comrade in arms, giving him words of 
encouragement and sympathy while lying 
wounded or helpless from disease in the hos- 
pital, while she lifted her hands in loving 
solicitude to the great father above, and lift- 
ing her eyes in heavenly benediction for the 
soul of some departed hero. History fails to 
record the equal of the women of America 
for heroic fortitude and moral bravery. Is it 
any wonder, then, that America should have 
produced a Washington, a Lee, a Grant, a 
a Jackson, a McPherson or a Johnston, and 
a host of other illustrious chieftains, when 



they drew from their mothers' breast the 
devotion to principle that has made every 
American woman a queen and every Ameri- 
can a sovereign ? I see around me to-day the 
little ones who are the future mothers of a 
race of sovereigns, who, by the immutable 
law of nature, will vie with if not excel their 
forefathers. May God bless and protect the 
women of America, is the heartfelt and sin- 
cere prayer of every soldier. 

"In conclusion, let us old soldiers, as was 
so eloquently and graphically described by 
Eev. Dr. Pierce yesterday in his memorial 
sermon, be able to say, when taps put out 
our lights and we hear tlie bugle call above, 
like St. Paul, 'We have made a good fight 
and are ready to depart.' Let us, while still 
in the field, bind in closer unity the bond of 
fraternal fellowship and keep pure and un- 
sullied as the driven snow the great banner 
of liberty and the unbroken Union for which 
so much brothers' blood was shed, and the 
veterans of the North and the veterans of the 
South will be found side by side, workincr in 
fraternal harmony for our country's good, 
and cherishing and keeping green the mem- 
ory of our departed comrades, leavino- such a 
memory as will be cherished and nurtured 
by the blessings of those we leave behind." 

MAT 30, 1890. 
The Memorial day exercises at the Trinity 
cemetery on this occasion were a success. 
Promptly at 10 a m., the procession moved 
from the G. A. R. hall down Elm and up 
Main street. W. F. Cottman acted as mar- 
shal of the day. 



234 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTY. 



At the cemetery, where a large concourse 
of citizens helped very materially to swell 
the throng already thereof theG. A. R. men, 
ex-Confederates and the woman's relief corps, 
the exercises were conducted in a hollow 
square around the G. A. R. cemetery lot, 
which is fourty-four feet square, raised about 
one foot above the surrounding ground, 
planted in Bermuda grass and surrounded by 
a row of brickwork live or six inches high. 

The exercises which were had around this 
plat consisted first of the ritual programme of 
the Grand Army of the Republic, beginning 
the reading of general orders from national 
and department headquarters by the acting 
Adjutant for the day. Comrade E. G. Rust. 
An opening address by Commander J. M. 
Steere was followed by vocal music, " Rest, 
Spirit, Rest," by Messrs. Cole, Harris, Bolles 
and Cornett, a quartette of Dallas gentlemen, 
who kindly volunteered their voices for the 
occasion. Prayer was offered by Comrade 
Isaac B. Gibson, chaplain for the occasion. 
A volunteer bass solo by Mr. Cole followed 
this, and then the firing of the usual military 
burial salute by the Dallas light artillery, 
with music by the martial band. 

The decoration of the soldiers' graves by 
the members of the woman's relief corps, 
assisted by the children, was a solemn and 
impressive ceremony, beautiful in design and 
execution. The graves numbered but five 
on the plat, and not only these, but every 
other old soldiers' grave in the cemetery was 
decorated, which had previously been desig- 
nated by a miniature flag of the United States. 



During all the exercises, two color-bearers 
occupied the center of the plat, with the stars 
and stripes and the flag of the George H. 
Thomas Post. The entire programme was 
carried out with precision and in good feel- 
ing, and the ex-Confederates present were 
pleased with what they saw and heard. 

The line of march, going, was arranged to 
be on tiie street-car line leading to the ceme- 
tery, so that if an old soldier was compelled 
to fall out on the march the street car could 
carry him along. 

The arrangement of the hollow square 
around the cemetery lot during the exercises 
gave all an opportunity to see the exercises 
and hear every word spoken. The quartette 
club, the burial salute and the military band 
added much to the occasion. Many ladies of 
Dallas were present and expressed themselves 
as pleased with the exercises. 

After the singing of "America" by the 
entire audience present, the exercises closed 
to meet at the city park at 5 p. m. to hear 
the public speaking. 

Colonel W. L. Crawford, the orator of tiie 
day, made a ringing speech, in the course of 
which he said: 

"Who could have told twenty-five years 
ago that on the plains of Texas would have 
assembled to-day men proud of their national 
pagtjs, who followed the standards of Grant 
and Logan and those that fought beneath the 
banners of Lee and Jackson? And yet it is so. 
We look into one another's faces to-day. We 
are no longer Federals and Confederates. 
We are the mightiest race of people into 



U I STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



335 



whose handa the God of the inevitable ever 
gave control of the destinies ol' nations or 
men, wrung from the Anglo-Saxon, Norman 
and Celts — a people born to rule wherever 
thej may be domiciled. I rejoice in the se- 
renity of this day. 1 rejoice that a reunited 
people speak of Lincoln in words of blessing. 
Mothers whose eons yielded up their lives in 
the hopeless cause of the Confederacy owe 
their misfortune not to Lincoln, from whose 
lips an unkind or bitter word never sprung, 
whose heart in the midst of the most terrible 
and trying ordeal of war eternally and ever- 
more overflowing with the milk of humanity. 
Whether in shedding tears over the remains 
of the gallant Ellsworth; or whether we hear 
the words of cheer he spoke to the men of 
the army of the republic on the Held of 
Gettysburg, Lincoln stands the same, a phil- 
osopher, statesman and hero. For myself, 
although I have turned the mile post of the 
history of life, I would shoulder arms again 
rather than see the chains of slavery put upon 
limbs. I would tight for the flag of my 
country again rather than see this union of 
states dissolved. I rejoice tiiat tlie institutions 
of slavery are dead. (Applause.) 1 rejoice 
that this is an indissoluble union of indestruct- 
ible States, and I trust in God that it may 
always be perpetual to sliow to what lofty 
heights, what broad eminence, the Anglo- 
Sa.xon race under free institutions may attain. 

" 1 rejoice, too, at our development. I 
rejoice that the little girls and boys of this 
generation are taught to reverence the graves 
of the fallen heroes of both armies. I rejoice 



in this because it keeps afresh in this country 
memories of the men and women of the he- 
roic times of our war that ought not to perish. 
(Applause.) I regret that it could be found 
in the heart of any one to say that the sacri- 
fices of the women of the North or South in 
the time of war should have been forgotten. 
(Applause.) I tell you that the spirit of the 
departed men of this country when they 
placed arms in the hands of their sons, and of 
the women who, with their own delicate 
hands and with their eyes bathed in tears, 
made the flag and gave it into tiie keeping of 
their sons, saying, 'Go, my boy, carry this 
flag where honor bids, and come back with it 
or upon it,' ought not to be forgotten. (Ap- 
plause.) 

" We are charged with preserving and 
maintaining free institutions. Is there a man 
here who carried a musket that does not re- 
member some blessing from woman's lips 
that followed him from the old hearthstone 
to the battlefield? Is there one here who 
suffered with wounds in the hospital or on 
the field that has not occasion to gratefully 
remember the tender office of some blessed 
woman? Our cliildren ought not to be per- 
mitted to forget them. Then you do a ser- 
vice to jour country and justice to your owu 
feelings of virtue when the mothers of to-day 
lead their little children and watch them 
strew flowerg around tiie graves of fallen he- 
i-oes of both armies. The war, with its dis- 
asters to the cause in which the hopes of my 
young manhood were wrapped, and in which 
I offered my best efforts, ended leaving no 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



stain on me. I rejoice at its results. I meet 
my brother man of the Federal army. I do 
not feel humiliated or degraded. Then I 
stood for my country as he stood by his; I 
stood for Texas, the State whose lone-star flag 
as a republic sheltered me in my infancy. 
I owe it to that State, my country. I fought 
for Texas as you fought for Massachusetts or 
New York. (Applause.) In these times of 
peace we meet in good fellowship, each re- 
joicing that in the other he finds the hero 
worthy of his steel. How measure the glory 
of Gettysburg, of Fredericksburg, or of the 
last charge, where the current wave of seces- 
sion and rebellion reached its height? By the 
resistance it overcame. If the armies under 
Grant, Thomas and Logan had fought cowards, 
would Grant, Thomas and Logan and the brave 
men who stood beside them be entitled to 
the name of heroes? No one earns credit for 
striking a cripple; no man earns credit in 
this day for overcoming a foe not worthy of 
his steel. The unconquerable courage of the 
Confederate soldier made the glory of the 
Federal general. When we remember Grant 
let us look at him as a hero, let us see him as 
he handed back the sword to Lee. Place 
that to his credit. As we look to Lincoln 
let us remember every kind and generous act 
he did — that greatest of great men — and 
when you, my men of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, think of the Confederacy, remem- 
ber only her suffering and all that she lost in 
that most terrible of wars. Slavery abolished, 
1 rejoice with you in these things; but do 
not charge that which luade heroes in bitter- 



ness to us. It was well that the war came 
when it did; that it was fought by the men 
who fought it and that it ended as it did end. 
We performed our duties faithfully and well, 
and we are thankful that there came from it 
a higher salvation — a better promise than 
the man who participated in it ever dreamed 
of. We can all rejoice in this day, returning 
as it will return blessed by the people of this 
country. May it, as each one of those here 
passes beyond the river to that eternal camp- 
ing ground, be an incentive to the closer 
union of the people of this country! 

" We are to-day the superior of the earth. 
Let this inspire every American heart of to- 
day. This 65,000,000 of people, blessed as 
we are with our free institutions, located as 
we are, upheld by the strong arm of our 
Government, can defy the civilization of the 
world to put foot upon these grounds and 
conquer or harm us. (Applause.)" 

TRINITY RIVER NAVIGATION. 

While many skiffs and canoes had traversed 
the Trinity from Dallas to its mouth from 
the earliest settlement of the county, no 
steamboat had ever arrived at Dallas over this 
stream until in May, 1868, when Captain J. 
H. McGarvey and wife, with Philip Dugin, 
engineer, and one hand, arrived in a steamer 
called "Job Boat No. 1:" dimensions, 
66 X 20 feet, bearing twenty-six tons' bur- 
den. This boat was licensed as the law re- 
quired to traverse the waters on Galveston 
and its tributaries. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



237 



Mr. McGarvey was induced to steam up 
tlie Trinity to Dallas, for the sum of $500, 
paid him bj' the citizens of Dallas. After 
this boat remained at Dallas for many days, 
several of the citizens of Dallas took a trip 
down the Trinity in it as far as Mount East 
Fork. McGarvey, as he progressed on this 
trip, discoursed to the citizens how the chan- 
nel of the river should be cleaned out in order 
to make the river navigable. On reaching 
Bois d'Arc island, about thirty miles by 
water of the two chutes that surrounded the 
island, McGarvey recommended that the main 
raft should not be interfered with, but that 
one chute should be closed and the other 
opened. It was so done, and it has ever 
since borne the name of " McGarvey's Pass." 

After this the citizens became very enthu- 
siastic over the navigation of the Trinity 
river, and a boat was built and launched in 
1869, with dimensions eighty-seven feet in 
length, by eighteen wide. It bore the name 
of •' Sallie Haynes," named after Mrs. Gov- 
ernor BarnettGibbs, daughter of Mr. Ilaynes, 
one of the leading merchants of the city, 
then the belle of Dallas, and one of the most 
beautiful young ladies of Texas. 

Subsequently a memorial was circulated over 
the counties bordering on the Trinity, between 
Dallas and the Galveston, asking the legisla- 
ture to make an appropriation of $75,000 to 
remove the obstructions from the river, over- 
hanging timber, etc. This memorial was 
placed in the hands of the Internal Improve- 
ment Company, during Governor Edmund 
J. Davis' adtninistration, and a bill was pre- 

17 



pared to meet the wishes of these citizens; 
but the legislature at that time being wild on 
railroad building, the bill, to use Colonel W. 
C. WoitTs language, " fell asleep in the hands 
of the committee, and has slept until this 
day." 

A memorial was also presented to the 
members of the constitutional convention at 
the city of Austin, Texas, in 1869, of which 
the following is a copy: 
" To the Honorable President and members 

of the Constitutional Convention, now in 

session at the city of Austin: 

"Your memorialists, citizens of the county 
of Dallas, respectfully represent to your 
honorable body that the recent arrival of the 
steamboat Job Boat No. 1, Captain J. H. 
McGarvey, master, at the town of Dallas, 
establishes the fact that the Trinity river may 
be successfully navigated from the city of 
Galveston to the town of Dallas for six months 
annually, by the expenditure of a small sum 
of money in removing snags, leaning timber, 
and other obstructions between the town of 
Dallas and the mouth of East fork. An 
experienced steamboatman of twenty years' 
practice has proposed to citizens of Dallas 
county to remove all the obstructions in the 
river between the above designated points, so 
that boats of sufficient capacity to carry live 
hundred bales of cotton can be run on the 
river to Dallas for four months in the year, for 
the sum of five thou-^and dollars in specie. 
A project promising advantages so great to 
every department of industry and enterprise 
should demand the especial attention, not 
only of the people of Dallas county, but of 
the whole State. The benefits flowing to the 
people of Dallas county from the success of 
such an enterprise are not to be measured or 



238 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTr. 



estimated l)y the small sum proposed to be 
expended; in fact, they are beyond enumera- 
tion, to the State, of opening up to success- 
fnl navigation a stream penetrating her inte- 
rior a distance of seven hundred miles from 
the seaboard, securing tlie rapid settlement of 
millions of acres of rich and fertile lands by 
thrifty and enterprising emigrants, which are 
now lying idle and yielding but little reve- 
nue to the State, and none to the owner. The 
saving in the single item of pine lumber in 
one year will fourfold repay the amount ex- 
pended, besides the advantage of the great re- 
daction in prices in the items of salt, sugar, 
iron and other articles of necessary consump- 
tion. The immense pineries of the counties 
of Anderson, Houston, and Walker, arealmost 
valueless in their present condition, because 
of the slow and expensive means of trans- 
portation to the prairies, where every descrip- 
tion of pine lumber is in constant demand. 
Navigation to Dallas, three months annually, 
would reduce the price of pine lumber one- 
half, thereby bringing it within the reach of 
every farmer to supply himself for the im- 
provement of his farm and home. 

"To raise the money by private contribution 
would naturally become onerous upon those 
who are determined upon the success of the 
enterprise, while those, for reasons whether 
selfish or otherwise, refusing to contribute, 
would reap an equal benefit. Therefore, your 
memorialists are impressed that a more 
proper and just course would be to levy a 
sufficient tax upon the property in Dallas 
county to raise the sum of live thousand dol- 
lars in specie, and as the citizens in the town 
of Dallas have signified their willingness, let 
the tax be so levied that one-third of the 
whole amount sliall be paid by those owning 
property within the corporate limits of said 
town. Your memorialists are aware that more 



properly this petition should be presented to 
the legislature when it assembles, but the 
delay of such a course would compel the loss 
of the advantao-es at least one season, and 
perhaps more, the importance of which needs 
only to be mentioned to commend its reason. 
Feeling that you will not hesitate to act in a 
public matter of so much magnitude, and 
especially when those to be burdened are 
asking the action, we therefore ask your hon- 
orable body to pass an ordinance authorizing 
the police court of Dallas county to levy and 
collect a tax of five thousand dollars in specie 
upon on all property in Dallas county sub- 
ject to ad-valorem taxation, said tax to be 
assessed upon the schedules or lists rendered 
to the assessor for the year 1868, said money 
to be expended under the direction of the 
police court in removing the obstruc- 
tions in the Trinity river, between the town 
of Dallas and East fork. Provided, that one- 
third of the amount shall be collected from 
property situated within the corporate limits 
of the town of Dallas; and provided further, 
that the tax levied shall not be more than 
twenty cents on the hundred dollars, except 
on property within the corporate limits of 
the town of Dallas, which may be taxed as 
high as sixty cents for each hundred dollars. 

Dallas, Texas, June 4, 1868. 

"Ben Long, M. Thevenet, J. A. Freeman, 
John Davis, Henry Noetzli, Jacob Vogel, 
Henry Brannon, Wesley Brannon, John Poin- 
dexter, J. Pinckuey Thomas, Henry Boll, 
John Boll, John F. Barbier, Win. A. Hartze, 
Joshua Addington, John L. Pyles, H. C. 
Caldwell, D. J. Capps, Thos. J. Brown, W. 
W. Peak, T. A. Wilson, J.J. Applin, Ed. C. 
Browder, J. B. Louckx, J. H. Wilson, J. W. 
Gall)reath, M. G. Pitts, T. J. Pitts, Howard 
Mercer, U. D. Jones, F. F. Green, Thos. S. 
Moore, R. W. Daniel, B. B. Howell, Daniel 



niSTOHY OF DALLAS GOV NT Y. 



239 



Cornwell, TUos. II. Nance, Jolin King, Sam. 
King, J. Peak, Jas. Galbreath, A. J. Gonffe, 
L. Von Gronderbeek, Otto Frick, F. L. 
Beling, L. P. Hauser, Jacob Vogel, Jiilicn 
Roverchon, Win. Jackson, Jacob Tiler, Jas. 

C. Miller, S. H. I'eeman, F. L. Cbtirignon, 
J. D. Keaton, N. T. Johnson. W. A. Ilar- 
wood, J. M. Braun, E. W. Field, A. L. Gar- 
nett, Martin Riggs, Win. Irwin, Win. B. 
Cole, S. Mayer, Wrn. A. Riggs, W. H. 
Saunders, F. Davis, Win. D. Waters, E. T. 
Myers, R. L. Sears, Frank M. Cox, Newton 
Hutchen, W. Von Gronderbeek, Alexius 
Barbier, ¥. Priot, G. Poitevin, J. Nusbau- 
iner, M. Livy, J. McGoininas, Clias. G. Vin- 
gard, Allen Collins, N. B. Owen, R. B. Gan- 
naway, Jas. Winters, E. G. Bower, J. K. P. 
Record, N. M. Burtbrd, T. G. T. Kendall, 
W. H. Ragsdale, J. M. Richards, Jonathan 
Petty, J. W. Bumpass, A. Peinberton W. 
M. L. Hall, J. W. Everett, Jas. O. Thomas, 
J. D. Iverfoot, W. Mays, John Chenault, John 
Coit, J. W. Cobb, T. B. Scott, II. L. Hicks, 
S. S. Jones, Sara. Dunaway, Isaac Jones, 
Enoch Strait, J. M. Martin, Isaac B. Webb, 
W. D. Chapman, Isaac Bates, Joseph Bigler, 
Raleigh C. Martin, R. D. Coughanour, Jas. 
H. Field, J. C. Drake, Jr., W. F. Flewellen, 

D. J. Ellis, J. K. White, Chas. R. Pryor, 

E. E. Russell, John P. Isbell, S. B. Stone, 
J. J. Beeman, J. M. Pruitt, J. W. Miller, 
H. C. Smidt, Amon McCouunas, W. J. 
Pruitt, F. N. Humphreys, J. P. Beeman, L. 
B. Sands, F. F. Ball, Tom Johnson, Jas. Mc- 
Commas, Andrew Pruitt, Q. J. H. Smith, 
T. J. Jackson, J. Jeffries, Lewis Pyles, G. 
L. Blewett, J. T. Corcoran, J. R. Fondren, 
J. B. Lowery, Geo. White, W. T. Gill, G. 
W. Hatter, Sam. Uhl. A. S. Clark, N. R. 
Fondren, George Marier, W. Cotton, John 
Caudle, R. S. Guy, Wm. Waters, John Har- 
vey, Jerry Snow. 



In 1873 the legislature did grant a subsidy 
in land certificates of 10,000 acres per raile 
to Captain Poitevant, a steamboat captain, 
and he removed the overhanging timbers 
and snags on the river as far as Magnolia, in 
Anderson county. At this point he stopped. 
He received, however, his certificates for land 
on contract, for his services. As many as 
fifty steamboats ran continuously from 1852 
to 1874, up the Trinity river as high as 
Trinidad in Kaufman county, also to Porter's 
Bluff in Ellis county. A live shipping busi- 
ness of cotton of general freight was carried 
on. In the '70s, however, the railroads be- 
gan to traverse the country and, under ex- 
citement over the rapid travel over these 
avenues of commerce, attention to navigation 
was lost; and so greatly were the people ab- 
sorbed over the rapid transportation of rail- 
roads and the strides of business generally 
that the idea of traversing the Trinity river 
with steamboats seemed absolutely absurd. 
But some of the pioneer settlers, knowing 
the history of the past, knew the idea per- 
fectly feasible and continued to encourage 
efforts in that direction. 

Colonel W. C. Wolff was the leading spirit 
to revive this interest lately excited among 
the citizens of Dallas. Having failed at sev- 
eral public meetings in Dallas to get a hear- 
ing, proposing the feasibility of the naviga- 
tion of the Trinity, he finally succeeded in 
getting the attention of the Board of Trade 
of the city. At this hearing he aroused at- 
tention to say the least, and since then a 
live interest has been manifested by some of 



240 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



the most influential citizens of the city. 
Among those most active are Captain Sidney 
Smith, Captain J. Piuck. Thomas, Coh)nel D. 
0. Mitchell, Colonel J. B. Simpson, Colonel 
Henry Exall and Hon. John H. Cochran and 
numerous others. 

In July, 1890, JohnH. Cochran, J. Pinck. 
Thomas and W. C. Wolff secured a charter 
for a company known as " The Trinity Navi- 
gation and Improvement Company;" capital 
stock $100,000; shares $100 each. The fol- 
lowing were the charter members: 

J. Pinck. Thomas, James Arbuckle, A. L, 
"Watts, B. M. Bond, W. 11. Lemmons, C. E. 
Perry, J. H. Webster, Hugh Blakeney, D. C. 
Mitchell, W. C. Wolff. John H. Cochran, 
president; Sidney Smith, vice-president; 
James B. Simpson, treasurer. 

This company built a steamboat 64 feet 
long and 12 feet across the deck, and launched 
it in the fall of 1891. It drew only seven 
inches light, and estimated to be 300-barrel 
capacity. It was used in cutting away ob- 
structions from Dallas to Liberty, Texas. It 
is used at this time in shipping railroad ties 
to Riverside for the use of the International 
& Great Northern Railroad Company. This 
company, at a public meeting in Dallas, 
agreed to give away to a new company. Ef- 
fective service is now being done to get the 
United States to make this a navigable 
stream. 

The citizens have succeeded in arousing 
interest in Captain Flatau, an experienced and 
able steamboatman in the enterprise, and 
considerable attention has been excited gener- 
ally. The following is an account of a meet- 



ing held in Dallas, February 2, 1892, and as 
publisiied in the Dallas News: 

The meeting in the auditorium of the city 
hall yesterday on the navigation of the Tri- 
nity river was largely attended, upward of 
200 persons being present. Hon. John H. 
Cochran occupied the chair, and Mr. Leo 
Wolfson, secretary of the board of ti'ade, jier- 
formed the duties of secretary. Addressing 
the meeting, the chairman said it was not 
necessary to argne the importance of the na- 
vigation of the Trinity river to the future of 
Dallas. The undertaking, he proceeded, was 
neither visionary nor of recent birth. John 
Neely Bryan pitched his tent where Dallas 
stands because he considered it the head of 
navigation, and the only obstacle to navi- 
gation regarded by the early settlers was the 
raft at Bois d'Aro island, which to-day, with 
the aids and instrumentalities of science, 
could easily be removed. The last effort 
looking to the navigation of the river was the 
taking out of a charter last July to that end. 
In addition to the resources of tlie company 
had they available $500 cash, $100 worth of 
dynamite and $10 worth of coal oil, the river 
would now be navigable down to the raft. 
He recited the operation of the company in 
buildincra boat and clearing the river. With 
the aid of the people of Dallas the river, he 
asserted, would soon be navigated to the gulf 
and Dallas declared a water point. (Applause.) 

Captain Ballard, commander of the Sallie 
Haynes, a Trinity river steamboat, named 
after Mrs. Barnett Gibbs; Captain Beeman, 
the pilot of that boat; Judge James Bently, 



U I STORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



341 



commander of Job Boat No. 1, which had 
successfully navigated the Trinity; Captain 
L. S. Flatau, of Pittsburg, Texas, who navi- 
gated the Trinity for years, and Jndge A. B. 
Norton, the veteran editor at the Three 
Forks, were invited to seats on the platform. 

Captain Flatau, who at short distance looks 
like a man of thirty-five, but over whose head 
forty-eight summers have rolled, addressed 
the meeting by invitation. He had, he said, 
navigated the Trinity for along time without 
noticeable trouble, and he could not under- 
stand, in view of the bonanza offered by 
this water course, why the people of Dallas 
did not take a livelier interest in opening it 
up to commerce, than which nothing was 
more practicable. The narrowness of the 
Trinity, he proceeded, is an argument in 
its favor; for whenever a steamboat gets into 
a river that she tills navigation is easy; but 
when the river is wide and shallow there is 
trouble. This part of the Trinity river in 
which you think a steamboat cannot get 
along is the easiest navigation of the river. 
1 used to steam up to Liberty, and I believe 
that I am the first man who ever navigated 
down the river; and I was the first who ever 
carried Buck's headlight at the jackstaff. 1 
have come to Magnolia in the night and never 
had any trouble. 1 commanded the Cage. 
Once they sent Colonel Tucker from Dallas 
to know if I would not bring the Cage up to 
Dallas. I left Galveston light at the tail of 
the season and came up in the neighborhood 
of Bois d'Arc island (al)out fourteen miles 
below Dallas). It was at the time of the 



year when there was but little water in the 
river, and if the river had stayed up I would 
have come to Dallas. There is not a better 
river in the south than the Trinity. If the 
importance that exists for the navigation of 
the Trinity from Dallas were to exist in 
Illinois the river would be at once navigated. 
Why, with less necessity the people of Illi- 
nois have cut a canal 200 miles, largely 
through rock. You have no bars in the 
Trinity and only a few shoals, which nature 
has meant as a bed for locks — Kickapoo, 
White Eock and Cannon Ball shoals. You 
cannot put locks in an alluvial soil, but here 
is a foundation laid by nature for them. 
Talk of snags! I have steamboated on the 
uppei* Missouri, where snags look like the 
bristles on a hog. Snags under the water 
line cut no figure. The people of Dallas 
cannot afford in these times to let such an 
opportunity pass. Like all other true Texans 
I would like to see Dallas grow to a great 
city. To that end you must have a freight 
rate that will encourage manufactures and 
that yon can acquire through the agency of 
the Trinity river. (Applause.) I would not 
ask better fun than to start from Galveston 
to Dallas with a well rigged boat if it were 
not for a few railroad bridges. All the rivers 
in the upper country are filled with boats, and 
if you will in a measure clear away the obstruc- 
tion in the Trinity river the owners of those 
boats will make an effort to trade here. The 
value of timber along this river can only be 
appreciated by those acquainted with it— pin 
oak, ash and hickory. I have plied the Trin- 



242 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ity river night and day, and we pulled 
throngh the rafts. With a quart of glyce- 
rine and telegraph connection the raft will 
disappear. Think of what the Government 
did above Jefferson. Below Bois d'Arc island 
the river is filled with raft. There are eight 
or nine clay bends. Put a dynamite can 
under one of those bends and the water will 
wash it out. It will cost $550 or $670 a 
mile to Galveston from Dallas to make the 
Trinity river navigable. All the railroads 
to-day are nearly dead for some excuse to give 
you a cut rate. (Applause.) If it were not 
for the interstate commerce commission you 
would have it to-day down to B flat. I re- 
present B. F. Avery & Sons, and if you could 
say to them here is a fifty per cent cut rate 
they would pull up from Fort Wortli to- 
morrow and give you $10,000 bonus. Contin- 
uing, the speaker said that while civil en- 
gineers had performed wonders in their pro- 
fession, practical pilots, men who knew how 
to cut and where to cut, were -the men 
needed to clean out the river. A civil engi- 
neer had reported on the great difficulty pres- 
ented at the mouth of the river. The speaker, 
when the river was low, steamed through the 
mouth, having lightered his cargo into two 
barges, which he towed to Galveston. By 
backing the enterprise, he said, the people 
of Dallas could count on half a dozen steam- 
boats entering here within two years. 

Mr. D. G. Mitchell — Yes; within one 
year. 

Captain Flatau spoke of the river above 

Jefferson as a spring branch compared with 
the Trinity, and he reminded his listeners 



that owing to the increased rainfall in the 
Panhandle country and all over north Texas 
there is more water now in the Trinity than 
when he navigated it. A dam at White Rock 
or Kickapoo Falls, if it should be found nec- 
essary for low water, would, he insisted, 
back water almost up to Dallas. Concluding, 
he said: If you push this thing as you should 
Dallas will be the greatest distributing and 
manufacturing point in tiie Soutb. Build a 
wall around Texas and we would not know 
that there was anybody elsewhere, such are 
our resources. The men in Dallas who own 
great brick blocks and annexes would be 
paid by digging a ditch to Galveston. (Ap- 
plause). 

Colonel W. C. Wolff offered the following 
resolutions and they were unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved, That a committee of ten, com- 
posed of two members of the County Commis- 
sioners court, two members of the City Coun- 
cil, two members of the Board of Trade and 
four members of the Trinity River Navigation 
and Improvement Company, be appointed to 
formulate and present the most feasible plan 
for the early reopening to navigation of the 
Trinity river from Dallas south to the county 
line. That all the counties bordering on the 
Trinity river from Dallas to the Gulf of 
Mexico be requested to consider our common 
interest in this enterprise and give their aid 
to this movement either by taking stock in 
the Trinity river navigation and improvement 
company or by giving lands and donations in 
money. 

That all of said counties and all friends of 
the enterprise be requested to urge upon our 
representatives in Congress the importance of 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



243 



making a reasonable appropriation to utilize 
this highway to the sea in order to develop 
the resources of the Trinity valley. 

The chair appointed the following com- 
mittee under the resolutions: From the City 
Council— Aldermen Webster and Harris; from 
the County Commissioners' Court— Judge 
Bower and T. B. Fisher; from the Board of 
Trade— S. W. S Duncanand John II. Taylor. 
From the Trinity River Navigation and Im- 
provement company — Sydney Smith, J. P. 
Thomas, C. E. Perry and D. C. Mitchell. 

The committee retired, and during their 
absence the meeting was entertained by 
Judge A. B. Norton, Judge Bentley, F. N. 
Oliver and General Gano with short ad- 
dresses. Judge Norton said that no State in the 
Union was so well provided with water-courses 
as Texas. The Trinity was misnamed. It 
should have been called the Rio Grande, be- 
cause it was the grandest river in Texas. In 
the early days of Texas, he said, speaking 
from recollection, all the cotton raised in the 
counties adjacent to this river was taken 
adown its bosom to Galveston. Legislature 
had given grand subsidies to railroads, but 
they did nothing for his great commercial 
highway. The speaker said that when he ran 
against Roger Q. Mills for Congressjthe main 
horse he rode was the navigation of rivers. 
He promised if elected to get a good appro- 
priation with which to put the Trinity in a 
good navigable condition. He was not 
elected and he has since been as one crying in 
the wilderness. Conclutling, Judge Norton 
said, and the sentiment was loudly cheered: 
Away with all party considerations; away 
with all divisions among men; stand shoulder 
to shoulder on the navigation of the Trinity 
river. It matters not who gets hold of the 
public teat. He only helps himself; but he 
who works for improvement of the navigation 



of the Trinity river works to carry out the 
designs of God. 

Judge Bentley briefly reviewed his experi- 
ence as a Trinity river captain, and he heartily 
indorsed the movement looking to the return 
of the use of that river as a highway of com- 
merce. 

THE committee's REPORT. 

The committee appointed under the Wolff 
resolution presented the following report: 
We, the undersigned, your committee, beg 
to make the following report, to-wit: 

That whereas, the Trinity River Navigation 
and Improvement Company propose to open 
the Trinity river for navigation and thereby 
declare Dallas a water point, and propose at 
their own expense to canvass for and collect 
subscriptions for that purpose to be paid 
when Dallas is so declared a water point; 

And whereas, they propose to turn the 
said subsidies over to three trustees to be 
used for that purpose; now therefore, we 
recommend the acceptance of their proposi- 
tion and the election of the three trustees as 
mentioned, who shall receive all such funds 
and use the same in conjunction with the 
said Trinity Navigation and Improvement 
Company for the accomplishment of that ob- 
ject, returning to said Trinity Navigation and 
Improvement Company the remainder, if any, 
that may be left after said object lias been 
accomplished. 

It is also recommended that all citizens 
take stock in said Trinity River Navigation 
Company and that our members of Congress 
be instructed to at once take such action as 
they deem necessary to have Congress appro- 
priate $500,000 for improving the navigation 
of the Trinity river from Dallas to its mouth 
at Galveston. 

John II. Tkayi.ok, Chairman. 



344 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



The report was unanimously adopted. 

Colonel W. C. Holland, Captain J. P. 
Murphy and Captain W. H. Prather were 
elected trustees under the resolutions. 

The chair, speaking as president of the 
Trinity Navigation and Improvement Com- 
pany, said that the directory consisted of 
thirteen members, seven of whom would re- 
sign to give place to subscribers to stock. 

Colonel Holland suggested that Captain 
Flatau be at once sent to Washington to 
present the claims of the Trinity river before 
the River and Harbor Committee. 

Captain Flatau said he had received letters 
from Congressmen Abbott and Culberson, 
asking him what the improvement of the 
river would cost. He had replied to the com- 
munications. He was willing to do what he 
could in the premises. 

Arrangements were set afoot for Captain 
Flataii's trip to Washington, and the meeting 
then adjourned. 

The following is the bill upon the subject 
of the navigation of the Trinity river origi- 
nally introduced in Congress by Congressman 
Abbott April 28, 1892, and as reported by 
the committee on rivers and harbors and 
called up in the House of Representatives by 
Congressman Charles Stewart for Mr. Abbott, 
and passed in the House the 20th instant. 
There is no doubt about it passing the senate 
and becoming a law quite favorable indeed to 
this great Dallas enterprise: 

Mr. Stewart of Texas, from the Committee 
on Rivers and Harbors, reported the following 
bill in lieu of H. R. 8449: 



A bill to authorize the Trinity Navigation 
Company to open to navigation the Trinity 
river in the State of Texas. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 
Representatives of the United States of Amer- 
ica in Congress assembled. That the Trinity 
Navigation Company, a corporation created 
and existing under and by virtue of the gen- 
eral laws of the State of Texas, or its suc- 
cessors and assigns, be, and are hereby au- 
thorized and empowered to open to navigation 
the Trinity river in the state of Texas, from 
the town of Liberty to the city of Dallas, in 
said state, and to this end said company, its 
successors or assigns, are authorized to remove 
all logs and rafts and stones from the water 
bed of said river, as well as other obstruc- 
tions found in said river, so as to secure safe 
passage for such vessels as may navigate the 
same; said company is further authorized 
and empowered to construct such locks and 
dams as said company deem proper and nec- 
essary, and to do and perform any and all 
such acts and to make such improvements on 
said river and its banks as may be proper and 
necessary to secure safe navigation of said 
river at low water between the points named 
for steamboats having a draft of not less than 
three feet: 

Sec. 2. That in consideration of the labor 
and exipenae incurred and to be incurred i)y 
said Trinity Navigation Company in opening 
said river to navigation, the same is hereby 
authorized and empowered to charge and col- 
lect such tolls therefor as may be prescribed 
by the regulations that may be made from 
time to time by the secretary of the treasury 
of the United States. • 

Sec. 3. That within two years of the pas- 
sage of this act, said company shall begin the 
work of improving the navigation of said 
river, and shall proceed with said work as ex- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



245 



pedltioiisly as possible until said work is com- 
pleted, ollierwifte the rights hereby granted 
shall be forfeited. 

Sec. 4. That the United States reserves the 
right at any time dnring the progress of the 
work on said river or at any time after the 
same is completed to take ciiarge of said river 
and the works of said company and in the 
exercise of this reserved right shall have the 
option of taking said works at their original 
cost, or at their actnal v-alue at the time of 
taking the same, and the actnal value thereof 
shall bn ascertained by three officers of the 
engineer corps of the array of the United 
States, to be appointed by the secretary of 
war; provided that, in estimating the valne 
of said works to be paid for by the United 
States, the franchise of said corporation re- 
sulting either from this act or derived by it 
from tlie State of Texas shall not be con- 
sidered or estimated. 

Seo. 5. That ttie right to collect tolls on 
said river under this act shall not accrue to 
said company until it shall have improved 
said river between the town of Buffalo, in the 
county of Anderson, in the State of Te.xas, 
and the city of Dallas, so that between said 
points, at the lowest stage of water, steam- 
boats having a draft of not less than three 
feet can navigate the same, and in no event 
shall tolls be charged for the use of said river 
below the town of Lil)erty, in Liberty county, 
in the State of Texas. 

RAILROAD FACILITIES. 

For any city to become a great commercial 
center she must have able means of transpor- 
tation either by water or railroad. Dallas in 
her earlier stages of city development, when 
she realized that it was possible for her to be- 



come the great metropolis of the State, began 
to exert every effort to secure the railroad 
line reaching through the southwest; and the 
first subsidy voted by this ambitious and en- 
terprising city, then comparatively small, 
was in 1872, prior to any prohibition by the 
State constitution to such subsidies given by 
a vote of the people which now exist, 
and was $100,000 to the Texas & i-'acific 
railroad, which was then being constructed 
westward from Texarkana. 

The shrewd and enterprising citizens then 
of Dallas, foreseeing the importance of having 
at this point the intersection of this gieat 
eastern and western line, and the Houston & 
Texas Central running north and south, 
which was at that time driving with rapid 
speed north from Houston into the Indian 
Territory, determined to use every means 
possible to have this intersection. So she 
was liberal in her donation, accomplished 
her aims and thereby in this happy arrange- 
ment made Dallas in many respects the rail- 
road city of north Texas. 

Being ambitions of attaining the propor- 
tions of a great city, she was yet unsatisfied, 
and even in those early days she had her eyes 
open to the importance of connection with 
the Panhandle and the great Northwest, and 
only a proposition ha<l to be made to build a 
road from Dallas to Wicliita Falls, Texas, to 
open that territory of rich prairie lands 
adapted specially to the raising of small 
grain, when Dallas steps to the front with 
another $100,000. This line, however, was 
built only as far as Denton, at which point it 



246 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



was absorbed by the Missouri Pacific and 
made a branch of that great system. 

These were the only subsidies voted by the 
people. Since then the constitution 
of the State has been so anjen^led 
as to revoke the power of the people to do 
that. However, the liberal spirit of the citi- 
zens has never been quenched, and thousands 
of dollars have been most generously donated 
in the way of private donations to secure the 
other great lines that now radiate in eleven 
directions from Dallas. 

After these the Gulf, Colorado & Santa 
Fe, a line direct from Galveston, was secured 
and made connection with the Missouri Pa- 
cific at Greenville and the St. Louis & San 
Francisco at Paris, giving Dallas two other 
great avenues of commerce, which has ever 
been her pride and boast. This Missouri 
Pacific system a short time afterward ex- 
tended their branch, reaching from Denton to 
Dallas on to Hillsboro, where it joins the 
main line of the great Missouri Pacific sys- 
tem, now the Missouri, Kansas & Texas. 

The Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe did not 
stop at Greenville, but extended on as far as 
Paris, where it made connection with the 
St. Louis &, San Francisco, thereby giving 
another direct outlet to the East. 

The Texas Trunk was early put into oper- 
ation. Extending iu a southeasterly direc- 
tion it traverses a rich country and opens up 
to connection witli Dallas one of the finest 
timbered sections in the State, and indeed in 
the Union. This line was bought by the 



Southern Pacific Railroad Company in the 
spring of 1892. So it is apparent that 
nearly all the Texas railroads lead to Dallas, 
and it is said that those roads now being op- 
erated in the State and not coming into Dal- 
las contemplate doing so as soon as practi- 
cable ! 

It is certainly an evident fact now that no 
railroad can come into north Texas with the 
purpose of having a Texas trade without pay- 
ing tribute to the city of Dallas. About 
four years ago. General Geo. F. Alfred or- 
ganized another railroad company, called the 
Dallas, Archer & Pacific (now the Dallas, 
Pacific & Southeastern), was its first presi- 
dent, and was succeeded in the presidency on 
account of failing health by Colonel J. E. 
Henderson. Nearly 100 miles of this road 
were graded into the great Panhandle, bifur- 
cating the rich country between the Texas & 
Pacific and Fort Worth & Denver railroads, 
and penetrating the richest coal belt in the 
State. The hard times and money pressure 
following the collapse of the Barry boom sus- 
pended construction for the time being, but 
it will soon be resumed, and this great artery 
of commerce will then be pushed forward to 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, thus making 
connection with the Atlantic & Pacific for 
San Francisco, and making a through line 
from San Francisco to JSlew Orleans, about 
400 miles shorter than any transcontinental 
line now in existence. 

The following shows the number of yards 
of track and sidings of the different railroads 
iu the limits of the city of Dallas: 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



247 



TABDS. 

Texas & Pacific railway — main line 6,100 

" " " sidings 4,150 

" " " switches 800 

Missouri, Kansas & Texas railway — Dallas and 

Greenville, main line 6,000 

Dallas & Waco " " 4,800 

" " " switches 200 

Dallas & Wichita railway— main line 5,400 

" " " " switches 100 

Other sidings and switches of the M. K. & T. 

system 3,850 

Texas Trunk railway — main line 2,400 

" " " sidings 600 

" " " switches 100 

Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe railway — main line. .10,650 

" " " sidings.... 4,500 

" " " switches.. 1,100 

Houston «& Texas Central railway — main line. . .11,700 

sidings .... 2,800 

" " " switches. . . 700 

Total yards 65,950 

or 37.47 miles of railroad track (not including street 
and rapid-transit lines) in the city limits. 



TEXAS STATE FAIR AND DALLAS 
EXPOSITION. 

No institutiou has ever been established in 
Dallas county that has ever attracted more 
attention from abroad and excited more pride 
among tlie citizens, not only of Dallas county, 
but also througliout the entire Stat«, than the 
Texas State Fair, and Dallas Exposition. It 
has not only impressed the people abroad that 
Dallas is the foremost city in the State, but 
also that her citizens cannot be surpassed in 
enterprise and vim. 

It is located on a beautiful rolling prairie 
east of the city, about two miles from the 
courtiiouse; and there are to the ground a 
rapid-transit electric street-car line, and the 
Missouri & Pacific railroad also runs by the 
ground, thereby affording ample accommoda- 



tion to the immense crowds that gather in Dal- 
las, to witness the great exhibition each year. 
For an elaborate detail of the history of this 
great institution, we give in full an article 
written by Sidney Smith of Dallas, ex-secre- 
tary of the association, and published in 
October (1891) issue of The Round Table, a 
literary monthly journal of the city. 

The following are the present officers of the 
Texas State Fair and Dallas Exposition: J. 
E. Schneider, president; J. N. Simpson, 
vice-president; J. S. Armstrong, treasurer; 
C. A. Cour, secretary. 

The present managers are making great 
efforts to make the coming fair of October, 
1892, the grandest of all previously exhibited. 

This great fair has certainly gained a 
national reputation, and men of national 
reputation have met the people of Texas, and 
delivered addresses on subjects of interest 
on such occasions. Among the most noted 
from a distance were Hon. Francis, Governor 
of Missouri, and Hon. Robert Taylor, then 
Governor of Tennessee. On the day Gov- 
ernor Francis delivered his address, there 
were so many Missourians present re- 
joicing in enthusiastic demonstrations, that 
it seemed Missourians only lived in Texas; 
and when Bob Taylor came, he felt as if 
ho were at home in Tennessee. Everybody 
seemed to him to be from his State. Tennes- 
seeans flocked in from every section of the 
State, and, like the Missourians, appeared to 
populate the State. And when that great young 
orator, Henry W. Grady, of Georgia, the pride 
and boast of the South, came, Georgians 



HI STORY OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



flocked to hear him in thousands; and just 
such another day was never witnessed before 
or since the 27th day of October, the day 
this most eloquent and divinely gifted young 
orator of Georgia, delivered his great oration, 
said by many to iiave been really the greatest 
speech of his life. As it has been pronounced 
as a gem of literary production to be pre- 
served in history, and as it was one of the 
greatest speeches ever delivered in Dallas 
county, we give it nearly in full, together with 
the invitation sent liiin, the correspondence, 
and arrangement made by the committee of 
reception. 

'' Probably no one enterprise in the whole 
history of Dallas developed so great a sur- 
prise, even to its projectors themselves, and 
has brought and continues to bring such last- 
ing and material benefits to the city and to 
the State at large, as the Texas State Fair and 
Dallas Exposition. Its organization was 
completed in the early part of 1886, the 
following named gentlemen being chosen as 
directors, to serve for the first year: J. B. 
Simpson, T. L. Marsalis, Alexander Sanger, 
J. S. Armstrong, W. J. Keller, J. M. Wen- 
delken, E. M. Reardon, W. H. Gaston, B. 
Blankensliip, wlio elected James B. Simpson 
president and Sydney Smitli, secretary, with 
C. A. Cour as assistant, and Mrs. Sydney 
Smith, as superintentendent of the Ladies 
Department. Captain W. M. Johnson, who 
had formerly served the city for eight years 
in that capacity, was appointed as engineer 
in charge of grounds, and .1 udge J. II. Dills, 
of Sherman, Texas, was employed to lay off 
and bnikl tiie race track. 



"The selection of the site was concluded in 
April, and work begun in July of that year. 
From that time until October 26 — the open- 
ing day — ninety acres of wild, unimproved 
hog-wallow prairie had been transformed into 
a beautiful park. The citizens of Dallas 
themselves could hardly realize how such a 
transformation could have taken place, and 
visitors from abroad positively refused to 
believe that these beautiful grounds, complete 
in every requirement for a first-class fair and 
exposition, were the results of less than four 
months' work. But to effect this mighty 
change had required the continuous labors of 
more than 300 carpenters and 150 two-mule 
teams from July to the night of October 25. 
The gates were thrown open the morning of 
the 26th, and neither the sound of hammer 
nor saw could be heard on the grounds. The 
work was complete. It had ceased at 12 
o'clock the night before. 

" Each member of that directory had put 
his shoulder to the wheel, and it was said that 
the executive committee and secretary had 
parted each night at 12 o'clock to tneet on 
the grounds at 7 o'clock the next morning. 
To be a member of that directory in good 
standing, meant almost a total neglect of pri- 
vate business as well as the loan of money 
and credit with which to carry forward the 
enterprise. 

" Dallas had two fairs on her hands that 
year, each contending for the supremacy and 
each managed by her liveliest business men. 
The entire State was ablaze with excitement 
over this freak, and the general opinion was 
that Dallas was smartly overdoing the fair 



nrSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



249 



business; but Dallas as usual was equal to the 
occasion, and hence both fairs continued to 
a successful holding the same week. Fair 
stock, it is true, was not much sought after 
by the average citizen, and humanity could 
not resist the temptation of taking advantage 
of this rivalry, by bidding each a Godspeed 
and helping neither. As an evidence of this, 
when the first fair had closed its gates after 
a run of eleven days, $179,000 had been ex- 
pended in the purchase of grounds, erection 
of buildings, cost of premiums, purses, etc., 
and $50,000 had been taken in from visitors; 
the entire stock paid in covered less than 
$27,000, and more than half of this amount 
had l)een paid in by the directors themselves, 
who, in addition to this, were carrying the 
entire indebtedness of the association in their 
own personal accounts. But the fair had 
been a grand success and the entire city was 
in smiles over its happy effects. 

" More than one hundred thousand visitors 
had seen Dallas, and each had left behind 
him a few dollars, aggregating, it was esti- 
mated, more than five hundred thousand dol- 
lars which had circulated in and through every 
stylo of business. None so humble that did not 
receive a part, and none so grand as to ignore 
its good effects. Congratulations seemed to 
be the order of the day, and a general good 
feeling was felt all over the city. The two 
rival fairs were at once consolidated, the 
charter of each being canceled and a new 
company organized with increased capital 
stock. The name selected was the Texas 
Slate Fair and Dallas Exposition, being a 



consolidation of the names as well as the in- 
terests of the former rivals. The following 
named gentlemen, former directors of the two 
rival associations, were chosen as directors of 
the new: James Maroney, li. V. Tompkins, 
T. L. Marsalis, W. H. Gaston, J. A. Hughes, 
B. Blankenship, A. J. Porter, E. M. Keardon, 
J. E. Schneider, F. M. Cockrell, Alexander 
Sanger, C. A. Keating, A. B. Taber. James 
Moroney was elected president, and Sydney 
Smith was again elected secretary, with C. A. 
Cour as assistant. 

" Each of the rival grounds was offered for 
sale to the new company, and over the entrance 
gate of the one selected was inscribed '• The 
Texas State Fair," locked in hands with " The 
Dallas Exposition," thereby publishing to the 
world that all conflicting interests had been 
blended in name as well as deed for the good 
of the common cause. Immediate prepar- 
ations were set on foot for a grand entertain- 
ment. 

" The grounds were increased by the pur- 
chase of thirty acres additional ground and 
the erection of such new buildings as were 
necessary to accommodate the increased de- 
mands from exhibitors. 

" The gates were thrown open October 20, 
1887, and closed on November 5, following; 
the result of which cannot be better told than 
by quoting from the files of The Dallas 
News of December of that year, giving in full 
the secretary's annual report of that year, 
which closed as follows: 'In conclusion I 
beg to report that the total cost of your real 
estate, $49,980, covers a body of land 120 



250 



HISTORY OP DALLAS OOUNTY. 



acres in extent and situated less than two 
miles from the center of your city, and tak- 
ing into consideration the fact that lands 
adjoining these are now selling for $1,500 to 
$2,000 per acre as fast as they are put on the 
market. I do not think it an over-estimate to 
place yours at the maximum, viz.: $180,000. 

" ' The total cost of your building and im- 
provement account, $177,322.71, covers a 
full mile regulation track first-class in every 
respect, five miles of graveled drives and 
walks inside your grounds, an exposition 
building 200x300 feet; a horticultural hall 
60x180 feet; a farm and mill product hall 
16x200 feet; a poultry building 16x200 
feet; a geological hall 45 x 45 feet; an agri- 
cultural implement hall 60x600 feet; a 
power hall 75 x 300 feet, and fitted with all 
necessary boilers, engines, shafting and 
pulleys; two rows of privilege booths, one 
48 X 200 feet, and the other 50 x 200 feet; a 
grand stand 50x250 feet; 184 race stables 
12x14 feet eacii; 100 exhibition horse sta- 
bles 10x12 feet each; 500 stalls for cattle, 
and pens for 500 sheep and swine. Your 
grounds are supplied with water through 
5,000 feet of service pipe, owned by your 
association, and they are ornamented by shade 
trees, evergreens, flowering shrubs and roses 
donated to you by exhibitors, and the whole 
is enclosed by an eight-foot tight board 
painted fence, some 10,000 feet in length. 
The great St. Louis Exposition, standing to- 
day without an equal, and as a living memo- 
rial to the city's enterprise, located in the 
midst of her 300,000 population, supported 



by 2,000 stockholders, with a capital stock of 
$1,000,000, aided by her trades unions, her 
veiled prophets, her brilliant street illumi- 
nations, and honored by the presence of our 
nation's ruler, held open doors for forty days, 
with $126,000 receipts. 

"' The Texas State Fair and Dallas Expo- 
sition, a mere infant in age, scarce two years 
old, located in a city of less than 50,000 
soulS; and aided by nothing save its own 
merits, ran seventeen days and took .in 
$78,916.'" 

•' The comparison speaks for itself. Thus 
closed the second fair. The clouds of doubt 
and adversity began to break away and let in 
the sunshine and prosperity, and it became a 
permanency. 

" The public with one accord began to 
appreciate, and pronounced it a most potent 
factor in the development of the many ad- 
vantages and vast resources of the State at 
large, and the third entertainment was organ- 
ized with J. S. Armstrong, one of the old 
stand-bys, as president, who was supported 
by a directory composed of the veterans who 
had enlisted on the first call and who fell in 
ranks confident of the glorious success which 
crowned their efforts during the twenty-one 
days— October 11 to 31, 1888— they held 
open gates. 

" The Fourth Annual Fair and Exposition 
October 15 to 27, 1889, was organized with 
the Hon. Henry Exall at the helm as presi- 
dent, C. A. Cour as secretary, with Leo 
Wolfson assistant, and Mrs. E. L. Barlow in 
charge of the Ladies' Department. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



" It being a generally conceded fact that 
Colonel Exall was one of the best known men 
in the State, bright, active, courteous and 
popular, a bundle of concentrated energy, 
with Texas permanently lodged in his brain 
and her best interests at heart, it is not to be 
wondered at that under his administration 
the association scored another brilliant suc- 
cess, both as to the receipts and the pleasure 
and agreeable manner in which the crowd 
was handled and entertained. Encouraged by 
the great benefits derived from exhibitions at 
the previous fairs of 1887, 1888 and 1889, 
the attention of the country seemed to have 
been attracted. Live-stock breeders and 
raisers, manufacturers, merchants, mechanics, 
miners and educators, representing twenty- 
one States in our Union, had entered the list 
as exhibitors and seemed settled in the opin- 
ion that an exhibit by them at the Great 
Texas State Fair and Dallas Exposition would 
reap for them rich rewards. 

" Prominent counties in different por- 
tions of our State recognized the fact that in 
no better way could they lay before the capi- 
talist and the home-seeker their many claims 
and inducements, than by an exhibit of their 
soil products and general resources at these 
great fairs and expositions. Indeed, so great 
had grown the general interest that months 
before ihe opening day every available foot 
of space had been taken, and when the fifth 
entertainment was organized, with J. S. Arm- 
strong as president in charge, the demand for 
more space had grown so pressing the man- 
agement was forced either to increase facili- 



ties or dwarf the proportions of a Dallas 
enterprise far below the expectancy of the 
public. The former course was adopted, and 
every comfort and facility for both the visitor 
and exhibitor were prepared. An arena with 
grand stand attached was prepared for the 
better exhibition of stock of all kinds. A 
music hall, with a seating capacity of 3,000, 
was built for the music-loving class of visit- 
ors, and the Ladies' and Art Department, 
which had assumed such colossal proportions 
as to count their exhibitors from nearly every 
county in Texas, and from more than twenty- 
five different States of our Union, and which 
had grown to be one of the chief attractions 
of the Fair and Exposition, was fitted up in 
elegant apartments consisting of twelve rooms 
all connected with portiere openings, and in 
which were collected and classified the deft 
handiwork of women, showing their skill with 
the needle, and the artist with pencil and 
brush. In fact, nothing was left undone 
that ingenuity could devise or money procure 
for the entertainment as well as the education 
of the crowds of visitors who were expected 
to throng their gates. This entertainment 
opened its gates on October 18, 1890, and 
closed on the 2d day of November following, 
with total receipts of $105,000 as the offer- 
ings of a generous public in their apprecia- 
tion of the grandest entertainment that had 
ever been given in the Southwest. 

" It is a difficult task to properly estimate 
and appreciate the great benefit which this 
institution has brought to the State of Texas, 
and too much praise cannot well be accorded 



252 



HISTOUr OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



to the few citizens who stood by it in its 
infancy and spared neither tlieir time nor 
their money to uphold it in the face of all 
doubts and evil prophecies as to its certain 
failure. From the beginning they outlined 
a broad-gauge policy, all sectional tendency 
was ignored, and not Dallas in particular, but 
the interests and resources of the entire 
State were considered in every move. Exhi- 
bition accommodations, unsurpassed, were 
furnished free of cost. Premiums equal to 
any in the history of fairs and expositions, 
were offered and paid. Entertainments of 
every kind were procured for the amusement 
of visitors. 

"Band leaders with justly won laurels all 
over the civilized world, were employed in 
the musical department; and no visitor from 
any section where music is sung or played 
but who could hear some of the melodies of 
his fatherland at these entertainments. 

" Three hundred and eighty-three thousand 
dollars comprise the receipts from the five 
entertainments which have already been given 

and more than 500,000 people have seen 

Dallas and Texas by reason of these fairs and 
expositions. 

" Estimating that each left behind him $10 
during his stay in the State, and tlie magnifi- 
cent total of $5,000,000 has been parceled 
out into every style and grade of business, to 
say notiiitigof the millions of dollars invested 
in Texas, brought here by the wonderful 
resources of the State as shown up in minia- 
ture at the "grand exhibits made by Texas 
counties at these fairs. 



" The Sixth Annual Entertainment, which 
opens on October 17, 1891, is cliainpioned by 
the Hon. W. C. Connor as president, assisted 
by C. A. Cour as secretary, with Leo Wolf- 
son as assistant, and Mrs. Sydney Smith in 
cliarge of the Ladies' and Art Departments. 

" With this corps of able assistants wlio 
liave grown with the growth and strength- 
ened with the strength of tills institution, 
their labors and experience guided by their 
chief, whose record for the past four years as 
Mayor of Dallas has made his name a syn- 
onym of tact, talent and affability, assure 
the public that the coining entertainment will 
far surpass all of its predecessors. 

"Twenty -eight tliousand dollars are offered 
as purses in the racing department alone; 
and the running entries which have just 
closed show the roster to be 221. This de- 
partment, under the personal supervision of 
A. W. Campbell, a horseman of national repu- 
tation for cool judgment and faii-ness on all 
racing matters, now numbers its entries from 
every State from ('alifornia to Kentucky. 

" General Stanley, the courteous gentleman 
and commandant of tlie Department of the 
Southwest, has kindly consented to attend 
this fair and will bring with him a troop of 
LTnited States cavalry, and also the artillery 
commanded by the genial and ever popular 
Major Burbanks, and the exposition drills 
given by tliese well trained troops, will, of 
themselves, be worth all the cost and time 
it takes to see them. 

" Liberati, tiie world-renowned cornetist, 
has been secured to preside over the musical 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



263 



feature of the occasion. His name alone is 
an assurance of iiU that is refined and elegant 
in music, and be brings with hini fifty-one 
men, each an artist in his own line. 

" Kiralfy, who to the spectacular drama is 
what liarnum was to the circus, will occupy 
the Musical Hall nightly with his 100 people 
in the great spectacular of Around the World 
in Eighty Days. 

" These are but some of the many attrac- 
tions which have been procured, which, added 
to the grand display of the educational inter- 
ests, the soil and manufactured products, the 
mineral, ore, coal and timber resources of the 
Empire State; and these, combined with the 
immense stock shows, from the Northwest as 
well as from Texas, will furnish a pleasant 
day of education, entertainment and diver- 
sion for every visitor who may chance to 
come within their gates." 

INVITATION TO HENEY W. OKADY, ESQ. 

" In answer to the call of the directors of 
the fair in The News a few days ago, quite 
a number of the young men of Dallas met 
at the Merchants' Exchange to arrange to co- 
operate with the directors of the Texas State 
Fair and Datlas Exposition in celebrating 
Texas day of the programme of entertain- 
ment to be present in October. They decided 
to invite Henry W. (4rady, of Atlanta, Geor- 
gia, a distinguished young orator to deliver 
an address upon the development of the South 
with special reference to Texas. This eve- 
ning the invitation from the young men, ac- 
companied by one from the directors, will be 
forwarded. Charles PVed. Tucker, E6(|., who 

18 



was a college mate of Mr. Grady, will be 
asked to write a personal letter urging accept- 



ance. 



" The invitation gotten up by the young men 
is very beautiful. It was arranged by Mr. 
J. C Patton, chairman of the committee, 
and the pen engraving was designed by Prof. 

D. A. Griffitts. At the top of the first page 
are the words To the Hon. Henry W. 
Grady, Atlanta, Georgia, — elegantly written 
below which and in the center is a neat star 
worked as if finely lithographed, and across 
the face is written 'Invitation.' At the 
bottom are the words 'From the yonng men 
of Dallas, Texas.' The invitation on the 
second page is superbly written. Then 
come the names of the young men. There are 
nine leaves in all, and bound together at the 
top with red, white and blue ribbons, tied in 
lovely bows with ends hanging entirely over 
the front page. The following are the names 
of the young gentlemen who extended the in- 
vitation: James C. Patton, chairman; Hart- 
lett Sinclair, Kenneth Foree, K. C. Porter, 
A. B. George, W. J. J. Smith, A. P. Wozen- 
craft, Lafayette Fitzhugh, S. P. Morris, E. 
S. Lauderdale, Z. T. White, J. Welborn 
Jack, Freil. Porter, Thos. Buford, T. M. 
Jones, A. S. O'Neale, George C. Cole, Wm. 
J. Moroney, Geo. H. Plowman, Joe M. 
Dickson, K. K. Legett, C. F. Crntcher, W. 

E. Hawkins, Frank M. Crutcher, C. A. Cul- 
berson, Dudley G. Wooten, S. A. Leake, J. 
J. Eckford, J. S. Groco, P. Gray, W. II. 
Clark, Owen D. Burnette, Phii. B. Miller, 
H. L. McLaurin, H. I. Phillip, Charles Hen- 
ning, Tiiomas Scurry, E. G. Knight, D. A. 



254 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Griffitts, T. M. Campbell, W. J. Porter, 
Claude A. Cour, D. Scruggs, C. B. Lewis, 
E. K. Fonda, L. A. Garrison, Otto S. Lam- 
mers, John N. Baker, M. Trice, Linus S. 
Kinder, F. D. Cosby, John T. Ginnocchio, 
S. S. Long, W. B. Wilmans, T. L. Monagan, 
Eugene Marshall, Joe Kecord, D. H. Eldridge, 
K. M. Miers. 

"A News man called on President Arm- 
strong at his headquarters at the fair grounds 
and learned what may be found in the fol- 
lowing letter: 

"Atlanta, Georgia, October. 11. 

" J/r. J. S. Armstrong, pj^esideni of the 
Texas State Fair and Dallas Exposition. 

My Dear Sir — I write yon because I liave 
misplaced the letter addressed to me by the 
representative of your association, and which 
came by even mail, with the invitation from 
the young men of Dallas to be present at 
your fair on October 27, and make an ad- 
dress. I have officially notified Mr. Patton, 
as chairman of the committee of the young 
men of Dallas, of my acceptance of the invi- 
tation; and I now write to you to ask for 
certain details as to the date and as to what 
is expected of me. I regret that I have not 
been able to make this acceptance earlier, but 
I did not see my way clear to coming at all 
when I first received the invitation and held 
it up in the hope that I might work out the 
way to accept it, which I have done. 1 pro- 
pose to leave here about the 24th and reach 
Dallas on the 26th. President Norton of the 
Louisville & Nashville roads has tendered 
me his private car and a number of my 
friends will go with me, including Governor 
Gordon, e.x-Goveriior McDaniel, Judge New- 
man, Senator Colquitt, Mr. Evan P. Howell, 
my partner in the constitution, Hon. A. 



O. Bacon, Speaker Little and a half dozen 
others of the leading citizens of Georgia. 
We will probably pick up Senator Morgan 
of Alabama on our way through that State. 
It is possible that President Norton of the 
Louisville & Nashville road and John H. 
Inman of New York will come with us; also 
S. M. Inman of Atlanta. If so they will use 
John Inman's car and will fill it with a num- 
ber of New York and Richmond capitalists. 
We will be comfortal)ly tixed in our car and 
provided with everything, so that no arrange- 
ment need to be made to entertain myself and 
my friends. It is probable that we may re- 
main in Dallas for two days and will go to 
see the State capitol, as Mr. Thomas of our 
capitol commission will be one of the party, 
and we may take a three or four days' trip 
through Texas. I do not desire, nor do my 
friends, to take one moment of your time 
that will necessarily be occupied while we 
are there, and we will be able to take care of 
ourselves while in Texas. I simply give 
you our programme in order that you may 
see that you can put me in whenever you please 
in your proceedings. I am going to make a 
feature of reporting the Fair for the Constitu- 
tion and will probably send Mr. Cooper of 
my staff to Dallas three or four days ahead 
of ray coming. In that event I shall ask 
your courtesy in his behalf, and that you 
will see that he has access to all legitimate 
avenues of information. 

" I will be obliged if you can give me any 
information on these points. AYhen am 1 
to speak? At what time of day? In open 
air, or in hall? I should very much prefer 
the latter. What will be the probable size 
of the audience? I ask this because I have 
fears of my voice, although I have frequently 
been heard with ease by ten or twelve thou- 
sand people. Now, then, is it necessary that 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT}'. 



255 



I should take the especial subject suggested 
ill the invitation? I prefer to make the ad- 
dress on the Soutli, its opportunities, and the 
duties of its yonn<]; men; and I would per- 
haps not be able to devote as much of it to 
Texas as your people might wish. Yours 
very truly, U. W. Gbady." 

The following also speaks for itself: 

Atlanta, Georgia, October 11, 1888. 

J. C. Patton, Esq., Dallas, Texas. 

" My Dear Sir — As 1 advised you by tele- 
graph this morning, it gives rae pleasure to 
be able to accept the kind invitation of the 
young men of Dallas to be present at your State 
Fair on October 27, and deliver an address. 
Let me assure you that no honor could be 
paid me that I value more highly than to be 
asked by the young men of the South to come 
into council with them as to what we had 
best do to get the South a fuller independence 
than our fathers ever sought to compel in 
the forum by their eloquence, or to win in 
the Held by their swords. Thanking you 
especially for the kind words in which the 
invitation was conveyed, and the young men 
associated with you for their courteous com- 
pliment, 1 am yours very truly, 

" H. W. Gradt." 

The programme as arranged on reception 
and entertainment was thus announced: 

Next Friday Honorable Henry W. Grady 
and party will arrive in the city, and be 
present at the Fair on Texas Day. The fol- 
lowing is the programme for their reception 
and entertainment: 

1. An informal reception at the Windsor 
Friday evening from 8 to 10. 

2. Saturday — A drive through the city 
from the Windsor at 9:30 a. m., reaching the 
Fair grounds at 11 a. m. At 11:30 a. in. 



Mr. Grady will speak from the stand fronting 
the grand stand. 

3. Between 1 and 2 p. m. a lunch will be 
served to the guests in the club room at the 
Fair grounds. 

4. At 3 p. m. there will be speaking by 
Governor Gordon and others, the speakers to 
be introduced by Messrs. Gibbs, Tucker, 
Exall and Simpson. 

The following comprise the entire recep- 
tion committee: 

James B. Simpson, chairman; Sawnie Rob- 
ertson, Chas. Fred Tucker, Barnett Gibbs, 
Henry Exall, W. E. Hughes, W. C. Connor, 
J. 0. Fatten, C. A. Culberson, Dudley 
Wooten, N. W. Fairbanks, T. V. Rhodes, 
J. J. Eckford, W. L. Cabell, W. L. Crawford, 
R. E. Cowart. 

MK. GRADy's OKEAT SPEECH 

was made to a gathering of upward of 10,- 

000 Texans, and it concerned the future of 

the two races, what the South owes the negro, 

and what his place in progress should be: 

the wonderful possibilities of the South. 

Texas Day at the Fair was made memorable 

by the address of the Honorable Henry W. 

Grady, of the Atlanta Cmistitution. It' there 

were any douijt of his popularity in Texas it 

were only necessary to call in evidence bis 

magnificent audience. So great was it that 

had he 

"A hundred mouths, 
A hundred tongues, 
An iron throat 
Inspired with brazen lungs," 

the sound of his voice could not have reached 

the last of the multitude. The grand stand. 



266 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



with a seating capacity of 7,000, was packed, 
as also was the large space in front of and 
under it. The gathering was estimated at 
10,000, bnt that does not cover all who had 
come to hear Mr. Grady, for large bodies of 
people, after discovering that the could not 
get within hearing distance walked away re- 
solved to read his speech in the Neios. Shortly 
before 11 o'clock Liberati's band struck up 
an operatic air, which, thongh beautiful, did 
not contain tlie kind of fire that the crowd 
wanted to warm their souls at; but they were 
equal to the occasion, and "Dixie," uttered in 
a squeaky voice at the reporters' stand, went 
from mouth to mouth until it reached a 
mighty yell. The band tiien struck up that 
tune so sacred to past memories, and it was 
cheered at every one of its angles. As the 
last strains of Dixie died away Mr. Grady 
and the other distinguished orators mounted 
the stand, which, owing to hurry, anc}, per- 
haps, a little confusion, had been erected 
without ornamentation. Mr. Grady was in- 
troduced by Mr. Charles Fred Tucker, whose 
speech was quite lengthy and frequently in- 
terrupted by calls for Grady — calls that were 
indicative of the impatience of the throng and 
not intended to be disrespectful of Mr. Tucker. 

Mr. Grady began his address without even 
the customary preface, "Ladies and gentle- 
men." He seemingly felt that he was ad- 
dressing the South collectively, and that no 
such preface was necessary. The delivery of 
his address consumed about an hour and a 
lialf, and he throughout held complete control 
of his audience, whom he swayed witli marked 



emotional effect, and whose applause was at 
times and ofttimes deafening. lie said: 

"Who saves his country saves all things, 
and all things saved will bless him. Who 
lets his country die, lets all things die, and 
all things dying curse him." 

These words are graven on the statue of 
Benjamin H. Hill in the city of Atlanta, and 
in their spirit I shall speak to you to-day. 

Mr. President and Fellow Citizens: I 
salute the first city of the grandest State of 
the greatest government on this earth. In 
paying earnest compliment to this thriving 
city and this generous multitude, 1 need not 
cumber speech with argument or statistics. 
It is enough to say that my friends and my- 
self make obeisance this moi-ning to the chief 
metropolis of the State of Texas. If it but 
holds this pre-eminence — and who can doubt 
in this auspicious presence that it will---the 
uprising tide of Texas' prosperity will carry 
it to glories unspeakable. For 1 say in 
soberness, the future of this marvelous and 
amazing empire, that gives broader and deeper 
significance to statehood by accepting its 
modest naming, the mind of man can neither 
measure nor comprehend. 

I shall be pardoned for resisting the inspir- 
ation of this presence and adhering to-day to 
blunt and rigorous speech, for there are times 
when fine words are paltry, and this seems to 
me to be such a time. So I shall turn away 
from the thunders of the political battle upon 
which every American hangs intent, and re- 
press the ardor that at this time rises in every 
American heart; for there are issues that 
strike deeper than any political tlieorj' has 
reached, and conditions of which j^artisanry 
has taken and can take but little account. 
Let me therefore with studied plainness, and 
with such precision as possible, in a spirit of 
fraternity that is broader than party limita- 



niSTORT OF DALLAS COUNT y. 



257 



tions, and deeper than political motive, dis- 
cuss with you certain problems upon the wise 
and prompt solution of which depends the 
glory and prosperity of the South. 

But why, for let us make our way slowly, 
why the South? In an indivisible Union, 
in a republic against the integrity of which 
sword shall never be drawn or mortal hand 
uplifted, and in which the rich blood gather- 
ing in the common heart is sent throbbing 
into every part of the body politic, why is 
one section held separated from the rest in 
alien consideration? We can understand 
why this should be so in a city that has a 
community of local interests, or in a State still 
clothed in that sovereignty of which the de- 
bates of peace and the storm of war have not 
stripped her. lint why should a number of 
States, stretching from Richmond to Galves- 
ton, together by no local interests, held in no 
autonomy, be thus combined and drawn into 
a common center? That man would be ab- 
surd who declaimed in Buft'alo against tiie 
wrongs of the Middle States, or who demand- 
ed in Chicago a convention for the West, to 
consider the needs of that section. If then 
it be provincialism that holds the South to- 
gether, let us outgrow it; if it be sectionalism 
let us root it out of our hearts; but if it be 
something deeper than these and essential to 
our system, let us declare it with frankness, 
consider it with respect, defend it with iirm- 
ness and in dignity abide its consequence. 
What is it that holds the Southern States, 
though true in thought and deed to the Union, 
so closely bound in sympathy to day? For a 
century these States championed a govern- 
mental theory, but that, having triumphed in 
every forum, fell at last by the sword. They 
maintained an institution, but that having 
been administered in tiie fullest wisdom of 
men, fell at last last in the higher wisdom of 



God. They fought a war, but the preju- 
dices of that war have died, its sympathies 
have broadened and its memories are already 
the priceless treasure of the republic that is 
cemented forever with its blood. They looked 
out together upon the ashes of their 
homes and the desolation of their fields; but 
out of pitiful resources they have fashioned 
their homes anew, and plenty rides on the 
springing harvests. In all the past there ig 
nothing to draw them into essential or last- 
ing alliance, nothing in all that heroic record 
that cannot be rendered unfearing from pro- 
vincial hands into the keeping of American 
history. 

But the future holds a problem, in solving 
which the South must stand alone, in dealing 
with which she must come closer tojjether 
than ambition or despair have driven her, 
and on the outcome of which her very exist- 
ence depends. This problem is to carry 
within her body politic, two separate races, 
equal in civil and political rights, and nearly 
equal in numbers. She must carry these 
races in peace, for discord means ruin. She 
must carry them .separately, for assimilation 
means debasement. She must carry them in 
equal justice, for to this she is pledged in 
honor and in gratitude. She must carry 
them even unto the end, for in human prob- 
ability she will never be quit of either. This 
burden no other people bears to-day ; on none 
hath it ever rested. Without precedent or 
companionship the Soutli must bear this prob- 
lem, the awful responsibility of which should 
win the sympathy of all human kind and the 
protecting watchfulness of God, alone, even 
unto the end. Set by this problem apart 
from all other peoples of the earth, and her 
unique position emphasized rather than re- 
lieved, as I shall show hereafter, by her ma- 
terial conditions, it is not only fit but it is also 



258 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



essential that she should hold her brother- 
hood unimpaired, quicken her sympathies, 
and in the \\^\\t or in the shadows of this sur- 
passing problem, work out her own salvation 
in the fear of God, but of God alone. 

What shall the South do to be saved? 
Through what paths shall she reach the endl 
Through what travail or with what splendors 
shall she give to the Union this section, its 
wealth garnered, its resources utilized, and 
its rehabitation complete — and restore to the 
world this problem, solved in such justice as 
the finite mind can measure, or Unite hand 
administer? 

In dealing with this I sliall dwell on two 
points. 

First, the duty of the South in its relation 
to the race problem. 

Second, the duty of the South in relation 
to its no less unique and important industrial 
problem. 

I approach this discussion with a sense of 
consecration. I beg jour patient and cor- 
dial sympathy. And I invoke the Almighty 
God, that having showered on this people 
His fullest riches has put their hands to this 
task, that He will draw near unto us, as he 
drew near unto troubled Israel, and lead us 
in the ways of honor and uprightness, even 
through a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar 
of fire by night. 

What of the negro? This of him. I want 
no better friend than the black l)oy who was 
raised by my side, and who is now trudging 
patiently with downcast eyes and shambling 
figure through his lowly way in life. I want 
no sweeter music than the crooning of my 
old " mammy," now dead and gone to rest, 
as she held me in her loving arms, and bend- 
ino- her old black face above me stole the 
cares from my brain and led me smiling into 
sleep. I want no truer soul than that which 



moved the trusty slave, who for four years 
while my father fought with the armies that 
barred his freedom, slept every night at my 
mother's chamber ' door, holding her and her 
children as safe as if her iiusband stood 
guard, and ready to lay down his humble life 
on her threshhold. History has no parallel 
to the faith kept by the negro in the South 
during the war. Often 500 negroes to a 
single white man, and yet through these 
dusky throngs the women and children 
walked in safety, and the unprotected homes 
rested in peace. Uumarshaled, the black 
battalions moved patiently to the fields in the 
morning to feed the armies their idleness 
would have starved, and at night gathered 
anxiously at the big house to " hear the news 
from master," though conscious that his vic- 
tory made their chains enduring. Every- 
where humble and kindly. The body guard 
of the helpless. The rough companion of the 
little ones. The observant friend. The silent 
sentry in his lowly cabin. The shrewd coun- 
selor. And when the dead came home, a 
mourner at the open grave. A thousand 
torches would have disbanded every southern 
army, but not one was lighted. When the 
master going to a war in which slavery was 
involved said to his slave, " I leave my home 
and loved ones in your charge," the tender- 
ness between man and master stood dis- 
closed. And when the slave held that charge 
sacred through storm and temptation, he 
gave new meaning to faith and loyalty. I re- 
joice that when freedtnn came to him after 
years of waiting it was all the sweeter be- 
cause the black hands from which the 
shackles fell were stainless of a single crime 
against the helpless ones confided to his 
care. 

From this root, imbedded in a century of 
kind and constant companionship, has sprung 



niSTORY OF DALLAS COUNT F. 



359 



some strange folian^e. As no race has ever 
lived in such unresisting bondage, none was 
ever liurried with such swiftness tlirougli 
freedom into power. Into hands still trem- 
bling from the blow that broke the shackles 
was thrust tlie ballot. In less than twelve 
months from the time he walked down the 
furrow a slave, the negro dictated, in legis- 
lative halls from which Davis and Calhoun 
had gone forth, the policy of twelve com- 
monwealths. When his late master pro- 
tested against his misrule, the Federal drum- 
beat rolled around his strongholds, and from 
a hedge of Federal bayonets he grinned in 
good-natured insolence. From the proven 
incapacity of that day has he far advanced? 
Simple, credulous, impulsive; easily led and 
too often easily bought, — is he a safer, more 
intelligent citizen now than then ? Is this mass 
of votes, loosed from old restraints, inviting 
alliance or awaiting opportunity, less menac- 
ing than when its purpose was plain and its 
way was direct? 

My countrymen, right here the South must 
make a decision on which very much depends. 
Many wise men hold that the white vote of 
the South should divide, the color line be 
beaten down, and the Southern States ranged 
on economic or moral questions as interest 
or belief demands. I am compelled to dissent 
from this view. The worst thing, in my 
opinion, that could happen is, that tlio white 
people of the South should stand in opposing 
factions, with the vast mass of ignorant or 
purchasable negro votes between. Consider 
such a status. If the negroes were skilfully 
led it would give them the balance of power 
— a thing not to be considered. If their vote 
was not compacted, it would invite the de- 
bauching bid of factions, and drift surely to 
that which was most corrupt and cunning. 
With the shiftless habit and irresolution of 



slavery days still possessing him, the negro 
voter will not in this generation, adrift from 
war issues, become a steadfast partisan 
through conscience or conviction. In every 
community there are colored men who redeem 
their race from this reproach, and who vote 
under reason. Perhaps in time the bulk of 
this race may thus adjust itself. But, through 
what long and monstrous periods of political 
debauchery this status would Ije reached, no 
tongue can tell. 

The clear and unmistakable domination of 
the white race — dominating not through 
violence, not through purchased alliance, but 
through the integrity of its own vote and the 
largeness of its sympathy and justice through 
which it shall win the support of the better 
classes of the colored race — that is the hope 
and assurance of the South. Otherwise the 
negro would be bandied from one faction to 
another. His credulity would be played 
upon, his cupidity tempted, his impulses mis- 
directed, his passions inflamed. He would 
be forever in alliance with that faction which 
was the most desperate and unscrupulous. 
Such a state would be worse than reconstruc- 
tion, for then intelligence was banded, and 
its speedy triumph assured. But with intel- 
ligence and property divided — bidding and 
overbidding for plac« and patronage — irrita- 
tion increasing with each conflict — the bitter- 
ness of desperation seizing every heart, 
political debanchery deepening as each fac- 
tion staked its all in the miserable game, 
there would be no end to this, until our 
suffrage was hopelessly sullied, our people 
forever divided, and our most sacred riirhts 
surrendered. 

One thing further should be said in per- 
fect frankness. Up to this point we have 
dealt with ignorance and corruption; but 
beyond this point a deeper issue confronts 



260 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



us. Ignorance may struggle to enlighten- 
ment; out of corruption may come the incor- 
ruptible. God speed that day. Every true 
man in the South will pray for it and work 
for it. Through education the negro must 
be led to know, and through sympathy to 
confess, that his interests and the interests of 
the people of the South are identical. The 
men who from afar off view this subject 
through the cold eye of speculation, or see it 
distorted throngh partisan glasses, insist that, 
directly or indirectly, the negro race will be 
put in control of the affairs of the South. 
We have no fear of this. Already we are 
attaching to us the best element of that 
race. As we proceed our alliance will 
broaden. External pressure but irritates and 
impedes. Those who would put the negro 
race in supremacy would work against a 
divine and infallible decree, for the white race 
can never submit to its domination, because 
the white race is the superior race. 

This is the declaration of no new truth; it 
has abided forever in the marrow of our bones 
and shall run forever with the blood that 
feeds Anglo-Saxon hearts. In political com- 
pliance the South has evaded the truth and 
men have drifted from their convictions. But 
we cannot escape this issue; it faces us where- 
ever we turn. It is an issue that has been 
and will be. The races and tribes of earth 
are of divine origin. Behind the laws of man 
and the decrees of war stands the law of God. 
What God hath separated let no man join to- 
gether. The Indian, the Malay, the negro, 
the Caucasian, these types stand as markers 
of God's will. Let not man tinker with the 
work of the Almighty. Unity of civilization, 
no more than unity of faith, will never be 
witnessed on earth. No race has risen or 
will rise above its ordained place. Here is 
the pivotal fact of this great matter: Two 



races are made equal in law and in political 
rights, between whom the caste of race has 
set an impassable gulf. This gulf is bridged 
by a statute and the races are urged to cross 
thereon. This cannot be. The fiat of the 
Almiglity has gone forth, and in eighteen 
centuries of history it is written. We would 
escape this issue if we could. From the 
depth of its soul the South invokes from 
heaven " peace • on earth and good will to 
man." She would not if she could cast this 
race back into the condition from which we 
daily thank God it was raised. She would 
not deny its smallest or abridge its fullest 
privilege. Not to lift this burden forever 
from her people would she do the least of 
these things. She must walk through the 
v^alley of the shadow, for God has so ordained. 
But he has ordained that she shall walk in 
that integrity of race that, created in His wis- 
dom, has been perpetuated in His strength. 
Standing in the presence of this multitude, 
sobered with the responsibility of the mess- 
age I deliver to the young men of the South 
1 declare that the truth above all others to be 
worn unsullied and sacred in your hearts, to 
be surrendered to no force, sold at no price, 
compromised in no necessity, hut cherished 
and defended as the covenant of your pros- 
perity, and the pledge of peace to your chil- 
dren, is that the white race can never submit 
to the direct or indirect domination of the 
race that insolent tinkers with divine decree 
would put above us, but that the white race 
must and will control the South. 

It is a race issue at last. Let us come to 
this point, and stand here. Here the air is 
pure and the light is clear, and here honor 
and ])eace abide. Juggling and evasion de- 
ceives not a man. Cotnpromise and subser- 
vience has carried not a point. There is not 
a white man North or South who does nto 



niSTORY OV DALLAS COUNTT. 



261 



feel it stir in the gray matter of his brain 
and throb in his heart. Not a negro wlio 
does not feel its power. It is not a sectional 
issue. It speaks in Ohio and in Georgia. It 
speaks wherever the Anglo-Sa.\on touches an 
alien race. It has just spoken in universally 
approved legislation in excluding the China- 
man from our gates, not for his ignorance, 
veins of corruption, but because he sought 
to estal)li8h an inferior race in a republic 
fashioned in the wisdom and defended by the 
blood of a homogeneous people. 

The Anglo-Saxon blood has dominated al- 
ways and everywhere. It fed Alfred's veins 
when he wrote the charter of Eiiglish liberty; 
it gathered about Hampden as he stood be- 
neath the oak; it thundered in Cromwell's 
veins as he fought his king; it humbled Na- 
poleon at Waterloo; it has touched the desert 
and jungle with undying glory; it carried 
the drumbeat of England around the world 
and spread on every continent tlie gospel of 
liberty and of God; it established this Repub- 
lic, carved it from the wilderness, conquered 
it from the Indians, wrested it from England, 
and at last, stilling its own tumult, conse- 
crated it forever as the home of the Anglo- 
Saxon, and the theater of his transcending 
achievement. Never one foot of it can I)o 
surrendered while that blood lives in Ameri- 
can veins, and feeds American hearts, to the 

domination of an alien and inferior race. 
* « « 

This problem is not only enduring, but it 
is widening. The exclusion of the China- 
man is the first step in the revolution that 
shall save liberty and law and religion to this 
land, and in peace and order, not enforced on 
the gallows or at the bayonet's end, but pro- 
ceeding from the heart of an harmonious 
people shall secure in the enjoyment of these 
rights, and control of tliis Republic, the 



homogeneous people that established and has 
maintained it. The next step will be taken 
when some brave statesman looking demagogy 
in the face shall tuove to call to the stranger 
at our gates " Who comes here?" admitting 
every man who seeks a home, or honors our 
institutions, and whose habit and blood will 
run with the native current, but excluding 
all who seek to plant anarchy or to establish 
alien men or measures on our soil; and will 
then demand that the standard of our citizen- 
ship be lifted and the right of acquiring our 
suffrage be abridged. When tliat day comes, 
and God speed its coming, the position of 
the South will be fully understood, and 
everywhere approved. Until then let us, 
giving the negro every right, civil and politi- 
cal, measured in that fullness the strong 
should always accord the weak, holding him 
in closer friendship and sympathy than he is 
held by those who would crucify us for his 
sake, realizing that on his prosperity our's 
depends,— let us resolve that never by exter- 
nal pressure or internal division shall he 
establish domination, directly or indirectly, 
over that race that everywhere has maintained 
its supremacy. (Applause.) Let this reso- 
lution be cast on the lines of equity and 
justice. Let it be the pledge of honest, safe 
aiul impartial administration, and we shall 
command the support of the colored race 
itself, more dependent than any other on tho 
bounty and protection of government. Let 
us be wise and patient, and we shall secure 
through his acquiescence what otherwise we 
should win in conflict and liold uncertainty. 
And as in slavery we led the slave through 
kindness to heights his race in Africa will 
never reach, so in freedom through wisdom 
and justice we shall lead him a freeman to a 
prosperous contentmunt to which his friends 
in the North have slight conct^ption. What 



262 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY- 



is stolen from him in frand is unworthy, and 
shall not endure. What is taken in violence 
is worse. What he yields to a policy that 
commands his sympathy, and which he will 
help to enforce, — that is precious, and out of 
it shall come healing and peace. (Applause.) 

All this in no unkindnesss to the negro, 
but rather that he may be led in justice and 
in peace to his uttermost good. Not in sec- 
tionalism, for my heart beats true to the 
Union, to the glory of which your life and 
heart is pledged; not in disregard of the 
world's opinion, for to render back this prob- 
lem in the world's approval is the sum of my 
ambition and the height of human achieve- 
ment. (Applause.) Not in reactionary 
spirit, but rather to make clear that new 
and grander way by which the South is 
mai-ching to higher destiny, and on which I 
would not halt her for all the spoils that have 
been gathered unto parties since Cataline 
conspired and Cissar fouglit. Not in passion, 
ray countrymen, but in reason; not in nar- 
rowness, but in breadth, — that we may solve 
this problem iu calmness, and in truth, and 
lifting its shadows let perpetual sunshine 
pour down on two races, walking together in 
peace and contentment. Then shall this 
problem, that threatened our ruin, have 
proved our blessing, and work our salvation. 
Then the South, putting behind her all the 
achievements of her past — and in war and in 
peace tliey beggar eulogy — may stand upright 
among the nations and challenge tlie judg- 
ment of man and tlie approval of God, in 
having worked out in their sympathy and in 
His guidance, this last and surpassing mira- 
cle of human government. (A thunder of 
applause.) 

What of the South's industrial problem? 
When we remember that amazement followed 
the payment by thirty-seven million French- 



men of a billion dollars indemnity to Ger- 
many, that the live million wliites of the 
South i-endered to the torch and sword three 
billions of property, and that thirty million 
dollars a year, or six hundred million dollars 
in twenty years, has been given from our 
poverty in cordial willingness as pensions for 
Northern soldiers, the wonder is that we are 
here at all. There is a figure with which 
history has dealt lightly, but that, standing 
pathetic and heroic in the genesis of our new 
growth, has interested me greatly — the sol- 
dier-farmer of the South in '65. What 
chance had he for the future as he wandered 
amid his empty barns, his stock, labor and 
implements gone — gathered up the fragments 
of his wreck, and urging kindly his borrowed 
mule, paying eighty per cent, usury for all 
that he bought, and buying all on credit, his 
crop mortgaged before it was planted, his 
children in want, his neighborhood in chaos, 
working under new conditions and retrieving 
every error by a costly year, plodding all day 
down the furrow, hopeless and adrift, save 
when at night he went back to his broken 
home, where his wife, cheerful even then, 
renewed his courage while she ministered in 
loving tenderness to his troubled heart. 
Who would have thought, as during those 
lonely and terrible days he walked behind 
the plow, locking the sunshine in the glory 
of his harvest, and spreading the showers in 
the verdure ot nis field — no friend near save 
nature that smiled at his earnest touch, and 
God that sent him the message of good cheer 
through the passing breeze and the whisper- 
ing leaves, that he would in twenty years, 
having carried these burdens uncomplaining, 
made a crop of eight hundred million dollars, 
and that from his bounty the South would 
have rebuilded her cities and recouped her 
losses. Yet this has been done! While we 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



263 



exult in his fortune, let us take account of his 
standing. (Applause). 

Wiience this enormous crrowth? For ten 
years the world has been at peace. The pio- 
neer has now replaced the soldier. Commerce 
has whitened new seas, and tlie merchants have 
occupied new areas. Steam has made of the 
world a chess board, on which men play for 
markets. Our western wheat-grower is made 
acquainted in London with the Russian and 
the East Indian. The Ohio wool-grower 
watches the Australian shepherd, and the 
bleat of the now historic sheep of Vermont 
is answered from the steppes of Asia. The 
herds that emerge from the dust of your 
amazing prairies might hear in their pauses 
the hoof-beats of antipodean herds marching 
to meet them. Under Holland's dykes the 
cheese and butter makers ^y^\\i American dai- 
ries. California challenges vine-clad France. 
The Dark Continent is disclosed through 
meshes of light. There is competition every- 
where. The husbandman driven from his 
market balances price against starvation and 
undercuts his rival. This conflict often runs 
to panic and profit vanishes. The Iowa farmer 
burning his corn for fuel is is not an unusual 
type. 

Amid this universal conflict, where stands 
the South? ANHiile the producer of every- 
thing we eat or wear in every land is fighting 
throuoh tjlutted markets for bare existence, 
what of tlie Southern farmer? In his indus- 
trial, as in his political problem, he is set 
apart — not in doubt, but in assured independ- 
ence. Cotton makes him king. Not all 
the fleeces Jason sought can rival the rich- 
ness of this plant, as it unfurls its banners. 
It is gold from the instant it puts forth its 
tiny shoot. The shower that whispers to it 
is heard around the world; the trespass of a 
worm on its green leaf means more to England 



than the advance of the Russians on its Asi- 
atic outposts; and when its fiber, current iu 
every bank, is marketed, it renders back to 
the South ^350,000,000 every year. Its seed 
will yield $60,000,000 worth of oil to the 
press, and $40,000,000 in food for soil or 
beast, making the stupendous total of $450- 
000,000 annual income from this crop. And 
now, under the Tompkins patent, from its 
stalk newspaper is to be made at two cents 
per pound. Edward Atkinson once said: 
" If New England could grow the cotton 
plant without the lint, it would make her rich- 
estcrop; if she held monopoly of cotton lint 
and seed she would control the commerce of 
the world." But is our monopoly, threatened 
from Egypt, India and Brazil, sure and per- 
manent? Let the record answer. In 1872, 
the South made 3,241,000 bales; other coun- 
tries 3,036,000, — leading her rivals by 
less than 200,000 bales. Tliis year the South- 
ern supply was 8,000,000 bales; from other 
sources 2,100,000, — all expressed in bales of 
400 pounds each. In spite of new areas 
elsewhere, of fuller experience, of better 
transportation, and unlimited money spent in 
experiment, the supply of foreign cotton has 
decreased since 1872 nearly 1,000,000 bales, 
while that of the South has increased nearly 
5,000,000 bales. Further than this. Since 
1872, population in Europe has increased 
thirteen percent., and cotton consumption in 
Europe has increased fifty per cent. Still 
further. Since 1880, cotton consumption in 
Europe has increased twenty-eight per cent, 
wool four per cent., and flax has decreased 
eleven per cent. As for new areas, the utter- 
most missionary woos the heathen with a cot- 
ton shirt in one hand, and the Bible in the 
other, and no savage, I believe, has ever been 
converted to one. without having first put on 
the other. To summarize: Our American 



264 



HIBTORT OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



fiber has increased its product nearly three- 
fold, while it has seen the product of its 
rival decrease one-third. It has enlarged its 
dominion in the old centers of population, 
supplanting flax and wool, and it peeps from 
the satchel of every business and religious 
evangelist that trots the globe. In three 
years the American crop has increased 1,400- 
000 bales, and yet there is less cotton in the 
world to-day than at any time for twenty 
years. (Loud applause.) 

The dominion of our king is established. 
This princely revenue is assured, not for a 
year, but for all the time. It is the heritage 
that God gave us when he arched our skies, 
established our mountains, girt us about with 
the ocean, tempered the sunshine and meas- 
ured the rain, — ours, and our children's for- 
ever. 

Not alone in cotton, but also in iron does the 
South excel. The Hon. ex-Judge Norton, who 
honors this platform with his presence, once 
said to me: " An Englishman of the highest 
character predicted that the Atlantic will be 
whitened within our lives with sails carrying 
American iron and coal to England." When 
he made that prediction the English miners 
were exhausting the coal in long 
tunnels, above which the ocean thundered. 
Having ores and coal stored in exhaustless 
quantity, in such richness and adjustment 
that iron can be made, and manufacturing 
done, cheaper than elsewhere on this con- 
tinent, is to now command and at last control 
the world's market for iron. The South now 
sells iron through Pittsburg in New York. 
She has driven Scotch iron first from the in- 
terior and finally from American ports. 
Within our lives she will cross the Atlantic 
and fulfill the Englishman's prophecy. In 
1880 the South made 212,000 tons of iron; 
in 1887, 845,000 tons. She i.s now actually 



building, or has finished this year, furnaces 
that will produce more than her entire pro- 
duct last year. Birmingham alone will pro- 
duce more iron in 1889 than the entire South 
produced in 1887. Our coal supply is ex- 
haustless, Texas alone having 6,000 square 
miles. In marble and granite we have no 
rivals as to quantity or quality. In lumber 
our riches are even vaster. More than 50 
per cent, of our entire area is in forests, mak- 
ing the South the best timbered region of the 
world. We have enough merchantable yellow 
pine to bring in money $2,500,000,000, a 
sum the vastness of which can only be under- 
stood when I say it nearly equals the assessed 
value of the entire South, including cities, 
forests, farms, mines and personal property of 
every description whatsoever. Back of this 
our forests of hard woods and measureless 
swamps of cypress gum. Think of it. In 
cotton a monopoly. In iron and coal es- 
tablishing swift mastery. In granite and 
marble developing equal advantage and re- 
sources. In yellow pine and hard woods the 
world's treasury. Surely the basis of the 
South's wealth and power is laid by the hand 
of the Almighty God, and its prosperity has 
been established by divine law, which works 
in eternal justice, and not through iiuman 
statutes which levies taxes from its neighbors 
for its own protection. Paying tribute for 
fifty years that under artificial conditions 
other sections might reach a prosperity, im- 
possible under natural laws, it has grown 
apace. Its growth shall endure, if its people 
are ruled by two maxims that reach deeper 
than legislative enactment, and the operation 
of which cannot be limited by artificial re- 
straint, and but little hastened by artificial 
stimulus. 

First, no one crop will make a people pros- 
perous. If cotton held its monopoly under 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



265 



conditions that made other crops impossible 
or under allurements that inailo other crops 
exceptional, its dominion would he despotism. 
Wlienever the greed for a money crop unbal- 
ances the wisdom of husbandry the money 
crop is a curse. When it stimulates the gen- 
eral economy of the farm, it is the profit of 
farming. In an unprosperous strip of Caro- 
lina, when asked the cause of their poverty, 
the people say "Tobacco, for it is our only 
crop." In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the richest 
American county by the census, when asked 
the cause of their prosperity, they say "Tobac- 
co, for it is the golden crown of a diversified 
agriculture." The soil that produces cotton 
invite the grains and grasses, the orchard and 
tlie vine. Clover, corn, cotton, wheat and 
barley thrive in the same enclosure. The 
peach, the apple, the apricot, the Siberian 
crab in the same orchard. Herds and flocks 
graze ten months every year in meadows over 
which winter is but a passing breath, and in 
which spring and autumn meet in summer's 
heat. Sugarcane and oats, rice and potatoes, 
are extremes that come together under our 
skies. To raise cotton and send its princely 
revenue to the West for supplies and to the 
East for usury, would be a misfortune if soil 
and climate forced such a enrse. When both 
invite independence, to remain in slavery is 
a crime. To mortgage our farms in Boston 
for money with which to buy meat and bread 
from western cribs and smokehouses is folly 
unspeakable. I rejoice that Texas is less open 
to this charge than others of the cotton 
States. With her 80,000,000 bushels of grain 
and her 10,000,000 head of stock she is 
rapidly learning that diversified agricult- 
ure means prosperity. Indeed, the South 
is learning the same lesson, and learned 
tlirough years of debt and dependence it will 
never be forgotton. The best thing Georgia 



has done in twenty years was to raise her oat 
crop in one season from 2,000,000 to 9,000,- 
000 bushels without losing a bale of her cot- 
ton. It is more for the South that she has 
increased her crop of corn — that best of 
grains, of which SamuelJ. Tildon 8aid"itwill 
be the staple food of the future, and men will 
be stronger and better when that day comes" 
—by 43,000,000" bushels thisyearthan to have 
won a pivotal battle in the late war. In this 
one item she keeps at home this year a sum 
equal to the entire cotton crop of any State, 
that last year went to the West. This is the 
road to prosperity. It is the way to manli- 
ness and sturdiness of character. When 
every farmer in the South shall eat bread 
from his own fields and meat from his own 
pastures — and disturbed by no creditor and 
enslaved by no debt, shall sit amid his teem- 
ing gardens and orchards and vineyards, and 
dairies and barnyards, pitching his crops in 
his own wisdom and growing them in inde- 
pendence, making cotton his clean surplus 
and selling it in his own time and his chosen 
market and not at a master's bidding, getting 
his pay in cash and not in a receipted mort- 
gage that discharges his debt, but does not 
restore his freedom -then shall be breakintr 
the fullness of our day. Great is king cotton ! 
But to lie at his feet while the user and grain- 
raiser bind us in subjection, is to itivito the 
contempt of man and the reproach of God. 
But to stand up before him, and amid our 
cribs and smokehouses wrest from him the 
magna ciiarta of our independence and to es- 
tablish in his name an amj)]c and diversified 
agriculture that shall honor him wliile it 
enriches us — this is to carry us as far in the 
way of happiness and independence as the 
farmer working in the fullest wisdom and in 
the richest fields can carry any people. (Ap- 
plause.) 



266 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



But agriculture alone, no matter how rich 
or varied its resources, cannot establish or 
maintain a people's prosperity. There is a 
lesson in this that Texas, even with her 
amazing total of $137,000,000 of farm pro- 
ducts, may learn with profit. No common- 
wealth ever came to greatness by producing 
raw material. Less can this be possible in 
the future than in the past. The Cotnstock 
lode is the richest spot on earth, and yet the 
miners, gasping for breath fifteen hundred 
feet below the earth's surface, get bare exist- 
ence out of the splendor they dig from the 
earth. It goes to carry the commerce and 
uphold the industry of distant lands, of which 
the men who produce it get but a dim report. 
Hardly more is the South profited when, atrip- 
ping the harvest of her cotton fields or strip- 
ping her teeming hills, or leveling her superb 
forests, she sends the raw material to aug- 
ment the wealth and power of distant com- 
munities. (Applause.) Texas produces a 
million and a half bales of cotton, which 
yield her $60,000,000. That cotton woven 
into common goods would add $75,000,000 
to Texas' income from this crop, employ 220,- 
000 operatives, who would draw and spend 
within her borders more than $30,000,000 in 
wages. Massachusetts manufactures 575,000 
bales of cotton, for which she pays 31,000,- 
000 and sells for $72,000,000, adding a value 
nearly equal to Texas' gross revenue from 
cotton, and yet Texas has a clean advantage 
for manufacturing this cotton of 1 per cent, 
a pound over Massachusetts. Tlie little vil- 
lage of Grand Ilapids began manufacturing 
furniture, simply because it was set in timber 
districts. It is now a great city, and sells 
$10,000,000 worth of furniture every 
year, in making which 12,000 men are 
employed and a population of 40,000 peo- 
ple supported. The best pine districts of 



the world are in eastern Texas. With 
less competiton and wider markets than 
Grand Rapids has, will she ship her forests 
at prices that barely support the wood-chop- 
per and sawyer, to be returned, in the making 
of which great cities are built or maintained? 
When her farmers and herdsmen draw from 
her cities $136,000,000 as the price of their 
annual produce, shall this enormous wealth 
be scattered through distant shops and fac- 
tories, leaving in the hands of Texans no 
more than the husbandman's support and the 
narrow brokerage between buyer and seller? 
As one-crop farming cannot support the 
country, neither can a single resemrce of com- 
mercial exchange support a city. Texas 
wants immigrants. She needs them, for if 
every human being in Texas were placed at 
equidistant points throughout the State no 
Texan could hear the sound of a human voice 
in all your borders. How can you best at- 
tract immigration ? By furnishing work for 
the artisan and mechanic. If you meet tlie 
demand of your population for cheaper and 
essential manufactured articles, one half a 
million workers would be needed for this, and 
with their families would double the popula- 
tion of your State. In these mechanics and 
their dependents, farmers would find a near 
and growing market for not only their staple 
crops, but for truck that they now despise to 
raise or sell, but that is at last the cream of the 
farm. Worcester county, Massachusetts, takes 
$52,000,000 of our material, and turns out 
$87,000,000 of products every year, paying 
$20,000,000 in wages. The most prosperous 
section of this world is that known as the 
Middle States of this Republic. Their agri- 
culture and manufactures are in the balance. 
Their shops and factories are set amid rich 
and ample acres, and the result is such deep 
and diffused prosperity as no other section 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



267 



can bIiow. Suppose those States had a mo- 
nopoly ot" cotton, iron and coal, so disposed 
as to command the world's markets and the 
treasury of the world's timber supply, the 
mind is staggered in contemplating the 
majesty of the wealth and power they would 
attain. "What have they that the South 
lacks ? And to her these things are added, 
and to these things a kinder climate, ampler 
acres and richer soil. It is a curious fact 
that three-fourths of the population, manu- 
facturing and wealth of this country is com- 
pacted in a narrow strip between Iowa and 
Massachusetts, comprising less than one- 
sixth of our territory, and that this strip is 
distant from the scource of raw materials on 
which its growth is mostly based, of hard 
climate and in large part of sterile soil. 
Much of this forced and unnatural develop- 
ment is due to slavery, which for a century 
fenced enterprise and capital out of the South. 
Mr. Thomas, who in the Lehigh valley 
erected furnaces in 1850, set the pattern 
for iron-making in America, and had before 
that time bouurht mines and lorests where 
Birmingham now stands. Slavery forced 
him away. He settled in Pennsylvania. I 
have wondered what would have happened if 
that one man had opened his iron mines in 
Alabama and set his furnaces there at that 
time. I know what is going to happen since 
he has been forced to come to Birmingham 
and put up two furnaces nearly forty years 
after his first survey. Another cause that 
has prospered New England and the Middle 
States while the South languished, is the 
system of tariff taxes levied on the unmixed 
agriculture of these States for the j)rotection 
of industries of our neighbors to the north 
— a system on which the Honorable Roger 
Q. Mills, that lion of the tribe of Judah, has 
at last laid his mighty paw, and under the 



indignant touch of which it trembles to its 
center. That system is to be revised and its 
duties reduced, as we all agree it should be, 
though I should say in perfect frankness I do 
not agree with Mr. Mills in detail. Let us 
hope this will be done with care and injudi- 
cious patience. But whether it stands or falls, 
the South has entered the industrial lists to 
partake of its bounty if it stands, and if it 
falls to rely on the favor with which nature 
has endowed her, and from this immutable 
advantage to till her own markets first and 
then have a talk with the world at large. 
(Applause.) 

With amazing rapidity she has moved away 
from the one-crop idea that was once her 
curse. In 1880 she was deemed prosperous. 
Since that time she has added 398,000,000 
bushels to her grain crops and 182,000,000 
head to her live stock. This has not lost one 
bale of her cotton crop, which, on the con- 
trary, has increased nearly 2,000,000 bales. 
With equal swiftness has she moved away 
from the folly of shipping out her ore at S2 a 
ton and buying it back in implements at from 
$20 to $1,000 a ton; her cotton at 10 cents a 
pound and buying it back in cloth at 20 to 
to 80 cents a pound; her timber at $8 per 
thousand and buying it back in furniture at 
ten to twenty times as much. In the past 
eight years $250,000,000 have been invested 
in new shops and factories in her States; 
225,000 artisans are now working here that 
eight years ago were idle or at work else- 
where; and these have added $270,000,000 to 
the value of her raw material, more than one- 
half the value of her cotton crop. Add to 
this the value of her increased grain crops 
and stock, and in the past eight years she has 
grown in her fields or created in her shops 
increased food and manufactures more than 
the value of her cotton crop. The kingly 



V 



268 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTY. 



revenue slie then sent away for these articles 
she now keeps at home. What surpassing 
glory and prosperity may not be justified 
from this formula? The incoming tide has 
just begun to rise. 

Every train brings manufacturers from 
East and West seeking to establish themselves 
or their sons near the raw material and in 
this growing market. Let the fullness of 
this tide roll in. We shall not exhaust our 
materials nor shall we glut our markets. 
When the growing demand of our Southern 
market, feeding on its own growth, is met 
we shall find new markets for the South. 
Under our new conditions many indirect ways 
of commerce shall be straightened. We buy 
from Brazil $50,000,000 worth of products, 
and sell her $8,000,000. England buys only 
$29,000,000 and sells her $35,000,000. Of 
$65,000,000 in cotton goods bought by Cen- 
tral and South America over $50,000,000 
went to England. Of $331,000,000 sent 
abroad by the southern half of our hemis- 
phere England secured over half, although 
we buy from tliat section nearly twice as 
much as England buys. Our neighbors to 
the south need nearly every article we make. 
We need nearly everything they produce. 
Less than 2,500 miles of road must be built 
to bind by rail the two American continents. 
When this is done, and even before, we shall 
find exhaustless markets to the south. Texas, 
shall command, as she stands in the van of 
this new movement, its richest rewards. 
(Applause.) The South, under the rapid 
diversification of crops and diversification of 
industries, is thrilling with new life. As 
this new prosperity comes to us it brings no 
sweeter thought to me and to you, my coun- 
trymen, I am sure, than that it adds not only to 
the comfort and happiness of our neighbors, 
but that it makes broader the glory, and 



deeper the majesty, and more enduring the 
strength of the Union which reigns supreme 
in our hearts. In this Republic of ours is 
lodged the hope of free government on earth. 
Here God has rested the ark of his covenant 
with the sons of men. Let us — once estranged 
and thereby closer bound — let us soar above 
all provincial pride and lind our deeper in- 
spiration in gathering the fullest sheaves into 
the harvest and standing stanchest and most 
devoted of its sons as it lights the path and 
makes clear the way through which all the 
people of this earth shall come in God's ap- 
pointed time. (Applause.) 

1 have a few words for the young men of 
Texas, lam glad that 1 can speak to them. 
All men, and especially young men, look 
back for their inspiration to what is best in 
their traditions. Thermopylae cast Spartan 
sentiment in heroic mould and sustained 
Spartan arms for more than a century. 
Thermopylae had survivors to tell the story 
of its defeat. The Alamo had none. Thoucrh 
voiceless, it shall speak. From its dumb 
walls Liberty cried out to Texas, as God 
called from the cloud unto Moses. Bowie 
and Fannin, though dead, still live! Their 
voices rang abave the din of Goliad and the 
glory of San Jacinto, and they marched with 
the Texas veterans who rejoiced at the birtli 
of Texas independence. It is the spirit of 
the Alamo that moved above the Texas sol- 
diers as they charged like demigods through 
a thousand battlefields; and it is the spirit of 
the Alamo that whispers from their graves, 
held in every State of the Union, ennobling 
with their dust the soil that was crimsoned 
with their blood. In the spirit of this inspir- 
ation, and in the thrill of the amazing growth 
that surrounds you, my young friends, it will 
be strange if the young men of Texas do 
not carry the Lone Star into the heart of the 



n I STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



SCO 



Struggle in wliicli tlie South is engaged. 
The South needs iier sons to-ilay more tlian 
when siie summoned them to the forum to 
maintain lier political supremacy; more than 
when the buele called them to the field to de- 
fend issues put to the arbitrament of the 
sword. Her old body is instinct with appeal 
— calling on us to come and give her fuller 
independence than she has ever sought in 
field or forum. It is ours to show that, as 
she prospei'ed with slaves, she shall prosper 
still more witli freemen; ours to see that 
from the lists she entered in poverty, she 
shall emerge in prosperity; ours to carry 
the transcending traditions of the old South, 
from which none of us can in honor or rev- 
erence depart, unstained and unbroken into 
the new. Shall we fail? Shall the l)lood of 
the old South, the best strain that ever up- 
lifted human endeavor, that ran like water 
at duty's call and never stained where it 
touched, — shall this blood that pours into our 
veins through a century luminous with 
achievement for the first time falter and be 
driven back from irresolute hearts? Shall 
we fail when the South, that left us better 
in manliness and courage than in broad and 
rich acres, calls us to settle the problems that 
beset her? 

A soldier lay wounded on a hard-fought 
field. The roar of the battle had died away, 
and he rested in the deadly stillness of its 
aftermath. Not a sound was heard as he lay 
there sorely smitten and speechless but the 
shriek of the wounded and the sisrh of the 
dying soul as it escaped from the tumult of 
earth unto the unspeakable bliss of the stars. 
Off over the field flickered the lanterns of 
the surgeons with the litter-bearers, search- 
ing that they might take away those whose 
lives could be saved, and leave in sorrow 
those who were doomed to die. With 

18 



pleading eyes through the darkness this poor 
soldier watched, unable to turn or to speak, 
as the lanterns drew near. At last the light 
flashed in his face, the surgeon with kindly 
intent bent over him, hesitated a moment, 
shook his head and was gone, leaving the 
poor fellow alone with death. He watched 
in patient agony as they went on from one 
part of the field to tlie other. As they came 
back the surgeon bended over him again. "I 
believe if this poor fellow lives till sundown 
to-morrow he will get well." And off again, 
leaving him, not to death, but with hope. 
For all night long these words fell into his 
heart as the dews fell from the stars on his 
his lips. " If he but lives till sundown he 
will get well! " He turned his weary head 
to the East and watched for the coMiinjT sun. 
At last the stars went out, the East trem- 
bled with radiance and the sun slowly lifting 
above the horizon, tinged his pallid face with 
flame. He watched it inch by inch, as it 
climbed slowly up the heavens. He thought 
of life, its hopes and ambitions and its sweet- 
ness and its raptures; and he fortified his 
soul against despair until the sun had reached 
high noon. It sloped down its slow descent 
and his life was ebbing away and his heart 
was faltering and he needed stronger stimu- 
lus to make him stand the struggle until tiie 
end of the day had come. He tiiought of 
his far-off home, the blessed house resting in 
tranquil peace with the roses climbing its 
door and the trees whispering to its windows 
and dozing in the sunshine, the orchard and 
the little brook running like a silver thread 
through the forest. " If I live till sundown 
I will see it again; I will w^lk down the 
shady lane; I will open the battered gate and 
the mocking-bird shall call to me from the 
orchard, and I will drink again from the old 
mossy spring." And he thought of the wife 



270 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



who had come from the neigliboring farm- 
house and put her hand shyly in his and 
lirovight sweetness to his life and light to his 
home. " If I live till sundown I shall look 
once more into her deep and loving eyes, and 
press her brown head once more to my ach- 
ing breast." 

And he thought of the old father, patient 
in prayer, bending lower and lower every 
day under his load of sorrow and of age. " If 
I but live till sundown I shall see him again, 
and wind my strong arm about his feeble 
body, and his hands shall rest upon my head, 
while the unspeakable healing of his blessing 
falls into my heart! " And he thought of 
the little children that clambered on his 
knees and tangled their little hands in his 
heartstrings, waking to them such music as 
earth shall not equal or heaven surpass. " If 
I live till sundown they shall find my 
parched lips with their warm mouths, and 
their little fingers shall run once more over 
my face." 

And he thought of his old mother, who 
gathered these children about her and bathed 
her old heart afresh in their brightness and 
attuned her old lips anew to their prattle, 
that she might live till her big boy came 
home. " If I live till sundown, I will see 
her again, and I will rest my head at my old 
place on her knees and weep away all, all the 
memory of this desolate night." 

And the son of God, who had died for men 
bending from the skies, put the hand that 
had been nailed to the cross on the ebbing 
life and held it stanch until the sun went 
down and the stars came out and shone down 
into the brave man's heart and were blurred 
in his glistening eyes. And the lanterns of 
the surgeons came and he was led from death 
unto life. The world is a battle field strewn 
with the wrecks of governments and institu- 



tions; of theories and of faiths that have gone 
down in the ravage of years. On this field 
lies the South smitten with her problems. 
Above the field swine; the lanterns of God. 
Amid the carnage walks the great physician. 
Over the South he bends — " If ye but live 
till to-morrow's sundown ye shall endure." 

My countrymen, let us for her sake turn 
our faces to the east and watch as the soldier 
watched for the coming sun. Let us stanch 
her wounds and hold her steadfast, as the sun 
mounts the skies. As it descends let us 
minister to her and stand constant at her 
side for the sake of our children, and of gen- 
erations unborn that shall sufier if she fails. 
And when the sun has gone down, and the 
day of her probation has ended, and the stars 
have filled her heart, the lanterns shall be 
swung over the field again and the Great 
Physician shall lead her up from trouble into 
content — from suffering into peace — from 
death unto life ! 

Let everj' man here pledge himself in this 
high and ardent hour, as I pledge myself and 
the boy that shall follow me — every man him- 
self and his son — here hand to hand and 
heart to heart — that in deep and earnest 
loyalty, in patient painstaking and care, he 
shall watch her interest, advance her fortune, 
defend her fame, and guard her honor as long 
as life shall last. 

If every man in the sound of my voice 
under the deep consecration he owes to the 
Union will consecrate himself to the South; 
have no ambition, but to be first at her feet 
and last in her service; no hope but after 
along life of devotion to sink to sleep in her 
bosom, even as a little child sleeps at its 
mother's breast, and rest untroubled in the 
light of her smile, — with such consecrated 
service, what could we not accomplish? What 
riches we should gather for her! what glory 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



271 



and prosperity we sliould render to the Union ! 
what blessings we should garner into the 
uni vernal harvest of humanity! 

As I think of it a vision of surprising 
beauty unfolds to my eyes. (Applause.) I see 
a South, the home of iifty millions of people, 
who rise up every day to call her blessed. 
Her cities vast hives of industry and of thrift, 
her country hides the treasures from which 
their sources are drawn; her streams vocal 
with whirring spindles; her valleys tranquil 
in the white and gold of harvest; her moun- 
tains showering down the music of bells, as 
her slow-moving tlocks and herds go forth 
from their folds; her rulers honest and her 
people loving; her homes happy and their 
hearthstones bright; her waters still and her 
pastures green ; her conscience clear and her 
suifrage pure; her prisons and poorhouses 
empty; her churches earnest and all creeds 
lost in the gospel; peace and sobriety walk 
hand in hand through her borders, honor in 
her homes, uprightness in her hearts, plenty 
in her fields, straight and simple faith in the 
hearts of her sons and daucrliters, her two 
races walking together in peace and content- 
ment; sunshine everywhere and all the time, 
and night falling on her gently, as from the 
wings of the unseen dove. 

All this, my countrymen, and more can we 
do; for as I look the vision grows, the splen- 
dor deepens, the horizon falls back, the skies 
open their everlasting gates and the glory of 
the Almighty God streams through as he 
looks down on this people who have given 
themselves unto him and lead them from one 
triumph to another until they have reached a 
glory unspeakable, and the whirling stars in 
their courses, though from Arcturus they run 
to the milky way, shall not look down on a 
better people or a happier land. 



COUNTY SCHOOLS. 

The schools of Dallas county will compare 
most favorably with those of any county in 
the oldest of the States. 

The following are the statistics forwarded 
this year by Prof. J. K. Palmer, super- 
intendent of public schools of Dallas county, 
to the State Department of Education at 
Austin: 

Number of white children eight and under 
sixteen years of age in Dallas county — males 
2,982, females 2,900; total number 5,882. 
Number of colored children in Dallas county 
— males 500, females 559; total 1,059. 

Total number of children in Dallas county 
eight and under sixteen years of age, 6,941, 
exclusive of the city of Dallas, which has the 
management of its own schools. 

Number of white children eight and under 
sixteen years of age unable to read, 52 males 
and 48 females; total 100. Number of colored 
children eight and under sixteen years of age 
unable to read, 40 males and 39 females; 
total 79. 

Number of children within the scholastic 
age attending public school, 5,000 white and 
404 colored. 

Number of children within the scholastic 
age attending no school, 1,120 white and 243 
colored. 

POST OFFICES IN THE COUNTY. 



Calhoun, 
Carrollton, 
Cedar Hill, 



Letot, 

Lisbon, 

Mesquite, 



272 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Dallas, 

Desoto, 

Duncan ville. 

Eagle Ford, 

Elam Station, 

Estelle, 

Farmers' Branch, 

Garland, 

Gibbs, 

Gorbet, 

Grand Prairie, 

Haught's Store, 

Housley, 

Ilutcliins, 

Ka, 

Klebnrg, 

Lancaster, 



New Hope, 

Oak Cliff, 

Orphans Home, 

Pleasant Valley, 

Rawlins, 

Reinhardt, 

Richardson, 

Rowlett, 

Rylie, 

Saxie, 

Scyene, 

Seagoville, 

Simonds, 

Sowers, 

Trinity Mill?, 

Wheatland, 

Wiliner, 



DALLAS. 

The history of Dallas is not wrapt in ob- 
scurity like that of the ancient Britons. It is 
too modern to have evolved any questions 
or doubts about its beginning. It com- 
menced in 1841, when John Neely Bryan, a 
Tennessean by birth, had pitched his tent 
not far from the spot now occupied by the 
palatial stone courthouse, in a wilderness. 
With no companion, no friend, but all alone, 
he communed with nature and nature's God, 
surrounded as he was with sceneries and land- 
scapes which were a panorama of beauty in 
themselves. Added to these surroundings was 
that inexpressible loneliness that even gave 
the dying sunset an intenser glow. 

In 1842 the families of John Beeman and 
Captain Gilbert broke this reign of terrible 



loneliness which Mr. Bryan had endured for 
several months, and shed sunshine on his 
weary and lonesome life. This young Bryan 
received these new comers with open arms of 
hospitality and gave them of all he had to 
eat, chiefly bear-meat and honey. 

Shortly after the arrival of these families 
occurred the first society event in the history 
of Dallas county. This brave young Tennes- 
sean, John Neely Bryan, led Margaret, the 
daughter of John Beeman, to the matri- 
monial altar. Abandoning his bachelor 
quarters in his crude tent, he built himself a 
house. These three families, each in their 
crude little homes, built here in this wilder- 
ness, first began the great city of Dallas, 
which might be appropriately said to have 
been founded in " hospitality and matri- 
mony." This little village grew steadily by 
the arrival of new comers from the old States, 
noble, true-hearted people, who had come to 
seek their own homes, and of course cher- 
ished the fondest and kindest feelings 
toward each other, and with whom mutual 
action and mutual aid became their order of 
progression. 

Among the first families that came and 
joined the three mentioned, and aided in es- 
tablishing this town of Dallas, were those 
of McComas, Rawlins, Cochran, Bledsoe, 
Hord, Crockett, Haught, Parker, Bnrford, 
Thomas, Collins, Carter, Hall, Taylor, Sloan, 
Hart, Horton, Cole, Weatherford, Cockrell, 
Jenkins, Cameron, Witt, Perry, Marsh, 
Coombe, Griftiu, Mountz, Crutchfield, Har- 
wood, Brander, Smith, Traughber, Brutow 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



373 



Bennett, Webb, Byrd, Armstrong, West, 
Cox, Lee, Atterbury, Brandenburg, Brother- 
ton, Moss, Keenan, Vale, Chenowith, Meyers, 
Coates, Cooke, Leake, Vance, Willburn, 
Stout, Mooneyhani, Merrill, Leonard, Keen, 
Lanier, Miller, Wright, McCracken, Nix, 
Newton, Howell, Narboe, Bopplewell, Bul- 
lion, Prigam, Jackson, Prewett, Phillip, Sha- 
han. Snow, Valentine, Patterson, Walker and 
Eakins, and John M. Crockett, who was 
Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1861. 

It has been the pleasure of a few of these 
pioneers to behold their little village nestling 
on the east banks of the Trinity transformed 
into a most magnificient city, and they are 
beloved, respected and honored for their pub- 
lic and private fame as well as for being the 
founders of the metropolis of the Southwest. 
While with these first settlers the conditions 
of existence were rudimentary and very crude, 
they were favorable for the future, and with 
strong hopes for better conditions they en- 
dured privation and struggles with much 
patience. 

The nearest shipping point was Jefferson, 
150 miles east, to which place steamboats 
brought all domestic commodities, such as 
sugar, coffee, molasses, flour, and so forth, 
and all kinds of farming implements. A 
trip from Dallas to this market was one of 
the greatest undertakings. 

Dallas was named in honor of Vice-Presi- 
dent George M. Dallas, who was Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States when James K. 
Polk was President, 1845-1849. The town 
was incorporated on the 22d of February, 



1856, the charter having been drawn by Nat. 
M. Burford, who is still living in Dallas, and 
has always been regarded as an able and su- 
perior man, and as one of the best known 
judges in tlie State, and who was colonel of 
a Confederate cavalry regiment and speaker 
of the House of Representatives in the 
Eleventh Legislature. 

CLIMATE. 

In addition to the advantages of location, 
Dallas can boast of possessing one of the 
most delightful climates anywhere to be 
found. The city has never been visited by 
an epidemic. People have been known to 
resort here afflicted with the most dangerous 
diseases from epidemic regions, even the yel- 
low fever, and have died within her limits, 
but without spreading the disease. In fact, 
the climate in Dallas is unexcelled. The 
mercury scarcely ever falls below freezing 
point and seldom remains in the nineties 
during the summer seasons. The citizens 
are seldom kept from their business by 
extreme weather of any kind, but are per- 
mitted to work almost every day of the year. 

DALLAS' PECULIAR ADVANTAGES. 

Colonel John F. Elliott, one of the sub- 
stantial and influential citizens of the city, 
and one of the most fluent writers in the 
State, not long since, in writing of Dallas 
and her many superior advantages, said: 

"The investments of Northern capitalists 
and the accumulated earnings of its own citi- 
zens, have made Dallas the State's financial 



274 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



center. Eight national and four private 
banks are located bere, with a capital and 
surplus of $3,600,000 and with an average 
deposit line of $5,500,000. Besides these, 
live home and over twenty European and 
American investment companies make it the 
headquarters for their branches, which loan 
on farm, ranch and city properties over $10,- 
000,000, annually. There are also eight local 
building societies and four strong national 
associations, with an authorized capital of 
$500,000,000. The clearing house shows 
clearings for six months in 1890, $62,602,917; 
1889, $57,828,000,— against $43,967,000 for 
1888, and $13,161,000 for 1887. The banks 
of Dallas are as solid as the soils that support 
them. 

"The wholesale and jobbing trade of Dal- 
las has assumed proportions in its steady and 
healthy growth far exceeding the most san 
guine hopes of even those citizens who fully 
recognized the supremacy of Dallas, long 
since established as a railway and financial 
center, and every day discloses that she will 
soon be the peer of New Orleans and St. 
Louis. 

"These facts, combined with the financial, 
the railway and other facilities for the trans- 
action of all manner of business, have for 
several years past stamped Dallas as the great 
centropolis, the very gateway of its surround- 
ing empire of wealth and power. No longer 
seeking, she is sought. Wheat, corn, cotton 
and cattle and the other products of the prai- 
ries and pineries thus naturally drift to Dallas 
for storage, sale or distribution, as its location 
makes it the intermediate depot for them all. 



The trade of the city in 1889 amounted to 
nearly $31,000,000. 

"Most advantageously located as to the 
raw material supply, cheap fuel, climatic 
conditions and cheap homes for employes, 
while fully equipped with all the facilities of 
capital, transportation, etc., for distributing 
purposes, Dallas has now earnestly and en- 
thusiastically entered upon the manufactur- 
ing era, and diversified industries, large and 
small, are springing into existence under the 
incentives and inducements offered to capital 
and labor by the enterprise and liberality of 
these citizens. The city now counts 125 
factories, with $4,000,000 invested, employ- 
ing 3,000 hands, with a yearly product of 
$8,200,000. The Dallas Cotton and Woolen 
Mills have a capacity of some 14,000 yards 
daily production, its capital stock $250,000 ; 
a 1,000,000-bushel elevator costing $175,000; 
flouring mills, four in number, with a capital 
of nearly $350,000, will turn out some 2,000 
barrels daily. Besides these, there are a 
clothing manufactory, capitalized at $500,- 
OOO, several implement, machine and hard- 
ware companies, with $500,000 capital stock, 
also a number of lumber and planing mills, 
brick, ice, soap, di'ugs, tinware, canning, jel- 
lies, preserves, pickles, vehicle, patent medi- 
cine, etc., ofiice fixtures, sash and door and 
other factories. A packery has been recently 
organized with a capital stock of $250,000. 
Located in the heart of the corn- growing re- 
gion, the future of the beef and pork packery 
business is practically limitless, and yet there 
are scores of other industries, such as fur- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



275 



niture, paper and rope factories, etc., that 
would tlirive here and yiehl line returns. 
The institutions already under way have 
come like Chicago's in proportion to collat- 
eral, enterprise and conomercial transactions, 
and must gradually expand into more mam- 
moth proportions. Not simply as a distrib- 
utor has Dallas this great empire to supply 
with all manner of products and material, 
but the Territories and States to the north 
and northwest of us, Arizona, Colorado, New 
Mexico, Indian Territory, etc., and tlie im- 
perial domain of Mexico will look to this 
point for raw materials and manufactured 
products as well, thus making it a veritable 
New York for all this portion of the conti- 
nent." 

THE FUTURE FOE DALLAS 

ii8 a great city in the Southwest first dawned 
upon the citizens when the two great railroad 
lines, the Missouri Pacific and the Houston 
& Texas Central arrived and intersected each 
other in the then small town of Dallas, in 
1872. This was the beginning of that most 
marvelous growth which led this small town 
up from 800 population in 1870, to 8,000 in 
1875, to 10,000 in 1880, 31,000 in 1885, 
and, including all the suburbs, 61,855 in 
1889, and 71,225 in 1892. These figures 
were taken from the city directory, compiled 
by Morrison & Fourmy, of (ialveston, most 
careful and experienced compilers of city 
directories. The United States census gives 
the population of Dallas in 1890 as being 
38,140, but this does not include the various 
thickly populated snburbs wliich tlie direc- 



tories included. In giving the population 
of the city we think it would be fairer to go 
by the city directory, as it gives all the sub- 
urbs — the names of all who make their living 
in the city. The following table will show 
the increase of population of this thriving 
business city of the Southwest since 1878-'79, 
issuance of the first city directory. We quote 
from the compilers of the directory of Dallas, 
year 1891-'92, in which they say, regarding 
the population of the city, that, "As we have 
done in the past, we give the population upon 
a basis of three and one-half times the num- 
ber of names appearing in the directory, 
finding this calculation to be as nearly cor- 
rect as it is possible to get at without an 
actnal count, all firm names, corporations, 
institutions, etc., having been deducted from 
the total number of names:" 

Yeare. Names. Population. Increase Increase of 

of names, population. 

1878-'79 4,113 14,382 

1880-'81 5,194 18,179 1,082 .3,787 

1882-'83 5,984 20,954 790 3,765 

1884-'85 7,908 27,678 1,924 6,734 

1886.'87 9,950 34,866 2,051 7,178 

1888- '89 13,343 46,701 3,.393 12,876 

1889-'90 17,673 61,855 4,330 16,165 

1891-'92 30,350 71,325 3,677 9,369 

The situation of Dallas has been a great 
advantage to its rapid development, viewed 
from a commercial standj)oint, being 315 
miles from Galveston, 492 miles from Kan- 
sas City, 082 miles from St. Louis and 515 
miles from New Orleans. Being centrally 
situated as it is, without any strong commer- 
cial competitors near by, and in one of the 
most fertile sections of the country in Amer- 
ica, and being the commercial, manufacturing 
and distributing center of Texas, — and Texas, 



376 



HISTOMT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



be it remembered, is larger than England, 
Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, Holland, Greece, 
Switzerland, Denmark and half of Italy com- 
bined, it is but natural for it to attract atten- 
tion, especially from the commercial world 
and from capitalists. It seems to have been 
a custom with all who have compiled a sketch 
of Dallas, to quote the saying of Jay Gould, 
regarding the future of Dallas; and I suppose 
it would be unpardonable were the writer of 
these paragraphs to leave it out. Mr. Gould 
Baid some years ago, " I expect to see Dallas a 
city of 250,000 people. It has behind it all 
the products to which Kansas City owes its 
prosperity, and it has cotton, which Kansas 
City has not." The observation of this great 
railroad magnate has been so extensive in 
regard to the future development of diiferent 
thriving western cities, especially along his 
various lines of railroads, is why we suppose 
his prophecy has become rather famous with 
the citizens of Dallas. 

The advantages in the situation of this 
city are so strikingly superior that the United 
States Bureau of Statistics says concerning 
the same, that a circle drawn around Dallas, 
using a radius of 100 miles, discloses that 
there are thirty-four counties within such 
limits. By reference to the footings of the 
columns it will be seen that nearly half the 
cotton in Texas is raised within that radius, 
that more than half the oats and wheat is 
raised within it, and nearly half of the corn. 
So the reader can well see that the prophecy 
of Mr. Gould may be fulfilled even without 
his living to a very old age. 



THE DALLAS POST OFFICE. 

The following is an official statement, which 
was furnished the Neios by Postmaster Wit- 
wer, of the business transacted at the Dallas 
postofiice for the year ending on the 30th of 
last June: 

Postal business: Eeceipts — Sales at the 
stamp window $89,436.36, special request en- 
velopes sold $11,250.90, second-class matter, 
732,488 pounds, $7,324.88; box rents $2,230- 
.55, waste paper, etc., $21.74. Total $110,- 
264.43. 

Disbursements— Postmaster's salary $3,300, 
clerk hire $17,802.22, carriers' salaries $14,- 
965.76, free delivery expenses $2,049.89, spe- 
cial delivery service $289.76, miscellaneous 
$28.15, railway postal clerks $2,892.33, re- 
mitted United States Assistant Treasurer, 
New Orleans, $68,936.32. Total $110,264 
.43. 

Money order business: Receipts — Balance 
July 1, 1891, $870.75; 16,075 domestic or- 
ders issued $164,475.20, 9,541 postal notes 
issued $15,351.35, fees on above issues $1,- 
661.36, 69 Canadian orders issued $788.96, 
279 British orders issued $3,189.14, 312 Ger- 
man orders issued $5,315.90, 71 Swiss orders 
issued $1,486.87, 116 Italian orders issued 
$2,632.86, 41 French orders issued $484.43, 
26 Swedish orders issued $337.16, 8 Belgian 
orders issued $119.62, 8 Danish orders issued 
$100.17, 8 Norwegian orders issued $156.41, 
7 Austrian orders issued $49, 4 Hungarian 
orders issued $30, fees on above (interna- 
tional issues) $182.50, auditor's circulars $4, 
16,338 deposits from postmasters from 197 



UI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



277 



postoffices in the State $1,619,880.94, total 
$1,817,116.62. 

Disbursements — 48,673 domestic orders 
paid $588,520.26, 21,918 postal notes paid 
$35,946.10, 12 Canadian orders paid $220.79, 
43 British orders paid $992.21, 41 German 
orders paid $1,380.44, 22 Swiss orders paid 
$915.71, 5 Italian orders paid $185.07, 4 
French orders paid $119.14, 9 Belgian orders 
paid $799.99, 1 Japanese order paid $15.65, 
1 Swedish order paid $71.10, 1 Victoria order 
paid $24.35, 1 Hawaii order paid $7, 1 Aus- 
trian order paid $10.06, 172 domestic orders 
repaid $1,525.72, 2 international orders re- 
paid $12.67, postmaster Lebo, Kansas, $8.62, 
auditor's circulars 29 cents, 307 deposits to 
the credit United States Treasurer, Wew York, 
$1,185,500, balance cash June 30, $855.45, 
total $1,817,116.62. 

Grand total receipts: Money order busi- 
ness $1,817,116.62, postal business $110,264 
.43, total $1,927,381.05. 

Registry division: Letters registered 7,- 
402, parcels registered 1,687, letters received 
for delivery 34,292, parcels received for 
delivery 1,793, received for diatribution 623, 
packages received 35,107, packages in tran- 
sit 25,336, packages made up and dispatched 
9,549, through registered pouches and inner 
sacks received 1,869, through registered 
pouches and inner sacks dispatched 1,869, 
official free 410, total pieces handled 119,937. 
Registered letters delivered by carriers 13,100. 

Mailing division: Number of pounds of 
second-class matter (newspapers from pub- 
lishers) free in the county 11,482, number of 



pounds of second-class matter sent outside 
the county, postage paid on same, 732,488, 
number of pouches dispatched daily 53, num- 
ber of sacks disjjatched daily 203, number of 
pouches received daily 53, number of sacks 
received daily 113, number of mails received 
daily 29, number of mails dispatched daily 
29, number of closed pouches dispatched 
daily 32, number of pouches for railroad 
postoffice dispatched 25, number of star 
routes 3. 

Special delivery letters and packages: To- 
tal mail to other places 1,818, total received 
for delivery 3,633. 

Letters and packages sent to the dead-let- 
ter office, etc.— Letters advertised 24,995, 
delivered 6,471, sent to the dead-letter office 
18,524, packages advertised 154, delivered 
44, sent to the dead- letter office 110, postal 
cards sent to the dead-letter office 4,388, let- 
ters returned to writers 24,657. 

Inquiry division: Number letters dropped 
in without stamps (domestic) 1,296, number 
of above supplied with stamps by notifying 
addressee 789, number of above not supplied 
with stamps and sent to the dead-letter office 
507, number of letters sent to the dead-letter 
office as misdirected 826, number of letters 
sent to the dead-letter office as illegible and 
without address 180, number of valuable 
dead letters received from department 92, 
number of valuable dead letters delivered 57, 
number of valuable dead letters returned to 
department 35. 

Street letter boxes in use: Large boxes 19, 
small boxes 87, mail chutes 2, total 108. 



278 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Stamp agencies, three. 
The postal receipts have increased from 
$65,308.26 in 1888 to $110,264.4:3 in 1892. 

CITY OFFICERS. FIRST ELECTION 1856-'57. 

VOTES. 

Mayor — Dr. Samuel B. Pryor 58 

A. A. Rice 34 

Marshal — Andrew M. Moore 55 

John W. Merrifield 37 

Treasurer — William L. Murphy 56 

Z. E. Ranney 36 

Recorder — Samuel S. Jones 90 

Six Aldermen — William Burtle 75 

W. Latimer 74 

William J. Halsell 71 

Burrill Wilkes 68 

Williams 59 

George M. Baird 57 

April, 1857, to April, 1858.^Johu M. 
Crockett was elected Mayor and Marlin M 
Thompson, Marshall. 

APRIL, 1858, TO AUGUST, 1858. 

Isaac C. Naylor elected Mayor and Andrew 
M. Moore Marshal. About the third day after 
Moore was elected Alexander Cockreil killed 
him, in a difficulty. Duringthei'oUowingJune 
the citizens voted to adopt the general act 
for municipal corporations, which had but a 
short time previouly been passed by the 
Legislature, and under this act the following 
officers were elected, August 2: 

Mayor— Dr. A. D. Rice 39 

Scattering 11 

Marshal — William Marion Moon 57 



Five Aldermen — George W. Laws 24 

Wm. J. Halsell 22 

Isaac C. Naylor 19 

James N. Smith 18 

Wm. W. Peak 12 

AUGUST, 1859 TO AUGUST, 1860. 

Mayor, John M. Crockett 38 

George W. Baird 37 

Five A.ldermen — William M. Moon 39 

James N. Smith 39 

George W. Guess 39 

Edward W. Hunt 39 

Dr. Samuel B. Pryor... 37 

AUGUST, 1860, TO AUGUST, 1861. 

Mayor, John M. Crockett 51 

Marshal, Marlin M. Thompson 40 

Five Aldermen — Edward W. Hunt 48 

James N. Smith 43 

William W. Peak 43 

George W. Guess 40 

Dr. Samuel B. Pryor. ... 39 

AUGUST, 1861, TO AUGUST, 1862. 

Mayor, Rev. Thomas E. Sherwood 30 

Marshal, Peter Stevenson 34 

Five Aldermen — George W. Guess 63 

James N. Smith 62 

Edward W. Hunt 61 

William W. Peak 58 

Dr. Samuel B. Pryor ... 56 

AUGUST, 1862, TO JUNE, 1866. 

The records of the city government fail to 
sliow any election from 1861 to June, 1866; 
but as an election was heldthen by authority 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



279 



of the county judge, as tlie law at that 
time provided, the county records therefore 
show: 

Mayor, John W. Lane 66 

John M. Crockett 25 

Marshal, Matt J. Moore 49 

Henry Hickman 44 

Aldermen — John Neely Bryan 91 

Dr. S. S. Sanders 88 

A. W. Morton 88 

Edward W. Hunt 88 

M. M. Morrow 86 

Governor Throckmorton, having selected 
Lane as his private secretary, the latter re- 
signed as mayor, and George W. Guess was 
elected by the city council to fill out the 
term. 

In 1867 no records appear of any election 
dnring this year, and there appears to have 
been no mayor from August, 1867, till Sep- 
tember, 1868, when the following officers were 
appointed by the Federal authorities at Aus- 
tin, under Governor Davis' rule: 

SEITEMBER, 1868, TO NOVEMBER, 1872. 

Mayor — Benjamin Long. 
Marshal, John F. Barbier. 
Treasurer, A. J. Gouffe. 

Aldermen— J. P. McKnight, C. R. Miller, 
Henry Bole, Edwin Taylor, John Tcnison. 

John Henry Brown gives the following 
items in his history: 

" Mr. Bole refused to serve, and Mr. Teni- 
son soon resigned. Samuel S. Jones and J. 
C. Seydel were appointed in their stead; then 
Jones resigned, and John lioufot was sulisti- 



tuted. Long resigned (to visit Europe) April 
1, 1870, when Henry S. Ervay was appointed 
by the newly installed Governor Davis, and 
held the office till the four days Novem- 
ber 5, 6, 7 and 8, 1872, under the charter 
granted in May, 1871. Under Ervay's ad- 
ministration, John M. McCoy was attorney, 
K. S. Druley, secretary, and G. W. Camp- 
bell marshal. The aldermen at different 
times (some resigning) were F. L. AYillemet, 
IraB. Conklin, Samuel Crosley, E. H. Ken- 
dall, J. C. Seydel, Z. E. Coombes, Dr. E. W. 
Tucker, and Edwin Taylor. 

" In 1872, Governor Davis, who had been 
' counted in' by General J. J. Eeynolds, of 
the United States Army, headquarters at Aus- 
tin, concluded that Mr. Ervay was not suffi- 
ciently loyal, and issued an order removing 
him and appointing another in his place; but 
the civil government had reorganized, and 
both, under legal advice, and a sense of duty 
to the people, refused to yield. District 
Judge Hardin Hart issued a mandate com- 
manding him to surrender the office, but Mr. 
Ervay positively refused to comply, and there- 
upon he was committed to jail. It so hap- 
pened, however, just at that crisis, that a 
decision arrived here made by Davis' own 
supreme court, in a precisely similar case, 
ruling that the Governor did not possess the 
power of removal; whereupon Judge Hart 
hastened to unlock the prison door, and Mr. 
Ervay stepped out a free man, to resume his 
duties as mayor, and enjoy an increased re- 
spect of the people. His conduct through- 
out the affair deserved and received tlie 
warmest approval of the people. " 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



November, 1872, to April, 1874. Mayor, 
Benjamin Long, Eepnblican, received 348 
votes, and Edw. H. Hunt, Democrat, 246- 
Thomas Flynn was elected marshal. Dr. 
David King, assessor and collector. 

The aldermen were Ellen P. Brjan, Sr., 
C. Cafy, George M. Swink, Frank Austin, 
"William H. Gaston, Michel Thevenet, John 
W. Lane, Dr. Archelaus and M. Coch- 
ran. The council elected Henry Boll treas- 
urer, James H. Field, attorney, and C. S. 
Mitchell secretary. This election was held, 
and charter granted. May 22, 1871. 

On the 24th of April, 1873, all of the 
above named aldermen resigned, and the fol- 
lowing were elected in their stead: Henry S. 
Ervay, Qickerson Barksdale, Alex. Sanger, 
John H. Bryan, William H. Scales, John 
Owens, William G. Sterett, James Greer. 

Olin Welborn was elected city attorney, 
October 6, 1873. 

These held their offices until the first Tues- 
day in 1874, at which time the following 
were elected: 
Mayor, W. L. Cabell. 
Marshal, June Peak. 
Assessor and Collector, T. J. Keaton. 
Attorney, Wm. M. Edwards. 
Treasurer, Robert H. West. 
Engineer, Wm. M. Johnson. 
Secretary, W. H. Prather. 

The Aldermen were: Henry S. Ervay, R. 
E. Burke, Jos. A. Leonard, R. D. Cougha- 
nour, J. S. Howell, A. T. Hensley, John 
Owens, Joseph C. McConnell, Wm. C. Young, 
H. B. McConnell. 



ELECTED APEIL, 1875. 

Mayor, W. L. Cabell, 

Marshal, June Peak. 

Assessor and Collector, T. J. Keaton. 

Attorney, Wm. M. Edwards. 

Engineer, Wm. M. Johnson. 

Treasurer, Robert H. West. 

Secretary, J. B. Hereford. 

Aldermen, J. W. Crowdus, Henry S. Er- 
vay, F. L. Willemet, A. T. Obenchain, Al- 
fred Davis, Benj. P. Jett, D. E. Grove, W. 
J. Shone, R. V. Thompkins, E. C. McLnre. 

On the 27th day of April, 1875, this coun- 
cil adopted the general incorporation law of 
the State, and all the officers under this 
change were elected every two years, except 
the mayor, one-half to be elected to serve one 
year, the other half two years. So it fol- 
lowed, after this election, that one-half would 
be elected annually, each holding his office 
for two years. 

APRIL, 1876. 

Mayor — John D. Kerfoot, for one year. 
Marshal, W. F. Morton. 
Assessor and Collector, J. N. Ogdeu. 
Attorney, Barnett Gibbs, for two years. 
Engineer, Wm. M. Johnson, also for two 

years. 
Secretary, J. B. Hereford. 

Aldermen — John W. Crowdus, Henry S. 
Ervay, W. J. Clark, F. E. Guedry, Bcnj. P. 
Jett, E. V. Cowen, Jacob L. Williams, Dr. 
M. M. Newsom. 

August 9, 1876, there was another 
change made in the election of officers. The 
two years' term was changed so as to include 



UTSTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



281 



that of the mayor and also an amendment 
afterward adopted so as to allow the council 
to elect the engineer, treasurer and attorney, 
instead of tlie people electing them. 

APRIL, 1877. 

Mayor— W. L. Cabell. 

Aldermen — H. S. Ervay, J. W. Crowdus, 
W. M. C. Hill, F. E. Guedry, W. J. Shone, 
Benj. P. Jett, Dr. M. M. Newsom, Jacob L. 
Williams. 

1878. 

Mayor, W. L. Cabell. 

Assessor and Collector, Julius C. Bocel. 

Treasurer, John W. Bowen. 

Attorney, Barnett Gibbs. 

Marshal, W. F. Morton. 

Engineer, S. W. S. Duncan. 

Secretary, J. B. Hereford. 

Aldermen — John F. Caldwell, 11. S. Ervay, 
P. B. Sheldon, M. D. Garlington, W. C. 
Holland, W. J. Shone, Dr. M. M. Newsom. 

APRIL, 1879. 

Mayor — J. M. Thurmond. 

Assessor and Collector, Julius C. Bogel. 

Treasurer, John W. Bowen. 

Attorney, Barnett Gibbs. 

Marshal, W. F. Morton. 

Engineer, S. "W. S. Duncan. 

Secretary, J. B. Hereford. 

These held over into this term. 

Aldermen — John B. Stone, John F. Cald- 
well, L. F. Bbhny, P. B. Sheldon, W. K- 
Wheelock, John S. Witwer, Charles E. Kel- 
ler, W. R. Mclntire. 



APRIL, 1880. 

Marshal, W. F. Morton. 
Assessor and Collector, J. C. Bogel. 
Engineer, J. S. Thatcher. 
Attorney, Barnett Gibbs. 
Secretary, J. B. Hereford. 

Aldermen — H. S. Ervay, John B. Stone, 
J. S. Ballard, L. F. Bohny, Zimri Hunt, W. 
K. Wheelock, E. M. Tillman, Charles E. 
Keller. 

Mayor Thurmond in September, 1880, was 
removed from oflBce by a vote of the council 
and John J. Good was elected to till the 
vacancy. 

APRIL, 1881. 

For Mayor, John Stone was elected by a 
majority of thirty-seven votes, but he was de- 
clared ineligible because he did not reside in 
the incorporated limits of the city, as the 
charter provided, and on the 17th day of 
May, Dr. J. W. Crowdus was elected. J. B. 
Hereford resigned as secretary April 30, and 
G. M. Swink was elected to fill out the un- 
expired term. 

Alderman — D. A. Williams, H. S. Ervay, 
W. J. Clark, J. S. Ballard, J. D. Carter, 
Zimri Hunt, Frank G. Moore, E. M. Tillman. 
Hunt resigned before his term expired and 
Dr. J. V. Childers was elected. 
Marshal, James C. Arnold. 
Assessor and Collector, J. C. Bogel. 
Treasurer, N. W. Godbold. 
Attorney, Frank Field. 
Secretary, G. M. Swink. 
Engineer, William M. Johnson. 



382 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNT 7. 



Aldermen — Sigmund Loeb, D. A. Williams, 
James Moroney, W. J. Clark, C. F. Carter, 
J. L). Carter, E. M. Tillman, Frank G. Moore. 

1883. 

Mayor, -William L. Cabell. 

Aldermen — Frank M. Cockrell, Sigmund 
Loeb, John Spellman, James Moroney, J. D. 
Carter, C. F. Carter, C. A. Gill, E. M. Tillman. 

In March, 1883, an amendment was 
adopted dividing the city into six instead of 
four wards, and providing for two aldermen 
to be elected from each ward. 

APRIL, 1884. 

Marshal, J. C. Arnold. 

Assessor and Collector, J. C. Bogel. 

Attorney, W. H. Johnson. 

Treasurer, W. H. Flippen. 

Engineer, W. H. Johnson. 

Secretary, W. E. Parry. 

Health Officer, Dr. J. L. Carter. 

Aldermen — D. A. Williams, John Spell- 
man, James Moroney, Robert B. Seay, Jacob 
Ranch, E. C. Smith, Sigmund Loeb, Robert 
Gibson, Charles D. Keller, John Henry 
Brown, J. D. Carter. 

1885. 

Mayor, John Henry Brown. 

Aldermen — John B. Louckx, D. A. Will- 
iams, W. F. Dougherty, John Spellman, 
John Bookhout, Jacob Ranch, Sigmund 
Loeb, P. W. Linskie (vice E. C. Smith re- 
signed), Charles E. Keller, Robert Gibson, J. 
D. Carter, Samuel Peterman (vice John Henry 
Bi-own resigned). 



APBIL, 1886. 
Mayor, John Henry Brown. 

(Held over for this term). 
Marshal, J. C. Arnold. 
Attorney, W. H. Johnson. 
Assessor and Collector, John F. House. 
Engineer, J. S. Thatcher. 
Water Superintendent, Dave Tichenor. 
Secretary, W. E. Parry. 
Health Officer, Dr. J. L. Carter. 

Aldermen — John B. Louckx, T. J. A. 
Brown, W. F. Dougherty, D. F. Mahony, 
Jacob Ranch, John Bookhout, Sigmund 
Loeb, F. R. Rowley, C. F. Keller, D. C. 
Mitchell, J. D. Carter, Samuel Peterman. 

1887. 
Mayor, W. C. Connor. 
Recorder, T.J. A. Brown. 
Assessor, J. F. House. 

Assistant, Benjamin M. Melton. 
Secretary, W. E. Parry. 

Assistant, Willliam McGrain. 
Water Superintendent, Dave Tichenor. 
Health Officer, Dr. J. L. Carter. 
Attorney, W. H. Johnson. 
Engineer, J. S. Thatcher. 
Water Collector, L. M. Targa?on. 

Aldermen — John B. Louckx, Frank Cock- 
rell (vice T. J. A. Brown, resigned), D. P. 
Mahony, A. M. Cochran, Jacob Ranch, W. 
L. Hall, F. R. Rowley, Sigmund Loeb, D. C. 
Mitchell, K. J. Kivlen, Samuel Peterman, 
Darius Welch. 

APRIL, 1888. • 
Mayor, W. C. Connor. 
Mayor^TO tem., Sigmund Loeb. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT 7. 



388 



City Secretary, W. McGrain. 
City Treasurer, W. H. Flippcn. 
Recorder, T. J. A. Brown. 
City Marslial, J. C. Arnold. 
City Attorney, W. II. Johnson. 
Collector, J. C. Bogel. 
Assessor, Benjamin M. Meltou. 
City Engineer, R. W. Havens. 
Snj>erintendent Waterworks, David Tichenor. 
Health Officer, J. L. Carter, M. D. 
Chief Fire Department, Tom Wilkerson. 
Ass't Chief Fire Dep't., Jolin Spellinan. 

Aldermen — John B. Louckx, W. F. John- 
stone, W. M. Edwards, A. M. Cochran, "W. 
L. Hall, L. S. Garrison, Sigmund Loeb, F. 
R. Rowley, K. J. Kivlen, C. U. Howell, D. 
Welch, Benjamin M. Good, J. M. Wendel- 
ken, G. V. Hughes. 

School Board — G. A. Gill, president; T. 
G. Terry, secretary; F. M. Ervay, John 
H. Jones, Henry J. Frees, E. P. Marshall, 
O. E. Linderman, Prof. J. T. Hand, super- 
intendent. 

APRIL, 1889. 

Mayor, W. C. Connor. 
City Judge, T. J. A. Brown. 

Aldermen — John Louckx, J. J. Gannon, 
W. C. Holland. Sigmund Loeb, K. J. Kiv- 
len, M. T. Cone, George V. Hughes, George 
Cole, J. M. Howell, William Bustrin, Will- 
iam Harris. 

School Directors — T. G. Terry, John Alder- 
hoflt, A. C. Ardrey, W. H. Lemmon, M. V. 
Cole. 

APRIL, 1890. 

Mayor, W. C. Connor. 

Mayor pro tern., Sigmund Loeb. 



City Attorney, A. P. Wozencraft. 

Ass't City Attorney, Mann Trice. 

City Auditor, F. R. Rowley. 

Secretary, W. McGrain. 

Treasurer, W. U. Gaston. 

City Judge, T. J. A. Brown. 

Clerk City Court, John T. Carter. 

Marshal, J. C. Arnold. 

Ass't Marshal, G. E. CornwelL 

Collector, J. C. Bogel. 

Assessor, Benjamin M. Melton. 

Engineer, D. A. Poynor. 

Sup't Waterworks, D. P. Mahony. 

Health Officer, W. R. Wilson, M. D. 

City Chemist, L. Myers Connor. 

Chief Fire Dep't, Tom Wilkinson. 

Ass't Chief Fire Dep't, Charles A. Clapp. 

Street Superintendent, J. S. Sphar. 

Aldermen — N. G. Turner, W. I. Logan, J. 
J. Gannon, J. J. Conroy, W. C. Holland, II. 
Hamilton, Sigmund Loeb, Samuel Klein, K. 
J. Kivlen, W. J. Brady, M. T. Cone, R. K. 
Lawther, George V. Hughes, B. F. Coflman, 
J. M. Howell, George C. Cole, William Bus- 
trin, William Harris, J. H. Webster, W. J. 
Keller, G. W. Crutcher, O. K. Harry, J. H. 
McClellan, J. W. Sanders. 

School Board— T. G. Terry, J. L. Peacock, 
John S. Aldehoff, W. B. Parry, D. G. Shelby, 
W. White, L. A. Wilson, W. II. Lemmon, 
M. V. Cole, John W. George, F. M. Ervay, 
James Ennison. 

APRIL, 1891. 

Mayor W. C. Connor 

Mayor pro tern • ■ • • O. K. Harry 

City Attorney A. P. Wozencraft 



284 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTY. 



Assistant City Attorney Mann Trice 

City Auditor J. F. Caldwell 

City Secretary W. McGrain 

City Treasurer W. H. Gaston 

City Judge Kenneth Force 

Clerk City Court John T. Carter 

Chief of Police J. C. Arnold 

Assistant Chief of Police . . . . G. E. Corn well 

City Collector J. C. Bogel 

City Assessor Benjamin M. Melton 

City Engineer D. A. Poynor 

Supt. Water Works D. P. Mahouey 

Health Officer CM. Kosser, M. D. 

City Chemist G. W. Grove, M. D. 

Chief Fire Department. . .Thomas Wilkinson 

Street Superintendent J. S. Sphar 

President City Council Samuel Klein 

Secretary W. McGrain 

Aldermen — N. G. Turner, W.J. Logan, J. 
J. Conroy, George T. Lack, H. Hamilton, 
G. A. Wight, Sigraund Loeb, Samuel Kline, 
K. J. Kivlen, C. H. Howell, M. T. Cone, E. 
R. Lawther, B. F. Cofinian, H. P. Lawther, 
S. J. Potter, F. P. Holland, William Bust- 
rin, William Harris, J. H. Webster, W. J. 
Keller, G. W. Crutcher, O. K. Harry, J. H. 
McClellan, J. R. Briggs. 

School Board— T. G.Terry, J. L. Peacock, 
John S. Aldehoff, W. " E. Parry, C. P. 
Smith, W. White, L. A. Wilson, John H. 
Yeargan, M. V. Cole, John W. George, F. 
M. Ervay, John Ennison. 

APEIL, 1892. 

Mayor W. C. Connor 

Mayor pro tern J. H. McClellan 

City Attorney A. P. Wozencraft 



Assistant City Attorney Mann Trice 

City Auditor J. F. Caldwell 

City Attorney W. McGrain 

City Treasurer W. H. Gaston 

City Judge Kenneth Force 

Clerk City Court John T. Carter 

Chief of Police J. C. Arnold 

Assistant Chief of Police. . . .G. E. Corn well 

City Collector J. C. Bogel 

City Assessor Joe Biakeney 

City Engineer D. A. Poynor 

Supt. Water Works J. M. Strong 

Health Officer V. P. Armstrong, M. D. 

City Chemist G. W. Grove, M. D. 

Chief of Fire Dept Thomas Wilkinson 

Street Superintendent J. S. Sphar 

Electrician J. M. Oram 

City Council, H. P. Lawther, President; 
W. Mc Grain, Secretary. 

Aldermen — W. J. Logan, Patrick O'Keefe, 
J. J. Conroy, George T. Lack, G. A. Knight, 
Custis P. Smith, Neal Starke, Charles Kahn, 
K. J. Kivlen, M. B. Loonie, M. T. Cone, M. 
J. P. Lacey, H. P. Lawther, C. A. Cour, 
George C. Cole, T. L. Lawhon, William Bus- 
trin, J. C. Woodside, J. H. Webster, W. J. 
Keller, Y. B. Dowell, O. K. Harry, J. H. 
McClellan, J. R. Briggs. 

Board of School Directors— T. G. Terry, 
president, first ward; C. A. Gill, vice-presi- 
dent, fifth ward; J. P. Vaughan, secretary, 
seventh ward; J. L. Peacock, second ward; 
J. S. Aldehoff, third ward; W. E. Parry, 
fourth ward; W. White, sixth ward; J. H. 
Yeargan, eighth ward; M. V. Cole, ninth 
ward; J. J. Collins, tenth ward; C. O. 



HISTORY OP DALLAS GOO NT V. 



285 



Wood, eleventh ward; H. G. Putinan, 
twelfth ward; T. G. Harris, superintendent. 

Taxable values $32,000,000 

Nninber of school buildings 14 

Number of school buildings in 

course of construction 5 

Value of school properties $325,000 

Number of teachers employed 96 

Number of scholastic months 9 

School fund available for 1892: 

State $35,397 

County 2,500 

City 40,000 

City (special tax for buildings). . 80,000 
Number of school children 7,886 

POLICK DEPARTMENT. 

Of the various departments of the city of 
Dallas none of them are more perfectly or- 
ganized and more harmoniously regulated 
than the police department, and the excellence 
attained in the regulating of this department 
is due in a large measure to the ef^cient 
services of the chief of the department, J. C. 
Arnold. He has held this office of chief of 
police since 188^, and is thereby familiar with 
every locality of the city and its demands. 
He, with his able and congenial assistant, G. 
E. Cornwell, who has been in service in this 
department since 1884, has a force of police- 
men superior in every respect. 

This department of the city is required to 
hold court every morning. Kenneth Foree, 
the city judge, a gifted young man, was 
elected by a vote of the people, having been 
nominated by a convention in April, 1891, and 

30 



is exceedingly popular as judge of this court. 
John T.Carter is clerk, appointed. The charter 
gives to this court concurrent jurisdiction of 
misdemeanor with tiiat of the county court; 
and Judge Foree, being an able, active and 
talented judge, dispatches husinoss rapidly by 
holding court daily, thereby giving all pris- 
oners a speedy trial. 

As an evidence of what the cosmopolitan 
city of Dallas can do, and also to show re- 
ceipts of this department and expenses, we 
give the following statement from the chief 
of police in report of the liscal year ending 
April, 189^, taken in connection with that of 
the city judge: Number of arrests and cases 
docketed 5,374, convictions 3,547, cases 
transferred 328, amount of fines assessed 
$21,384. 

Amount of fines collected' $11,493, fees 
from stock pound $888.05, fees from dog 
pound $4, worked out by prisoners $4,337.50, 
stolen property recovered $11,925, transferred 
to higher courts $26,500; total $55,145.40. 

Expenses of this department: Expenses of 
stock pound $3,132.54, expenses of city pris- 
ons $3,209.03, expenses of police $39,524.85; 
total $45,866.52. 

LIST OF OFFICERS. 

Chief J. C. Arnold 

Assistant Chief E. C. Cornwell 

City Detective M. W. Kirby 

Assistant City Detective A. G. Peques 

(deceased, killed by accidental discharge 
of ills pistol). 

Clerk J. R. Cnmmings 

Station Keeper D. S. Arnold 



286 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Assistant Station Keeper Fat Mullens 

Pound Keeper T. J. McDaniel 

Stock Impounder R. P. Saunderson 

" " John Cornwell 

Patrol Driver Hugh McGuin 

" " Scott Hall 

Mounted Policemen — S. H. Beard, A. C. 
Waller, W. H. Ramsey, E. F. Gates. 

Patrolmen — J. P. Kehan, J. A. Beard, J. 
G. Alexander, A. P. Rawlins, J. S. Steele, 
Tom Rice, H. C. Lamar, J. M. Goddard, W. 
S. Farmer, R. H. Jordan, G. W. Garrison, S. 
J. Estelle, C. F. Durham, T. F. Martin, H. 
F. Magee, C. O. Brewer (lately deceased), 
Sterling Price, O. M. Rawlins, W. D. Webb, 
J. B. Riddle, W. H. Sheeley, P. N. Miner, 
J. S. Gunning, R. B. Gannaway, C.A. Daniel, 
J. O. Reilly, J. M. Shipley and B. F. Bran- 
denburg. 

Prison Guard William Johnson 

(Lately resigned, T. J. Miller and T. J. 
Early.) 

FIEE DEPAKTMENT. 

In June, 1873, a call was made in the 
Dallas Herald, then the daily paper of the 
city, for the citizens of the city of Dallas to 
come together and organize a volunteer iire 
company, as the city was not sufficiently large 
to support a company on salaries. 

A number of the most influential citizens 
responded, and an organization was effected; 
and T. J. Frank, now deceased, was elected 
chief and W. C. Connor, now mayor of the 
city, first assistant. 

After this company had existed for some 
time under Mr. Frank, an able and competent 



man for this position, W. C. Connor was 
elected chief and P. W. Linskie assistant. 
Mr. Connor served as chief for seven years. 
Under him the volunteer companies gained a 
most remarkable reputation for their enter- 
prise and superior excellence in work as tire- 
men. It is said his superior as a fireman, 
chief and executor could not be fonnd in the 
South. After his service of these companies 
as chief for seven years he resigned, much to 
the regret of all the citizens; but his excellent 
qualities as a leader were so impressed upon 
the public that they immediately promoted 
him to the position of major of the city, 
which he has held since 1887, and during 
which period Dallas has .made her greatest 
improvements and the most rapid strides to the 
proportions of a great city, the metropolis of 
the Statp. 

Mr. Conrjor was succeeded by Chas. Kahn, 
who ie ^t present a member of the city council, 
3Ud during his term the department was con- 
verted into a paid department. 

After this was done, Thomas Wilkinson, 
through the influence and persuasion of P. W. 
Linskie, became a candidate for the position 
of chief, and was elected October 1, 1887. 
He has held this position ever since. Through 
him this department has attained a degree of 
excellence unsurpassed by any tire company 
in the United States. He is a gentleman of 
rare ability for the business. His father hav- 
ing been chief engineer in the voluntary tire 
department in Baltimore, Maryland, when he 
was a young man, and instructed him in the 
work; also having served the volunteer depart- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



287 



ment here in Dallas as assistant chief before 
his election, made him superior in this busi- 
ness. 

The following is the list of the members of 
the old voluntary companies, as furnished the 
writer by Mr. P. W. Linskie: 

HOOK AND LADDER COMPANT NO. 1. 

J. Block, A. Kahn, 

G. Brownlee, Robt. Owen, 

H. Bergower, M. Lewis, 

L. Dunn (deceased), W. M. Leslie, 

D. Goslin (deceased), A. J. Plattos 
Chas. Garner (deceased), 

(deceased), W. M. Mclntire, 

J. E. Hess, D Dedgieu, 

Ben. Loeb, P. W. Linskie, 

J. A. Leonard W. C. Connor, 

(deceased), Jules Schneider, 

S. Mayer, Wm. Kane, 

G. Myer, M. Rush (deceased), 

Chas. Rylnnder, W. F. Morton, 

Robert Ricks, M. Rochstine, 

S. T. Stratton, Jim Arnold, 

G. M. Swink, Theodore Rankin, 

M. K. Thorburn, V. Galay, 

E. Tillman, J. W. Scheach, 
M. TJllman, H. Davidson, 

J. W.Wilson, Jno.Mundy (deceased,) 

H. Walters, Geo. Cleveland, 

A. Friend, J. B. Stone, 

E. Levy, Tom King, 

Joe Young (deceased), G. W. Olliver, 

E. C. Ellis, Barney Bren. 

LIST OF ENGINE COMPANY NO. 1. 

H. B. Bowen, Jno. Williams, 

Geo. Berger, J. W. Webb 



Lee Cohen, 
R. B. Cockrell 



(deceased), 
Norris, 



(deceased), Chas. Struck, 

Jas. Flint, Henry Proper, 

Gordon, Comack, 

Harry, Henry Pringle, 

Ed Lehman, Wm. Mathews, 

Wm. Lang, J. C. McCabe, 

Angus Meller, J. D. Crawford, 

Jno. Morrell, W. H. Anderson, 
June Peak, (deceased), 

W. C. Padgitt, C. Parker, 

Wm. Roberts, R. H. West. 

Alex. Sanger, Lorens, 

G. B. Schmidt, Paul Jamison, 

Wm. Starnes, E. G. Bower, 

Z. Tolliver, J. W. Lyle. 

HOSE COMPANY NO. 2 (.^JTNA HOSe). 

E. H. Graber, W. P. Daken, 
M. Harris, Jas. B. Carr, 
W. H. Anderson, Barney Gumpet, 
B. R. Spratley, Jno. Seddon, 

M. E. Saucier, J. M. Hamuel, 

Green Carr, Thomas Zwinke, 

Jno. Goetsell, C. M. Soper, 

F. D. Burk, F. S. Clemmons, 
Jas. Carr, R. P. Aunspaugh, 
Ed Hntchinson, John Melley 

Ed Kelly, (deceased). 

F. D. Martin, 

hook and ladder company no. 2 

(east dai.las). 

J. J. Good (deceased), J. A. Tooley 

J. T. Tooley, (deceased), 

W. J. Allen, B. B. Cork, 

H. G. Bohney, Dave Tichenor 



288 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Donald Hinckley, (deceased), 

Win. McKinley, W. T. Peters, 

T A. Pharis, J. J. Good, Jr., 

(deceased), Einille Ratnonr, 
J. N. Ogden, James Purnel, 

Jas. Hardy, Rano Starr, 

A. Dysterbach, Bailey Patton, 

J. H. Slaughter, Jno. Thomson, 

W. J. Shone, G. M.Duncan, 

Wehb High, C. Allen, 

T. Hinckley Dan Bacon (deceased), 

(deceased), Will Clark, 
J. C. Greer, Thos. Wilkinson. 

Jas. Prophet (deceased). 

The condition of the lire department at 
present is first-class. It consists of a force 
of 44 members, inclusive of the officers. 
It has several handsome buildings in differ- 
ent portion of the city. The apparatus of 
the department consists at present of three 
second-size Ahrens steamers, two of them 
new, and one in good condition; two new 
and three old hose carriages; 3,000 feet of 
new, 3,700 feet of good, 2,200 feet of ordin- 
ary, and 1,700 feet of common, 2^-inch 
rubber hose; one double sixty-gallon chem- 
ical engine, new; one hook and ladder 
truck, not in service at present; one supply 
wagon; one cart; one buggy for chief; and 
twenty- two horses. 

VALUATION OP PIRK DEPARTMENT PROPERTY. 

Apparatus, horaes, etc I48.0QQ 

Buildings 19.000 

Real estate 25.000 

Fire alarm system 19.300 



Total $111,300 

The following is the list of the present 



officers and members: Thos Wilkinson, 
chief; T. A. Myers, assistant chief; John M. 
Oram, city electrician. 

MEMBERS OF DITFEKENT COMPANIES. 

Engine Company No. 1, at the corner Caron- 
dalet and Market streets: Chas. Zumbrun, 
captain; Geo. Burger, engineer; D. Rainey, 
assistant engineer; H. Rawlins, engine 
driver; W. Jarvis, reel driver; B. Franklin, 
supply driver; E. . Reeves, hoseman; H. 
Millican hoseman. 

Engine Company No. 2, on Commerce 
street, near Hawkins street: J. Co.\, cap- 
tain; F. Douglass, engineer; E. Daniels, 
assistant engineer; C. C. Crabtree, engine 
driver; T. Morrison, reel driver, G. Gary, 
hoseman; T. Boland, hoseman. 

Engine Company No. 3, corner Gaston 
and College avenues: Ralph Jackson, cap- 
tain; J. 0. Rahn, engineer; A. Lott, as- 
sistant engineer; J. Clifford, engine driver; 
L. Paxton, reel driver; A. Cooper, hoseman; 
R. Wilson, hoseman. 

Hose Company No. 1, on Bryan street, 
near Crockett street: A. E. Walbridge, cap- 
tain; R. Brady, reel driver; J. Kivlen, sup- 
ply-cart driver; J. Houston, hoseman; W. 
Brice, hoseman. 

Chemical EJngine No. 1, at the corner of 
Elm and Olivet streets: C. D. Swan, captain; 
J. D. Cook, driver; T. Hurley, hoseman; T. 
Miles, hoseman. 

Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, Central 
Station: J. L. Marder, captain; Dennis 
Canty (the oldest firemen in the city), driver; 
O. Crowder, tillerman; J. Ryan, ladderman; 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



S. 6. Anderson, lineman and ladderman; 
J. Gorman, driver bnggy and ladderman; 
Geo. W. Hill, ladderman; W. Kiddle, ladder- 
man: Chas. Longeerre, ladderman; W. Mc- 
Daniels, ladderman. 

John M. Oram, city electrician, is said to 
be one of the most talented electricians to be 
found in any country. He has a system of 
electric communications to all the handsome 
buildings of the tire department, of which 
there are several, also to almost all the other 
departments, that works with perfect sym- 
metry and harmony. His success in this de- 
partment as an electrician is praised exten- 
sively, and very justly so. 

BURNING OF DALLAS IN 1860. 

One of the most exciting events in the 
early history of Dallas county was that of the 
burning of the town of Dallas in July, 1860. 
Some of the citizens at that time differed in 
their opinions as to the origin of the fire. 
Below we give interviews of three pioneer 
citizens now living in Dallas, which appeared 
in the Dallas Daily News of July 10, 1892. 
These do not agree in their opinions of the 
origin of the fire, but a full account of the 
destruction is given. Uncle Billy Miller: "1 
am eighty-five years old," the venerable nar- 
rator began, "and my memory is somewhat 
defective; but those scenes and the startling 
revelations of an uprising among the blacks 
created such an impression on my mind that 
lean never forget it. Grill Miller, now dead, 
who was a son of \V. IJ. Miller of Dallas, who 
then lived west of the river five miles from 



town, took the part of a detective and worked 
up the case. It is said tiiat he had some 
Indian blood in his veins, and he kept his 
own counsel, saying but little, but he dis- 
covered the plot to burn, rob and murder. 
There had been a great deal of burning going 
on in the country: farmers' homes, their 
feed stacks and cribs were burned, and no 
one knew how. 

"One day as Grill was at his father's a little 
negro boy, whom he called Bruce, came run- 
ning in crying and saying: 'O, Mars Grill, 
three white men came and made me fetch 
them some water, and then they sot fire to the 
barn and the house ' Grill could see the 
smoke issuing from his place, but he said 
nothing then. After he had worked on a few 
clews and put this and that together he one 
day took Bruce from the house and in the 
presence of a committee of white men told 
him that he would have to tell them who had 
burned his house else they would kill him, 
and he informed him that if he died lying the 
devil would get him sure. Bruce confessed 
that he himself fired the place, and that ho 
had been put up to it by another negro. 
This led to the revelation of a plot, which in- 
cluded every negro in the county except 
three, and one of the three was old Uncle 
Clayton Miller, Henry Miller's father, who 
belonged to Uncle W. B. Miller. He knew 
about the plot, but under threatened penalty 
of death lie dared not reveal it. A part of 
the plan was to poison Uncle Billy (W. B.) 
Miller and his wife and divide their property 
among the blacks. 



290 



EiarORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



"When the scheme was fully disclosed it was 
shown to have been instigated by two white 
preachers from Iowa. They were in the 
county about two years prior to the outbreak, 
but they left and returned again, it was 
charged, to fully develop their plans, which 
were evidently laid during their first visit to 
the county. As soon as their connection 
with the scheme became known a committee 
composed of Judge Hord, Uncle Billy 
Miller and Mr. Knight, Judge Burford's 
father-in-law, started to wait on them. One 
of them was seen. When the committee ap- 
proached the negro quarter where he was 
stopping, Uncle Billy Miller called him out 
to acquaint him with the committee's mis- 
sion. He was eating breakfast and he reached 
back to get a gun which was standing against 
the wall near him. At that moment a shot 
was tired fi'om the outside. The preacher 
then commenced crying and asked me to keep 
the men from shooting him. He promised 
to get out of the State in five hours, and the 
committee left, but before he could get away 
he was captured somewhere on Farmers' 
branch, brought to town and put in jail. 
The other preacher was captured and that 
night they were both taken out, whipped and 
told to get out of the State instanter. They 
left, but we heard of them during the war 
circulating stories in the North about us. 

"After the burning of the town, which oc- 
curred on July 10, 1860, when the mercury 
stood 110 degrees in the shade, we whipped 
every negro in the county one by one. One 
of the negroes whipped became very sick 



afterward, and, thinking that he was going to 
die, he made a confession to his old mistress, 
telling her all about the plot, which contem- 
plated the murder of herself and her husband. 
He confirmed the statement of other negroes 
that the two Iowa preachers had instigated 
the entire plot. Upon his confession he with 
two other negroes, one of whom was a 
preacher, was taken out and hanged on the 
bluff just above where the Commerce street 
bridge now stands. Clayton Miller, Henry's 
father, was a good old negro. Henry was 
freed when he was a child. He was in no 
way related to Commodore Miller, or to 
Charlie Miller, who was sent to the peniten- 
tiary some time ago." 

JUDGE NAT. M. BDEFORd's TEKSION. 

In his search for additional particulars 
concerning the burning of the town and the 
trouble with the negroes, the News reporter 
yesterday called on Judge Nat M. Burford 
at his home on Akard street. If Judge Bur- 
ford lives until the 8th of next October he 
will have been a resident of Dallas forty-four 
years. Although one of the oldest settlers 
and one among the patriarchs of the city, he 
is young in step and memory. The reporter 
found him mowing grass in the back yard. 
Showing the interviewer to his room he said 
that he could not recall dates with accuracy, 
but he had a vivid recollection of the scenes 
transpiring about thirty-two years ago in 
Dallas. 

"I was then district judge," he began, 
"and I was then holding court in Waxahachie. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



2i)l 



I adjourned court there Saturday and started 
to my home in Dallas, but I did not "et here 
until Monday, the day after tiie town was 
burned. There were no railroads in those 
days, you know, and travel was slow. I then 
lived on Main street, where the St. George 
hotel now stands. When I got home I found 
the largest portion of the town in smoking 
ruins. Nearly all the buildings on the square, 
about fifteen business houses, were burned. 
One two-story brick house was left standing 
on the southeast corner of the square. It 
was a saloon and I believe a saloon is kept 
in the same building to-day. Residences as 
far as my house had been burned. I remem- 
ber that when I got to town everything was 
very quiet. It was almost a death-like still- 
ness. People talked in whispers, but they 
were determined-looking. They were des- 
perate. They gathered in groups and they 
were sure that nothing was said in the pres- 
ence of anybody who was not known to be 
with them. A little after dinner T. C. 
Hawpe, the sheriff, came to my house and 
told me that a meeting was being held in the 
courthouse. lie was afraid they were going 
to hang all the negroes in the county and so 
entail a great loss of property. He said that 
three were known to be guilty and he did not 
think that any more should hang. He asked 
me to go down and address the crowd and do 
what 1 could to hold violence in check. I went 
and when I got to the courthouse door — it was 
a brick courthouse, the second built on the 
spot wiiere the new one is being erected — I 
encountered a doorkeeper. The guards were 



admitting only those whom they knew to be 
all right. The doorkeeper asked me if I 
would abide the action of the people's meet- 
ing. I replied that I would and 1 went in. 
The first man I found inside said: 'Now, 
we must vote to hang tliem three negroes, 
but it won't do to hang too many. Wo 
can't afford it. After we get the tiiree let's call 
up some rich man's negro and make a fight 
to save him. If we save the rich man's 
negro the meeting will not then turn around 
and vote to hang the poor man's negro.' I 
saw that he had an eye to business and I 
thought it was a good suggestion. I went 
up to the courtroom and talked about three- 
quarters of an hour. Being a judiciary 
officer I then left the meeting and took no 
part in subsequent proceedings. However, 
the three negroes were condemned to death 
by a jury of, I think, fifty-two men. The 
fourth negro brought out belonged to Billy 
Miller, the richest man in the county. Sure 
enough a fight was made to save him and 
succeeded, but Miller said that the negro 
shouldn't stay in the county, and he after- 
ward send him away. The moderation wing 
of the meeting compromised with the other 
faction by offering and voting for a resolu- 
tion to whip every negro in the county. The 
resolution was adopted and a committee was 
appointed to do the whipping. I remember 
my cook was whipped, but she said they 
didn't whip her hard, and her husband 
at that time got the only whipping he ever 
had in his life, lie was a fine mulatto, a 
splendid blacksmith, and he would have uoth- 



293 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ing to do with the negroes. He opposed the 
abolition of slavery and thereby engendered 
the ill will of all the negroes. He is living 
now on Elm fork, about seven miles from 
here. The public meeting in the courthouse 
was held Monday afternoon, and I think the 
three negroes condemned were hanged the 
following Wednesday in the forenoon. I 
was not at the hanging and I took no part in 
it, but most of the people had their negroes 
there to witness it. 

" I am satisfied the town was fired by ne- 
groes. Mr. Cameron, who lived on the Fort 
Worth road, twelve miles from Dallas, had a 
negro boy about twelve years old who came 
to town every Sunday to get the mail. When 
he got back home that Sunday after being in 
Dallas his master saw the smoke from the 
burning town and asked him what it was. 
He replied that Dallas was burning. He 
was asked how he knew it. He said that as 
he was going to Dallas that morning Uncle 
Cato, who was then a notorious negro in 
these parts, told him to look out, that Dallas 
would be burning before he got back home. 
This to my mind was most convincing proof. 
(^Id Cato was captured and he implicated the 
other two negroes who were hanged with 
him. Their stories were corroborated by 
other negroes, so that there could be but little 
doubt that the negroes started the fire. They 
stated that two white preachers from the 
JNorth put them up to it, and a committee 
waited on the preachers. I never saw them, 
but after the committee waited on them they 
were whipped and told to leave the country. 



At that time there was a good deal of house 
burning all over the country, but the war 
soon came on with its exciting events, and 
that is the reason I reckon nothing was ever 
recorded about the burning of Dallas and the 
threatened slave insurrection. It almost passed 
out of the minds of the people." 

A TALK WITU ONE OF THE JDRYMEN. 

The News reporter ran down a member of 
the jury of fifty-two (Judge James Bentley), 
a majority of whom sent the three negroes 
to their execution. He declined to be inter- 
viewed, saying that this was a bit of Southern 
history that was not good. " The two white 
preachers," he said, " I believe to have been 
guiltless of the charge laid against them," 
and before the speaker knew it he was rat- 
tling away with an interesting narrative of tlie 
capture of the preachers, the burning of the 
town and the hanging of the negroes. 
"When the preachers were captured," he pro- 
ceeded, " one of them doubtless would have 
been shot in his buggy, but his wife threw 
her arms around his neck and threw herself 
in front of him so that the vigilantes could 
not shoot him without shooting her. She 
made such a piteous plea for her husband's 
life that they decided to spare it. The elder 
of the preachers was not wanted, but he re- 
fused to leave his brother of the cloth. He 
said that he would return to Dallas and go to 
jail with him. The preachers were afterward 
whipped and told to leave the country. I 
think that about the extent of their connec- 
tion with the negroes was that they had been 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



293 



seen perched on rail fences talking with ne- 
groes several times, and once or twice they 
felt in their duty to preach to theni. I 
don't believe they instigated an insurrection. 
In fact there was no insurrection. People 
became frightened and almost panic-stricken. 
" When the town was burned it was a hot 
day — so hot that matches ignited from the 
heat of the sun. Wallace Peak had just fin- 
ished a new two-story frame building, and in 
the upper story that day a number of men 
were lounging and smoking. Piled up near 
the building was a lot of boxes tilled with 
shavings, and I think a cigar stump or a 
match was thrown into one of the boxes, and 
from that the fire was started, about twoo'clock 
in the afternoon. Several fires had occurred; 
there was a great deal of excitement about 
the apprehended negro uprising; somebody 
had to hang; and the three negroes went. 
There was a merchant in the town of Hen- 
derson who wrote to a friend here that he 
would pass through Dallas on a given date. 
Incidentally in the letter he mentioned the 
fact that the day when Dallas burned a box 
of matches in his store took fire from natural 
heat and he barely saved his store from burn- 
ing. This incident was cited by those sup- 
porting the theory of accidental origin, but 
the merchant was denounced for being in 
collusion with the negroes. It happened that 
he originally came from the North and there 
were threats of lynching him in case he ap- 
peared in Dallas. His friend wrote to him 
to keep away from Dallas, and he did. At 
tliat time there was considerable wagon immi- 



gration to this country from the Nortli, and 
the idea somehow gained currency that those 
Northern people were coming down here and 
supplying the negroes with firearms and am- 
munitions. People actually held up the 
wagons and searched them as they entered 
the town, but nothing was ever found to con- 
firm these suspicions." 

In the language of the latter-day historian: 
" Things have changed since the events re- 
cited above transpired. A generation has 
passed, the shackles of slavery have been 
broken and Dallas has grown from a small 
hamlet to a proud city." 

OTHEE ACCOUNTS. 

A correspondent of the Dallas News of 
July 21 wrote the following: 

" Some months ago I furnished and you 
published from tiie old Dallas Herald an ac- 
count of the burning of Dallas, July 10, 
1860. Recently you have published several 
interviews with surviving citizens of that 
date in regard to that disaster. Some of 
them leave the impression that the calamity 
may have been the result of the spontaneous 
ignition of matches on that hot July day. As 
I believein nosuch theory (like Mr. William H. 
lieeman, then and now a citizen of Dallas and 
a native of Illinois), I beg leave to make pub- 
lic through the News the letter which follows. 
This letter, found as sworn to by two reputa- 
ble citizens, if made puljlic at the time would 
have rendered the people of north and south- 
western Texas desperate. Wiser counsels 
prevailed, and to a number of the most intel- 
ligent citizens of Fort Worth the country 



294 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS COONTT. 



was indebted for the prevention of scenes of 
blood, and doubtless the summary execution 
of some innocent men, simply because they 
were recent comers, or possibly came from 
certain States. These wise and just men of 
Fort Worth adopted a wise and just course. 
They withheld the letter from publication, 
but had certified copies made and sent to con- 
fidential men in the various counties involved 
in the threatened dangers, to be communi- 
cated to a number of good men to put them 
on their guard. One of these certified copies 
was communicated to me and at least two 
other citizens of my then county. I have 
ever preserved it in my scrap book of special 
matters touching the current history of the 
country in those troublous times. Here is 
the letter: 

" Denton Ckeek, July 3, 1860. 
" Dear Sir: — A painful abscess on my right 
thumb is my apology for not writing at An- 
derson. Our glorious cause is progressing 
finely as far south as Brenham. There I 
parted with Brother W. He went still fur- 
ther South. He will do good wherever he 
goes. I have traveled up through the fron- 
tier counties, — part of the time under a fic- 
titious name. I found many friends who 
had been initiated and understood the mystic 
word. I met with a good number of our 
friends in Georgetown. We held a consul- 
tation and were unanimously of the opinion 
that we should be cautious of our new asso- 
ciates. Most of them are desperate characters 
and may betray us, as there are slaveholders 
among them and value a negro much more 



than a horse. The only good they will do 
will be destroying towns, mills, etc., which is 
our only hope in Texas at present. If we 
can break the Southern merchants and millers 
and have their places filled by honest Repub- 
licans, Texas will be an easy prey if we will 
only do our duty. All we want for the time 
being is control of trade. Trade, assisted by 
preaching and teaching, will soon control 
public opinion. (Public opinion is mighty 
and will prevail.) Lincoln will be elected 
and we will then have the administration, 
cost what it will. Her sovereignty accom- 
plished, we have but one more struggle to 
make, that is free Texas. We will then have 
a connected link from the lakes to the gulf. 
Slavery will then be surrounded by land and 
water, and will soon sting itself to death. I 
repeat, Texas we must have, and our only 
chance is to break up the present inhabitants 
in whatever way we can, and it must be done. 
Some of us will most assuredly suffer in ac- 
complishing our object, but our Heavenly 
Father will reward us for assisting him in 
blotting out the greatest curse ou earth. It 
would be impossible for any of us to do an 
act that is as blasphemous in the sight of God 
as holding slaves. We must have frequent 
consultations with our colored friends. (Let 
your meetings be in the night.) Impress 
upon their clouded intellects the blessings of 
freedom. Induce all to leave you can. Our 
arrangements for their accommodation to go 
North are better than they have been, but 
not as good as I would like. We will need 
more agents, both local and traveling. I 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



295 



will send out traveling agents when I get 
lioine. You must appoint a local agent in 
every neighborhood in your district. I will 
recommend a few whom I think will do to 
rely upon, to wit: Brothers * * * * L., W., 
I., K, McD., v., C, N., S., W., G., A., D., 
M. Brother L., the bearer of this, will take 
a circuitous route and see as many of our col- 
ored friends as be can. He also recommends 
a differetit match to be used about town, etc. 
Our friends sent an inferior article. They 
emit too much smoke and do not contain 
enough camphene. They are calculated to 
get some of our friends hurt. I will send a 
supply when I get home. I will have to 
reprove you and your co- workers for your 
negligence in sending funds for our agents. 
But few have been compensated for their 
trouble. Correspondent and industrious 
agent, Brother W., has received but a trifle 
— not so much as an apprentice's wages. 
Neither have Brothers W., M. and others. 
You must call upon our colored friends for 
more money. They must not e.xpect us to 
do all. They certainly will give every cent 
if they know how soon their shackles will be 
broken. My hand is very painful and I must 
close. 

" N. B.— Brother L. will give you what few 
uumbers of the •' Imjiending Crisis" we have; 
also Brother 8.'s speech and Brother B.'s let- 
ters, etc. Farewell. 

" State of Texas, Tarrant county. — Person- 
ally appeared before me, the undersigned 
authority, Paul Isbell, who, after being duly 
sworn according to law, on oath says: 'The 



above and foregoing letter was found by 
George Grant and myself near the residence 
of said Grant, six miles west of Fort Worth, 
near where a horse had been stealthily fed, as 
it seemed, and that the said letter has not 
been out of our possession till now, and that 
it has not been altered in any respect what- 



ever.' 



'• Given under my hand and the seal of the 
Tarrant county court on this the lOtli day of 
August, 1860. 

" Thomas M. Matthews, 

Deputy Clerk. 

" If the old citizens of Dallas, who knew 
nothing of tliis letter to dear brother and 
have had doubts as to the origin of the lire in 
Dallas July 10, 1860, as well as those in Bren- 
ham, Georgetown, Milford and twenty other 
places about the same time, including over 
thirty mills and gins — if, we say, these char- 
itable doubters will compare the dates and 
facts, all their doubts will be removed and 
they will see that the burning of Dallas was 
but a part of the plan inaugurated by the 
gang to which * * * co-workers be- 
longed to "destroy the present inhabitants of 
Texas. 

" Had this letter been published at the time 
it would have crazed the people of north and 
central Texas and caused the death of many 
men — doubtless many innocent men included. 
That it was not published was owing to the 
extreme caution of men who feared a great 
crisis was impending — men of the class who 
a few months later sustained the secession 
movement. 



296 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



"After a delay of thirty-two years the letter 
is now given to the public without note or 
comment. A Sukvivor of 1860." 

HEALTH DEPAKTMENT. 

Dallas is classed as one of the liealthiest 
cities in this country. The death rate here 
during the last two years has been only one 
and one-tenth per cent. The rate in the 
Northern cities is much greater, and in Eu- 
rope the average annual death rate is two per 
cent. 

Dallas has never been visited with any 
raging epidemics. While some serious cases 
of epidemics have Ijeen in her borders, they 
failed to excite any alarm or to spread the 
disease. A hospital is provided for the sick, 
and the services of a physician are also pro- 
vided free of charge. Any subjects thrown 
upon the city receive prompt and efficient 
attention. Dr. V. P. Armstrong is at present 
the health officer. 

STREET RAILWAYS. 

The street railways of Dallas, amounting 
to forty- six miles, are run chiefly by elec- 
tricity, affording thereby as delightful and 
convenient accommodations in this respect as 
can be found in any city. In addition to the 
electric lines, a company of capitalists have 
partly constructed, on one of the leading 
business streets of the city, a cable railroad, 
which when completed will be, it is said, the 
only street cable railroad in the South. 

DALLAS AS A FINANCIAL CENTER. 

Dallas, being situated in the center of the 
richest agricultural section of the State, and 



surrounded as she is with numerous small 
cities of from 4,000 to 10,000 population, 
within twenty-five to sixty miles distance, 
besides the thriving city of Fort Worth, 
thirty miles west of her, and, being recog- 
nized as the metropolis of the State in the 
commercial world abroad, has become a city 
of great financial importance. Her banking 
facilities are equal to any city in the South. 

The following are the names of the present 
banks in the city, their organization, and late 
statements concerning each, as well as the 
officers of each: 

The National Exchange Bank of Dallas 
was organized under the State laws in 1875, 
and was converted into a national bank in 
1887. Its capital was then increased to 
$300,000. 

The present officers are: J. N. Simpson, 
president; W. H. Gaston, 1st vice-president; 
Royal A. Ferris, 2d vice-president; N. A. 
McMillan, cashier; R. C. Ayers, assistant 
cashier. Directors — J. N. Simpson, W. H. 
Gaston, Royal A. Ferris, George N. Ald- 
ridge, H. R. Hearn, George W. Buster, N. A. 
McMillan. 

The following is a statement of the condi- 
tion of this bank, Julj 12, 1892: 

NATIONAL EXCHANGE BANK. 

RESOURCES. 

Loaas and discounts $745,955 54 

Overdrafts, secured and unsecured 12,498 05 

U. S. bonds to secure circulation 50,000 00 

Stocks, securities, claims, etc 63,247 94 

Due from approved reserve agents 129,965 10 

Due from otlier national banks 109,200 59 

Due from State banks and bankers 27,567 81 

Banking-house, furniture and fixtures 83,728 50 

Other real estate and mortgages owned 11,045 46 





Cr^<^. 



nrsTonr of Dallas count r. 



297 



Current expenses and taxes paid 603 01 

Premiums on U. S. bonds 8,250 00 

Checks and other cash items 6,88C 13 

Exchanges for clearing house 5,521 16 

Bills of other banks 1,700 00 

Fractional paper currency, nickels and cents 138 80 

Specie 88,005 15 

Legal tender notes 10,000 00 

Redemption fund with U. S. treasurer 

(5 per cent of circulation) 2,250 00 

Due from U. S. treasurer, other than 5 per 

cent redemption fund 1,450 00 



Total $1,308,613 23 

LIABILITIES. 

Capital stock paid in $300,000 00 

Surplus fund 60,000 00 

Undivided profits 10,453 97 

National bank nstesoutstiinding 45,000 00 

Dividends unpaid 18,000 00 

Individual deposits subject to check 564,505 50 

Demand certificates of deposit 5,030 97 

Time cer'iflcates of deposit 19,445 43 

Certified checks 2,084 60 

Cashier's checks outstanding 10,236 25 

Due to other national banks 186,427 11 

Due to State banks and bankers 80,843 40 



Total $1,308,613 23 

RECAPITULATION. 

KE8O0HCES. 

Loans $745,955 54 

Overdrafts 12,498 05 

U.S. bonds ^ 50,000 00 

Other stfiCks and bonds 63,247 94 

Banking house and fixtures 33,728 50 

Other real estate 11,045 46 

Premiums ou U. S. bonds 8,250 00 

Expenses and taxes paid 6u3 01 

Due from U. S. treasurer 3,700 00 

Cash in vault and with other banks 379,584 73 



Total $1,308,613 23 

LIABILITIES. 

Capital Stock $300,000 00 

Surplus 00.000 00 

Undivided profits 10,453 97— 



$370,453 97 

Circulation 45,000 00 

Dividends unpaid 18,000 00 

Individual deposits $001,888 75 

Bank deposits 273,270 51—875,159 26 



Total $1,308,613 23 



Tlie American National Bank, designated 
United States Depository, was organized in 
1884, with AV. H. Thomas, president; C. C. 
Slaughter, vice-president; E. J. Gannon, 
cashier. These are the present officers. 

The following are the directory: W. H. 
Thotnas, C. C. Slaughter, G. B. Wilson, E. 
G. Chiles, W. M. C. Hill, W. C. Padget, 
L. S. Thome, E. J. Gannon. 

AMERICAN NATIONAL BANK 

RESODRCES. 

Loans and discounts $464,576 37 

Overdrafts, secured and unsecured 73,235 15 

U. S. bonds to secure circulation 50,000 00 

U. S. bonds to secure deposits 100,000 00 

Stocks, securities, etc 11,612 00 

Due from approved reserve agents 51,133 17 

Due from other national banks 61,475 08 

Due from Slate banks and bankers 45,154 85 

Banking-house, furniture and fixtures.... 16,000 00 

Other real estate and mortgages owned.. 10,947 45 

Current expenses and taxes paid 348 53 

Premiums on U. S. bonds 18,500 00 

Checks and other cash items 353 39 

E,xchanges for clearing house 3,288 93 

Bills of other banks 19,679 00 

Fractional paper currency, nickels and 

cents 21 55 

Specie 45,999 50 

Legal tender notes 35,000 00 

Redemption fund with U. S. treasurer 

(5 per cent of circulation^ 2,250 00 

Due from U. S. treasurer other than 5 

per cent redemption fund 1,220 00 

Total $1,010,794 95 

LIABILITIES. 

Capital stock paid in $200,000 00 

Surplus fund 135,000 00 

Undivided profits 3,334 74 

National bank notes outstanding 45,000 00 

Dividends unpaid 2,676 00 

Individual deposits subject to check 488,423 46 

Demand certificates of deposit 8,198 60 

Certified checks 3,150 00 

Cashier's checks outstanding 260 00 

United States deposits 54,573 30 

Deposits of U. S. disbursing officer 40,406 90 



398 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Due to other National banks 33,959 63 

Due to State banks and bankers 6,832 20 

Total $1,010,794 95 

The City National Bank, at the corner of 
Main and Murphy streets, was organized in 
1873, under the laws of the State; in 1880 
was converted into a national bank, and in 
1886 it was consolidated with the Dallas 
National Bank. After this consolidation it 
took its present name, " The City National 
Bank of Dallas." 

The present officers are; J. C. O'Connor, 
president; J. T. Trezevant, vice-president; 
E. M. Reardon, cashier; H. E. Hamilton, 
assistant cashier. Directors — Alex. Sanger, 
Alfred Davis, J. F. O'Connor, J. E. Schnei- 
der, J. T. Trezevant, M. L. Crawford, Guy 
Sumpter, L. A. Fires, J. C. O'Connor, E. M. 
Reardon and T. Wistar Brown. 

STATEMENT JULY 12, 1893. 

RESOURCES. 

Loans and discounts $1,052,863 39 

Overdrafts, secured and unsecured 21,728 00 

U. S. bonds to secure circulation 50,000 00 

Due from approved reserve agents 113,411 17 

Due from other national banks 132,496 56 

Due from State banks and bankers 78,308 18 

Banking house, furniture, and fixtures... 85,000 00 

Other real estate and mortgages owned... 22,270 27 

Current expenses and taxes paid 697 08 

Premiums on U. S. bonds 8,000 00 

Checks and other cash items 2,323 69 

Exchanges for clearing house 9,099 43 

Bills of other banks 28,020 00 

Fractional paper currency, nickels and 

cents 1,274 80 

Specie 124,502 37 

Redemption fund with U. S. treasurer . 

(5 per cent of circulation) 2,250 00 

Total $1,732,244 94 



LIABILITIES. 

Capital stock paid in |325,000 00 

Surplus fund 150,000 00 

Undivided profits 5,155 92 

National bank notes outstanding.. 45,000 00 

Dividends unpaid 7,624 00 

Individual deposits su'^ject to check 699,299 88 

Demand certificates of deposit 142,727 01 

Certified checks 605 00 

Cashier's checks outstanding 11,598 75 

Due to other national banks 299,460 50 

Due to State banks and bankers 45,773 88 

Total $1,732,244 94 

RECAPITULATION. 

RESOURCES. 

Loans and discounts $1,074,591 39 

U. S. bonds and premium 58,000 00 

Available cash — 

Cash in vault $165,220 29 

Cash with other banks, 

subject to check 334,215 91— 489,436 30 

Banking house, furniture 

and fixtures 85,000 00 

Other real estate 22,270 27— 107,370 37 

Due from U. S. treasurer 2,350 00 

Expenses 697 08 

Total $1,733,344 94 

LIABIIilTIBS. 

Capital stock $325,000 00 

Surplus fund 150,000 00— $475,000 00 

Undivided profits 5,155 92 

Circulation 45,000 00 

Deposits — 

Individual $854,230 64 

Banks and bankers 345,234 38- 1,199,465 02 

Dividends unpaid 7,624 00 

Total $1,732,244 94 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



299 



The State National Bank of" Dallas was 
organized February 2, 1892, with J. S. Artn- 
stronfT president; C. A. Keatinj^ vice-presi- 
dent; E. D. Tenison cashier. Directors — J. 
W. Crowdus, president of the J. W. Crowdns 
Drug company; James Aikin, assistant super- 
intendent Pacific Express Company; John S. 
Witwer, postmaster; J. S. Armstrong, presi- 
dent Armstrong company wholesale grocers; 
J. M. McCormick, of McCormick & Spence, 
attorneys at law; R. P. Henry, banker Lan- 
caster, Texas; C. F. Carter, of White & Co., 
cotton buyers; C. A. Keating, president 
Keating Improvement & Machine Company; 
E. 0. Tenison, cashier. 

STATEMENT JULY 12, 1892. 

KE80URCE8. 

Loans and discounts |G61,978 77 

Overdrafts, secured and unsecured 13,205 92 

U. S. bonds to secure circulation 50,000 00 

Due from approved reserve agents 48,746 51 

Due from other national banks 21,893 51 

Due from Slate banks and bankers 15,303 77 

Banking house, furniture and fixtures 5,000 00 

Current expenses and taxes paid 559 61 

Checks and other cash items 5,055 02 

Exchanges for clearing house 16,763 72 

Bills of other banks 2,300 00 

Fractional paper currency, nickels and cents 137 56 

Specie 6,455 00 

Legal tendernotes 15,000 00 

Redemption fund with U. S. treasurer 

(5 per cent of circulation) 2,250 00 



Total 1864,648 39 



LIABILITIES. 



Capital stock paid in $400,000 00 

Surplus fund 16,000 00 

Undivided profits 2,282 48 

National bank notes outstanding 45,000 00 



Individual deposiu subject to check 260,468 86 

Demand certificates of deposit 20,930 02 

Certified checks 3,575 00 

Due to othernational banks 110,157 04 

Due to State banks and bankers 6,334 99 



Total $864,648 39 

RECAPITULATION. 

RESOURCES. 

Discounts, loans and deposits $075,184 69 

U. S bonds 50,000 00 

Furniture and fixtures 5,000 00 

Expenses and taxes paid 559, 61 

Cash due from U. S. treasurer 2,250 00 

Cash and sight exchange 131,654 09 



Total $864,648 39 

LIABILITIES. 

Capital $400,000 00 

Surplus 16,000 00 

Undivided profits 2,282 48 

Circulation 45,000 00 

Deposits, individual $284,973 88 

Deposits, banks and bankers 116,392 03— $401,365 91 



Total $864,648 39 

The North Texas National Bank of Dallas 
was organized in January, 1888. It now has 
a capital of $1,0C0,000; surplus $200,000. 

The present directory and oflScers are as 
follows: Directors — W. H. Abrams, land 
commissioner Texas & Pacific railroad; B. 
Blankeiiship, president; J. M. Dickson, of 
Dickson & Moroney, attorneys; J. T. Elliott, 
capitalist; Henry Exall, United States Com- 
missioner World's Fair; B. P. Fakes, of 
Fakes & Co., furniture; Robert Gibson, flour 
milling and coal mines; Philip Lindsley, in- 
vestment banker; J. B. Oldham, cashier. 



800 



iirsTonr of daij.ah vounty. 



Officers, B. Blankenship, president; Henrj 
Exall, vice-president; 0. R. Buddy, assistant 
cashier; .F. (!. Oldliatn, cashier. 

8TATKMENT, JULY 13, 1892. 

RBSOURCaS. 

Loans nud discoutils $1,882,105 89 

Overdrnfts, secured and unsecured 2r),011 79 

U. 8. bonds to secure circulation TiO.OdO 00 

Stocks, securities, etc 195,100 00 

Due from approved reserve agents 100,715 83 

Due from other national batiks 48,797 87 

Due fiom State banks anil bankers 419 98 

Furniture and fixtures S,()00 00 

Heal estate owned 85,500 00 

Current expenses and taxes paid 795 (JO 

Premiums on U. 8. bonds 8,000 00 

Checks and otlier casli items 160 18 

Exchanges for clearing liouse 3,735 C8 

Bills of other banks 775 00 

Nickels and cents 257 41 

Specie 13,583 90 

Legal tender notes 27,870 00 

Hedemplion fund with U. 8. treasurer... 3,250 00 

Total fl,803,078 6H 

LIABILITIES. 

Capital Block paid !|!1,000,(I00 00 

Surplus fund 200,000 00 

Undivided profits I,7(i8 29 

National bank notes outstanding 45,000 00 

Dividends unpaid 34,480 00 

Individual deposits subject lo check 819,851 21 

Demand certificates of deposit 1,588 25 

Time certiflcntes of deposit 15,920 00 

Casliier's checks luitstanding I,5(i0 39 

Due to otber nalioiml Imnks 178,280 98 

Due to Hiale banks and bankers 14,378 51 

Total 11,803,078 58 

CONDENSED. 

RBSOUHOEIS. 

Loans and otlier eecurlties f 1,553,317 08 

Heal estate 85,500 00 

Furniture and flxlures 8,000 00 

Expenses and taxes paid 795 fiO 

rremium on U. S. Ijonds 8,000 00 

Available cash 197,500 35 

Total 11,802,078 5;t 



LIABILITIKS. 

Capital and surplus $l,2(Xt,000 00 

Undivided profits 1,7,58 29 

Circulation 45,000 00 

'>epo8its 5.55,815 34 

Total 11,803,073 58 

Tiio National Bank of (Joininerco of 
Dallas was organized in March, 1889. J. 
B. Adoue, president; D. W. C. Harry, vice- 
president; A. G. Wills, cashier. Directors — 
J. M. ITarry, ofj. M. Harry & Co., brick 
tnaniifactnrors; John N. Wharton, jiaper 
inaniifactiirer; W. White, of W. White & 
Co.; D. W. C Harry, vice-president; Thomas 
W. UritKths, of Griffitlis & Cowser, Ininher 
dealers; F. G. Moore, importer and dealer in 
doors, sash, blinds, mouldings, stair-work, 
lime and cement; J. B. Adoue, president, 
A. (r. Wills, cashier. 

CONDITION, ,TULY 13, 1893. 

RBBOURCBB. 

Loans and discounts $388,981 40 

Overdrafts, secured and unsecured 0,800 70 

U. S bonds to secure circulation 37,500 00 

Due from approved reserve agents 28,375 55 

Due from other national banks 14,930 73 

Due from Stale banks and bankers 4,134 57 

Hanking house, furniture and fixtures 900 00 

Other real estate and mortgages owned... 9,224 98 

Current ex|)enses and taxes paid 209 20 

Premiums on U. S. bonds 0,000 00 

Checks iinil other cash items 145 65 

ExcliauKes for clearing house 5,373 83 

Uillsof other banks 1,000 00 

Fractional paper currency, nickels and 

cents 10 71 

Specie 1,593 50 

Lefial lender notes 10,941 00 

Hedeniptiiui fund with U. 8. treasurer 

(5 per cent of circulation) 1,087 00 

Total $870,604 88 



H 181010 OF DALLAS OOUNTY. 



801 



lilABtMTIRR. 

rnplldl Mock psld in $150,000 (Mt 

Hiirpliif. Iiiml 10,000 00 

Uiiilivi.lflil piodlB B,a48 01 

NRliiinal liRiiU niitPS iMilslnnilinK 8!),750 OO 

Iiulivi<hinl (lepiiRits siilijpul to check 12r),5HH 77 

|)piii«ik1 certlflfiilPH of deposit 70 00 

Cerlineil cherks WH) (Ml 

Due to other imtioiml hauka 31,800 00 

Due lo Sliitp Imnks iiml ImiikerB 10,580 80 

Notes nml liilln redlsooiintcd »,000 (Ml 

Totnl $070,004 «() 

The Metcaiitile National I'miik of Dallas. 
eiK'ceBBor to the Havitigs National Mank. was 
organized March 15, 1HS(2, with .1. Iliiey, 
presiiletit; A. V. Lane, vice-jireoideiit; Paul 
Fiirst, rashier. (^ajiital ^loO.OOO. Diicctofs: 
J. iiney, preBident; A. U. Taher, inana^er 
Manpiir iV 'I'ehlietts Implement (-oinjmiiy; I). 
11. MoiTow, attorney at law and capitaliBt; 
H. A. Kaliler, manager (4rave8 & Vinton 
Oompatiy, A. V. Lane, vice preflident; S. 
riiilp, wholcBale hardware; Edward Uray, 
attorney at law, .F. W. KtraiiP, merchant; 
I'aiil KiirBt, caBJiier. 

CONDITION .lUIiY 12, 181)2. 

RBBOIIHC'BB. 

Loans floil discounls (130,048 17 

Overdrafts, secured and unsecured 8,723 04 

United Htales hoods to secure circulation.... 87,500 (Ml 

Htoc^ks, securities, etc 14,400 00 

Hue from appnived reserve agents 13,400 10 

Hue from iitlipr national hanks 18,148 112 

Piip from slate hanks and hankers 11,871 07 

Kurnituro ami Oxtures 15,427 85 

Current expenses a?id taxes paid 8,122 88 

rremiumson United Htates honds 0,187 50 

Checks anil other cash Items 418 80 

Kxchanges for clearing-houses 770 08 

Hills of other banks 400 00 

Fractional paper currency, nickels and cents 7 07 

^*peclp 8,752 45 

I egal tender notes 11,277 00 

" 91 



Iledpinplion Fund with U. H treasurer (5 

percent orcln-iila(ion) 1,087 50 

To'lal f205.25«04 

I.IABILtTIBB. 

Capital stock paid In f 128,0(H) 00 

Undivided pn.nts 8,010 08 

NalionnI liank notes outstanding 88,7.50 00 

Individual deposits snhjecl to check 87,5«8 07 

lleinand certlflcalos of deposit 8,402 11 

('ashler's checks outstanding 25 00 

Due to oilier national hanks 8,221 68 

Total 1205,259 04 

RECAPITULATION. 
nesuiiHCEB. 

Loans, etc $144,771 21 

U.S. honds and premium 48,087 50 

Furniture and fixtures 15,427 85 

Expenses paid 8,122 88 

Five per cent redemption f^ind 1,087 50 

Cash $21,080 85 

Exchange 34,02015- 60,508 10 

Total $205,259 04 

LIABIMTIBS. 

Capiliil paid in $1'J8,000 00 

Undivided profits 8,010 OH 

Circulation 88,750 OO 

lleposils 99,21)2 80 

Total $205,25!) 04 

The HankerB & Merchants' National iJank 
of iJallas was organized and opened for biiei- 
iicBS Janitary 37, 1890, with Wm. .1. Kol 
ler, president; (!. W Uano, first vic(' presi- 
dent; Noa Spears, second vico-preBident; K. 
W. Taylor, third vice president; A. Ilansl, 
cashier. 

In 1891 a general election was held hy the 
Bt(3ckhoIder8, and the present ofHcers were 
elected, viz. W. .1. Keller, president; C. W. 
(4ano, vice president; Noa Spears, cashier; E. 
A. Stnart, assistant cashier. The present 



303 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



596,826 94 


10,410 


64 


50,000 00 


9,364 


82 


5,682 


18 


3,933 


87 


3,672 


80 


10,972 


15 


30,315 


80 


304 


93 


8,000 00 


1,024 


98 


3,046 


37 


1,460 


00 


62 00 


1,113 


60 


10,250 00 


2,250 00 



directors are: W. J. Keller, C. W. Gano, 
R. M. Gano, T. M. Jones, il. Hamilton, E. 

A. Stuart. Noa Spears, G. W. Crutcher, J. 
II. Cole, T. E. Eakins, Geo. F. Alford, W. 

B. Gano. 

CONDITION JULY 12, 1892. 

RBfiOURCEB. 



Loans and discounts 

Overdrafts, secured and unsecured 

U. .S. bonds to secure circulation 

Stcclis, securities, etc 

Due from approved reserve agents 

Due from other national banlis 

Due from state banks and bankers 

Banking house, furniture and fixtures 

Other real estate and moriages owned 

Current expenses and taxes paid 

Premiums on U S. bonds 

Checks and other cash items 

Exchanges for clearing house 

Bills of other banks 

Fractional paper currency, nickels and 

cents 

Specie 

Legal tender notes 

Redemption fund with U. S. treasurer 

(5 per cent, of circulation) 



Total $748,697 08 

LIABILITIES. 

Capital stock paid in $500,000 00 

Surplus fund 10,000 00 

Undivided profits 19,085 58 

National bank notes outstanding 45,000 00 

Dividends unpaid 14 00 

Individual deposits subject to check 61,135 27 

Time certificates of deposit 20,158 00 

Certified checks 1,235 00 

Cashier's checks outstanding 2,525 00 

Due to other national banks 24,331 91 

Due to State banks and bankers 1,730 32 

Notes and bills re-discounted 57,482 00 

Bills payable 6,000 00 

Total 1748,697 08 



The Central National Bank was organized 
in September, 1889. Its present capital 
stock is $150,000. Its present officers are: 
T. J. Oliver, president; W. J. Caven, vice- 
president; F. G. Claiborne, acting cashier. 
Directory: W. L. Williams, J. E. Lett, D. 
A. Dyer, S. H. McBride, A. D. Aldridge, T. 
J. Oliver, W. J. Caven, C. O. Wood. J. V. 
Childres. 

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF MARSHALL. 

REBOURCBS. 

Loans and discounts $227,737 14 

Overdrafts, secured and unsecured 24,045 65 

U. S. bonds to secure circulation 25,000 00 

Stocks, securities, etc 17,790 00 

Due from approved reserve agents 40,404 70 

Due from other national banks 38,603 66 

Due from State banks and bankers 95 75 

Banking house, furniture and fixtures 13,000 00 

Other real estate and mortgages owned.... 8,701 50 

Current expenses and taxes paid 1,036 .30 

Premiums on U. S. bonds 3,940 62 

Checks and other cash items 1,430 48 

Bills of other banks 5,906 00 

Fractional paper currency, nickels and 

cents 292 15 

Specie 17,504 00 

Legal tender notes 40,000 00 

Redemption fund with U. S. treasurer 

(5 per cent, of circulation) 900 00 

Total $466,388 85 

LIABn.ITIB8. 

Capital stock paid in $75,000 00 

Surplus fund 15,000 00 

Undivided profits 10,220 74 

National bank notes outstanding 22,500 00 

Dividends unpaid 100 00 

Individual deposits subject to check 309,004 44 

Demand certificates of deposit 26,099 72 

Cashier's checks outstanding 2,348 71 

Due to other national banks 6,097 81 

Due to state banks and bankers 17 43 

Total $466,388 85 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



303 



DALLAS BOARD OF TRADK. 

Tliis institution has doubtless done more 
in presenting to the public the superior ad- 
vantages and inducements offered by the 
city of Dallas and Dallas county than per- 
haps any enterprise that has ever been es- 
tal)lished by tlie citizens of the city. 

The membership is composed of leading 
merchants, bankers, manufacturers, capital- 
ists, etc., thereby forming one of the most 
substantial and effective agencies conceivable 
for the development of the city's best inter- 
ests. It stands ready at ail times to con- 
sider all propositions submitted for the good 
of the city, to discuss vital issues of public 
interest, and to answer all questions concern- 
ing Dallas and this section of the State in- 
volving trade, industries, traffic, etc., etc. 
The following are the present officers: 
Henry Exall, president; Paul Furst, treasurer; 
George M. Dilley, first vice-president; A. 
Hausl, second vice-president. Directors, 
Henry Exall, W. G. Scarff, C. W. Guild, S. 
W. S. Duncan, J. P. Murphy, Theodore 
Mosher and Alexander Sanger. 

INCORPORATED COMPANIES AND INSTITUTIONS. 

Bankers and Merchants' Bank Building Com- 
pany. Incorporated 1890; capital stock 
$250,000. 

Belo, A. H., &Co. Incorporated 1881; cap- 
ital stock, $300,000. 

Billington P^irniture Company. Incorpor- 
ated January, 1889; capital stock, $30,- 
000. 

Blakeney Manufacturing Company. Char- 
tered April, 1889; capital stock, $50,000. 



Buckner Orphans' Home. Chartered 1882; 
Home located on Texas and Pacific Rail- 
road, six miles east of Dallas. 

Bureau of Information, Labor and Immi- 
gration. Chartered March 9, 1891. 

Blake Mutual Building and Loan Association. 
Incorporated April 19, 1888; author- 
ized capital, $500,000. 

Cavanal Coal and Mining Company. Char- 
tered August, 1890; capital stock, 
$600,000. 

Christian Courier Publishing Company. In- 
corporated March, 1888; capital stock, 
$25,000. 

Cockrell Fairland Addition. Incorporated 
1888; capital stock, $60,000. 

Cockrell Grain and Commission Company. 
Incorporated March, 1890; capital stock, 
$10,000 paid up. 

Crowdus, J. W., Drug Company. Incor- 
porated 1882; capital surplus, $146,000. 

Dallas Brewing Company. Incorporated 
August, 1886; capital stock, $100,000. 

Dallas Club. Chartered March, 1887; capital 
stock, $50,000. 

Dallas Construction Company. Incorporated 
March, 1891; capital stock, $5,000 
paid in. 

Dallas, I'acific and Southwestern Railway. 
Chartered 1888. 

Dallas Cooperage Company. Authorized 
capital, $50,000. 

Dallas Dressed Beef and Packing Company. 
Chartered 1890; capital 8tock,$250,000. 

Dallas Electric Company. Chartered 1890; 
capital stock, $300,000. 



304 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Dallas Elevator Company. Incorporated July 
9, 1889; capital stock, $250,000. 

Dallas Gas and Fuel Company's EiDployees' 
Protective Loan Association. Organized 
November 29, 1890. 

Dallas Consolidated Traction Railway Com- 
pany. Incoi'porated Jnly 1,1890; capital 
stock, $1,000,000. 

Dallas Ice Factory and Cold Storage Com- 
pany. Chartered November 1, 1890; 
capital stock, $300,000. 

Dallas Investment Company. Incorporated 
1887; capital stock, $100,000. 

Dallas Land and Loan Company. Chartered 
May, 1887; authorized capital, $500,000; 
paid-up capital, $500,000. 

Dallas Law Library Association. Chartered 
June 13, 1891; capital stock, $50,000. 

Dallas Cable Railway Company. Chartered 
December 28, 1890; capital, $600,000. 

Dallas Lithograph Company. Incorporated 
1885; capital stock, $50,000. 

Dallas Opera House Association. Chartered 
January 16, 1885; capital stock, $42,- 
000. 

Dallas Patent House Company. Incorporated 
May, 1891; capital stock, $25,000. 

Dallas Publishing Company. Incorporated 
October, 1888; capital stock, $25,000. 

Dallas Rapid Transit Land Company. Incor- 
porated 1889; capital stock, $500,000. 

Dallas State Fair and Exposition Association. 
Incorporated January 80, 1886; capital 
stock, $200,000. 

Dallas and Oak Cliff Railway. Chartered 
May, 1887; capital, $400,000, paid in. 



Dallas Tinware Manufacturing Company. 
Chartered February 9, 1889; capital 
stock, $50,000. 

Dallas Homestead and Loan Association. 
Chartered December, 1880; capital stock, 
$200,000. 

Dallas Rapid Transit Railway Company. In- 
corporated, 1888; capital stock, $200,- 
000, paid up. 

Dougherty Land and Live-Stock Company. 
Chartered June 15, 1885; capital stock, 
$200,000. 

Douglas Tailoring Company. Incorporated 
June 29, 1891. 

El Cabezon Mining Company. Incorporated 
January, 1888; capital stock, $480,000. 

Estado Land and Cattle Company. Chartered 
September, 1884; capital stock, $200,- 
000. 

Excelsior Soap Manufacturing Company. In- 
corporated 1887; capital stock, $15,000. 

Expressmen's Investment Company of 
Dallas. Chartered June 18, 1888; cap- 
ital stock, $250,000; membership, 250. 

Farmers' State Alliance of Texas. Incor- 
porated 1880. 

Farmers' State Alliance Publishing Company. 
Incorporated October, 1890; capital 
stock, $50,000. 

Financial Securities Company. Chartered 
April, 1890; capitid stock, $50,000. 

Franco-American Portrait and Art Company. 
Chartered May, 1891; capital stock, 
$5,000. 

Frees & Son Music Company. Incorporated 
1891; capital stock, $10,000. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



305 



Girls' Co-operative Home and Training 

School. Incorporated June 1, 1891. 
Hillside Company. Incorporated January, 

1891; capital stock, $80,000. 
Howell Bros. Shoe Company. Chartered 

1892; authorized capital, $100,000; paid 

in, $71,000. 
Hughes Bros. Manufacturing Company. 

Incorporated July, 1885 ; capital stock, 

$60,000. 
luter-State Railway Construction Company. 

Chartered 1890; capital stock, $500,000. 
Inter-State Building and Loan Association. 

Chartered 1889. 
Kansas City Investment Company. Incor- 
porated 1882; capital stock, $600,000. 
Kansas and Texas Coal Company. Capital 

stock, $2,500,000. 
Keating Implement and Machine Company. 

Incorporated 1882; authorized capital, 

$200,000; paid-up and surplus, $200,- 

000. 
Logan Steam Laundry and Manufacturing 

Company. Chartered November, 1890; 

capital stock, $50,000. 
Lombard Investment Company (of Kansas 

City). Capital stock, $4,000,000. 
Lone Star Salt Company. Incorporated 1888 ; 

capital stock, $200,000. 
Myers Bros. Drug (Company. Incorporated 

March 29, 1889; capital, $1,750,000. 
Mutual Building Association. Chartered Oc- 
tober 14, 1887; capital stock, $300,000. 
Moroney Hardware Company. Incorporated 

June 1, 1875; capital stock, $50,000. 
Mungur Improved Cotton Machine Manu- 



facturing Company. Chartered 1887; 
authorized capital, $100,000. 

North American Endowment and Savings 
Company. Chartered January 2, 1891; 
capital stock, $10,000. 

North Dallas Improvement Company. Char- 
tered May 22, 1888 ; capital stock, $100,- 
000. 

North Texas Coal Mining Company. Capi- 
tal stock, $150,000. 

North Dallas Circuit Railway Company. In- 
corporated 1888; capital stock, $100,- 
000. 

North Texas Mortgage Company. Incorpo- 
rated June 17, 1889; capital stock, 
$100,000. 

Oak Cliff Artesian Well Company. Incor- 
porated March, 1891; capital stock, 
$200,000. 

Oak Cliif Ice and Refrigerating Company. 
Chartered 1891; capital stock, $50,000. 

Oak Clitf Planing Mill Company. Chart- 
ered March 1, 1891; capital stock, $10,- 
000. 

Oak Cliff Hotel Company. Incorporated 
May, 1890. 

Oak CliflE Light and Power ('ompany. In- 
corporated March, 1891. 

Oak Cliff Water Supply Company. Chart- 
ered March, 1887; authorized capital, 
$50,000. 

Office Specialty Company. Chartered May 
11, 1891; capital stock, $10,000. 

Oriental Hotel Company. Incorporated July 
2, 1889; capital stock, $500,000. 

Orr, B. F., Lumber Company. Incorpt)rated 



306 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



June 1, 1891; capital stock, $50,000. 

Portland Harbor and Improvement Com- 
pany. Incorporated February, 1891; 
capital stock, $300,000. 

Eattan Manufacturing Company, South. 
Incorporated November, 1890; capital 
stock, $300,000. 

Sanger Bros.' Employes' Loan and Savings 
Association. Chartered March, 1886; 
authorized capital, $200,000. 

Scarff «fe O'Connor Company. Incorporated 
May, 1891; capital stock, $100,000. 

Security Mortgage and Trust Company. In- 
corporated July, 1887; capital stock, 
$500,000. 

Southern Distilling Company. Incorporated 
1890; capital stock, $150,000. 

Southern Germicide Manufacturing Com- 
pany. Incorporated June, 1891. 

Southern Improvement Company. Incor- 
porated 1889; capital stock, $300,000. 

Taber Bros. Jewelry Manufacturing Com- 
pany. Incorporated 1887; capital stock, 

$25,000. 
Texas Ammonia and Chemical Company. 

Chartered 1891; capital stock. $20,000. 

Texas Excursion Company. Incorporated 
June, 1891; capital stock, $5,000. 

Texas and Southwestern Railway Guide Pub- 
lishing Company. Incorporated Decem- 
ber 4, 1890: capital stock, $10,000. 

Texas Farm and Ranch Publishing Com- 
pany. Incorporated 1887; capital stock, 

$50,000. 
Texas Farmers' Alliance Commercial Agency. 
Chartered December, 1889; capital stock, 
$100,000. 



Texas Guaranty Company. Incorporated May, 
1888; capital stock, $3,000. 

Texas Paper Company. Incorporated March, 
1889; capital stock, $30,000. 

Texas Paper Mill Company. Chartered April 
1, 1890; capital stock, $50,000. 

Texas Pressed Brick Company. Chartered 
April 1, 1890; capital stock, $100,000. 

Thurmond Medicine Company. Chartered 
1891; capital stock, $50,000. 

Times Publishing Company. Incorporated 
September, 1885; capital stock, $20,000. 

Todd Milling Company. Incorporated Au- 
gust, 1889; capital stock, $200,000. 

Tompkins Machinery and Implement Com- 
pany. Chartered May 4, 1884; capital 
stock, $125,000. 

Trinity Drug Store Company. Incorporated 
May, 1890; capital stock, $7,000. 

University Place Improvement Company. 
Incorporated August, 1890 ; capital stock, 
$100,000. 

"Watkins (Will A.) Music Company. Incor- 
porated 1883; capital stock, $750,000. 

Watkins (F. B.) Land Mortgage Company. 
Incorporated 1883; capital stock, $750,- 
000. 

Webster- Wood Real Estate and Guarantee 
Company. Chartered August 29, 1889; 
capital stock, $250,000. 

World Publishing Company. Incorporated 
June 20, 1891; capital stock, $25,000. 

SOCIETIES AND OEGANIZATIONS. 

Castle Dallas, No. 177, Knights of the 
Golden Rule. Organized October, 1881 ; 
membership 40. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



307 



Catholic Knights, of America St. Patrick's 
Branch No. 70. Organized 1873; mem- 
bership 33. 

Caledonian Club of Dallas. Organized No- 
vember, 1889; membership, 165. 

Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, Dallas 
Lodge, No. 71. Or^nized February 
5, 1888; membership 120. 

Association of Civil Engineers of Dallas. 
Organized January 10, 1889; member- 
ship 15. 

Dallas Pressmen^s Union, No. 1^6. Organ- 
ized 1890; membership 20. 

Dallas Social Gymnastic Cluh. Chartered 
May 8, 1884; membership 60. 

Dallas Turn- Verein. Organized 1873; mem- 
bership 250. 

Dallas Typographical Union, No. 173. 
Organized November 8, 1885; member- 
ship 150. 

Day's Opera House Orchestra and Band. 
Organized October, 1888; Jacob Day, 
leader. 

Entre Nous Club. Organized November 6, 
1889; membership 29. 

Fidelity Lodge No. 1^10; A. L. of 11. 
Organized January 15, 1881; member- 
ship 73. 

Idlewild Cluh. Organized September, 1884; 
membership 45. 

Isaac Pittman Short-Hand Somety. 
Organized October 12, 1890; member- 
ship 23. 

Knights of the Maccabees of the World, 
Dallas Lodge No. 1. Organized June 
27, 1891. 



Olympic Tennis Club. Organized March, 
1891; membership 14. 

Oratorio Society. Organized December, 
1890; membership 20. 

Order of Railway Telegraphers. Organized 
1886: membership 74. 

Southwestern Gas Association. Organized 
1887; membership 35. 

Standard Club (Tlie). Organized January, 
1886; meetings at the residences of 
members 1st and 3d Tuesdays in each 
month. 

T&ms Camp No. 1, Woodmen of the World. 
Organized February 4, 1891; member- 
ship 94. 

Texas Lodge No. 33, Order of the Golden 
Chain. Organized June 18, 1884; mem- 
bership 22. 

Trinity Historical Society. Organized Feb- 
ruary 21, 1887; membership 15. 

Uhland Lodge, No. 22, Order of the Sons of 
Hermann. Organized November 3, 
1890; membership 45. 

Young Men's Christian Association. Organ- 
ized November 5, 1885; incorporated 
November 27, 1885; membership 400. 

Gruetli Verein. Organized January 1, 
1874; membership 35. 

Dallas Literary Society and Debating Club. 
Organized August, 1890; member- 
ship 80. 

Dallas Pharmaceutic Association. Organ- 
ized May, 1889; membership 40. 

Dallas Press Union. Organized December 
9, 1890; membership 25. 



308 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Comet Council, No. 5, C. F. Organized 
August 5, 1881; membership 80. 

Dallas Amateur Athletic Club. Organized 
December, 1890; membersliip 280. 

Dallas Commandery, No. 159, U. 0. G. C. 
Organized October 31, 1881; member- 
ship 40. 

Dallas County Bar Asasociation. Organized 
1880; membership 150. 

Dallas County Medical Society. (Organized 
1884; membership 40. 

Dallas Frohsinn (singing section of the 
Dallas Turn- Verein). Organized April 
23, 1873; membership 45. 

MASONIC. 

Dallas Chapter No. ^7, E. A. M. Chartered 
June 25, 1855; membership 120. 

Dallas Commandery, No. 6, Knights Tem- 
plar. Instituted June 18, 1857; mem- 
bership 130. 

Hella Temple Ancient Arabic Order Nobles 
of the Mystic Shrine. Chartered Octo- 
ber 12, 1887; membership 300. 

Oak Cliff Lodge, No. 705, A. F. & A. M. 
Instituted January, 1891; membership 
200. 

TanneUll Lodge, No. 52, A. F. & A. M. 
Chartered June 24, 1850; membership 
200. 

ODD FELLOWS. 

Dallas Lodge, No. Jf.li., I. O. O. F. Organ- 
ized June 4, 1854; membership 120. 

Ridgely Encampement, No. 25, I. O. 0. 
F. Organized June 29, 1869; member- 
ship 60. 



Trinity Lodge, No. 198, I 0. 0. F. Char- 
tered February 5, 1875 ; membership 91. 

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS. 

Amity Lodge, No. 108, K. of P. Organ- 
ized September, 1889; membership 210. 

Cosur de Lion Division, No. 5, Uriiform 
Rank, K. of P. Membership 70. 

C(mr de Lion Lodge, No. 8, A', of P. In- 
stituted in 1872; membership 240. 

Dallas Division, No. IS, Uniform Rank, 
K. of. P. Organized November, 1890; 
membership 40. 

Dallas Lodge, No. 70, K. of P. Organized 
April 6, 1887; membership 120. 

Endowment Rank, Section 177, K. of P. 
Instituted 1877; membership 50. 

KNIGHTS OF HONOK. 

Dallas Lodge, No. 1570, K. of H. Organ- 
ized April 14, 1879; membership 55. 

Queen City Lodge, No. 9Ji.l, A^ of H. 
Organized March 17, 1878; member- 
ship 232. 

Teutonia Lodge, No. 1873, E. of LL. Or- 
ganized November 6, 1879; member- 
ship 100. 

MILITARY. 

Dallas Artillery Company. Organized 1879 ; 
membership 65. Armory Hall located 
at the southwest corner of Jefferson 
and Hord, Oak Cliff. 

Fourth Regiment of Texas. Organized 
April 15, 1884; membership 10 com- 
panies. 

Gaston Zouaves. Organized August, 1886; 
membership 30. 



HISTORY OF D^ILLAS COUNT 7. 



809 



DALLAS CLUB. 

This organization is composed of some of 
the most prominent, influential and wealthy 
gentlemen of the city. It has a most liandsome 
and imposing building, four stories high, equal 
to any of its kind in the South, located cor- 
ner of Poydros and Commerce streets, free 
from the noise and bustle of the main busi- 
ness thoroughfares, and yet sufHciently near 
as not to cause any inconvenience to the 
members in reaching their offices and places 
of business. The building alone cost $50,000; 
the lot cost $17,000, and the furniture $10,- 
000. 

The idea of a club was originated in the 
old Dallas Chess Club, which then consisted 
of a membership of a few well-to-do bache- 
lors, with two rooms in the Randall building, 
on Main street. The leading spirits in get- 
ting up the Dallas Club, and the gentlemen 
to whom it largly owes its present success 
and membership are Messrs. A. II. Stewart 
and Geo. W. Toland. These gentlemen con- 
ceived the idea, and, assisted by others, put 
into execution their plans and have as a re- 
sult this handsome building, an ornament to 
any city. Its membership is 264, and all 
but 37 are resident members. The following 
are the officers and directors since its organ- 
ization: 

Directors for 1887-'88: George W. 
Toland, B. A. Pope, R. V. Tompkins, J. C. 
O'Connor, Alex. Sanger. M. T. Holloway, F. 
M. Cockrell, John N. Simpson and Alfred 
Davis. Officers: Geo. W. Toland, presi- 
dent; 1j. a. I'ope, vice-president; A. H. 



Stewart, secretary; L. R. Bergeron, treasurer; 

Officers for 1888-'89: Geo. W. Toland, 
president; B. A. Pope, vice-president; A. H. 
Stewart, secretary and treasurer. 

Officers for 1889-'90: J. L. O'Connor, 
president; B. W. McCullough, vice-president; 
A. II. Stewart, secretary and treasurer. 

Officers for 1890-'91: J. C. Connor, presi- 
dent; W. J. Porter, vice-president; A. H. 
Stuart, secretary and treasurer. 

Officers for 1891-'92: J. C. O'Connor, 
president; W. Enders, vice-president; A. II. 
Stuart, seci'etary and treasurer. 

Officers for 1892-93: Wm. Enders, 
president; L. S. Thorne, vice-president; A. H. 
Stuart, secretary and treasurer. 



SOCIETY OF 8DICIDE8. 



As a social curiosity, we may mention that 
according to the Chicago Herald of July 17, 
1892, which had over a page, illustrated, de- 
voted to the subject, Dallas has an organiza- 
tion calling itself the Society of Suicides, or 
something like that, at the head of which stood 
one M. A. Collins as president. This man went 
to Chicago a year or so previously, met with a 
railroad accident which injured his brain, lost 
all his money in "board of trade" (gambling) 
speculation, committed suicide by taking 
poison and shooting himself, and was ere 
mated, according to his written will (which, 
by the way, was a contradictory iiistrnraent), 
under the most weird and frightful surround- 
ings, at the dead of night, in the deep, wild woods 
at the head of Lake Michigan, and under great 
pomp and ceremony and speech-making, by 



310 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTF. 



an order called the Whitechapel. Collins 
had a sort of mysterious and checkered life, 
distinguished himself somewhat by writing a 
pamphlet in defense of dancing, in answer to 
Sam Jones' challenge, and by publishing 
other articles, etc. 

HEBREW ORGANIZATIONS. 

Ahavath Sholom Lodge, No. 346, I. O. B. 
B., was organized January 13, 1884. Present 
membership, 55. 

The Congregation of Emann-El was organ- 
ized September 30, 1875. Membership, 125. 

Dallas Lodge, No. 197, L O. B. B., organ- 
ized in November, 1874. Membership, 110. 

Emanu-El, Ladies' Auxiliary Society, or- 
ganized 1888. Membership, 150. 

Hebrew Benevolent Association, organized 
in 1871. Membership, 150. 

Jacob Frees Lodge, No. 101, order of 
Berith Abraham, organized November 27, 
1887. Membership 40. 

Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Association, or- 
ganized 1876. Membership, 100. 

Ladies' Orthodox Benevolent Association, 
organized 1887. Membership, 35. 

Lone Star Lodge, No. 97, 1. O. F. S. of L, 
organized August 3, 1879. Membership, 53. 

Lone Star Lodge, No. 162, O. K. S. B. 
Membership, 56. 

Phoenix Club, organized in 1880 ; chartered 
1882; membership, 83. 

Progressive Literary Association, organized 
May 8, 1887. Membership, 15. 

LABOR ORGANIZATIONS. 

Cigarmaker's Local Union, No. 262, or- 
ganized 1882. Membership, 24. 



Dallas Lodge, No. 46, Brotherhood of 
Painters and Decoratorsof America, organized 
August 13, 1887. Membership, 100. 

Dallas Saddle and Harness Makers' Union, 
No. 18, organized May 19, 1889. Member- 
ship, 110. 

Local Union, No. 198, United Brother- 
hood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, 
organized July, 1886. Membership, 300. 

Local Union JSo. 622, United Brotherhood 
of Carpenters and Joiners of America, organ- 
ized May 29, 1890. Membership, 120. 

Stone Cutters' Association, meets second 
and fourth Tuesday nights. 

Building Laborers' International Protective 
Union, No. 1, Texas (colored), meets every 
Saturday night. 

Carpenters' District Council, meets first 
and third Tuesday nights. 

Dallas Branch of American Federation of 
Labor, meets first and third Sundays of each 
month. 

Dallas Eight Hour League, meets every 
Sunday afternoon. 

Local Assembly No. 1931, Knights of 
Labor, meets every Thursday night. 

Local Assembly No. 4,125, Knights of 
Labor (colored), meets every Monday night. 

The last seven mentioned meet at Labor 
Hall, over 396 Elm street. 

THE BUCKNER ORPHANS' HOME. 

This most noble institution was established 
in 1880 by the Rev. R. C. Buckner, D. D., 
and took its name after its founder and pro- 
moter. It was first opened in a rented house 
in the city of Dallas, with but three children. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



811 



It 60on became known, however, and the 
number of applicants for admittance became 
numerous. The founder, foreseeing the great 
future for his noble work, effected a purchase 
of 308 acres of land six miles east of the 
city, out on a high plateau of prairie, con- 
venient however to a strip of the cross tim- 
bers. To this place he moved the home, 
where there is fresh air, play-grounds for the 
children, and land for cultivation. The in- 
mates at the home now number 225, and 
when the buildings will have nil been com- 
pleted there will be accommodations for 
600. 

Ur. Euckner, its founder, a true Christian 
gentleman of high culture and noble char- 
acter, has been indefatigable in his efforts in 
building up this institution, and deserves 
much honor for so doing. Beloved by all 
who know him, he, in his unassuming, hum- 
ble life, has gone on quietly doing his work 
of good until he has caught the attention of 
the public generally, and liberal contributions 
are voluntarily made to aid him in promoting 
the interest of this philanthropic institution. 
While the president is a Baptist minister, 
and the institution has a board of directors 
consisting of Baptist ministers, still it is 
undenominational in its teachings. The in- 
mates of this institution have the advantage 
of being taught the common branches of 
education by a well qualified corps of teachers 
as well as being trained for practical business 
life in various fields of labor. The property 
now owned by this institution is valued at 
the handsome sum of $40,000, and all ac- 



cumulated since 1880 by this admired phil- 
anthropist. Dr. R. C. Buckner, who is still 
manager and president. 

ST. Mary's institute. 

Situated about two miles northeast of the 
city of Dallas, on a beautiful rolling prairie 
hill, on a plat of twenty acres, is this young 
but rather famous educational institution, 
established in 1889, for the education of girls 
and young ladies. It was established bv the 
Rt. liev. Mr. Garrett, Bishop of the Northern 
District of Texas, of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church. While this school is under the 
auspices of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
it is controlled by Bishop Garrett and the 
following Board of Trust, viz : 

lion. Richard Morgan, attorney at law, 
Dallas, Texas. 

Judge A. T. Watts, attorney at law, Dal- 
las, Texas. 

Hon. George Jackson, capitalist. Fort 
Worth, Texas. 

Mr. E. II. Lingo, merchant, Denison, 
Texas. 

Mr. J. T. Berry, merchant, Brookston, 
Texas. 

Mr. F. W. Girand, district clerk, Graham, 
Texas. 

The following is taken from the catalogue 
for 1891-'92: 

" St. Mary's Institute is founded for the 
education of Christian women. Its purpose 
is to surround the children committed to its 
care with the quiet and dignified influence 
of a Christian home; to furnish their minds 
with sound knowledge, to mold their manners 



312 



HISTOUr OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



with gentle grace ; to strengtheu their bodies 
by the aid of regular hours, suitable exercise 
and sufficient but simple food; and above 
all, in humble dependence upon tiie Divine 
blessing, to influence their hearts by the 
holy teaching of Christianity as revealed in 
Scripture and preserved in the church. 

" Keligion, equally removed from super- 
stition and bigotry, affords the healthy atmos- 
phere in which the best type of womanhood 
is grown; this, St. Mary's is designed to 
supply." 

The building, five stories high, constructed 
of tine stone, on its elevated situation, pre- 
sents a very striking and imposing appear- 
ance. It was built with the design of accom- 
modating one hundred boarders, and is heated 
by steam and lighted by electricity through- 
out. The cost of erecting the building, and 
including furniture, amounted to $100,000, 
which was raised by Bishop Garrett in his 
travels through the State of Texas and other 
States, preaching, and presenting the neces- 
sity of a first-class educational institution of 
this character, to be conducted under the aus- 
pices of the church. The ground, twenty 
acres in extent, on which the building is 
erected, was donated for the purpose of 
founding this institution. 

The patronage of this college has been 
equal to the expectations of all concerned, 
and the city with pride refers to it as one of 
the best schools for young ladies in the State. 
The following is the present faculty: The 
Rt. Eev. the Bishop of Northern Texas, 
Principal and Hector. Academic Department 



— Miss Maria K. Torbert, head of the house, 
history and literature; Miss Eleanor Tebbetts, 
ancient languages, advanced mathematics, 
logic and ethics; Miss Ellen E. Creswell, 
English letters, rhetoric and composition; 
Miss Theresa Gertrude Williamson, natural 
science; Miss Minna Kupper, modern lan- 
guages; Miss Sarah Cameron, elocution, com- 
position and calisthenics. Preparatory De- 
partment — Miss Ersula Fitzpatrick, study 
hall, history and English classics; Miss Fran- 
ces Kallam, English branches and elementary 
science. Primary Department — Miss Edith 
Hughesdon. School of Music, Instrumental 
— Miss Margaret Ida Bayer, principal; Miss 
Anna Margaret Kreutter, assistant; Professor 
Hans Kreissig, pianist. School of Music, 
Vocal — Miss Minnie Koyali, vocal culture 
and tone production. School of Art — -Miss 
Rachel Taylor; librarian. Miss Eughesdon; 
housekeeper, Mrs. Charlotte S. Cowles; in- 
firmary, Mrs. Mary Frink; physician, Law- 
rence Ashton, M. D. 

TEXAS COLLEGE OF PHARMACY. 

This institution was chartered in 1892, 
with L. Myers Connor, W. F. Shook, C. N. 
Clauber, J. L. Williams, J. A. Rippitoe and 
R. Cotter, — all druggists of Dallas, as direc- 
tors. It was instituted and chartered through 
the efforts of L. Myers Connor, an able and 
distinguished chemist who always takes 
great interest in pharmacy or any enterprise 
that tends toward the advancement of this 
science in Texas, where he has lived since 
childhood. He organized the first pharma- 



HISTOHY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



818 



ccutical association, in Texas in 1879, and 
it is now a very large association, having al- 
most every pharmacist of the State as a mem- 
ber. Of this association he was elected the 
first president. He was the editor of the iirst 
drug journal in the State. This talented and 
brilliant yonng scientist is a graduate of the St. 
Louis (Missouri) College of Pharmacy, re- 
ceiving, in 1874, the degree of Ph. G. 
His eminence and superior qualifications as 
a chemist has been recognized by the greatest 
chemists of Europe and America in his being 
elected a Fellow of the Royal Chemical So- 
ciety of England, and a member of the Amer- 
ican Pharmaceutical Association. The phar- 
macists of Texas have honored him. He was 
sent as representative of the Texas State 
Pharmaceutic Association to the American 
Pharmaceutic Association at Old Point Com- 
fort, Virginia, in 1890. Lately he was 
selected by the American Pharmaceutic As- 
sociation as one of the representatives of tlie 
Southern States in the section of pharmacy 
at the American Medical Association which 
convenes in Detroit, Michigan, in the com- 
ing fall. He will be director of the Chem- 
ical Laboratory, and will till the chair of 
chemistry in this college. 

With such men as Dr. Connor to till the 
other chairs, this college will be a great in- 
stitution for Texas. The charter provides 
for the location of this college to be in Dal- 
las, and Doctor Connor, assisted by the affa- 
ble, congenial and talented Dr. IL D. llice, a 
druggist, who is at present engaged in Dr. 
Connor's drug store, at the corner of Elm 



and Harwood streets, is making preparations 
to open this college at an early date. The 
course of study will embrace chemistry, phar- 
macy, materia niedica and microscopic botany. 

THE PRESS — THE DALLAS NEWS. 

In 1842 A. H. Belo & Co., of Galveston, 
established the Galveston News, and so great 
was the demand for this superior daily in the 
northern portion of the State that a branch 
of the institution was established in Dallas in 
1885 by the said company, upon terms that 
involved the discontinuance of the Dallas 
Morning Herald, then a daily with l)iit lim- 
ited capital. 

The circulation of the Dallas News has be- 
come so extensive that this branch has to all 
appearances become the fountain head. 
The company gives to the people, in addition 
to the Galveston News, — which is still hold- 
ing its remarkable patronage, — one of the 
most successful and newsy dailies in the 
South. Each branch also issues a weekly, 
which has an extensive patronage among the 
farmers especially. 

The daily edition of the Dallas News com- 
prises eight or ten pages on week days and 
sixteen to twenty pages on Sunday. This 
includes respectively thirty-tive and seventy- 
five columns of reading matter. It is printed 
on a new Seymour-Brewer inset press, with 
a capacity of 24,000 copies an hour, of four 
six or eight page paper, or 12,000 an hour of 
a ten, twelve or sixteen page paper. 

The Dallas News is circulated principally 
over the northern, eastern and western por- 



314 



III8T0RT OF DALLAS OOUNTY. 



tions of the State, and in the Indian Terri- 
tory and adjoining States and Territories. 
While tliis is its ciiiet' territory it also has an 
extensive circulation in all the Southern 
States. 

The enterprise exhilnted by this live news- 
paper company is shown by their two special 
newspaper trains in north Texas and one in 
south Texas, sent out especially to deliver 
the News from Dallas and Galveston every 
morning, leaving about four o'clock over the 
principal lines of railroads, reaching to the 
most populous sections of the State. 

These early trains are run with such regu- 
larity and with such rapid speed that all the 
towns within sixty and 100 miles distance 
from Dallas receives the News on the morn- 
ing of publication before breakfast. 

These two divisions — Galveston News and 
Dallas News, are so connected by special 
telegraph wires leased and operated exclu- 
sively by this company that a perfect and 
smooth interchange of news is effected. The 
Galveston News with its special train thus 
delivers its publication over southern Texas 
while the Dallas Netos covers northern 
Texas. 

The officers of this enterprising company 
are: A, II. Belo, president, who shows great 
ability in selecting men; li. G. Lowe, vice- 
president; and Thomas W. Dealey, secretary. 
F. Doremus is managing editor of the Dallas 
News; and a more able, gifted and talented 
gentleman for this position could not be found. 
It is largely owing to this brilliant young 
gentleman's superior ability as the managing 



editor that the Dallas News now holds her 
reputation as one of the greatest newspapers 
in America. 

G. B. Dealy, the business manager, is also 
a very superior and thorough man in his 
position and the two work together as a com- 
plete team. 

THE DAILY TIMES-HERALD. 

This is an evening daily established and 
published l)y the Times Publishing Company, 
a corporation with $20,000 capital. C. E. 
Gilbert, its president and secretary,' is most 
certainly a gentleman of talent as a news- 
paper journalist. He has built up in this 
paper one of the most substantial and newsy 
evening papers in the Southwest. 

It is a consolidation of two newspapers, as 
its name indicates, — of the Times and the 
Herald. The Times was started in 1875, and 
edited and controlled for a long time by Cap- 
tain W. G. Sterrett. Mr. Gilbert bought out 
Captain Sterrett and his associates, and under 
his control and editorship this evening daily 
has become one of the most eagerly sought 
after of all papers of the kind in the South. Its 
circulation is remarkably large for an evening 
paper. It is but right to state its present 
popularity is also due to ability and talent 
displayed by Mr. Gilbert's splendid corps of 
assistants especially to the facetious writer 
Mr. Hush Fitzgerald, and his talented wife, 
who is the society editor. They have labored 
untiringly and with pride, with the proprie- 
tor, to build up this paper, and have certainly 
succeeded. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



315 



Mr. Gilbert was editor and publisher of 
tlie Abilene Reporter at Abileiii', Texas, be- 
fore he came to Dallas and succeeded in mak- 
ing that one of the best papers in that section 
of the State. These are the only dailies. 



DALLAS HEKALD. 



This paper was established in 1849. The 
press materia] was brought from a point in 
eastern Texas to Dallas in an ox cart, by 
Mark Lattiiner, a bright young lawyer and a 
spicy and pungent writer, as well as a con- 
genial and universally popular gentleman. 
Of this paper he was publisher and editor 
for some time. John W. Swindell was his 
successor as publisher and editor. J. D. 
McCaleb was Swindell's successor, and while 
he had control it was converted into a daily. 
William L. Holland and J. B. Simpson were 
successors as editors and publishers to Caleb. 
Subsequently, Adams and Leonard pur- 
chased it, then J. W. Bartow and McNair 
became editors and publisher.-. Afterward, 
in 1878, . P. S. Pfouts purchased a one-half 
interest from Adams and Leonard. 

In February, 1879, Colonel John F. Elliott 
bought a one- third interest from Adams and 
Leonard and P. S. Pfouts. Colonel Elliott 
took charge as chief editor, and also man- 
aging editor; and, being a man of superior 
talents as a writer, having gained the repu- 
tation as one of the ablest editors in the 
South, he soon increased the circulation of 
the paper and its size from a seven-column 
folio to seven-column quarto, or fifty-six 
columns in all. 



In the summer of 1879, a consolidation of 
the Herald was formed with its strong rival, 
the "Daily Morning Commercial." W. L. 
Hall, at this point, took charge as manager 
of the business department, and Mr. P. S. 
Pfouts the subscription department. 

This made a strong team, and the Herald 
prospered and grew to be a great favorite 
paper all over the State. It continued in its 
prosperity until the summer of 1884. 

At this time Colonel John F. Elliott was 
called toNew Orleans, to take charge as com- 
missioner in chief of the World's Exposition 
at that place, and remained there one year. 
During his absence, terms of negotiation 
were effected between the managers of the 
Galveston News (Belo & Co.), at Galveston, 
Texas, and those of the Dallas Herald, in 
which the Herald sold out, in 1885, her fran- 
chise, good-will and some property to this 
company, which at once established the 
Dallas Morning News, a branch of the Gal- 
veston News, at Gaveston, Texas. 

OTHER PERIODICALS. 

There are many otlier superior pa|)ers, 
both weeklies and monthlies, published in 
Dallas, and most ably edited. In fact there 
are so many of these the writer will not 
undertake to give a detailed history of each. 
Of this large number of excellent papers the 
thriving city of Dallas is most certainly proud. 
Here they are: 

Christian Messenger, weekly. 

Christian Courier, weekly. 

Dallas County Daily Mercantile Report, 
daily. 



316 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Dollars and Sense, monthly. 

Farmers' World (The), weekly. 

Liberator, weekly. 

Norton's Union Intelligencer, weekly. 

North German Press, weekly. 

Oak Cliff Journal, weekly. 

Kound Table, monthly. 

Sanger Bros.' Monthly Journal, monthly. 

Southwestern Baptist, weekly. 

Southern Hotel Guide, weekly. 

Southern Mercury, weekly. 

Southwestern Druggist, monthly. 

Sunday Clime, weekly. 

Texas Advertiser and Manufacturers' Jour- 
nal, monthly. 

Texas Agent and Home Visitor, monthly. 

Texas Baptist and Herald, weekly. 

Texas Catholic, weekly. 

Texas Christian Advocate, weekly. 

Texas Commercial, weekly. 

Texas Courier Record of Medicine, weekly. 

Texas Dental Journal, quarterly. 

Texas Farm and Ranch, bi-monthly. 

Texas Farmer, weekly. 

Texas Health Journal, monthly. 

Texas and Southwestern Railway Guide, 
monthly. 

Texas School Journal, monthly. 

"Western Baptist, weekly. 

EDUCATION, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE. 

The esteem for education by the citizens of 
Dallas is evidenced by unusual attention and 
patronage given to the public schools and the 
many private institutions in the city. The 
public free-school system of Dallas is equal 



to any in the South. It is now under the 
efScient superintendoncy of Prof. T. G. Har- 
ris, an eminent scholar and an able educator. 
To his predecessor, however (assisted by 
Prof. Harris], Prof. J. T. Hand, a superior 
scholar and an excellent educator, beloved by 
all who remained under his supervision and 
esteemed as highly by the citizens of Dallas 
as any educator could be, may to very large 
degree be attributed, by his successful arrange- 
ment and training of these schools, the high 
excellence which they have attained. 

The high-school curriculum aims at prepar- 
ing students for the State University at 
Austin, which by a provision of the fore- 
fathers of Texas is made the apex of the State 
free-school system. The scholastic term lasts 
nine months in each year, and the public is 
not wanting in appreciation of the excellent 
work that has been and is being done in 
these schools. There are large, handsome 
buildings erected in different portions of the 
city accessible and convenient to the pupils 
of each locality. The buildings are not only 
imposing in structure but also handsomely 
apportioned within, at great cost to the city, 
in order obtain every comfort and convenience. 
These are public free schools, established by 
the citizens of the city for the education of 
the masses free, so as to make them better cap- 
able of discharging their duties to them- 
selves and to society. This system has not 
been established for many years, and the suc- 
cess as realized this short time is marvelous. 
One admirable feature about them is that the 
colored population here has every advantage 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



317 



provided for them. Tlieir schoolhoiises are 
large, com mod ions and as comfortable as 
those of the white popuhition, aad they have 
competent teachers. 

Below is the statement of Prof. J. T. 
Hand, then superintendent of tliese schools, 
the same being for the school year ending 
June 30, 1891. 

(The writer has failed to get the report 
of Prof. Harris, the present superintendent 
for year ending June, 1892, as he has been 
informed that it has not yet been com- 
pleted.) 

REPORT FOR TBAR ENDING JDNB 30, 1891. — GENERAL 
STATISTICS. 

PopuUtiou of Dallas (not including suburbs) 40.000 

Scholastic population (census 1S91) 8,134 

Assessed value of taxable property $33,000,000 

City ta-K for school purposes ,y of ^ percent. 

SCHOOL. PROPERTY. 

Estimated value of sites |109,000 

Estimated value of buildings 163,000 

Estimated value of furniture 14,000 

Estimated value of library 350 

Total value *287,600 

Number of school buildings 14 

Number of school rooms 77 

Number of rooms heated by warm air 16 

Number of rooms heated by stoves 61 

Number of seats for study 3,364 

TEACHERS. 

White -male, 14; female, 49 ; total 63 

Colored — male, 7 ; female, 8 ; total 15 

Supernumeraries 4 

Total 82 

PUPILS. 

Number of pupils enrolled: 

White 3,624 

Colored 1,131 

Total 4,753 

22 



Average number of pupils belonging: 

White 2,56« 

Colored 75'j 

Total 3,321 



a ■ a " 

Yearb. S? ga 

^ S "ii 
9 ^ ii 

•jr. (£ 

1884-85 1,4S7 90.2 

1K85-86 \fi»i 89.B 

1886-87 2,189 91.2 

1887-88 a,M9 88.8 

1888-89 8,266 87 

1889-90 4,6.S3 88 

1890-91 4,7.'>5 89 

ATTENDANCE FOR 1890-91. 



.c a. 

sa 

7i 


|2 


23 


$ 32,411 


•2» 


31,701 


28 


76,485 


35 


(>4,115 


53 


15.3,621 


76 


227,6I» 


82 


287,600 



Name of School. 



ii 



Centrftl High School 728 

East Dallas School 740 

Oak Grove School 5.38 

Cumberland High School 617 

South Side School 319 

McKinney Avenue School 251 

School No.3 289 

School No. 1 192 

Colored Schools- 
School No. 1 288 

School No. 2 3.T6 

School No.3 130 

School No. 4 52 

School No.5 93 

School No. 6 222 



ENROLLMENT BY GR.^^DKS AND SCHOOLS. 



o 


o 


2 a 




fiS 


oa 


























^s 


^2 




(L, 


- 


ZS 


93 


23 


43 


88 


9 


123 


89 


2 


■•l 


87 


4 


17 


89 


5 


43 


93 


» 


15 


90 


5 


13 


86 


1 


12 


84 


6 


56 


85 


12 


77 


88 


6 


67 


83 


« 


19 


81 


1 


10 


80 


7 


49 



Schools. 



— Grades. - 
4 5 6 



Cent' 1 H.School 213 175 123 

E.Dallas School 161 148 137 166 88 16 34 

Oak Grove Srh'l 196 119 104 119 

Cumberland Hill 

School 199 138 

South S. Sch'l.. 91 61 



8 9 10 11.22 

SIS 
o « 

96 52 24 13 728 

740 

538 



140 140 617 

75 65 27 819 



McKinney Ave. 






School 77 


60 


:« 


School No.S ... 53 


93 


91 


School No.l ... 62 


46 


30 


Colored Schools : 






No.l ia5 


48 


47 


No.2 14.'> 


51 
41 





No.3 42 


33 


No.4 - 


18 


35 



4J 39 



2S1 



192 



13 10 3 — 



54 67 
14 - 



3—288 

— - 356 

— — lao 

— — 58 



318 



HISTORT OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



No.5. 
No.6 



41 14 38 — 
IM 52 33 34 



222 



T'l by grades. 1296 889 Tg."! 717 466 243 167 99 52 27 18... 
ACTUAL CURRENT EXPENSES. 

Salaries— Superintendent, teachers, janitors $69,770 05 

Fuel 1,067 65 

Insarance 2,305 31 

Stationary and printing 2.50 00 

Sanitation 996 00 

Rents 302 00 

Incidental 1,001 10 

The cost of instruction per capita, l)uscd on current ex- 
penses, estimated on total enrollment, is 13 80 

Estimated on average number belonging 19 47 

The following is a report of the school fiirnl 
for the year ending June, 1892: 

To amount received from state treasurer... $35,016 62 

To amount received from State, account census 255 98 

To amount received from auditor and collector 63 17 

To amount received from water supply fund, transfer. . 10,000 00 
To amount received from sewers and drains fund, transfer 54,000 00 



Total $99,335 77 

By amount balance due treasurer April 20, 1891 28,724 47 

By amount warrants paid during year 67,017 11 

By amount balance on hand April 18, 1892 3,594 19 



Total $99,33577 

SPECIAL SCHOOL FUND. 

To balance on hand April 20,1891 $ 8,038 93 

To amount received from collector 45,45634 

To amount received from transfer from general fund. . . 2,0*K) 00 



Total $47,45634 

By amount warrants paid 30,399 11 

By balance on hand April 18, 1892 25,096 16 



Total $55,495 37 

It can be seen from the al)ove report that 
these schools are in most excellent condition, 
and the city may most certainly be proud of 
them. 

cole's SELECT SCHOOL. 

This college was established in 1889 by 
Colonel J. R. Cole, an eminent scholar and 
educator, at the solicitation of a number of 
prominent citizens of Dallas. The special 
object was to prepare boys at home for col- 
lege or university or give a useful education 
adequate for the various vocations of life. 



While this school is mainly for boys, a 
limited number of girls are admitted. The 
course of study adopted, in many respects, is 
equal to the curriculum of many colleges, 
and, thoroughly mastered, will prepare a 
student for the freshman or sophomore class 
in the best colleges and universities in our 
country. It requires eight years to complete 
the entire course for graduation, which can 
be accomplished at sixteen or eighteen years 
of age. Students completing the entire course 
will receive diplomas. 

Colonel J. R. Cole, principal, is a graduate 
of Trinity College, North Carolina, having 
received the degrees of A. B. and A. M. He 
has taught in Texas more than twenty years 
and has been professor, principal or presi- 
dent in some of the most prominent institu- 
tions in the State, as McKenzie College, 
North Texas Female College and the Agri- 
cultural and Mechanical College of Texas. 

Misses May and Ella Cole are the daughters 
of the principal and were educated under his 
direction. He was assisted by the l)est lady 
teachers he could procure in the State as 
private instructors in his family for nine 
years. 

Prof. G. A. Harmon, in charge of penman- 
ship and bookkeeping, is president of the 
Dallas Business College and is too well known 
in his departments for further reference. 

Prof. Frank Reauifh is an artist of the 
Julian Academy, I'aris, France. He has de- 
voted years to the fine arts, receiving high 
honors at the last St. Louis Exposition. 

The "honor" students in the year 1891-92, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



319 



having completed the full course of studies 
and receiving diplomas, were Frank Blank- 
enship, li. Iving Cole, Ernest House, Ellen 
Thurston. Those completing the English 
course and receiving certificates were Howard 
Ardrey anil Thomas Lucas. 

The E. M. Kahn medal for the best student 
in school as shown by attendance, conductand 
studies, was awarded to Scott Miller. 

The Mrs. Warren medal for second best 
student was awarded to Frank Blankenship 
and Thomas Lucas, — a tie. 

The Dr. S. D. Thruston medal for the best 
girl student was awarded to Eugenia Chap- 
pell. 

The C. F. Carter medal for the best student 
of those who did not exceed fifty on the first 
roll of honor last year was awarded to Neita 
Barton. 

0HCRCHE8. 

Churches and schools always speak much 
praise for any city. The whites and colored 
people of Dallas have church buildings in 
the city at which they assemble to worship 
every Sunday. 

The J^'irst Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, was organized in Dallas in 1850, by 
Rev. Andrew Cumming, with eleven naera- 
bers, when Dallas had a population of about 
200. The members worshipped in a little 
house which was also used by other denomi- 
nations, changing around, one denomination 
using it one Sunday, another the next, and 
so on. The first Methodist preacher, how- 
ever, that lived in the little town of Dallas 
was a local preacher, Rev. James A. Smith, 



a farmer, who baptized the first Methodist 
child in Dallas county, — -Astor Pryor, who 
now lives in the county. 

This little church, of eleven members in 
1850, has kept pace with the rapid growth of 
the city, and to-day it has a membership of 
600 and a most handsome edifice on Com- 
merce street. Rev. J. O. Jones, present pas- 
tor; membership of the Sunday-school, 250. 

In addition to the First Church, the Meth- 
odists also have the following churches, which 
were established principally through the First 
Church, and each has a most handsome church 
building: 

The Floyd Street Methodist Church., 
South, was organized by R. M. Powell in 
1874, with thirty members. It now Iims a 
membership of about 400; number of mem- 
bers of Sunday-school, 150. The present 
pastor is R. S. Riggan. It is situated on 
Floyd street, near the Union depot. 

The South Dallas Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, situated at the corner of 
Snodgrass and Cigar streets, was organized 
in 1888 by Rev. W. U. Hugiis, with about 
twenty members; now has a membership of 
300. Rev. W. F. Clark is now the pastor. 
Number of members of Sunday-school, 150. 

East Dallas Methodist Epiieopal Church, 
South, located Jiear the Fair grounds, was or- 
ganized by Rev. J. W. Blackburn in 1889, 
with about twenty members. It has a mem- 
bership at present of 1^0, and a Sunday- 
school with a membership of lOQ. Its pres- 
ent pastor is Rev. Lee A. Hanson. 

Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, 



320 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COLT NTT. 



South, located at the corner of Trinidad and 
Philp streets, was organized by Rev. W. F. 
Clark in 1885, with a noembership of twenty- 
live. Present membership, 300; pastor, 
Rev. L. P. Smitli; Sunday-school member- 
ship, 150. 

Oah Lawn Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, located in the beautiful suburb Oak 
Lawn, was organized in 1884, with about 
thirty members, by Rev. William Cullom. 
Present pastor. Rev. A. C. McVoy; mem- 
bership, 100; Sunday-school membership, 
100. 

West Dallas Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, called St. Mark's, was organized by 
Rev. C. G. Shutt in 1888, witli twenty-five 
or tliirty members. Present pastor, Rev. 
Mr. Thompson ; membership, about seventy- 
five. 

The Tabernacle Methodist Episcojjal 
Church, whose house of worship is situated 
corner Main and St. Paul streets, was organ- 
ized in 1874 by Rev. L. H. Carhart, then 
pastor. It has grown to a membership of 
250. The following pastors have served tlie 
chiirch since its establishment: Revs. W. A. 
Allen, W. P. Armstrong, J. H. Reat, S. A. 
Thomson, J. R. Wolf, and G. I. McOlaughlin, 
who is the present pastor. Rev. L. A. Neis, 
assistant pastor, devotes his time principally 
to missions and other churches under this 
first church in the city. M. McKee is super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school, which has a 
membership of 200. 

Grace Church, of this denomination, is 
located at the corner of Nettie and Ophelia 



streets. The society was organized in 1890, 
by Rev. Lee A. Neis, assistant pastor to Rev. 
G. L McClaughlin. It now has thirty-five 
members. 

Masonic Avenue Church, whose edifice is 
located on Masonic Avenue, was established 
in 1888, under the supervision of the Taber- 
nacle Church. 

There are several missions in the city es- 
tablished by this denomination, all of which 
are flourishing. 

Each church above named has a thriving 
Sunday-school. There are various auxiliary 
societies in these churches, with a large mem- 
bership. The most important one of all is 
the Home Mission and Church Extension So- 
ciety, in which ail join to make a success. 

A congregation of Methodists meet every 
Sunday for purposes of worship, also to con- 
duct a Sunday-school in the Cockrell-Fairland 
Addition, and the exercises are conducted by 
the local preachers, Rev. W. H. Howell, M. 
D. and Rev. J. H. Gibbs, M. D. These 
preachers, together with Rev. W. C. Young, 
another local preacher, now residing in South 
Dallas, have been residents of Dallas for many 
years, and have done great good and most 
efficient service not only here in Dallas and 
Dallas county, but also throughout this sec- 
tion of the State. They are successful and 
good men, and most highly respected and es- 
teemed by every one. Rev. W. H. Hughes, 
an able preacher who has lived in Dallas a 
long time, has assisted in almost every church 
enterprise in the city. His home is still 
here, and he is still in the active work, and 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



331 



has always been a roan of iniiuencc. He is 
a man of character, eloquence, scliolarship 
and ability, and l.as done much good for his 
church. 

Catholic Churches. — Early in the '708, 
Father Perry established the first church of 
this faith in tlie city of Dallas. Heretofore 
the members that had been banded together 
collected at different residences from time to 
time, and kept up devotional services. But 
as soon as the membership could afford any 
means for the erection of a building for wor- 
ship, the one now situated on the corner of 
Bryan and Ervay streets was built, and has 
been used up to this day as a place of wor- 
ship. A magnificent cathedral will be built 
soon on this corner, to cost $100,000, and 
which, it is said, when completed, will be 
one of the finest erected in the South. 

Father Hennessey, now of Houston, Texas, 
succeeded Father l^erry and remained in ser- 
vice as priest for two years. Then came 
Father Martiniere, now chaplain at the Fr- 
suline Academy in East Dallas. He re- 
mained in charge until 1889, at which time 
he was succeeded 1)y Father Joseph Blum, 
now at Munster, Cooke county, Texas. 

Bishop Thomas F. Brennan was appointed 
bishop of Dallas, with a territory of 
108 counties in northern and northwestern 
Texas, in December, 1890. He was conse- 
crated bishoj) at Erie, Pennsylvania, April 5, 
1891, and immediately came to Dallas to 
take charge of his diocese, and when he came 
he assumed the rectorship of the Church of 
the Sacred Heart, and transferred Kev. Father 
I'lum to Munster, Cooke county. Sinct; that 



time the bishop has been indefatigable in his 
labors, and is much beloved by his church 
and all who know him. 

St. Patrick's is another Catholic Church, 
located in the city, at the corner of South 
Harwood and Eakin streets, and under the 
charge of Father J. A. Hartnett, assisted by 
Father P. M. Reagati. These churches have 
a very large attendance. About 5,000 souls 
commune at these two. 

in addition to these churches the Catholics 
have the Oak Cliff Orphanage, which institu- 
tion was founded in 1891 by Bishop Bren- 
nan. The building cost S5,000, and has a 
very beautiful and imposing appearance. It 
is situated on a lofty place in this high, cool 
and healthy addition to the city of Dallas. 
The plat comprises eight acres of very valu- 
able land, and was donated byT. L. Marsalis, 
the originator and former owner of Oak Cliff. 

Episcopal Church Organizations. — The 
leading church of this denomination is the 
St. Matthews. It is located on Ervay street. 
The congregation was organized in 1868, by 
Rev. S. D. Davenport, who held the rector- 
ship until 1877. 

The following rectors have had charge of 
this Church, and succeeded respectively as 
their names appear, viz. : Rev. Stephen A. 
Greene, Rev. Jno. Davis, Rev. Wm. Mnn- 
ford. Rev. C. W. Turner, Rev. W. B. Guion, 
Rev. A. C. Garrett. There are at present 
511 members. 

The Church of the Incarnation is an an- 
other organization of this denomination. It 
is located at the corner of Harwood street and 



332 



HI8T0BT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



McKeiinie avenue; and the society was organ- 
ized in 1884. Eev. Edwin Wickens is the 
present rector. 

Dallas being in Bishop A. C. Garrett's 
diocese, these churches are under his super- 
vision. They are popular churches and very 
prosperous. Bishop Garrett resides in Dallas 
and occasionally preaches to tlie congrega- 
tion, and, being very eloquent, attracts 
great audiences. 

First Preshyterian Church, situated cor- 
ner Main and Harwood streets. The con- 
gregation was organized by Rev. S. A. King 
of Waco, Texas, in 1873. Dr. A. P. Smith, 
the present pastor, was elected to the position 
in 1873, and has remained in that relation 
ever since. Beginning with but few mem- 
bers, this church has increased constantly 
under the pastorship of Dr. Smith until its 
present membership raumbers 400. 

There are three colonies established under 
this church, namely: the City Park Presby- 
terian Church, Oak ClifE Presbyterian Church, 
Westminster Presbyterian Church. These 
three churches are under the supervision of 
Dr. Smith and are prospering. In addition 
to these there is a colored Presbyterian 
Church in the city, also under the supervision 
of Dr. Smith. 

Dr. A. P. Smith is an able and eloquent 
preacher and has been here longer than any 
other preacher in the city. He is very popu- 
lar and always has large audiences. His 
churches have always flourished. 

The Congregational Church of Dallas 
was organized December 27, 1875, by Rev. 



H. M. Daniel, pastor, with the following 
membership: Seth Lathrop, E. M. Stokes 
C. W. I^arker, L. H. Page, Geo. S. Webber, 
Harvey Page, Geo. W. Jones, Chas. N 
Mason, Mrs. F. B. Daniel, Mrs. Ella La 
throp, Mrs. Janes Stokes, Mrs. Ella K 
Parker, Miss Kittie Gray, Miss Ida Stokes 
Mrs. Geo. S. Webber, Mrs. C. E. Page, Miss 
Etta Page. 

The church labored under many disad- 
vantages for several years, but constantly in- 
creased in membership. While the members 
went from place to place to worship in the 
beginning of their career, they soon found 
tliemselves able to erect a modest church 
building. In this they worshiped for some 
time. The membership of this church now 
numbers about 400, and they have one of the 
handsomest church buildings in the city, 
located at the corner of Harwood and Bryan 
streets, and costing, with the lot, $30,000. 
Rev. Mr. McCune succeeded the organizer, 
Rev. Mr. Daniel, and Rev. C. I. Scofleld, 
who is the present pastor, succeeded Rev. 
McCune. Dr. Scofleld has been pastor now 
for about nine years, and is one of the most 
popular and eloquent divines in the city. 

The present deacons of the church are: H. 
Page, Theodore Mosier, E. M. Powell, Will 
Nason, William Kirkland, Morgan, Lu- 
ther Reese. This denomination has establised 
two missions in east Dallas and a church for 
the colored people in the city. 

Baptist Church. — July 30, 1868, a presby- 
tery consisting of the following ordained 
Baptist ministers, met in Dallas for the pur- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



323 



pose of organizing a Baptist Church, namely: 
Kev. W. W. Harris, Rev. J. F. Pinson, W. 
B. Long and W. J. Bowen. They effected 
an organization with the following members: 
E. G. Mays, W. L. Williams, John Ilanna, 
L. B. Williams, M. L. Bowen, C. £. Mays, 
A. C. Mays, N. E. Collins, Martha Seegar, 
S. C. Akard and M. E. Kerfoot, and named 
it "The First Baptist Church of Dallas." 

The growth of this church has been most 
wonderful. It has at present a membership 
of about 700 and one of the handsomest and 
most costly church buildings in the State, 
costing $100,000; location on Battison 
avenue and North Ervay street. The follow- 
ing pastors have served this church since it 
was lirst established, viz.: 
Rev. W. W. Harris, elected August 22, 1868 
" C. A. Stanton, " October 1, 1871 
" A. Weaver, financial agent for the 
church, elected May 9, 1872. After 
serving in this capacity was elected 
pastor, assisted by Rev. G. T. Wilburn. 
liev. G. W. Rogers, elected January 23, 1876 
" J. H. Curry, " '< 1, 1878 

" R. T. Hanks, " " 1, 1883 

" A. M. Sims, " — , 1890 

Un the 30th day of June, 1892, Rev. A. 
M. Sims retired from the pastorate, so the 
church is at present without a pastor. One, 
liowever, will be elected at an early date. 

The following are the present deacons: 
W. L. Williams, S. L. May, W. R. Howell, 
J. L. Williams, E. P. Marshal, E. T. Lewis, 
J. F. Warren. 

The Second Baptist Church (Rev. A. B. 



Ingram, pastor), situated on Corinth street, 
was organized in 1889, by Rev. R. T. Hanks, 
pastor First Church, and W. L. Williams, 
one of the deacons. 

Washington Avenue Church (Rev. Thomas 
S. Potts, pastor), was organized in 1888, 
with 30 members, by Rev. S. J. Anderson, 
missionary, under the auspicies of the First 
Baptist Church. It has now a very large 
membership, and is in very flourishing condi- 
tion. 

Lake Avenue Church was organized in 
1891. Present pastor, Rev. Mr. Millican. 

Christian Churches. — ^In 1846 Elder 
Thacker B. Griffin organized the first "Chris- 
tian" Church in Dallas county, and in 1852 
Dr. B. F. Hall organized the first "Christian" 
Church in the city of Dallas. 

This First Christian Church of Dallas has 
grown very rapidly here in the city and has 
erected a large and handsome edifice at the 
corner of Bryan and Pearl streets. They 
have no regular pastor at present. In this 
interval, while the church is seeking a pastor, 
General R. M. Gano, an eloquent and influ- 
ential preacher in the city, who has retired 
from the active service, preaches occasionally. 

□ 7%e Central Christian Church, organized 
in 1875, is the largest church of this denom- 
ination in the city. Elder M. M. Davis, an 
able and eloquent preacher, is pastor. It 
has one of the finest church buildings in Dal- 
las, costing $65,000; membership, 600. It 
is situated at the corner of Patterson avenue 
and Mastin steeet. 



824 



HIsrOHY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



OAK CLIFF. 

This beautiful residence city is situated 
southwest of the city of Dallas, beyond the 
Trinity river, about three quarters of a mile 
fron the courthouse square, on an elevated 
plateau over looking the city and surrounding 
country. Its superior elevation presents to 
the \ision most charming and varied scenes 
of beauty over the sweeping prairies, and the 
cross timbers that cluster on the banks of the 
Trinity, and to the inhabitants the coolest 
and most desiraljle dwelling places in all 
Texas. The cool breezes are continually 
wafted from the bosom of the Gulf over the 
rolling prairies, making the days and nights 
in the most heated seasons cool and delight- 
ful and Oak Cliff a place greatly sought 
after. 

The founding of this city was in 1887, by 
the enterprising and gifted T. L. Marsalis, a 
a Tuuch admired, wealthy business man, who 
for some time was an extensive wholesale 
groceryman of Dallas. Discerning far the 
future of Dallas, and seeing her rapidly at- 
taining the proportions of a great city, this 
gentleman bought here, at a cost of half a 
million dollars, 2,000 acres of land so propi- 
tiously located, especially for residences, and 
had it in a large measure platted, streets laid 
out and paved with elegant sidewalks. It 
now, in this short time, since 1887, possesses 
a population of 7,000, and most attractive 
residences, some costing $50,000. Some of 
the most prominent and wealthy men of the 
city and State have moved here and have 
lovely homes. 



A railroad costing $400,000 sweeps 
around from the city of Dallas through Oak 
Cliff, returning to Dallas almost in a circle, 
every few minutes, thereby affording most 
ample and happy accommodations to the 
public. This is the only railroad in the South 
operated on the same plan as the New York 
elevated railroad. Many manufacturing es- 
tablishments of various kinds are located here. 
Among the number is E. G. Patton & Com- 
pany's great patent medicine laboratory and 
the Texas Paper Mills, the only mills of the 
kind in the State; also several business houses 
to supply the demands of the inhabitants. 
There is also an electric light plant, costing 
$25,000, and waterworks costing $50,000, 
operated here for the benefit of the population 
of this city. 

All religious denominations have places of 
worship here. Some of them have erected 
elegant churches. There are the very best 
educational advantages offered the public. A 
$80,000 public-school building is now being 
erected. Besides the several private schools, 
a female institution of learning, called the 
Oak Clitf Female College, will open a most 
lovely and attractive, as well as commodious, 
building, in the coming fall season, with a 
large number of students already enlisted un- 
der the efficient management of Prof. M. 
Thomas Edgerton, president, a distinguished 
educator from Tennessee, and lately presi- 
dent of the Waco (Texas) Female College. 
The handsome buikiing in which this college 
will open cost $100,000. The Catholic de - 



HISTOKY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



325 



nomination has an orphans' home in an at- 
tractive hiiikiing. 

There are beautiful and charming lawns, 
drives, parks and lakes skirting this city, 
making as has been very appropriately said, 
"Oak Cliff to Dallas what Brooklyn is to 
New York." As a means of pleasure a sum- 
mer theater is located in one of the large 
parka, iit which summer opera companies 
and amateur plays entertain the public. 

In 1890 this city was incorporated by a 
special act of the legislature and made a sep- 
arate government within itself, The follow- 
ing are the present officers: F. N. Oliver, 
mayor; W. F. Daugherty, secretary, W. H. 
II. Smith, marshal; C. R. Buddy, treasurer. 
Aldermen:.!. W. Roach, J. L. Means, W. 
D. Henderson, R. P. Toole, Clinton Jack. 

OAK CLIFF COLLEGE FOR YOUNG LADIES. 

Among the many enterprises that will add 
80 much to the prosperity of this beautiful 
little city is the Oak Cliff College for 
Young Ladies. 

A hotel, costing upwards of $100,000 was 
constructed two years ago, and was designed 
to accommodate both summer and winter 
visitors, and it is easily heated by steam and 
and thoroughly comfortable in winter and 
airy and well ventilated in the summer. It 
is four stories high. In the matter of ap- 
pointments and furnishings, it is unsurpassed 
by any other in the State. This magnificent 
building, with its entire equipments, have 
been leased for a term of years by a corpora- 
tion, the Oak Cliff College for Young La- 
dies, with M. Thos. Edgerton, president; S. 



II. Landrum, secretary; A. G. Keichart, 
treasurer; and the first floor of this hotel has 
been re-arranged and furnished elegantly for 
a chapel, recitation rooms, music, art and elo- 
cution schools, while the three upper floors 
are left unchanged for the young ladies of 
the boarding department. 

The Oak Cliff College, into which this 
hotel will be converted September 7th, is 
chartered exclusively for the graduation and 
accomplishment of young ladies, and is des- 
tined to be the leading college in the South. 
The leading and salient features of this col- 
lege are its high standard of excellence ex- 
pected to be attained and the non- sectarian 
character of its religions influence. In these 
respects it will occupy a vacant field in 
Southern education, and take the leading 
place among the colleges for young women 
in the educational system of Texas. 

The Oak Cliff College is not designed to 
be local or sectional or sectarian. It is es- 
tablished not for Dallas alone, but for Texas 
and the South; not for denomination or sect, 
but for society and God. The institution ig 
chartered with full powers from the State to 
confer degrees, award diplomas and certifi- 
cates. 

So sure is the writer that this will bo one 
of the permanent institutions of Dallas 
county, and that in after years coming gen- 
erations will be glad to read the names of the 
teachers from whom their mothers received 
their education, we give its first faculty: 

General Officers: M. Thomas Edgerton, 
president; S. II. Laridrum, secretary and A. 
G. Reichert, treasurer. 



330 



lIItiTOliY OF DALLAS 00UNT7. 



Literary department: M. Thomas Edger- 
toii, mental atid irioral sciences; Miss Annie 
Niciiols, natural science and liistory; Miss 
Elizabetii Mason (uf Toronto University), 
modern languages; A. Sumpter Laird, A. B., 
mathematics and ancient languages; J. IL 
Gillespie (principal Hill's business college), 
professor of pennianshij) and superintendent 
of business course, and Mrs. Dickey Land- 
ruin, intermediate work. 

Conservatory of music: A. (i. lleichert, 
director piano and violin, and W. E. 
White, jiiano. 

S. IL Landrum ((Tcrnian school) principal. 

Elocution and piiysical culture (Delsarte 
system), Mrs. Z. II. Lassetor, principal. 

Boarding home: Mrs. V. Belle Edgerton, 
proprietor and manager; Mrs. C. 0. Collins, 
assistant manager, and R. S. Gilbert, family 
physician. 

Board of trustees: B. Blankenship, Jno. F. 
Elliott, P. Sanger, J. B. Adouo, J. T. Dar- 
gan, T. L. Marsalis, E. G. Patton, A. IL 
Fields, F. N. Oliver, .1. W. Crowdus and 
A. T. Watts. 

We copy from the Oak Cliff Weekly Jour- 
nal an account of the reception given by the 
president, Professor M. Thomas Edgerton, 
including the speech of welct>me made by 
Mayor Oliver. 

In response to invitations sent out by Prof. 
M. Thomas Edgerton and the management 
of the Oak Clifl College and Conservatory of 
Music, which open on Sej)toml)er 7, some 
three hundred of the citizens of Oak VA'iW 
and Dallas were present and most magnifi- 



cently entertained at the Oak Cliff on Tues- 
day night. The genial tnanager, Mr. Las- 
seter, Mrs. T. L. Marsalis and other guests 
of the hotel extended a most cordial welcome 
to the visitors and made all feel at ease. Not 
a little enthusiasm was manifest on the part 
of the visitors at the great proportions of the 
building, its comforta])lo appointirients, and 
thorough adaptability to the purp(;se for 
which it will soon be dedicated and used. 

The spacious and elegant dining hail was 
thrown open and twice filled by the visitors 
and iced confections atid dainties were served 
by a trained corps of waiters. After refresh- 
ments had been enjoyed, an adjonrnment to 
the chapel in the basement was had. Here 
long rows of school desks were filled with the 
audience who listened to addresses by Colonel 
John F. Elliott and Mayor Oliver, in which 
Oak Cliff's future was pictured in roseate 
hue, and the citizens of the two cities con- 
gratulated on the good future of securing 
such a school with such a faculty as is promised 
in the Oak Cliff College and Conservatory of 
Music. 

Professor Edgerton was introduced by 
Colonel P]lliott, and responded in a short ad- 
dross, in which he spoke of the faculty as be- 
ing selected for their experience, their refine- 
ment and their proficiency. He promised a 
home more than a boiirding sciiool to the 
young ladies entrusted to their care and said 
that the school would be strictly non-secta- 
rian. 

Sweet music was rendered on the violin 
and piano by members of the music faculty, 



niSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



337 



and the visitors were shown over the entire 
biiikling. 

The accommodatinjr Oak (Miff railway 
management placed an extra train at the dis- 
posal of the vi8it(>r8 without cost. 

ADDRESS OF MAYOR V. N. OLIVER. 

Friends of Dallas and Oak Cliff: 

It affords me boundless pleasure to seo and 
meet bo many of you on this auspicious oc- 
casion. It confirms the long cherished hope 
that there is a feeling here that the time has 
come when we should educate our daughters 
at homo; that by fouiuling lirst-class insti- 
tutions of learning it will enable a great 
many of our citizens of Te.xas to educate 
their daughters who could not send them to 
distant colleges. There is no reason why we 
should not have better colleges in Texas than 
in Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, or any 
other State. Virginia stands in American 
liistory as the model of intellectual prowess 
and civil governmeut. What did it? Echo 
rolls back the answer: Her colleges, her uni- 
versities! What gives Virginia the golden 
title of " the mother of statesmen," of great 
and sciiolarly women? Echo rolls down the 
pages of history both in peace and war, the 
answer: The charitable and grand cliaracter of 
her people in founding and maintaining her 
own institutions of learning. 

Proper education of woman is tlie safe- 
guard of nations, and the guiding star of our 
best civilization. We possess nothing of 
virtue tiiat does not owe its character to 
woman. To her education is what the sun 



is to nature — life, development, the com- 
munication of knowledge, the discipline of 
the intellect, the establishment of principle, 
the enthronement of character, and the regu- 
lation of the heart. Upon her development 
of mind and lieart, the wisdom and charity 
of mankind should forever dwell. 

Dallas, the metropolis of Texas and tho 
Southwest, has given her attention in the past 
cliieHy to business, and I feel duty bound to 
say that we can increase her great business 
and financial importance hy making her the 
seat of learning of Texas and the Southwest. 

Boston is recognized as one of the largest 
financial, commercial and manufacturing 
cities of the world, and at the same time it 
is admitted to be the seat of learning and 
culture of the United States. In this respect 
she gets her reputation from her neighboring 
residence city of colleges, Cambridge — the 
home of the immortal Longfellow, Holmes, 
and others sacred in history and song. 

Tiie good people of our little city. Oak 
Cliff, desire to join hands with its great com- 
mercial neighbor in the building of institu- 
tions of learning in our midst. One great 
college should do well at Oak Cliff; yes, five 
well appointed colleges should do well, and 
there is no reason why we should not have 
them. They are the power and ballast of all 
that are good. 

Texas is estimated to have about 100,000 
girls between the ages of fourteen and twenty 
years. One thousand of these girls should 
be educated here, each year, at five colleges, 
with 200 in each college. We hope to open 



328 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY- 



this college on September 7th with at least 
250 young ladies of Oak Cliif, Dallas, and 
other parts of Texas. This is only the coni- 
inencemeut of an era of educational institu- 
tions at Oak Cliff, which is Dallas, one and 
the same. 

This magnificent building, sitting as it 
does like the eagle of forethought on its 
prairie apex, kissed by the healthful breezes 
in their grand ascent from the sea, dedicated 
to-nicrht by the providence of God and the 
wisdom and co-operation of the people, is 
complete in all its appointments for a great 
college for young ladies provided with a 
faculty under Frof. Edgerton, equal to any 
in our country. And the people of Texas 
may feel assured that this will be a college 
for the education of their daughters in fact 
as well as in name. 

From the mind and heart of this splendid 
faculty both pupil and patron will learn that. 

These struggling tides of life that seem 
In tireless onward course to tend, 

Are eddies of the mighty stream 
That rolls to its appointed end. 

Now, with the earnest co-operation of us 
all, the twin cities at the head of navigation 
of tlie Trinity will march forward in their 
grandeur, the counterpart of Boston and 
Cambridge, the greatest commercial, tiiiancial 
and manufacturing center and seat of learn- 
ing of the Southwest. 

Oak Cliff Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, called St. Paul's, was organized in 
1888 by Rev. C. G. Shutt, with a mem- 
bership of twenty-five or thirty. Pres- 



ent pastor, Rev. Mr. Armstrong. Mem- 
bership, 350. Sunday-school membership 
150. 

SOCIETIES AT OAK CLIFF. 

Altar Society of St. Patrick's Church, or- 
ganized 1889. Membership thirty-one. 
Catholic Ladies' Aid Society, for the benefit 
of the poor, organized 1890. Member- 
ship 100. 
Children's Meeting of Central Christian 
Church, organized 1888. Membership 
150. 
Earnest Workers' Oak Cliff Presbyterian 
Church, organized May, 1891. Mem- 
bership fifteen. 
Home Mission and Church Extension So- 
ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
of Dallas, Texas; chartered December 
3, 1890. 
Ladies' Missionary Society of the First Bap- 
tist Church. Reorganized 1884. Mem- 
bership fifty. 
Ladies' Benevolent Society of the First Bap- 
tist Church. Organized 1884. Member- 
ship forty. 
Ladies' Aid Society of Oak Cliff Church. 
Organized December, 1890. Member- 
ship sixteen. 
Ladies' Aid Society of Washington Avenue 
Baptist Church. Organized 1884. Mem- 
bership forty-four. 
Ladies' Missionary Society of the Central 
Christian Church. Organized 1887. 
Membership seventy-five. 
Ladies' Aid Society of the Church of the In- 



nisTonr of Dallas county. 



aao 



carnation. Meets niontlily at the rec- 
tory. 

Ladies' Aid Society of tlie (Central Clinrcli. 
Organized August, 1881. Membership 
100. 

Ladies' Aid Society of the Floyd Street 
Methodist Epif^copal Church, South. 
Organized 1885. Membership twenty. 

Ladies' Aid Society of Oak Lawn Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South. Organized 
March, 1890. Membership twenty -five. 

Ladies' Aid Society of the Second Presby- 
terian Church. Organized 1886. Mem- 
bership thirty-tive. 

Ladies' Aid Society of the First Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. Meets the first 
Friday in each month, at the church. 

Ladies' Aid Society of Oak Cliff Presby- 
terian Church. Organized September, 
1890. Membership twenty-five. 

Ladies' Missionary Society of Exposition 
Park Presbyterian Church. Organized 
April, 1891. Membership eleven. 

Olive Branch Society of the Second Baptist 
Church. Organized 1888. Member- 
ship fifty. 

Sisters of the Christian Church. Organized 
1889. Meets every Wednesday at 3:30 
p M., at the church. 

Society of the Apostleship of Prayer, of St. 
Patrick's Church, Organized 1888. 
Membership fifty. 

Sodality of the Children of Mary. Organized 
1880. Membersiiip tliirty-tive. 

Sodality of the Holy Angels. Organized 1889. 
Membership si.xty. 



Texas Tract Society of Seventh -Day Ad- 
ventist Church. Depository off Mid- 
way station, Oak Cliff. 

Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of tlie 
Tabernacle Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Organized 1890; membership twenty. 

Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 
Meeting and reading rooms, 113 South 
St. Paul street, corner of Commerce. 

Woman's Missionary Society of tlie First 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Meets 
the first Friday of each month, at the 
church. 

Young People's Society of Christian En- 
deavor of the First Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church. Meets the first Friday 
of each month, at the church. 

LANCASTER. 

This is one of the largest and most inter- 
esting towns in the county. It is located 
fourteen miles south of the city of Dallas, 
on the banks of Ten-Mile creek, in one of 
the richest agricultural countries in the State. 
It has the advantage of two lines of railroad: 
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, running from 
the city of Dallas by it to Hillsboro, joining 
the main line at that point, and a trunk line 
of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, 
extending from Ilutvhins. These two lines 
have each a depot in the town, thereby giving 
easy access to the commercial world. It has 
twelve or fifteen business houses, representing 
all lines of merchandise. Some of the lead- 
ing establishments are: W. P. Johnson, gen- 
eral merchandise ; J. II. Molfett, general 



330 



UISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



merchandise; W. P. Coolidge & Co., general 
merchandise; K. E. Taylor & Co., druggists; 
John A. Rogers, druggist. 

Lancaster has two roller mills and three 
cotton gins, which turn out the very best 
quality of work. The religious denomina- 
tions, Methodist, Baptist, Christian and 
Presbyterian, are represented here. Each 
has a large and handsome church building, 
and large and flourishing congregations. 

Lancaster boasts of two of the best schools 
of all the towns of its population in the State, 
namely, the Lancaster Masonic Institute and 
the Lancaster Female Institute. Each has a 
superior faculty, a high curriculum, and a 
very extensive patronage. They are institu- 
tions of whicii any town may well feel proud. 

The Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities 
each iiave an organization here and a large 
membership. 

Lancaster is one among the oldest towns in 
tlie county, but had never made any rapid 
stride of improvement until a few years of 
late. It was incorporated in May, 1886, and 
since then has rapidly grown in every respect. 

The following are the articles of incorpor- 
ation in full, as made by the county judge on 
the minutes of the Commissioners' Court of 
Dallas county: 

Whereas, on the 20th day of April, 1886, 
P. N. Taylor, J. W. Baskiu, J. A. Lindsey 
and more than twenty others, residents of 
the village of Lancaster, in Dallas county, 
Texas, tiled an application in the office of the 
county judge of said Dallas county, Texas, 
asking that an election be held to determine 
whether or not the town situated upon the 
land hereinafter described, to wit, the town 



of Lancaster, Dallas county, Texas, should 
be incorporated under the general laws of the 
State of Texas with the following limits, 
to wit: Beginning at a point 1,244^ yards 
south 45° east from the center of the public 
square in said town of Lancaster; thence 
north one mile, a stake. Thence west one 
mile, a stake; thence south one mile, a stake; 
thence east one mile, to the place of begin- 
ning, and 

Whereas, on said 20tli day of April, 
1886, an election was ordered by me for the 
above stated purpose, and J. A. Lindsey ap- 
pointed to preside at the election, and 

Whereas, on the 1st day of May, A. D. 
1886, said election was duly held in accord- 
ance with the statute in such cases made and 
provided, and resulted in a majority of the 
qualified voters in said boundaries voting in 
said election to wit: Sixty voters in favor of 
incorporating said town of Lancaster, and no 
votes being cast in opposition thereto, 

It is therefore ordered that the inhabitants 
of the town of Lancaster within the bound- 
aries herein before described, be and the 
same are hereby incorporated under the pro- 
visions of Title No. 17, Chapter 2, of the 
Revised Statutes of the State of Texas. 

And it is further ordered that an election 
be held in said town of Lancaster by the 
qualified voters residing within the corpor- 
ate limits of the same, for the purpose of 
electing a mayor, a marshal and live alder- 
men for said town, on the 22d day of May, 
A. D. 1886, at the office of the justice of the 
peace in said town. J A. Lindsey is hereby 
appointed presidin:j; office to hold said elec- 
tion and make due returns thereof. Witness 
my hand this 5th day of May, 1886. 

E. G. Bower, County Judge. 
Attest: "W. M. C. Hill, Clerk. 

by W. A. UuDsoN, Deputy. 



niSTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



381 



The first officers of the incorporated town, 
as above set out, according to the returns of 
the election ordered in said articles of incor- 
poration, were: E. T. King, mayor; J. A. 
Lindsey, marshal; R. P. Henry, L. B. 
Howell, W. Y. Perry, A. H. Rawlins and J. 
W. George, aldermen. 

GARLAND. 

Among the most prominent towns in the 
county outside the city of Dallas, is Gar- 
land. It is situated on Duck creek, about 
seventeen miles in a northeasterly direction 
from the city of Dallas, at the junction of 
the Missouri, Kansas & Te.xas and the Gulf, 
Colorado & Santa Fe railroads, and near the 
Bite of the old town of Duck Creek. 

In 1886 the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe 
railroad was located, and its line run about 
one mile east of the town of* Duck Creek, and 
a town was at once laid out on the railroad 
and called Embree. after Dr. K. II. Embree, 
one of the leading physicians of Duck Creek, 
which latter adopted the name of the new 
town and ere long began moving near the 
railroad, and within a year's time all the 
business houses of old Duck Creek were 
doing business in a live little railroad town 
called Embree. 

But the quiet of the new town was soon 
disturbed by the advent of another railroad. 
The Missouri, Kansas & Texas located a line 
from Dallas to Greenville, running through 
the county near Embree, and another town 
was begun under the name of the old town 
that was over on thp creek, and then sprung 



up a rivalry between the two new towns. 
Duck Creek and Embree. At first Embree 
had the advantage, as that was the name of the 
post office, but Duck Creek was fighting for 
it, while Embree was fighting to retain it. 
Many interesting scenes and circumstances 
attended this scramble for a name, including 
midnight rides to Dallas and back with an 
officer to restrain one or the other of tlie 
towns from incorporating and thus more 
firmly fixing its name, and giving it prece- 
dence over the other. After a brief period of 
time, though the efforts of Hon. Thomas F. 
Nash and several other prominent citizens of 
Duck Creek, the name of the post office was 
changed from Embree to Garland (after the 
then postmaster general), and at once Duck 
Creek adopted the name of the new post 
office, and " on the home-run Garland gained 
on her adversary and passed under the 
wires a full length ahead." Then com- 
menced the decline of the Embree end of the 
new town, and ere many months those same 
houses which had been moved from old 
Duck Creek to Embree were moved down to 
Garland, and Embree is now numbered 
among the things of the past. 

In 1891 Garland incorporated, and now 
does business in a city-like manner, with M. 
Davis Williams as mayor (1892). The fol- 
lowing is the charter: 

" WiiKiiKAs, An election was held in ac- 
cordance with law, on the 18th day of April, 
1891, to determine whether within the terri- 
tory embraced within the hereinafter described 
limits should be incorporated under the name 
of the 'Town of Garland;' and 



339 



UIBTORY OF DALLAS GOONTY. 



"Whereas, At said election seventy-one 
qualified voters residing in said territory 
voted ' corporation,' and one qualified voter 
voted 'no corporation;' and whereas a major- 
ity of the votes were cast in favor of incor- 
poration of said territory, to wit: Situated 
in the county of Dallas, State of Texas, and 
beginning at southwest corner of W. A. 
Tinsley's farm; thence north with his line to 
the southwest corner of J. II. Moss' lot; 
thence east with said lot to the southeast 
corner of same; thence north to the east line 
of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe right of 
way; thence northeast with said right of way 
to the north line of the right of way of the 
Missouri, Kansas & Texas railway; thence 
west with the north line of said right of way 
to a point due north of the northwest corner 
of 0. L. Brunton's lot; thence south to the 
north line of tlie old town of Embree, as 
shown on the town plat; thence west to a 
point due north of northwest corner of the 
Garland College block; thence south to the 
northwest corner of A. J. Beaver's block; 
thence west to the northwest corner of Dr. 
K. H. Embree's lot; thence south to the 
north side of the road running between K. H. 
Embree and 11. Noetzli; thence west with 
the north side of said road to the southwest 
corner of G. W. James' pasture; thence north, 
G. W. James' west line to the Dallas and 
Greenville dirt road; thence north with east 
line of said road to a point east of J. D. 
Kobinson's northeast corner; thence west 
eighty-five (85) yards; thence south to the 
east bank of Duck creek; thence south with 
the east bank of Duck creek to the northwest 
corner of James Capp's land; thence in an 
easterly direction with the meanderings of 
James Capp's line to the northeast corner of 
James Ca{)p's farm ; thence north with Mrs. 
H. E. Pace's west line to her northwest cor- 



ner; thence east with said Mrs. Pace's north 
line to the place of begirming; — 

" Now, therefore I, E. G. Bower, county 
judge of Dallas county, Texas, do hereby de- 
clare the inhabitants of the above described 
territory to be incorporated within the bound- 
aries thereof, under and by virtue of the 
laws of the State of Texas, and under Title 
17, Chapter 11, of the Revised Statutes of 
the State of Texas; and by virtue of the au- 
thority in me vested by law, I hereby order 
an election to be held by the qualified voters 
residing within said territory, on Monday, 
the 4th day of May, 1891, for one mayor, 
one marshal, and five aldermen. The polls 
shall be opened at some suitable place within 
said territory, and Sim Bethol is appointed 
presiding officer of said election (he being 
the regular presiding officer of said precinct, 
appointed by the commissioners' court of 
Dallas county at its February term, 181)1). 

"Given under my hand and the seal of the 
county court of Dallas county, Texas, April 
21, 1891. (Signed), 

"[l. s.] E. G. Bowek, 

'■'■County Judge Dallas County, Teaxis.^' 

The first officers of the incorporated town 
as above set out, according to the returns of 
the election ordered in said articles of incor- 
poration, were: M. Davis Williams, mayor; 
Tobe Ethridge, marshal; S. E Scott, J. N. 
Floyd, J. R. Brown, S. A. Allen and J. D. 
Curfman, aldermen. 

The feelings of animosity that once existed 
between the two towns has disappeared, and 
Garland's citizens are all proud of her and 
are working together for the common good 
of the town, — an evidence of which is a four 
thousand dollar college building, completed 
two years ago; and Garland is already be- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



3:!3 



coming somewhat noted for her educational 
facilities. All the religious deiiomiuations 
are represented, though there are only two 
church buildings in the town proper, — the 
Christian and the Baptist, — the other denom- 
inations using the college hall in which to 
hold their services. The Baptist and Meth- 
odist deuoniinations each had established 
churches here long before the town of Gar- 
land was thought of, not in the town, nor 
where the town now is, but near it, on Duck 
creek; and a little farther down the creek was 
the " Christian," or, as it is sometimes called 
the " Campbellite, " Church. Since the 
building of the town, the Baptists and Chris- 
tians have each built a church in town, and 
the Methodists have purchased a lot prepar- 
atory to building, as have also the Cumber- 
land Presbyterians. The pastors of the 
different denominations for this year (1892) 
are: Baptist, Rev. J. A. Moore; Methodist, 
Rev. J. M. McKee; Cumberland Presbyte- 
rian, Rev. L. A. Dunlap; Christian, Rev. C. L. 
Cole. 

This little town also has its share of secret 

societies. The Masons and Odd Fellows 
have each a hall, and the lodges are known as 
Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441, A. F. & A. M., 
and Duck Creek Lodge, No. 304, L O. O. F. 
The Knights of Honor also have a lodge, — 
Duck Creek Lodge, No. 2,729. All of these 
have a good membership. 

The principal business houses are: J. D. 
Curfman, general merchandise; Crossman 
Brothers, f^rocers; Brown & Hoygood, gen- 
eral merchandise; Mark Elliston & Company, 

general merchandise; Beaver, Scott & Will- 
as 



iaras, general merchandise; William Brothers, 
undertakers and furniture dealers; Clark & 
Sebastian, hardware; C. C. Bradley, hardware 
and farming implements; Sam C. Uall, drug- 
gist; Pacific Drug Store, Dr. R. E. Summers, 
proprietor; W. T. Jackson, liquors and cigars; 
eJ. T. Newshaw, blacksmith and carriage 
shops; Weaver & W^ells, livery and feed sta- 
bles; Tinsley & Parker, meat market; City 
Barber Shop, H. L. Erwin, proprietor; Bird 
Cage Barber Shop, John C. Green, proprietor. 
Aside from tliose mentioned are several others 
which the writer does not now recall. Among 
the professional men of the town are: T. F. 
Nash, attorney at law; R. E. Sumners, K. H. 
Embree, J. V. Kyon, T. S. Walker, J. D. 
JacksonandE.il. Ayres, physicians. The 
Garland News, the only newspaper published 
in Garland, is issued weekly by John H. 
Cullom, its founder, who began publishing it 
there about five years ago. 

All in all. Garland is one of the most 
thriving and energetic country towns in the 
county, and is surrounded by one of the 
richest sections of country in the State. 

MESQUITE. 

There is a thriving little town of 000 popu- 
lation, situated on the high prairie twelve 
miles east of Dallas City on the Texas «fe 
Pacific railroad. It was established in 1872 
as a railroad station. Being located in a rich 
prairie country it soon took rapid growtii and 
developed into an attractive little town. The 
first settlers were Major Bradfield, the station 
agent, and J. J. Gallaher. Only a few scat- 



334 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNT F. 



tering farms were in the country at that time; 
now the surrounding country is a perfect mat 
of farms, so to speak. 

No town in the county possesses more en- 
terprising citizens according to her popula- 
tion than Mesquite. She has at present the 
following business houses: 

Knox and Kimbrough, general merchan- 
dise. 

E. P. and J. P. Paschall, general merchan- 
dise. 

Cr. M. Gross, druggist. 
G. B. Gross, druggist. 
J. D. Wesson, groceries. 
J. C Riigel, hardware and farm imple- 
ments. 

George W. Quinn, blacksmithing. 

M. C. Brownfield, blacksmithing. 

J. H. Casey, saloon. 

J. F. Lynch, saloon. 

G. H. Brown, saddlery and harness. 

F. M. Moore, hotel and livery stable. 
II. W. Bounds, photographer. 

J. M. Ebrite, postmaster and dealer in 
confectioneries. 

Ebrite & Walker, lumber dealers. 

There is here printed a iirst-class weekly 
newspaper; edited by the talented Hon. E. 
S. Kimbrough, the present State senator from 
this district. It is wide-awake, enterprising 
and aggressive. In fact, it could not be 
otherwise, being edited by the bold and fear- 
less senator. 

This paper was established by Mr. Kim- 
brough, in 1882, and has a very extensive 
circulation not only in Dallas county, but also 
in other counties. 



Besides Mr. Kimbrough, there is another 
citizen living at Mesquite who is well known 
for his ability in the legislative halls of 
Texas, — Hon. J. C. Rugel. This gentleman 
served a term in the State Legislature and 
had a career of honor. 

Four denonimations worship regularly 
here, and each has a creditable church build- 
ing, viz.: The Baptist, Itev. Thomas Pinson, 
pastor: the Methodist, J. B. Adair, pastor; 
the Presbyterian, A. F. Stone, pastor; the 
Christian, — , pastor. 

In addition to the church organizations 
there are the secret orders, which add much 
to the interest of the town, named: Science 
Lodge, No. 295, A. F. & A. M., S. B. Mar- 
shall, W- J^il ; J- C. Rugel, secretary. Mes- 
quite Lodge, No. 2,996, K. of H., G. B. 
Gross, dictator; J. C. Rugel, reporter. 

The physicians are Drs. D. A. Paschall, 
John O'Callaghan and W. C. Cullom. 

The school at this place is the pride of the 
citizens. A commodious house is furnished, 
and able teachers are always employed. It 
is conducted about six months in each year. 

There are two cotton gins in the com- 
munity near the town, and each gin annually 
from 2,500 to 3,500 bales of cotton. This 
little town marketed last year 4,114: bales of 
cotton. It is also a first-class shipping 
place for small grain and cattle. 

The town was incorporated in 1887, and 
the present city officers are: J. E. Russell, 
mayor; W. H. Parker, marshal. Aldermen — 
T. L. Paschall, R. S. Kimbrough, J. C. Rugel, 
G. D. Gross, J. D. Brunner. The following 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



;!85 



are the articles of incorporation incorporating 
tile town of Mesqiiite, as appears on tlie 
Commissioners' Court minutes: 

WuKKEAs, on ti»e 16tli day of November, 
A. I). 1887, J. M. Knox and twenty-four 
otlier resident citizens of the village of Mes- 
quite, in Dallas county, Texas, tiled an ap- 
plication in the office of the county judge of 
said county asking that an election be held 
to determine whether or not the town sit- 
uated upon the land hereinafter described, 
to wit: The town of Mesquite, Dallas county, 
Texas, should be incorporated under the 
general laws of the State of Texas with the 
following limits, to wit: Beginning at the 
southeast corner of the W. Lakey survey; 
thence west with said line to a point north 
and opposite the northeast corner of the S. 
D. Carver survey; thence south on D. S. 
Carver's east line to a point one hundred 
(100) yards south of the northwest corner of 
L. L. Thompson's tract; thence east to the 
west line of the .1. R. Worrell survey; thence 
north with said line to the Texas & Pacific 
railroad; thence east to tlie Texas & Pactic 
railroad tank; thence north to a point in 
the John McDaniel survey and immediately 
east and opposite the southeast corner of the 
W. Lakey survey; thence west to place of 
beginning; and, whereas, on said 16th day 
of November, 1887, an election was ordered 
by rae for the above stated purposes; and R. 
S. Kimbrough was appointed presiding offi- 
cer of same; and, whereas, on December 3d, 
1887, said election was held in accordance 
with the statute in such case made and pro- 
vided, and resulted in a majority of the quali- 
tied voters in said boundaries voting at said 
election, to wit: twenty-five voters in favor of 
incorporating said town of Mesquite and 
fourteen voters against. It is tiierefore or- 
dered that the said town of Mesquite with 



the boundaries hereinbefore described be and 
the same is hereby incorporated under the 
provisions of Title No. 17, Chapter 2, of the 
Revised Statutes of the State of Texas; and 
it is further ordered that an election be held 
on Friday, December 23, 1887, in said town 
of Mesquite by the qualified voters residing 
within the limits thereof for the purpose of 
electing a mayor, a marshal and five alder- 
men for said town. R. S. Kimbrough is 
hereby appointed presiding officer of said 
election and is ordered to make due return 
thereof as required by law. Said election to 
be held at I. D. Browder's store in said town. 

Given under my hand this 10th day of 
December, A. D. 1887. 
E. G. BowEE, 

County Judge, 

Dallas County, Texas. 
Attest: 

W. M. C. Hill, Clerk, 

By S. J. Brooks, Deputy. 

The first officers of the incorporated town 
as above set out according to the returns of 
the election ordered in said articles of incor- 
poration were: J. E. Russell, mayor; S. E. 
Champion, marshal; J. M. Talley, L. L. 
Thompson, G. B. Gross, R. S. Kitnbrough 
and I. D. Browder, aldermen. 

CEDAR lilLL. 

This place took its name from the 
cedar breaks on Mountain creek, which 
runs a short distance from the town. It is 
the second oldest town in the county, coming 
next to Dallas in age. It is situated on a 
high prairie hill, nineteen miles soutiiwest of 
the city of Dallas, and in 1856 experienced 
the sad fate of being blown ^way by a storm, 



336 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



leaving only two houses and killing eleven 
persons! The soil of the country surround- 
ing Cedar Hill is of that mixture of white 
lime and black soil as to make it superior for 
small grain particularly, as wheat and oats. 
This soil is also well adapted to cotton. 
Cedar Hill is a fine shipping point. The 
Gulf, Colorado & Sante Fe railroad has a 
depot there on the line reaching from Dallas 
to Cleburne, and the citizens are thereby 
afforded ample means of shipping all their 
produce. 

The following persons are engaged in bus- 
iness here: 

Strauss & Bro., general merchandise. 

Dr. R. A. Roberts, <lruggist. 

Joseph Wilson, druggist. 

W. P. Stevens, druggist. 

W. A. Perry, harness, saddery and ma- 
chinery. 

Hendricks & Deer, blacksmithing. 

W. F. Roberts, blacksmithing. 

Wm. Little, dealer in confectioneries, 
notions, etc. 

J. A. Witherspoon, grain dealer. 

Brooks Roberts, groceries. 

William Conger, barber; also dealer in 
confectioneries. 

Timmins, dry goods. 

There is one hotel here, called the Lowe 
house; I. W. Lowe, proprietor, and two fine 
first-class cotton gins, one owned and 
operated by Jackson Bros, and the other by 
J. B. Ramsey. 

The population of Cedar Hill is about 600; 
ahd while it is not incorporated it possesses 



as much enterprise among her citizens as 
any town of its number of inhabitants in the 
county. 

It hoasts of one of the best academies in 
the county, and very justly so. This institu- 
tion is owned by Professors E. W. Dallas and 
W. V. Teagarden. The building is handsome 
and commodious, and 120 students is about 
the average attendance. During the public 
free-school term, the students, taking advan- 
tage of the free-school money, are taught 
with the private students, so at this time the 
public free-echool is combined with the pri- 
vate. 

There are three religious denominations 
who worship. regularly at this place, namely: 
The Methodists, Rev. Mr. Thomaston, pastor; 
the Baptist, Rev. Mr. Key, pastor; and the 
Christian, Elder W. F. Barcus, pastor. 

Only one of the secret fraternities, the 
Masonic, is represented here. It has a mem- 
bership of about thirty-six, and an elegantly 
appointed hall. 

Cedar Hill is situated upon such a lofty, 
rolling hill, that the scenes in different di- 
rections over the wide expanse of the sur- 
rounding prairies afforded by creeks and 
ravines on which are growing timbers, are 
truly grand. Such magnificent sceneries 
cannot, doubtless, be witnessed from any 
other point in the county. 

Some of the most enterprising citizens of 
the county live in this little town, and some 
of them have enjoyed honors in the county. 
Joe H. Stewart, the present clerk of the two 
district courts, lived here for eighteen years. 



/>»^ 




J^gJ~ /^ /f^U^Cr~^ol/ 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



337 



He is a :iative of North Carolina, an affable, 
congenial and talented gentleman. He has 
been connected officially in the county for 
several years, and his career has ever been 
clean and acceptable to every one. He is 
regarded as being one of the most popular 
gentlemen in the county. So great is his 
popularity that during the present campaign 
now before the people, every office of the 
county is contested by a different candidate 
except his for district clerk. He is a candi- 
date again for this office, and up to this date, 
July 8, 1892, he has no opponent. Well 
may the little town of Cedar Hill esteem her 
most excellent and superior citizen, Hon. 
Joeepli H. Stewart! 

RICHARDSON. 

This village lies eleven miles northeast of 
the city of Dallas, and is situated on the 
Houston & Texas Central railroad. It was 
established in 1872 as a railroad station, and 
has grown to be an attractive little town with 
about 300 population, three churches and six 
stores, a Masonic lodge, and also an Odd 
Fellows organization. A postoffice was es- 
tablished here early after it began to grow 
into a town. Tiie citizens here are enter- 
prising and are abreast with the times. They 
have one of the best schools in that section of 
the county. It is a combination of the pub- 
lic and private schools. 

The town is located in a beautiful and rich 
agricultnral section of the county. The far- 
mers are thrifty, and Richardson is a great 



grain and cotton shipping point. Consider- 
ing its population it is one of the best towns 
in the county for business and enterprise. 

'UDGE NATHANIEL M. BURFORJ) 
was born in the State of Tennessee, 
June 24, 1824, and is a son of John 
and Nancy (McAlister) Burford, natives 
North Carolina and Virginia respect- 
ive ly. The parents were pioneers of Ten- 
nessee, and were married in that State. 
The father was a farmer by occupation. 
He served as Captain in the war of 1812, 
and distinguished himself for bravery and 
courage. He ended a long and useful 
career in 1862. His wife died in 1870. 
They were sturdy, noble souls, people of 
great integrity and nobility of character, and 
representative types of the early settler. Na- 
thaniel M. grew to maturity in his native 
State. After a careful preparation by private 
tutors he entered Irving College, and took 
the full course of that institution. He then 
read law, and was admitted to the bar in 
1845, beginning an active practice the fol- 
lowing year. In January, 1847, he removed 
to Texas, and settled in Jefferson, where he 
resided until October 8, 1848, at which time 
he settled in Dallas, where he has been a 
prominent factor in the development and 
progress of the State. So rapidly did he 
grow in popularity and public esteem that 
in 1850 he was elected District Attorney. 
He served the term with great satisfaction to 
his constituency, and was re-elected to the 
office in 1852. In 1856 he was elected Judge 
of the Fourteenth Judicial District, which 
comprised a wide territory. He traversed 
the section under liis jurisdiction in primi- 



338 



niHTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTY. 



tive 6tyle, and was always received with boun- 
teous liospitaiity by tlie settlers. During 
his adriiinistratioii tlio State was passing 
tlirongli a transition j)eriod, and many cases 
of grave and serious importance arose. Ills 
clear conception of tlie law, coupled with a 
promjit dt'cision and unflincliiiig adherence 
to liis convictions, enabled him to master the 
situation under all circumstances, and won 
for liiin a wide and lasting reputation. Dur- 
ing his official career he became the personal 
friend of General 'J'homas, and made the 
acquaintance of many other persons of dis- 
tinction. 

In 1802 Judge Jiurfoi'd was made Colonel 
of the Nineteentli Texas Cavalry in the Con- 
federate service, and held the position until 
18(34, when he was oblijfed to resign on ac- 
count of ill health. lie resumed his legal 
practice, and was soon elected a member of 
the Eleventh Assembly of Texas, and was 
chosen Speaker of the House. lie was in 
1876 again elected District Judge, an office 
which he resigned at the end of two years, 
on account of ill health. Since that time he 
iias been living a retired life. 

Judge Jiurford was united in marriage, in 
1854, to Miss Mary Knight, a native of Ten- 
nessee. Eight children were born to them, 
four of whom survived the mother, who died 
in 1888. She was a faithful wife, a fond and 
careful mother, and a woman of great noble- 
ness of character. The children are named as 
follows: Mattie, the wife of William Free- 
man ; Robert Lee, Jeff. M., and Mary. The 
children have all enjoyed superior educational 
advantages, and have made the most of their 
opportunities. Their father has been a stu- 
dent all his life, and is one ol' the most cult- 
ured gentlemen in Dallas county. He is a 
member of the Episcopal Church, and for 
many years has served as Vestryman, lioth 



in public and private life he has lived above 
reproach, and Dallas county is proud to claim 
Nathaniel M. Bnrford as one of her repre- 
Bcuitative citizens. 

|||UDUL1'H GUNNEU is a progressive 
f^ business man of Dallas, Texas, of which 
city he has been a permanent resident 
since June, 1885, and successfully conducts a 
book-store, which [jrinifs him in a fair income 
lie was born in Zicin, Austria, December 15, 
1883, the eldest of ninet((en children. His 
father was a wealthy business man and was 
twice elected mayor of the city in which 
he resided and was a member of the 
Austrian Lendtag. Rudolph (ilunner was 
educated in the naval academy at Ven- 
ice, and in 1851 entered the Austrian 
navy as naval cadet on board the frigate 
Venus. During the Crimean war he was 
in Constantinople, and in 1855 was in Egypt 
with the present King of Belgium, who was 
then Crown Price and in very feeble health. 
In 1867 he started on a two years' ci-uise on 
the frigate Caroline on the west coast of 
Africa, and in 1858-'59 was with the Arch- 
duke Maximilian in the Orient. After the 
battle of Solferino and the loss of Italy to 
Austria, Maximilian took up his residence in 
Miramae and Mr. Gunner also resided there 
as his Aid-de-camp, accompanying him in 
1863 to England, Belgium and Paris, France, 
where the acceptance of the Mexican Empire 
was stipulated. When Maximilian accepted 
the crown of Mexico, A])ril 10, 18()4, Mr. 
Gunner accompanied him from Miramae on 
board the Austrian frigate Novarra, being 
nominated chief of the division of artillery. 
At Mexico he was created director of the 
(Jrand Chambilanat and Colonel in the 



UIHTOUY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



3;i9 



Guarflia I'alatiiia, heiiig afterward iioiiiiiiated 
Chamberlain ami charged with the Tteiideii- 
cia de la Oosa Itiiperial. lie accompanied 
Empress Charlotte to Yucatan in 1805 and 
was sent to Eiiifland in 180(3 on important of- 
licial business. Upon his return to Mexico 
Maximilian began his movement from 
Orizaba to Queretaro and sent Mr. Gunner 
to assume command of the Imperial yacht 
Undine, destined to take Maximilian to 
Europe if he should abdicate the throne. 
Maximilian was shot at Queretaro June 19, 
1807, and Mr. Gunner returned to Miramae 
with the yacht Undine, and re-entered the 
Austrian navy. In 1875 he settled at Tep- 
litz,Au8tria,a celebrated watering place, which 
was greatly damaged by a catastrophe in the 
coal mines, and Mr. Gunner lost all his ac- 
cumulations. 

lie came to San Antonio, Texas, in 1855, 
and in June of the same year to Dallas, where 
he has a well stocked book-store. 11 is eldest 
son is a private in the Third United States 
Cavalry liegimcnt. lie has a brother who is 
Austrian Consul General to Cairo, Egypt, and 
another brother who is Chief Surgeon of the 
Austrian lied Cross and who distinguished 
himself in the war with Russia. 

tS. GAUIilSON is the secretary and 
general manager of the Dallas Con- 
' solidated Traction liailway Company, 
a position he has held since early in the year 
18'J0. lie had been a citizen of Dallas since 
March, 1881, and immediately opened the 
Pacific Express Company's office, which he 
conducted until he resigned to accept his 
present position. He was horn in Schoharie 
county, Wew York, in 1850, the youngest of 
four children born to Aaron and Althena 



(Shorman) (irarrison, " York Staters " by birth 
and of English descent. The paternal tjrand- 
father was in the Colonial army during the 
Revolutionary war. Aaron Garrison was 
one of the first homeopathic physicians of 
this country, and in 1855 became a resident of 
La Salle county, Illinois, settling at Mendota, 
in which city and the surrounding country he 
built up a very extensive practice. In 1861, 
Quincy, Illinois, became his place of abode, 
but some years later he moved to Columbia, 
Missouri, where he was called from life in 
1808, at which time lie was in the active 
practice of his profession. Ilis widow re- 
sides in Solano county, California. 

L. S. Garrison was educated in the schools 
of Mendota, Illinois, and finished his educa- 
tion in the State University at Columbia, 
Missouri and afterward at Cornell University, , 
New York, which institution he entered in 
1869, class of 1873. He then entered the 
United States Express office at Moberly, Mis- 
souri, and a short time after was made private 
secretary of the Missouri division of the 
United States Express Company, with head- 
quarters at St. Louis. In that year he went 
to California and embarked in tiie cantiing of 
fruit at San Jose, being connected with the 
Golden Gate Packing Company, but upon his 
return to Missouri once more engaged in the 
express business, and in the winter of 1880 
opened the first Pacific Express olfice in 
Texas. In March, 1881, as above stated, 
Dallas became his home. 

lie was married in St. Louis, in 1873, to 
Mrs. Amelia Amanda McMaster, a native of 
Ohio and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Camp- 
bell, natives of Ohio, in which State the father 
lived and died. The mother is now a resid- 
ent of Kent, Ohio. IJy her first mar- 
riage Mrs. Garrison became the mother of two 
children: Wallace V. and Mary Frances, the 



340 



HI STOUT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



latter being now Mrs. Cowden of Dallas. 
Mr. Garris(jn was a member of the City 
Council from the Third Ward one term and 
was president of the Board of Water Com- 
missioners. He served as Postmaster and 
Disbursing Agent under President Arthur. 
He is now president of the Expressmen's In- 
vestment Company of Dallas, wiiich was or- 
ganized in 1888 under the laws of the State of 
Texas. He is a thirty-seoond-degree Scottish 
Rite Mason, a charter memlierof the Ancient 
and Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic 
Shrine, a member of the K. of P., and also 
of the A. O. U. W., Boone Lodge, of 
Boone county, Missouri and belonged to St_ 
Louis Lodge, No. 5. of the L O. O. F. He 
is a member of the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks and is one of the original 
members of the Dallas Club. 



^. 



^ 



(HARLES B. GILLESPIE, who for 
many years was connected with the po- 
litical history of Dallas county, is the 
subject of the following brief biography. He 
was born in the State of Arkansas, in De- 
cember, 1854, and is a son of Coiistautine C. 
Gillespie, a native of Alabama. The moth- 
er's maiden name was liaynes, and she was 
from Tennessee. They emigrated to Arkan- 
sas early in the '40s, where the father prac- 
ticed medicine until his removal to Dallas in 
1867, and lived there until his death in 1887. 
He was a man of rare intelligence and fine 
mental attainments, honored and respected 
by all who knew him. Charles B. attended 
the common schools, where his advantages 
were very limited; by close application, how- 
ever, he acquired a fund of information that 
enabled him to take a position in the office of 
the County Treasurer in September, 1875. 



He remained there one year under M. V. 
Cole, winning a reputation for promptness 
and fidelity to duty that he has retained 
through a long official career. In September, 
1876, he was made Deputy Tax Collector 
under Captain Prather, and served continu- 
ously until 1882. In November of that year 
he was elected to the office of Tax Collector, 
and was three times re-elected, serving in all 
eight years. He was a courteous and oblig- 
ing ofiicer, and reflected great credit upon 
his constituency. In addition to the duties 
of this office he has collected data upon the 
natural resources of Dallas county, which are 
of unquestionable reliability. 

Upon retiring from the office of Tax Col- 
lector, Mr. Gillespie formed a partnership 
with Mr. Cullum in the real-estate business; 
into this enterprise he has carried the same 
methodical habits which characterized the 
work in the Collector's office, and has the 
most accurate and carefully prepared maps of 
Dallas county that have yet been made. 

In 1882 our subject was married to Miss 
Emma Cullum, a native of Tennessee, but 
since her childhood a resident of Texas. Two 
daughters and a son have been born to them. 
Mr. Gillespie is a member of the Knights ot 
Pythias, in which fraternity he has held nu- 
merous official positions. He is a consistent 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Politically he is a stalwart Democrat. He 
is a man of the highest honor, and a citizen 
of whom Dallas county may well be proud. 

IPI E. GUILLOT has been engaged in the 
real-estate and brokerage business in 
•® the city of Dallas, Texas, since 1889, 
and although this is a comparatively short 
time, yet his knowledge of real estate is un- 



HI STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



341 



surpassed for accuracy and thoroughness, and 
investors can always rely on his sound judg- 
ment relative to the present and prospective 
values of the residential and business sections 
of Dallas. Prior to entering upon this call- 
ing he was in the carriage business with E. 
Guillot, on Sycamore street, for some time, 
and for abouj six months thereafter was a 
member of the firm of Guillot & Orr. He 
was born in Dallas January 2G, 1866, the 
second of three children born to Maxime and 
Mary (Mullen) Guillot, the former a natis^e 
of France, and the latter of Ireland. Maxime 
Guillot came from his native land to New 
Orleans, and from there to Dallas about 1842 
and opened a carriage factory, bringing his 
wood workmen, painters and carriage trim- 
mers with him. During the Civil war he 
was detailed to tlie Government shops, in 
which he remained for four years of that 
struggle. His death occurred October 23, 
1889, after having been a resident of Dallas 
for over forty years. The mother still re- 
sides here. 

E. E. Guillot was brought up in the city 
of his birth, and was educated in the schools 
of Galveston, Texas, and the State Uni- 
versity of Columbia, Missouri. After leaving 
school he first worked for a hardware firm as 
clerk, and later with the Wier Plow Company 
as shipping clerk, two years later becoming 
store salesman, and still later traveling sales- 
man. After quitting this firm he was in the 
carriage business as above stated until em- 
barking in his present calling, in which he 
lias already built up a reputation sufKcieut to 
warrant the implicit confidence of those with 
whom business relations liave been estab- 
lished. He takes some interest in politics, 
voting with the Democratic party, and so- 
cially is a member of Amity Lodge, No. 108 
of the K. of P. He was married in Wood- 



stock, Illinois, July 2S, 1890, to Miss Katie 
Leonard, a native of Mississippi, and a daugh- 
ter of Martin and Catherine (Decker) Leonard, 
natives of Barden, Germany and Dublin, 
Ireland, mother and father respectively. They 
were early settlers of St. Louis, and in 1876 
came to Dallas, where the father conducted a 
grain and brokerage business. He died in 
Memphis, Tennessee, in 1880, of yellow fever, 
the mother's demise occurring in Dallas in 
1878, of typhoid fever. Mr. and Mrs. Guil- 
lot are members of the Roman Catholic 
Church, and their union has been blessed in 
the birth of one child, — Earle. Mr. Guillot 
is a shrewd man of business, has a comfortable 
and pleasant home in Dallas, and gives every 
promise of becoming wealthy. 



HAMILTON, a dealer in paper, oil 
and paints at Elm, Dallas county, was 
® born in Boyle county, Kentucky, in 
1854, the second of eight children born to 
n. and M. C. (Hughes) Hamilton, also 
natives of Kentucky. The father, a merchant 
by occupation, emigrated to Dallas city in 
1879, where he engaged in business with his 
son, the subject of this notice. His death 
occurred in this county in July, 1891, and 
the mother is still living. 

Mr. Hamilton, our subject, remained in 
Boyle county, Kentucky, until eighteen years 
of age, after wliich he came to Dallas city 
and engaged in his present business. He 
has the oldest store in the city, and, with this 
and his outside work, gives employment to 
about thirty men. Mr. Hamilton takes an 
active interest in politics, voting with the 
Democratic party, and is now serving his 
second term as Alderman of the Third Ward, 
is chairman of the Water Committee, and a 



342 



UIISTURY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



member of the School Board. He lias seen 
the substantial frrowth and development of 
the city of Dallas from a population of 1,500 
to about 50,000, an<l has always taken an 
active interest in everythinj^ for the good of 
the city and county. 

He was married in this city, in 1879, to 
Miss Hattie Ilice, a native of Dallas county, 
and a daughtcu- of Dr. Anderson and Zeriali 
Kice, natives of Kentucky. The father was 
a prominent physician of Dallas in the early 
days, and his death occurred in this city 
many years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton 
have had four children, — Claude, Charley, 
Graham and Henry. 

fOUN HERMAN, one of the early set- 
tlers of Dallas county, was born in Ba- 
den, Germany, in 1836, a son of August 
and Elizabeth (Bauman) Herman, also na- 
tives of Baden. The mother died in her na- 
tive country in 18-18, and the father in 1850. 
John was left' an orphan at the age of twelve 
or fourteen years, and was educated in the 
schools of Germany, where he also served an 
apprenticeship at the bhicksmith's trade. 
When twenty years of age he left his native 
country, sailing from Havre, France, to New 
York, and was thirty-live days en route. He 
went directly to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he 
worked several months, thence to St. Louis, 
Missouri, where he worked at his trade, and 
where, June 24, 18(J1, he enlisted in com- 
pany G, Second Missouri Infantry, for three 
years. He was mustered into service at St. 
Louis, and was engaged in the battle of Pea 
Ridge, Arkansas, Berryviile, Kentucky, Stone 
River, Tennessee, Chickamauga, and Mis- 
sionary Ridge. He then went to Dalton, 
Georgia, but afterward I'eturned to St. I^ouis, 



where he was honorably discharged Septem- 
ber 29, 1864. He engaged at his trade in 
tliat city, but sui)sec[uently went to Kansas 
City, tlience to Parkville, Missouri, and next to 
Clierokee Nation. \.\\ the fall of 1872 he came 
to Lancaster, Dallas county, and in the spring 
of 1873 to Dallas city, where he worked at 
his trade. In 1874 he was in the employ of 
the stage coin))any, and about 1876 he en- 
gaged at farm work; was next in the cities of 
Galveston, Houston and Austin, and in the 
latter city he was engaged in chopping wood, 
and later worked in a foundry. He saved 
$90 while in that city, with which he came 
to Dallas and erected a shop on Jackson and 
Lamar streets, and three years later lie bought 
a lot oil Commercial street. After another 
three years he sold this lot, and later bought 
another and erected his present shop. In 
1888 Mr. Herman erected a two-story brick, 
75x70 feet, which he rented, and he now 
has three good store buildings. 

Socially, he is a member of George H^ 
Thomas Post, No. G, G. A. R., and of Queen 
City Lodge, No. 941, K. of II. He takes 
an active interest in politics, voting with the 
Republican party, and is also interested in 
in everything for the good of his city or 
county. In 1883 Mr. Herman made a trip 
to his old homo in Bailen, Germany, but re- 
turned to Dallas county after an absence of 
four months. 

"^^^ NELSON, architect and building con- 
Iwl ''"''ctor, came to Dallas in June, 1873, 
^P engaging at once in his present busi- 
ness. Since then he has had as many as 
twenty-five buildings in progress at one time. 
Among the more prominent buildings he 
has erected are the North Texas National 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUHTY. 



343 



Bank, Philip Sanger's residence and the First 
Conjfrei^ational Cluirch. At present he is 
workinjj; in Ennia, Texas, and linilding two 
or three business houses in Dallas. He 
man n fact u res ail the sash, doors and blinds 
which he uses in his building. In this line 
he has sufficient work to keep a small mill 
running. 

ilr. Nelson was born in Denmark, in 1844, 
the son ot'N. and Mary (8ehon) Nelson, na- 
tives also of Denmark, who passed their lives 
there. He learned his trade at Copenhagen 
and came to America in 1867, settling in 
New York. Subsetjuently he went to New 
Orleans, and in 1870 came to Galveston, and 
in 1878 to Dallas. Here he has been active 
in the upbuilding of the city, in which he 
has seen many and marked changes in its 
development. He materially aided in or- 
ganizing the Builders' E.xchange. 

Mr. Nelson married Fannie Cobitz, a na 
tive of Austria, and they have had two chil- 
dren, namely: Lewis, who is now learning 
the bricklayers' trade; and Charles, wlio is 
at Stanton, Virginia, attending college. In 
political matters Mr. Nelson is a Democrat, 
but is not active in the councils of the party. 
He is a member of the First Congregational 
Church of Dallas, in wliicb society he has 
hold offices. 



lANIEL MOIIGAN, brick and stone 
contractor, Dallas, was born in P'ife- 
eliire, Scotland, in 1839, the youngest 
of the ten children of George and Annie 
(Tosch) Morgan, natives also of Scotland. 
His father, a stone mason, died in 1861, and 
his mother some years later. After learning 
his trade, in his native land, he left there, at 
the age of nineteen years, and came on a 



steamer from Glasgow to New Vork, and 
worked in Mrooklyn for some years. In 1861 
he went to London, Canada, and workeil at 
his trade there for a time; then returned to 
New York city, and afterward proceeded to 
Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia, and became a 
railroad contractor in that State and in Ala- 
bama; next he was in Kansas City a number 
of years. In the autumn of 1872 he came 
from Alalmma to Dallas, and since then he 
has taken a great deal of responsible work, 
putting up many of the leading business 
houses, — notably those of Badgett Bros., 
Thomas Bros. (50x200), on Camp and Griilin 
streets, the seven-story ScoUand building on 
Main street, with granite front, the Mer- 
chants' Bank, S. K. Richardson's residence, 
the basement of the courthouse at McKinney, 
etc., besides some fine buildintrs in Austin. 
For about tive years he was employed on the 
Denver & South Park railroad, on the Al- 
pine tunnel route, doing all the bridge con- 
struction from 1877 to 1882. He is now 
preparing a stone yard, for the general saw- 
ing and dressing of stone. He employs on an 
average thirty to forty men. He is one of 
the oldest brick contractors of the city, and 
is just completing the stone work on the 
Dallas county courthouse. 

Mr. Morgan was married in Chambers 
county, Alabama, in 1866, to Miss pi]liza 
Buruey, a native of Georgia and a daughter 
of Dr. J. H. Barney, a descendant of early 
settlers of that State, where his death oc- 
curred. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan have ha<l 
eight children, of whom six are now living, 
as follows: Annie, Mary, James, Lottie, 
Jessie and Lucile. 

Mr. Morgan has taken some interest in the 
pui)lic welfare, voting with the Democratic 
party. His first Presidential vote was cast 
for Seymour and Blair. As to tlie frater- 



344 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



nities, he is a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 
70, Knights of Pythias, and also of the Uni- 
formed Rank, No. 18, Dallas Division. 
Mrs. Morgan is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

B. HOPKINS, a retired business man 
of Dallas, was born in Washington 
'® county, Virginia, in 1849, a son of 
Asa Hopkins, a merchant of his native State. 
In 1859 the family moved to Tennessee, 
where Mr. Hopkins graduated, at Cumberland 
University, in the class of 1868. Unlike 
many graduates, he made excellent use of his 
opportunities, equipping himself well for the 
practical duties of life. He began business 
for himself as a merchant in Nashville, Ten- 
nessee. Throwing into his business all the 
vigor and shrewdness of his nature, he pros- 
pered and attained an enviable position in 
the business world. In 1883 he disposed of 
his interest in Nashville and came to Dallas, 
then a city on the threshold of its extraordi- 
nary growth. He immediately began his 
business career by organizing the Fourth 
National Bank of Dallas, with a capital of 
$200,000, since increased to $600,000, and 
became its cashier. As soon as the bank 
was placed on a firm basis, he withdrew from 
its management and became a member of the 
iirm of Porter & Hopkins in wholesale dry 
ffoods, and continued in this relation until 
1891, since which date he has been devoting 
his time to his more private interests. He 
is president of the Dallas Homestead Com- 
pany, which has furnished many a family 
with homes who could not have obtained 
them otherwise. He is a large property - 
holder, showing his faith in the future of the 
city by investing largely in real estate here. 



He owns an elegant residence on College 
street. He has also a ranch in Cook county, 
this State, of 4,000 acres. 

In respect to fraternal relations, he has be- 
come one of the most prominent Knights of 
Pythias in the State. He was unanimously 
chosen Colonel of the Uniformed Regiment, 
No. 3, whose territory embraces northern 
Texas, including eleven divisions of about 
fifty Knights each, and are a body of men 
who represent the industry, wealth and 
culture of the new South. He also holds 
other official relations, as denoted by his card, 
thus: 

"S. B. Hopkins, Dallas, Texas, 
Sir Knight Cap. Division 18. 
Past Chancellor Dallas No. 70. 

President Endowment No. 830." 

In his views of national questions Mr. 
Hopkins is a Democrat, and in religion he 
inclines toward the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, in whose college his children are 
being educated. He is a genial, social gen- 
tleman, and deservedly popular. 

He married a daughter of Judge Brien, a 
lady of culture, educated at the Mount Au- 
burn Institute, near Cincinnati. She was an 
exemplary wife and fond mother until her 
death in 1889, when she left four children in 
this life. 



jjj, W. TREES, a farmer of Dallas county, 
was born March 28, 1857, a son of 
* the first couple ever married in this 
county. He has devoted his life to stock- 
raising and farming, has always lived in this 
immediate vicinity, and by upright living 
has won the esteem of all who know him. 
He was married in December, 1878, to Miss 
Phoebe Walker, a native of Arkansas, and 



HISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



345 



they were the parents of five children. lie 
lost his wife by deatli, and in December, 
1886, Mr. Trees married Miss Sophronia 
Antliony, also a native of Arkansas. 

IHEODORE MOSUER, one of the 
prominent business men of Dallas, is 
proprietor of the famous foundry and 
machine shops located at 315 South Lamar 
street. This establishment has a well-earned 
reputation throughout Texas, due to the 
efficient management of Mr. Mosher. 

The sul)ject of our sketch was born at 
Mattawan, Dutchess county, New York, 
August 7, 1834. His parents, John and 
Eliza (Meek) Mosher, had a family of eleven 
children, of whom he is the oldest. His 
father was a native of New York, and a 
master mechanic. After a useful life his 
death occurred, in 1864, at the age of sixty- 
five years. His mother died in 1871, aged 
sixty-five. Both were honored members of 
the Episcopal Church. January 31, 1866, 
Theodore Mosher was united in marriage 
with Miss Jennie E. Hetherington. She was 
the second daughter in a family of five 
children born to Christopher and Mary 
(Stephens) Hetherington. Her father was 
a machinist by occupation, and was a native 
of England. In 1840, in company with his 
wite and family, he emigrated to America, 
landing in New York. There he engaged in 
business and passed an active and useful life. 
His death occurred January 1, 1891. His 
wife survived him only a short time, when 
she quietly passed away. Tlie father was for 
many years a minister of the gospel and was 
noted for his many acts of charity. Only 
lour of their children are now living. 

Mr. Mosher served an apprenticeship of 



five years in his father's machine shop, after 
wiiich he accepted a position as locomotive 
engineer on the Cincinnati & Indianaj)oli8 
railroad. This occupation he followed for 
nine consecutive years, during which time 
his labors extended over some of the prin- 
cipal railroads in the United States. Then, 
by virtue of his superior knowledge, he was 
made foreman of the large machine shops at 
Indianapolis, Indiana, where he reinaine<l 
eight years. In 1871 he moved his family 
to Peoria, Illinois, where he was appointed 
master mechanic of the Peoria & Kock 
Island railroad shops, located there. This 
important position he held for two years. 
We next find him engaged in business for 
himself. He opened up and operated a 
machine shop and his business soon grew to 
vast proportions under his careful manage- 
ment, and he was placed among the leading 
citizens of Peoria. Owing to his wife's de- 
clining health, he decided to seek a change 
of climate. Disposing of his interests in 
Peoria, he came to Dallas, Texas, and estab- 
lished his business here. He first located on 
the corner of Market street and Pacific 
avenue, but his quarters there became too 
small and he moved to the corner of Ross 
avenue and Carter street. Desiring still 
larger accommodations, he moved to his 
present location. Here he employs from 
seventy five to eighty men, and his pay-roll 
amounts to over $36,0U0. Yet this enter- 
prise is still in its infancy. 

Mr. and Mrs. Moslier have been blessed 
with five children, viz.: Edward J., whose 
death occurred in October, 1890, at the age 
of twenty-three; Graciej A., who is now the 
wife of T. J. Jones, resides in Dallas, and 
has one child, Gracie E. ; Mamie E. ; William 
S. ; and Theodore J . 

Mr. Mosher is a member of Temple 



346 



HISTOHT Oh' DALLAS COUNT T. 



Lodge, A. F. & A. M., No. 46, of Peoria, 
Illinois. The family hold membership with 
the Congregational Church in Dallas. Ever 
since he took up his residence liere Mr. 
Mosher has been idcntitied with the best 
interests of this city, and any movement 
that has for it object the promotion of good 
finds ill him an earnest support. 

^RANCH TUCKER is a native of Ten- 
nessee, born July 2, 1853. At the age 
of fourteen years he left home, went to 
Middle Tennessee, and for three years worked 
for his board, clothitii; and schooling. At 
the end of that time he hired to the same 
man with whom he had been living, continu- 
ing with him a year longer. He then went 
to Williams county and worked one year, and 
the next year put in a crop for himself. On 
the 24th day of the following February, he 
was married to Miss Adda Barrett. He 
farmed there one year after his marriage 
and then went to Kentucky. Three years 
later he returned to Tennessee and after 
staying seven months went back to Ken- 
tucky. From there, in the fall of 1881, 
he came to Texas. He rented and cultivated 
the Dr. Jones farm six years, at the end of 
which time he was enabled to purchase fifty 
acres of land. This farm had a little house 
on it at the time he purchased, and here he 
has since continued to reside and make fur- 
ther improvements. He now has it all 
fenced, twenty-eight acres being under culti- 
vation and the rest in pasture. When he 
came to Texas Mr. Tucker had only $50 in 
money, and when he went to Dallas to get 
his household goods he had just $20, 
and he made it go as far as he could. 
IJy industry and good management he has 



been successful in his various undertakings 
and now has a comfortable home. 

Of Mr. Tucker's parents we record that his 
father, James Tucker, died in 1878, aged 
sixty-two years, and mother, Easter (Mercer) 
Tucker, died in 1861, at the age of thirty- 
live years. They had a family of live 
children. 

Mrs. Tucker's father, John T. Barrett, was 
born in Hawkins county, Tennessee, and died 
in 1862. Her mother's maiden name was 
Jane Baily. After the death of Mr. Barrett 
she was united in marriage with Elijah 
Tucker in 1869. She is now sixty years of 
age. By her first marriage she had seven 
children: Elijah Barrett; William, deceased; 
Joseph; Liene, wife of W. B. Harrow; Adda, 
wife of Branch Tucker; John and Rufus, 
both deceased. By Mr. Tucker she has three 
children: William, Mary and Martha (twins). 

Mr. and Mrs. Branch Tucker have had 
eleven children born to them, as follows: 
Maggie, November 3, 1873, died January 
28, 1891; Liilie, September 14, 1875, died 
December 23, 1875; Florence, September 8, 
1876; Lewis F., July 7, 1879; Emma, June 
3, 1882; Mary, November 7, 1884; Henry, 
October 19, 1886; Adda, November 28, 
1888, died December 28, 1888; Gertrude, 
December 16, 1890. Then they had an in- 
fant, unnamed, that died December 29, 1880. 

Mrs. Tucker is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

rCHOLAS F. PACE, of Garland, Dallas 
county, was born in Pittsylvania county, 
Virginia, June 4, 1840, a son of Nich- 
olas P. Pace, who was born in the same 
county in 1814. He was married at the age 
of eighteen years to Nancy S. Irage, and they 
had nine children, viz.: Elizabeth, wife of 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



847 



Jacob Alls; Harriet, wife of Mr. Wright; 
Nancy, the next in order of birth; Francis, 
wife of David Claiiilian; Jami'S I., deceased; 
George W., deceased; N. F., our subject; 
liusson and Hartweli, deceased. 

N. F., our subject, enlisted in Company 
L, Fourth Virginia Regiment, Stonewall 
Jackson's Brigade, and served four years. 
He was wounded at the battle of "Winchester, 
in 1864, where he was captured and sent to 
tiie hospital at ]3altitnore, and from there to 
Point Lookout, on the Chesapeake bay, and was 
there paroled with about 10,000 others. He 
then returned to his regiment, and was sent 
as a sharpshooter at the battle of Hatcher's 
Run. He was in three hard-fought battles 
and many skirmishes, and was also detailed as 
Forage Master under Major Bassett. After 
the close of the war he returned home, and 
in November, 1868, came by rail to New 
Orleans, then across the gulf to Galveston, 
and next to Dallas county. He settled on 
Duck creek, near Garland, and afterward 
bought his farm of 193 acres, paying $5 per 
acre, and the land is now worth §40 j)er acre. 

Mr. Pace was married September 17, 1868, 
to Nancy C. Wallace, who was born in Vir- 
ginia, September 22, 1849, and daughter 
of James J. Wallace, who was born June 13, 
1816. The latter was married to Susan 
Sesler, who was burn September 23, 1819. 
The father died at the age of seventy-four 
years, and the mother at the age of seventy- 
one years. They were the parents of eight 
children, viz.: Mary, wife of John Miller; 
Martha, wife of Joseph Givens; Mark, do- 
ceased; William, also decea.sed; P'loyd Wal- 
lace, John S., Henry and Susan. 

Mr. and Airs. Pace have seven children: 
Mary R., William E., Nancy S., Henrietta, 
Norah V., Ida M., Mattie G. and T. J. J. 
The mother died December 11, 1886. The 



parents were both members of the Christian 
Church, and the father is a member of the 
I. O. O. F., Duck Creek Lodge, No. 444, and 
also of the Knights of Honor. 



fAMES C. CHAPMAN has been a resi- 
dent of Texas since his early boyhood. He 
was born in Henry county, Tennessee, 
August 9, 1851, and came to this State with 
his father in 1858, when he was seven years 
old. At the age of twenty -one he com- 
menced life for himself, and has made rapid 
progress in the way of accumulating this 
world's goods. He now owns a tine farm of 
310 acres, well improved and located a mile 
from Mesquite. He has one of the finest 
and best arranged dwellings in Dallas 
county. While he is engaged in agricul- 
tural pursuits, he has given much attention 
to raising line stock. His cattle are of the 
Durham and Holstein breeds, and he has a 
fine specimen of the English draught-horse. 
Davis Green Chapman, father of -lames C, 
was born in Tennessee. He was there mar- 
ried to Miss Caroline Coats, November 20, 
1845, and continued to live in Tennessee 
until he moved to Texas. Arrived here, he 
settled on Long creek in Dallas county, 
where he bought eighty acres of land and lived 
one year. He then moved to Tarrant county, 
near Fort Worth, and rented land one year, 
after which he moved to the city of Dallas. 
In 18G1 he purchased 130 acres of land four- 
teen miles east of Dallas. During the war 
he enlisted, in 1862, in Colonel Darnell's 
regiment, and served till the conflict was 
over, being at home sick when the Confeder- 
ates surrendered. After the war he pur- 
chased more land, making in all a farm of 
530 acres, which he devoted his time and 



348 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



energies to improving, at the time of his 
death having it all fenced and 400 acres 
under cnitivation. He died April 29, 1881, 
at the age of fifty-six years. Following are 
their cliildren: Sarah, wife of W. M. Hum- 
phreys; James C; Manerva F., wife of M. 
M.Bennett; John W.; George F.; MoUie 
K., wife of George 13. Goode; Alice, wife of 
L. B. Thompson; Nora, wife of John T. 
Lynch; and Robert G. 

James G. was married, February 22, 1877, 
to Miss Moilie Rugel, who was born July 5, 
1847. For her family history see the sketch 
of J. C. Rugel. which will be found on an- 
other page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. 
Chapman have five children, viz.: Ora, 
born July 18, 1878; Rupert F. Novem- 
ber 22, 1880; Claud C, September 30, 
1882; Lora E., November 1, 1889; and 
Omer, July 8, 1888. Both he and his wife 
are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. 

jATTHEW ERWIN, a farmer of 
Dallas county, was born in Maury 
county, Tennessee, March 15, 1825, 
a son of David Erwin, who was born in 
Abbeville district, South Carolina, in 1783, 
and died in 1855, at the age of seventy-two 
years. He was a farmer by occupation, and 
left South Carolina at the age of twenty-five 
years, going to Tennessee, where he served in 
the war of 1812, under General Jackson, and 
took part in the battle of New Orleans. His 
father, John Erwin, was born in South Caro- 
lina, in 1755, and served seven years and six 
months in the Revolutionary war. He had 
two brothers, Alexander and William, who 
also served in the war. William was wounded 
by the British at the battle of Sisters' ferry. 




on the Savannah river, South Carolina. Da- 
vid Erwin had three brothers: John, William 
and Matthew. John gave the pistols to 
Stewart, who captured the Jesse James of 
Tennessee, John A. Murrell, the great high- 
way robber of that day. He helped decoy 
the latter to his house for the purpose of 
capturing him. David Erwin was married 
at the age of twenty-five years to Mary Baird, 
a native of South Carolina. She was twenty 
years of age at her marriage, and lived to the 
age of sixty-five years. They reared a family 
of twelve children and lived to see all married 
except two daughters, who died unmarried. 
The names of the children are as follows: 
John; James; Robert; Elizabeth, who died 
unmarried; William; Joab, who died in the 
war; Matthew, our subject; David, who died 
in the war with Mexico; Milton L.; L. B.; 
Pauline B., wife of John Burgess; Mary A., 
who died unmarried. 

The subject of this sketch left home at the 
age of eighteen years, going first to Missis- 
sippi, where he learned the carpenter's and 
millwright's trades, after which he began con- 
tracting for himself. He worked at bis trade 
for thirty years, and in 1862 enlisted in the 
First Alabama Battalion P. Rangers, which 
consolidated with the Thirteenth Regiment, 
and afterward made the Fifity-sixth Regi- 
ment. Mr. Erwin served in many engage- 
ments, and was under fire eleven days at one 
time, and also participated in the battles of 
Guntowu and Vicksburg. He served until 
the close of the war, after which he returned 
home and in the fall of 1870 moved to Texas. 
He rented a farm the first year, and the sec- 
ond year bought 110 acres where he now 
lives, which he has since improved. 

Mr. Erwin was married February 14, 1855, 
to Miss Mary A. Stevenson, who was born in 
Alabama, December 25, 1835, a daughter of 








' (T^ynyTT^md 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



H9 



Humphrey Stevenson, who was born in Ken- 
tucky in 1809, married Mary A. (iordoii, and 
died at the age of forty-five years, lie was 
the father of four cliildren, but Mrs. Erwin 
is tlie only one now living. Mr. and Mrs. 
Erwin have had five children, viz.: Lncy C, 
wife of D. R. W. Erwin; May N., now Mrs. 
Dr. K. H. Embree; Mattie E., wife of J. M. 
Spanlding; Pauline B., wife of L. B. Kuyle; 
David S. Tlie family are members of the 
Christian Church, and the father is a member 
of the Masonic order, Duck Creek Lodge, 
No. 441. 

ILISHA McCOMMAS.— Elder Amon 
McCommas was born in Kentucky. 
In early life he removed to Ohio, and 
married Mary Brumtield, successively lived 
in Ohio, Illinois, and from 1836 to 1844 in 
Wright county, Missouri. In the latter year 
he settled near Dallas, Texas, and died May 
20, 1877 — his wife, June 27, the same 
year. He was a preacher of the Christian 
Church. He preached the first sermon ever 
delivered in the then village of Dallas. In 
1847 his brother, John C. and Eurke, son of 
Stephen B., Sr., and also his sons, John and 
Stephen B., Jr., were soldiers in the Mexican 
war. Stephen B., Jr., died in the city of 
Mexico, December 24, 1847, and Burke 
within a day or two of the same time. The 
other children of Elder Amon McCommas, 
were, James B., Elisha, Wm. M., Amon, 
Jr., Rosa (Mrs. Jesse Cox), Armilda (Mrs. 
Benjamin F. Fleaman). and Mary E. (Mrs. 
John W. Herndon.) 

Elisha McCommas, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Lawrence county, Ohio, 
in 1830, the fourth in a family of eight chil- 
dren, and hence was fourteen years old when 
hie father settled in Dallas county, and aided 

34 



in opening up his father's farm, and acquired 
an education chiefly by his own personal 
exertions. In August, 1849, he was one of a 
company of eighty men, on a gold hunting 
expedition to the Wichita mountains. From 
a camp on Red river, he was one of a scout 
of twenty sent across toward those mount- 
ains, on an exploring and scouting expedi- 
tion. When about sixty miles out, they 
discovered Indians herding horses. A detail 
of four men, being sent to reconnoitre, found 
that the Indians were painted and supposed 
they were hostile. The Indians, seeing them, 
immediately drove their herd toward a 
neighboring village. When on a ridge af- 
fording a view of the village, they left three 
men for observation, and moved on out of 
sight, but very soon these three men dis- 
covered about 100 warriors approach- 
ing. Young McCommas was sent by 
the other two to inform Lieutenant Wright 
of the fact, that he might prepare for defense. 
He started for timber about two miles dis- 
tant. Tiie Indians turned their course as if 
to cut them off. Two pack horses stampeded 
when two Indians drove them back to the 
wiiites, and returned to their band, who had 
huddled together on a high point, almost 
within rifle shot, but showed no other signs 
of hostility; on the contrary, some of them 
came out from the party, giving signs of 
friendship, calling out, " How do!",'ind mak- 
ing friendly gestures. This led to an inter- 
view by some old hunters in the party, in 
which they were informed of the Indians 
being friendly and that there was then in 
their village a party of fifteen traders from 
Fort Washita. The party then proceeded 
with them to the village, where they found a 
young Indian woman who had been a prisoner 
and partly reared in an American family, and 
became their willing interpreter. This was 



350 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS OOUNTY. 



evidently the little girl Maria (Mareah) 
who was returned to the Indians, nnder the 
authority of President Sam Houston in 1843 
by commissioner Joseph C. Eldridge with 
Messrs. Thomas Torrey and Hamilton P. 
Bee. 

General H. P. Bee in his notes of 
this expedition, says in substance that this 
little Indian girl, named Maria, was taken at 
the council house fight, at San Antonio, 
March 19, 1840. She had been carefully 
trained, spoke English well, and had entirely 
lost her own language. Describing the 
parting scene of the unsuccessful mission, 
General Bee wrote for his children many 
years ago: "Now Captain Eldridge tendered 
to the chief little Maria, a beautiful Indian 
child, neatly dressed. A scene followed 
which brought tears to the eyes of not only 
the white men but also of the Delawares. 
The child seemed horrified, clung desperately 
and imploringly to Captain Eldredge, and 
screamed most piteously. It was simply 
heart-rending. She was taken up by a huge 
warrior and borne away, uttering piercing 
cries of despair. For years afterward she 
was occasionally heard of, still bearing the 
name of Maria (Mai-eah), acting as interpreter 
at Indian councils." 

They remained near the village two days, 
prospecting for gold in the surrounding 
country, and soon afterward left for home, 
which was reached at the end of an absence 
of nearly two months. 

In December, 1850, in Dallas county, Mr. 
McCommas married Miss Khoda Ann Tucker. 
His brothers, John and Wm. M., married 
sisters of the same lady. She was the daugh- 
ter of John S. and Agnes (McNew) Tucker, 
natives of Virginia, while their children were 
born in Missouri. They settled on a farm in 
Dallas county in 1848. Mr. Tucker left the 



county on business and was never heard of. 
The widow resides with Mr. McCommas. In 
1862, Mr. McCommas volunteered in Com- 
pany B., Nineteenth Texas Cavalry, under 
Colonel Nat. M. Burford, and served in 
Arkansas, Missouri and Louisiana. He was 
with Marmaduke's expedition into Missouri, 
and in the Red river campaigns later. At 
the close of the war, he returned to his farm 
in Dallas county — ^a splendid tract of 
270 acres, well improved and command- 
ing a fine view of Dallas and the 
vicinity. Mr. and Mrs. McCommas have 
had ten children, eight of whom survive, viz.: 
Stephen B. of Hill county; Sarah Ann, who 
died at the age of thirty-three years; Alex- 
ander, of Hill county; Lou V., wife of D. B. 
"White of Hill county; Mary A., now Mrs. B. 
F. Burgess of Dallas county; Martha E.,wife 
of L. B. De Ford of Hill county; Rhoda M. 
(deceased), wife of R. L. White; George E., 
Walter G. and Wallie E. are still with 
their parents. 

Mr. McCommas has been for seventeen 
years an active member of the Dallas County 
Pioneer Association, and almost continuously 
one of its officers, doing all in his power to 
make it what such an association ought to 
be. He is justly regarded as one of the most 
upright, honorable and useful citizens of the 
county, in which he has lived forty-eight 
years, and blest with a wife worthy of such 
a man, and now at the age of sixty-two ap- 
pears as youthful as most men at forty. 



c 



C. McCORD & SON, brick contractors 
and builders, located in Dallas in 1875, 
® and have erected the Boykin & Shook 
building, known as the Herald building, 
Snyder & Davis' wholesale store with annex 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



351 



on Elm street, Klippen, Adoue & Lobit's bank, 
corner of Elm and Poydras streets, Gonld's 
system of ofllces (since burned) on Commerce 
street, the buildintr (200 feet front) of Mar- 
cellus Tilman and Dr. Crowdus' Drug Com- 
pany on Commerce street, the Christian 
churcli at the corner of Patterson avenue 
and Maston street, the North and South 
Dallas school buildings, the power-house at 
the terminus of Elm street, besides many 
residences, etc., — among them, that of W. C. 
Connor, in 1876. 

Mr. McCord was born in Edgefield, South 
Carolina, Fel>ruary 11, 1842, the second of 
the eleven children of S. R. and Martha 
(Newman) McCord. His father was born in 
New York and his mother in Augusta, 
Georgia. His father was a brick builder and 
contractor, who in 1840 emigrated to Ala- 
bama, going the entire distance on foot, aver- 
aging forty-live miles a day, and locating at 
Wetumpka. After a stage line had been 
established his family joined him. Later he 
moved to another point in Alabama, Pratt- 
ville, established by Daniel Pratt (great cotton 
gin manufacturer); after the war he went to 
St. Louis and Chicago, and finally, in 1874, 
he came to Dallas, where he died, in October, 
1875. His wife had died in 1867, in Mont- 
gomery, Alabama. 

Mr. McCord, whose name heads this sketch, 
learned his trade at Prattville and was mar- 
ried there. In 1861 he enlisted in the war, 
in the Prattville Dragoons, commanded by 
Captain Cox, and was in the service from 
April, 1861, to May, 1865, being engaged in 
the battles of Shiloh, Santa Rosa Island, Pen- 
sacola, Tupelo, Mississippi, Bragg's invasion 
of Kentucky, siege of Kno.wille, etc., in 
Wheeler's corps. A horse was shot from 
under him and he received a gunsliot wound 
on the skirmish line at the siege of Knoxville. 



After the war he returned to Prattville, and 
then went to Cairo, Illinois, working at his 
trade. lie returned to Alabama again, whence 
he came to Dallas. 

He was married in Prattville, in 1863, to 
Miss Georgia Haynie, a native of Coosa 
county, Alabama, and a daughter of Martin 
and Amanda (Ilaynie) Haynie, natives of 
South Carolina. Her father died in 1887 
and her mother in 1882, in Birmingham, 
Alabama, at the residence of her son. In 
1887-'89 Mr. McCord was two years in 
California, at San Diego and Santa Barbara, 
working at his trade. Politically, he is a 
Democrat, and religiously he and his wife 
are members of the Christian Church. They 
have five children, namely: Ella Clifford, 
wife of Mr. Baker, an architect in Dallas; D. 
C, who married Miss Margaret Jellison, in 
Nebraska, and now resides in Dallas; Hora- 
tio C, at home; and Charles L., who died in 
Chattanooga, Tennessee. One child died in 
infancy. 

R D. A. PASCHALL, a prominent and 
well-known physician of Dallas county, 
Texas, was born in Trigg county, Ken- 
tucky, December 14, 1837. A sketch of his 
life will be found of interest to many, and is 
as follows: 

G. R. Paschall, the Doctor's father, was 
born in Caswell county. North Carolina, No- 
vember 19, 1813. At the age of twelve 
years he moved with his father to Tennessee, 
and lived in Weakley county until he reached 
his majority. On the loth day of Novem- 
ber, 1835, he was united in wedlock with Miss 
Elizabeth Williams, who was also born on 
November 19, 1813. Her father, Daniel 
Williams, was one of the first settlers of Illi- 
nois, and fought the Indians all over that 



352 



niSTour OF Dallas county. 



State. After Mr. Paschall was married he 
moved to Trigg county, Kentucky, wliere lie 
lived until 1840. He then moved to Spring- 
field, Missouri, and a year later to Arkansas. 
In the fall of 1844 he came to Texas and 
settled in Red Eiver county. The follow- 
ing spring he located near Willow Springs 
in what is now Rockwall county. A year 
later he moved to Dallas county and settled 
near Barnes' Bridge, buying land there. He 
subsequently sold out and located in Fannin 
county. In 1847 he enlisted in the Mexican 
war, and after serving twelve months was 
discharged on account of a wound he re- 
ceived by being thrown from a horse, receiv- 
ing his discharge in February, 1848. From 
the effects of that wound he is still a sufferer. 
In the fall of 1848 he moved to Terrell, 
Kaufman county, where he still resides, now 
at the age of seventy-seven years. His wife 
died November 11, 1882, aged sixty-nine. 
The names of their nine children are as fol- 
lows: James C, Daniel A., Isaac A., Susan 
P., Josiah N., Mary E., Sarah J., Nancy A., 
Georgia Roberts. The Doctor was the second 
born, and only he and his two sisters, Mary 
E. and Georgia Roberts, are now living. The 
former is the wife of A. A. Laroe, and the 
latter is now Mrs. Charles Brady. 

The subject of our sketch was onl}' six 
years old when his father came to Texas. At 
the age of sixteen he began the study of 
naedicine under Drs. Hawkins and Paschall, 
of Fulton, Kentucky. In 1859 he graduated 
at the University of Pennsylvania, after which 
he began the practice of his profession at 
Haught's store, Dallas county, and was thus 
engaged there when the war came on. He 
enlisted in Colonel Greer's regiment and 
served in it until July. 1862. He then re- 
turned home and enlisted under Colonel Bass 
in the Nineteenth Texas Regiment, and served 



four months as a private. He was then de- 
tailed as assistant surgeon of a hospital in the 
northern part of Arkansas, and stayed there 
until January, 1864. He was then sent back 
to Haught's store to practice, remaining at 
that place until 1868. That year he moved 
to Turner's Point. 

Dr. Paschall was married on the 23d of 
February, 1865, to Miss Virginia Haught, 
who was born October 29, 1848. She died 
November 4, 1884, at the age of thirty-six 
years. Her parents, Samuel and Isabella 
(Duvall) Haught, reared a family of nine 
children, namely: Jane, wife of MoteGolden, 
and after his death of M. M. Farmer; Emma, 
wife of M. M. Farmer, is deceased: one will 
see, M. M. Farmer married two sisters; Al- 
fred; S. A.; Isabella, deceased; Juliette, wife 
of S. H. Cuinley, and Louisiana, deceased. 

The Doctor's second marriage occurred 
April 28, 1889, to Mrs. Maud Bounds, nee 
Thompson. She was born November 18, 
1864, daughter of Tipton and Evaline (Coon) 
Thompson. She has six brothers and sisters: 
Lillie, wife of John Rnpford; Nellie, wife 
of F. L. Watterson; and May, Willie, Clifton 
and J. Wellington. 

By his first wife the Doctor had nine chil- 
dren: Idaho, wife of J. M. H. Chisholra; 
Jesse P., Samuel A. H. and Nettie being the 
only ones now living. By his present com- 
panion he has one child, Daniel A., who was 
born June 20, 1890. 

In 1871-'72 Dr. Paschall took a course at 
the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, 
a!id graduated. Returning to Haught's store, 
he continued his practice there till 1877, 
when he bought a farm of 570 acres at Ter- 
rell, and engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
also continuing his medical practice. He 
still owns that farm. In 1885 he left his 
farm at Terrell and located again in Dallas 



BISrORY OF DALLAS COUNT r. 



353 



county, at Mesquite. lie has had an extensive 
and Buccessful practice, and liere he is re- 
garded not only as a skillfnl pliysician hut as 
oneofthe most prominent and leadiiigcitizens. 
He discovered a cure for malignant congested 
fever or spotted fever, and in the treatment 
of that dread disease has met with unusual 
success. 

IJe and his wife are memhersof the Chris- 
tian Church, and he is a Mason and a Knight 
of Honor. 

lENJAAIIN T. DAVIS, a farmer of 
Dallas county, was horn in Mononga- 
lia county, Virginia, September 17, 
1828. His father moved to La Porte county, 
Indiana, in 1835, and to Texas in 1847, when 
Benjamin was but nineteen years of age. 
The latter learned the carpenter's trade in 
Indiana, which he also followed in Texas. At 
one time lie took a claim of 320 acres of 
land, which he improved and cultivated, and 
at the same time also worked at his trade. He 
afterward sold this farm, and bought the one 
on which he now resides. He then owned 
500 acres, but this he afterward divided 
and gave all but 288 acres to his children. 
Mr. Davis enlisted in the war in 18G1, in 
Colonel Hawpe's regiment, and served until 
the close of the war, being discharged at 
Hempstead May 26, 1865. Being a musician, 
he wae put in charge of the field band, and 
held that position until the close of the war. 
He also participated in the battles of Spring 
River, Mansfield, Yellow Stone, Utona, and 
was under fire forty-two days in going to 
New Orleans. He was slightly wounded three 
times with shell. Mr. Davis saw the war 
was coming to a close, and wisely exchanged 
his Confederate script for greenbacks, and 



after reaching home had over $200 in green- 
backs. He had lost all his horses and cattle 
in the war, but had enough money to com 
mence anew. His brotherand himself, John 
W., engaged in the hedge seed business, in 
which he was very successful, selling the seed 
as high as $21 per bushel. 

Mr. Davis was married July 4, 1836, to 
Miss Lydia J. Mills, who died October 14, 
1890, at the age of fifty-four years. They 
were the parents of thirteen children, only ten 
of whom reached maturity, viz.: Eugenus A.; 
Ruth Ann, wife of Joseph E. Erwin; Benja- 
min T.; Tiddy J., wife of E. M. Colwell; 
Sarah A., wife of H. M. liamsey; John W., 
Mariah E., wife of Thomas Lanford; Hanson 
C, Cora L. and Caleb B. Mr. Davis is a 
well educated man, having attended some of 
the best schools in Indiana. He attended the 
Asbury University, now the De !*auw Uni- 
versity, two years, which is one of the leading 
schools in the United States. He is a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F., Piano Lodge, No. 114, 
and at one time was a member of the Alethod- 
ist Episcopal Church, of which his family 
are nearly all members. 



EORGE H. SHAWVER is a native of 
Macon county, Missouri, born Decem- 
ber 28, 1848. John Shawver, his fa- 
ther, was born in Monroe county, Virginia, 
November 20, 1800, and was married in the 
Old Dominion to Miss Caroline Walker. 
They moved from Missouri to Texas in 1869, 
and the father bought 255 acres of land near 
Mesquite, where his son George H. now 
lives. He improved his property and resided 
on it a number of years. He returned to 
Missouri on a visit, and while there was 
taken sick and died, his death occurring in 



354 



HISTORV OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



July, 1880. His wife departed this life 
Miirch 12, 1872, at the age of forty-five 
years. To them worn bom ten children. The 
names of each and a more extended mention 
of the family will be found in the biography 
of M. T. Shawver, in this volume. 

George II. Shawver was married, May 16, 
1889, to Miss Dora A. Sniitli, who was born 
in Indiana, March 4, 18()5. Her father, 
Abraham Smith, was born in Indiana in 1825, 
and her mother, who before her marriage was 
a Miss Greene, was born in 1832. The names 
of the children composing her father's 
family are as follows: Sella, wife of Seymour 
Ilosa; Marshall; Alice, wife of John Kockey ; 
Eilet; Dora, wife of George H. Shawver; 
Lawrence; Elmer, and Gordon. Mr. Smith 
came to Texas in 1888 and settled near Mos- 
quito, Dallas county. Mr. and Mrs. Shawver 
have two children: Otto, born July 29, 1890; 
Anna, born December 30, 1891. 

Mr. Shawver is a Mason and a Knight of 
Honor, belonging to the lodges at Mesquito. 
lie and his wife are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 



4^ 



m^' 



^ 




l^i^l^ILLIAM STULTS, M. D., deceased, 
was for many years a physician 
widely and favorably known among 
the citizens of the western part of Dallas 
county. lie was born in Hamilton county, 
Tennessee, and, having been left an orphan, 
received only a moagor education. He was 
an industrious and self-reliant boy, and niade 
his own way from tho beginning of his 
career. At the age of seventeen years ho 
went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he appren- 
ticed himself to the carpenter's trade, and fol- 
loweil the same for al)out two years. He then 
returned to Tennessee, settling in Rutherford 



county, where he read medicine for two years, 
mostly under Dr. J. W. January, a successful 
physician of that day. Mr. Stults came to 
Texas on a prospecting tour in 185G, and 
decided to locate in Dallas county, Decem- 
ber 3, 1857. He returned to Tennessee and 
married Miss Lou S. Wilson, of Gibson 
county, after which he came again to Texas, 
taking np his residence in the western part 
of tho county, on a farm of 320 acres, lying 
on the west fork of Trinity river. He at 
once began farming and the practice of his 
profession, and followed these occupations 
assiduously as long as he lived. He sold his 
first purchase in 1860, and bought a place 
on CJrapevine prairie, where ho lived about 
fourteen years, and at the end of that time 
he again sold out, and purchased another 
farm adjoining. lie remained on the latter 
place until his death, which occurred May 
17, 1877. At the time of his death he had 
considerable landed interests, owning 738 
acres, where he has successfully engaged in 
farming and stock-raising. He also had an 
extensive practice, riding for miles in every 
direction, and this was at a time when 
there were no roads in the county, having 
had to make l)is way by bridle paths. Mr. 
Stults was highly esteemed, both as a physi- 
cian and a citizen. Ho was alife lonti niom- 
bor of the Baptist Church, and was always 
active in all church work, of which most of 
his children are also members. His widow 
is a member of the Methodist Church. 

Mrs. Stults was horn in Gibson county, 
TonnoBsee, Juno 16, 1834, a daughter of 
Samuel and Lou (Sharp) Wilson, natives of 
Maryland and North Carolina. The father 
emigrated to Kentucky when a young man, 
where he was niarried, and then moved to 
Rutherford county, Tennessee, and afterward 
to Gibson county, that State, where he died 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



355 



in 1854, at the age of sixty-five years. His 
wife died in Rutherford county, Tennessee, 
in 1S34, at the age of thirty years. They 
were the parents of nine children, as follows; 
Mary, Martha, John, William, Enialine, Belle, 
Eliza, Caroline and Lou S. The only one of 
thescchihlren now known to ho living is Mrs. 
Stults. Dr. Stults and wife reared to ma- 
turity a family of eight children, all of whom 
are still living, viz.: William Wilson, a mer- 
chant of Ballinger, Runnels county, this 
State; P^annie, the wife of B. 8. Taylor, also 
of Ballinger; Carrie S., the wife of J. E. 
Murray, of Fort Worth; John S., of Dallas 
county; Charles W., of Wilbarger county, 
Texas; Lon Belle, the wife of L. S. Sher- 
wood, of McKinney, ("oUin county Texas; 
Sallie S.. the wife of J. C. Farley, of Ballin- 
ger; and Ida, unmarried. The old home 
place has been divided among the children, 
and Mrs. Stults makes her home among them. 
The part on which the house stands belongs 
to John S., who may he said t^) have taken 
his father's place in a certain sense. 

lie was born within a short distance of 
where he now lives, June 2'J, 1864, on the 
place where his father first settled after mov- 
ing to Grapevine prairie. He received a com- 
mon-school education, finishing with an aca- 
demic course at the high school of Grapevine, 
Tarrant county. He selected medicine as 
his profession, and began reading about 1886, 
spending considerable time over his books at 
home before taking up the study under a 
preceptor. He took one course of lectures 
at the Tulane University, at New Orleans, 
in 188U-'90, read for a short time under 
Burtis, Fields &, Duringer, of Fort Worth, 
then under Dr. D. W. Gilbert, of Sowers, 
Dalla.s county, and has taken one course of 
lectures at the ^[issouri Medical College, St. 
Louis, Missouri. He expects to complete his 



medical education at an early date, and enter 
regularly on the practice of his profession, in 
which he has every assurance of success. 
The Doctor was married March 18, 1891, to 
Miss Pearl Price, a daughter of Mrs. L. A. 
Price of this county. 



COTT BEEMAN, a farmer and stock- 
raiser of Precint No. 1, was born in 
Bowie county, Texas, May 23, 1841, the 
tenth in a family of twelve children born to 
John and Emily (lluunicutt) Heeman, na- 
tives of South Carolina. The father emigrated 
from his native State to Calhoun county, 
Illinois, and thence to Bowie county, Texas, 
in 1829. In 1841 he came to Dallas county, 
and took up 360 acres of land, and was the 
first man to cultivate any soil in this county. 
His death occurred here in 1856, and his 
wife still survives, living near De Soto, at 
the advanced age of eighty-six years. 

Scott Beeman was reared to farm life, and 
educated in the 8ubscri])fion schools of this 
county. He aided his father in opening up 
and improving the home farm and afterward 
began farming on his own account. In 1802 
he enlisted in Captain Beard's Company, and 
was in the battle of Yellow Bayou, in a num- 
ber of raids under General Marmaduke, and 
was in the Red River expedition, where he 
fought for thirty-two days. He was also in 
cavalry service, and at the close of the war 
Mr. Beeman returned to Dallas county, and 
later removed to the farm ot 150 acres which 
he now owns, and which is in a good state of 
cultivation. He was married in this county, 
in 1865, to Betty Merrifield, a native of 
Kentucky, and daughter of Milton and Mar- 
garet Ann (Singleton) Merrilield, also na- 
tives of Kentucky. The parents moved to 



3o6 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTj: 



Dallas county, in 1849, settling in what is 
now West Dallas, were the father bought and 
improved a farm. His death occurred in 
November, 1889, and the mother now re- 
sides near Cedar Elill. Mr. and Mrs. Bee- 
man had seven children, viz.: Annie, wife of 
Richard Lagow, of Precinct No. 4; Emma, 
Lizzie, Milton, Katie, Grover and Ira. Polit- 
ically, Mr. Beeman is a member of the 
Democratic party, and socially of the Farm- 
ers' Alliance. 



^^■^\y\njlr 



inrc^^ 



~<?-^' 



tM. FARGASON, a prominent citizen 
of Dallas county, was born in Henry 
* county, Georgia, in 1827, the eldest 
of seven children born to John and Elizabeth 
(Mason) Fargason, natives of South Carolina 
and Georgia respectively. The father moved 
to Georgia at an early date, where he was 
married, and in 1852 emigrated to Talla- 
poosa, Alabama, where his death occurred in 
1866; the mother survived him until 1878, 
dying at the age of eighty-two years. 

L. M. Fargason, our subject, was reared in 
Henry county, Georgia, where he was en- 
gaged as a clerk in a store four years. He 
was then in the ambrotype business at West 
Point until 1861, when he came to Texas, 
and was associated with Dr. Bradfield in the 
drug business at Dangerlield one year. In 1862 
he raised Company G, Nineteenth Texas In- 
fantry, was elected its Captain, and served in 
Arkansas and Louisiana. He was held in re- 
serve at Little Rock, Arkansas, to reinforce 
General Hindman or the Arkansas Post, and 
during the winter of 1862-'63 was at Pine 
Bluff. He remained there until May, 1863, 
when he went to Louisiana, and was in 
Texas at the close of the war. He afterward 
returned home and engaged in the general 
mercantile business until 1881, when he was 



burnt out, losing |3,000 or $4,000. Coming 
to Dallas in 1882, he embarked in the 
grain and cotton trade one year, but since 
that time he has never engaged in active 
business. Mr. Fargason is identified with 
the Democratic party, was collector of water 
rents in 1887, for the city, and is now serv- 
ing his second year as Deputy County As- 
sessor of Dallas county. Socially, he is a 
member of Oasis Lodge, No. 79, A. F. & A. 
M., in eastern Texas, has been a Mason for 
over forty years, and is a prominent Odd 
Fellow. 

Mr. Fargason was married in Henry county, 
Georgia, in 1849, to Elizabeth Odell, a na- 
tive of North Carolina and a daushtor of 
Solomon and Sarah (Childress) Odell, also 
natives of North Carolina. The father, a 
farmer by occupation, moved to Henry 
county, Georgia, in 1845, and in 1859 to 
what is now Morris county, Texas, where he 
made his home until death, in 1862. His 
excellent wife survived him a few years, dying 
in 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Fargason have had 
nine children, seven of whom still survive, 
viz.: John E. ; Willie L., clerk in the Pacific 
Express Company; David B., bill and rate 
clerk for the same company; Sarah E., wife 
of James T. Childress; Mary E., wife of J. 
M. Mc Reynolds, of Texas; Georgie, widow 
of M. T. Mitchell, of Greenville, Texas; 
Mattie Lee, wife of Howell Bailey, collector 
of the Dallas ice factorv. Mrs. Farccason is 
a member of the First Baptist Church at 
Dallas. 



R. KELLEY H. EMBREE, a practicing 
physician and prominent citizen of Gar- 
land, Texas, dates his birth in Monroe 
county, Kentucky, February 9, 1848. 

The Doctor landed in Texas in February 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



357 



1873. Previous to his coming to this State 
he had devoted liimself earnestly to the study 
of medicine, under the instruction of Dr. 
Clilowin^ of Tennessee, liad graduated at tlie 
American Medical College of Cincinnati, Oiiiu, 
and had practiced one year in Tennessee. 
After his arrival in Dallas county, he fol- 
lowed his profession seven years, at the end 
of which time he turned his attention to the 
mercantile business in Garland, continuing 
thus employed five years. Disposing of his 
stock of goods, he then returned to the prac- 
tice of medicine and has since devoted him- 
self exclusively to his professional duties. 
He has won tiie confidence and esteem of all 
who know hitn, and has established an e.xten- 
sive practice in this vicinity. Starting out a 
pool' boy, he has been successful in life, and 
is now comfortably situated. He owns a nice 
little liome at the edge of Garland, and a 
grove of twenty acres near by, — one of the 
titiest parks in the State. People come to it 
from far and near to hold picnics and re- 
ligious services. 

Joshua £mi)ree, the Doctor's father, was 
born in ^fonroe county. Kentucky, and passed 
most of his life in that county. He was mar- 
ried April 1, 1845, to Miss Catherine B. 
Kelley, who was born January 1, 1823, a 
daughter of Mason and Sarah (Cowring) Kel- 
ley. To them seven children were born, viz.: 
Virginia, wife of Wesley Guthrey, is now 
deceased; Kelley n.; Chlowring A.; Sarah 
A., wife of Duncan A. Morgan; Venetia M., 
wife of Kanson Smith; Mary M., wife of N. 
Thorp; Ida S., wife of Prank Clark. In later 
life Mr. Einbree moved to Tennessee, where, 
May 23, 1865, he was accidentally killed, at 
the age of fifty-one years. The Doctor was 
then only eighteen years of age, and he being 
the oldest son his mother and her family 
looked largely to him for support. In 1870 



Mrs. Embree and her four daughters came 
from Tennessee to Texas, making the journey 
by teams and coming with another party, ar- 
riving here in safety after being six weeks 
en route. 

Dr. Embree was married, November 26, 
1876, to Miss Mary E. Erwin, who was born 
June 16. 1861. (For the history of Mrs. 
Embree's parents, see the sketch of Matthew 
Erwin.) He and his wife have five children, 
namely: Emma, born September 24, 1878; 
Earl, March 15, 1881; Edd, October 9, 1883; 
Ernestine, December 12, 1886; Evon, De- 
cember 11, 1889. Mrs. Embree is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. The Doctor is 
an Odd Fellow and belongs to the Duck 
Creek Lodge. He is also a member of the 
Knights of Honor, and has been a delegate 
to the Grand Lodge at Galveston, Texas, on 
two occasions. 

WR^i ^' LOGAN, proprietor of the Lo- 
' :\f\r ^*ti' Steam Laundry Manufacturing 

l'="^Pr3 " i'onipany, was born in Fayette 
county, Indiana, May 30, 18G0, the youngest 
of five children horn to John and Adaline 
(Dean) Logan, natives of Ireland and Scot- 
land. At an early day the parents came to 
Cincinnati, Ohio, where the father engaged 
as a merchant tailor, and thence to Connors- 
ville, Indiana. In 1862, he enlisted in the 
Sixteenth Indiana Regiment, and died at 
Indianapolis, from wounds received in the 
service. The mother survived him until 
1864, her death occurring at Connersville, 
Indiana. 

The subject of this sketch was reared iu 
Indiana, and educated in the schools of Fay- 
ette county, and also attended school at Val- 
paraiso, Indiana, from 1878 until 1880. After 



358 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNT 7- 



leaving college he was engaged as a book- 
keeper for Richmond & Hatclier, at Conners- 
ville, Indiana, and tive months afterward 
embarked in the laundry business. He sub- 
sequently removed to Terre Haute, Indiana, 
and thence to Dallas, Texas, where he now 
conducts the oldest laundry in the city. He 
gives employment to fifty men, and is also 
engaged in the manufacture of soap. The 
business was first started under the firm 
name of W. J. Logan & Company, later, 
about 1886, was changed to Brand & Logan, 
in 1887 to W. J. Logan & Brother, and in 
December, 1890, Mr. Logan purchased his 
brother's interest and established the Logan 
Manufacturing Company. 

He was married in this city. May 27, 1885, 
to Minnie Sites, a native of Indiana, and a 
daughter of John J. and Mary Sites, natives 
of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Logan have 
three children, — Jessie Eugenia, John A. 
and Clarence Eugene. Mr. Logan is a mem- 
ber of the Republican party, is now serving 
his second term as Alderman of the First 
Ward, and has been represented in the City 
Council. Socially, he is a member of Dallas 
Lodge, No. 70, K. of P., of Dallas Division, 
No. 18, K. of P. Uniformed Rank, and is 
now Adjutant of the Third Texas Rank, is a 
member of Dallas Lodge, No. 44, 1. O. O. F., 
and also of the Knights of Honor. 

fAMES ARBUCKLE, of the firm of Ar- 
buckle & Sons, stock brokers of Dallas, 
was born Glasgow, Scotland, in 1840, 
the eldest of eleven children born to George 
and Margaret (Baird) Arbuckle, natives of 
Scotland. The father was a merchant in 
Glasgow, and lived in that country until his 
death in 1870; his wife died of diphtheria, 



about 1864. Grandfather James Arbuckle was 
with Wellington during; the war, beinar a 
member of tiie Scottish Greys. 

James, our subject, was reared and edu- 
cated in the city of Glasgow, and graduated 
at the Andersonian University of that city. 
At the age of nineteen years he left home 
and came direct to New Orleans, in connec- 
tion with a wholesale dry-goods house, arid be- 
came their adjuster for several years during 
the war, in Louisiana, Texas, and Indiana. 
During the war Mr. Arbuckle was also 
interested in vessels in Mexico, through 
Eagle Pass and Brownsville. In 1866 
he established the first bank in East- 
ern Texas, at Jefferson, the head of 
navigation on the Red river, under the firm 
name of James Arbuckle & Co., and con- 
tinued there until the railroad facilities es- 
tablished business elsewhere. He then en- 
gaged in the cotton exporting trade at 
Galveston, and in 1884 came to Dallas, where 
he engaged in importing Jersey and Ilolstein 
cattle, being the first to establish that busi- 
ness in northern Texas. While in that city 
Mr. Arbuckle was also engaged in the insur- 
ance, banking and stock brokerage business, 
and was the first projector of the State Fair, 
of which he was a director for three years. In 
1889 Mr. Arbuckle bousrht 178 acres of land 
in this county, which he has since improved. 

He was married in Houston, Texas, in 
1880, to Mary Helen Castleton, a native of 
New York, but reared in Virginia. She was 
a daughter of Rev. Thomas and Maria (Rut- 
land) Castleton, natives of Norwich, England, 
who emigrated to New York, and thence to 
Virginia. For many years the father was at 
the head of an institution of learning at 
Baton Rouge, and later was pastor of the 
Presbyterian Church at Houston. He was 
lost at sea while on route from Galveston to 



HISTORV OF DALLj\S COUNTY. 



359 



New York in 1865; the mother died some 
years previous in New York, and was buried 
at Syracuse. Mr. and Mrs. Arbuckle have 
liad seven childreti, namely: George, now of 
St. Louis, was married to Marie Brancotiier, 
a member of an old French family of St. Louis; 
Maclyn, a leading member of the McLeon 
Prescott Dramatic Company; James, Jr., 
who is in business with his fatlier; Mary 
Clyde, attending the Episcopal College at 
Dallas; Alexander, also attending school; 
Andrew Egon, at home. Socially, Mr. Ar- 
buckle is a member of the Masonic lodge at 
Jefferson, and both he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Episcopal Church. 



T. OVERAND, contractor and ])uilder, 
204: Thomas avenue, has been foUow- 
'* ing his calling here since 1886, erect- 
ing most of the fine residences in the Nintli 
Ward and some in the Eighth, besides the 
Thomas building at the corner of Kemp 
street and Griffith avenue, the Thomas resi- 
dence at the corner of Pearl street and Mc- 
Kinney avenue, the residence of S. A. Mahon 
on Mclvinney avenue, and the Worthington 
residence at the corner of McKinney avenue 
and Jjoal street. At present he is engageil 
in erecting three line brick residences in the 
Ninth Ward, to rent or sell. 

He was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, 
in 180-4, the second of the three children of 
Wesley and Mary (Campbell) Overand, na- 
tives of Ireland who came to America in their 
young days and settled in Pennsylvania. 
Next they moved to Illinois, and finally to 
Dallas, and for two years attended the mili- 
tary institute at Bryant, this State. Then 
he learned tiie carpenter's trade, commencing 
with his brother, at the age of nineteen years. 



He opened Overand's Addition to the city 
of Dallas, selling his first lot in 1887. Since 
that he has sold eighteen lots, and he has 
eighteen still left for sale, most of which 
have buildings upon tiieni: they are for rent 
also, until sold. These houses have all the 
modern improvements, — apparatus for gas, 
hot water, etc. He dug and equipped the 
first well in the Ninth Ward, which furnishes 
water for the neighbors. The only people 
there now are the families of Messrs. Bo wen, 
Thomas, Fletcher and Smith. Mr. Overand 
has been one of the busy and energetic men 
of the city, always taking an active interest 
in the public welfare and material advance- 
ment of Dallas. 

December 25, 1887, he married Allie C. 
Bowen, a native of this county and a daugh- 
ter of William and Mary Bowen, natives of 
Missouri, who came to this county in 1868. 
The mother died in Navarro county, Texas. 
Mr. and Mrs. Overand have two children: 
Eddie and J. W. 

^ANIEL C. LAN DESS.— This gentle- 
man has been a resident of Texas since 
1878. He landed in Dallas county, 
January 9, of that year, with a wagon and 
team and §10 in money. He at once 
rented a farm and commenced work, and 
from the first has been successful in his 
undertakings. He now owns a tine farm of 
about 400 acres, all well improved. His cozy 
and attractive residence has about it many fea- 
tures characteristic of the Northern home. All 
this ])roperty he has made since he came 
here, with the exception of fifty acres, which 
was a present to his wife from her father. 

Mr. Landess was born in Highland county, 
Ohio, May 16, 1847. His father, J. A. 



360 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Landess, was a native of the same county, 
born in 1814. His mother, wliu before her 
marriage was Miss Racliel Michael, was born 
in 1818. In 1865 they moved to Illinois 
and settled in Pike county, where the father 
bought land and is still living. His wife 
died there in 1878, at the age of sixty years. 
To them were born ten children, and at this 
writing all are living except two. Their 
names are as follows: William, Levi, Nancy 
(wife of E. A. Colvin), Asenath, Daniel C, 
John H., Merica, Harvey, Samuel, Thompson, 
Amanda, wife of Eustace Cumby, and Martin. 

Daniel C. was married, October 17, 1878, 
to Miss L. J. Potter, who was born Decem- 
ber 12, 1857. For further mention of her 
family see the sketch of J. P. Potter, in this 
volume. Mr. and Mrs. Landess have live 
children: Valtie, born October 2, 4880; Zula, 
February 23, 1882; Leslie, February 13, 
1884; Alvia, February 16, 1886; and Dona, 
March 10, 1889. 

Mr. Landess formerly belonged to the 
Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities, but 
has not affiliated with these orders since com- 
ing to Texas. 

--^ 

LI. HAKRELL, architect and super- 
intendent of public works and of 
I * the school buildings of the city of 
Dallas, was born in Warren county, Georgia, 
in 1846, the eldest of the eight children of 
J. W. B. and Mary (Hubert) Harrell, natives 
of Georgia. The Harrell family settled in 
North Carolina before the Revolutionary war, 
in which both the subject's grandfathers par- 
ticipated. His father, a farmer, came to Pitts- 
burg, in what is now Camp county, Texas, 
in January, 1858, settling on a farm, when 
the country was so new that he had to go to 
Shreveport for supplies. In 1870 he removed 




to Bell county, this State, and followed farm- 
ing there until his death, in April, 1881. 
His widow now resides with her children. 
Mr. Harrell, our subject, was about twelve 
years of age when the family came to this 
State, and he consequently obtained the most 
of his schoolinti at Pittsburg. In 1862 he en- 
listed, in Upshur county, Te.xas, in Company 
F, Fourteenth Texas Infantry, Walker's divis- 
ion, and was in the battle of Mansfield, 
Pleasant Hill, forty days' fight at the Yellow 
bayou, Jenkins' ferry, Opelousas, etc. Then 
he was transferred to Company F, Second 
Texas, Partisan Rangers' Cavalry, and was 
engaged in many skirmishes and in the 
scouting service. 

After the close of the warhei'eturned to Pitts- 
burg and lived at home until 1870, mean- 
while engaging in building and contracting. 
From 1870 to 1887 he was a resident of Bell 
county, Texas. He came to Dallas in Feb- 
ruary, 1887, and here he has erected the 
buildings of E. G. Knight, at the corner of 
Elm and Howard streets, Jones Bros, on 
Main street, D. N. Boren on Browder street, 
W. B. Gano and George Mellersh at Oak 
Lawn, R. D. Coughanour on Ross avenue, an 
addition to the Catholic convent, the first 
building in Oak Clift', the Tenth street station, 
and the first school building, a two-story f r*me. 
He is connected with Isaac Taylor & Co. on 
Main street. He is superintending the con- 
struction of school buildings for the seventh, 
eighth and tenth wards. They are builtof brick, 
contain eight rooms eacii and are equipped with 
all the modern improvements. Besides, he will 
superintend the building of the sehoolhouse 
for colored ihildren, the cost of which will 
be $2,500 each. Mr. Harrell has had charge 
of the cit}' works since July, 1890, and is 
also a member of the Board of Trade. 

He was married in Nachitoches parish. 



HlSTOllY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



361 




Louisiana, December 2, 1889, to Lucy A. 
Oliver, a native of Louisiana and a daughter 
of Theotrie and Lucj (Hollowaj') Oliver, na- 
tives of" South Carolina, wlio in 1850 emi- 
grated to the above parish. Mr. Oliver, a 
planter, resided at his Louisiana home until his 
death. His widow resides with the subject 
of this sketch. Mr. Ilarrell has had eight 
children, of whom seven are living, namely: 
May L., Ella, Harmon, Anna, Willie, Belle 
and Pearl. 

jARGARET S. SMITH, who resides 
in precinct No. 1, Dallas county, is 
the widow of Joseph L. Smith. His 
father, the Rev. James A. Smith, moved to 
Texas in 1847, coming from Tishomingo 
county, Mississippi, and settling in Dallas 
county, about eight miles north of this city. 
He was a local preacher of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South, with four appoint- 
ments in the county. He was accompanied to 
this State by his wife and three children: 
Wesley, Joseph L. and Robert. Wesley 
married Sarah Arm Wilbun, and they had 
eeven children, all of whom are now living. 
Joseph L. married the subject of this sketch 
in Dallas, in 1853, she being the daughter 
of the late John M. Daniel, of Tennessee, 
a sketch of whom will be found in this work. 
They had five cliildren, three now living, 
viz.: James A-, who married Mattie M. Lay- 
tou, of Dallas, and they had one daughter, 
Lillian: Fannie, who married H. 13. John- 
ston, of Dallas, and they have two children; 
Sophronia A., who married a Mr. Moore of 
Dallas; Robert Smith, the third son of Rev. 
James A. Smith, married a Miss Winn, of 
this city. 

Before the late Civil war Joseph L. Smith 
was a salesman in the city of Dallas, and was 



also for some years a Justice of the Peace-, 
and as sucii had the reputation of being a 
magistrate of rare judgment, whose decisions 
were relied upon as clear, equitable and just. 
At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted 
in Colonel Stone's Regiment, with whom 
he served two years, taking part in the battle 
of Elkhorn, and was also in several engage- 
ments with hostile Indians in the territory. 
His regiment crossed the Mississippi and came 
under the command of Colonel Ross, being 
then mounted as cavalry. This command was 
engaged at Corinth, and in several other im- 
portant battles. Mr. Smith returned homo 
on account of sickness, caused by privation 
and exposure, and after having recovered his 
health he joined Colonel Gurley's Command, 
Gano's Brigade, and served principally in 
Arkansas and Indian Territory. In this last 
command he formed and commanded Com- 
pany I, and lield a commission as Captain 
when his command was mustered out. After 
the close of the war he returned home, where 
he died in 1867, at the age of thirty-five 
years. During the last two years of the war, 
while her husband was in the field, Mrs. 
Smith took a few negroes and settled on a 
farm live miles north of Dallas, where she 
was engaged in farming. She subsequently 
purchased a farm eight miles north of Dallas, 
consisting of 30C acres, wliich she has since 
divided among her children, but retains 
seventy acres for a homestead. Joseph L. 
Smith always took a lively interest in public 
affairs, and, though not a politician, he was 
active and alert in matters affecting the best 
interests of the county. He was a member of 
the Masonic order, being at the time of his 
death a Knight Templar, and his family are 
m'embers of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South. 

Margaret S. Smith, our subject, came to 



m2 



iiisroiiv or iiAi.i.AH aouNTY. 



J)ull!iH couiiLy in IX.'jO, with Ikm' inotlKir, 
tlioii t.lio widow 1)1' JoliM M. I)aiiinl, wiio <lii!(J 
it! 'I'ciinoBseo, liiiviiij^ provioiiBly lived in Aiii- 
Imm.'t. Mr. and iVIrH. Daniel had M\r\\\. cliil- 
drcn, vi/..: William, a lawyijr, iiiarricMl Mary 
('liandler, of MiHBiBHip|)i ; Johbo, a rariiior 
iivo niihiH north of l)allaH, itiarri(!d Ann Pur- 
vis; I'VanoiH II., alwo a farnuir livn niiloH nortii 
of DalluH, MiarriiMJ Mary ItohiiiKon, ol' Ala- 
hania; .luliii I''., inarriod Mary liiirvoy, of 
DallaH, and both art! now d(!c,i'aK(id ; i'yjiza, 
d(:c(Min(!d, waH tilt! wilt! of L(^vi VViiidliatn, oi" 
TuHcalooKa, A lali.niiii; TlionniH H., a i'ariner 
iivo inilort north ol' l)allaH; JHalitdla ()., wife 
of Alexander Howard; and Margarcit S., onr 
Hidiject. William, tlie oldest boh, Herve(l in 
tlie M(»xiean war, an<l was (Mio;ai^rc(| in many 
important h.'itlleH. 'i'liom.is I'.Hervivl in Oood'K 
IJatlcry, tlic Oivil war, and waH eni^ajriMl 
KiiBt of the M isHiHsippi river. I)Mrine;hiB 
Berviee he waa held a prinoner of war at (!lii 
caffo f'orehn'eii montliH. 



fliANK AUSTIN. Tlu^hij^ddy re.^peeted 
citizen wlione name iKiadrf thin notic,(< is 
a jew(der, ami a renpectahle old Hcllh-r 
of DalhiH (;ounty. lie waw horn >lnly ti, 
1H2(). liiH parentH were (!liarli!H and (irace 
(I'nHhj) AnHtin, liotli nativcH of l'emi.4yl- 
vaiiia. The father wart a wa^on-mak(!r in 
I'hiladelphia and follow(;(l that huHineBH in 
tliat city for nniny years, heiiie; extermividy 
known. lie was a r('lativ(i of the AiiHtins 
all-er whom tlui <'ity of that mumi wan calhid. 
lie and IiIh }^ooiI wife were memht'rn of tlui 
i>a|)tiHt (!hni-ch and were of Welsh extraction. 
'I'he fathei' died in 1S4S, a^(Ml sixty, hut hifi 
wife survived him for about live years when 
slm too jiaBsed away, at ahout the same a;,'e. 
Sho WftB a devout ( 'hristian woman and prom 



inent in the churcli. There were nine chil- 
dren in the family, all raised to mature years, 
live of whom are still livini^. 

I<'riinl< Austin was the ^(^viMilh in the 
fauiily ami was rear(«l in i'hiladelphia, where 
he receiv(td his education in the common 
scIiooIn of that city. After linishine; his 
education he leai'ued the jeweler trade, which 
he worked at for Bomo bIx years in I'hila- 
(hdphia and IIkmi came to Wisconnin, in 
ISnC), and Hcttlod in liipon, wlnire he opeiusd 
a jewelry store. Here he reiriain("l for throe 
years and then riMiioved to Warsaw, MiBflouri, 
and opened a store there and also riimaiued 
there for three years. From there he went 
to Waukesha, Wisconsin, and opened a store 
which he ran until l.S7(), then came to Dallas, 
wduire he opened a store and has heon en • 
^ao;ed hen; in tlu? jewelry business ever since, 
with {■onsiderable buccobs. 

Mr. Austin was elected Alderman of the 
city in IK72, but does not care for jiolitical 
iionors, business claims eugrossiiiii; his utten- 
tioti. 

Our subject was married, in 184-8, to Miss 
.lane Colson, dau(.(hter of David (!olson, of 
I'emherton, New .lerstiy, and she bore her 
husband thi-(>e children, nann^ly: D. (/., who 
is in t-hej(!welry business at Ohi Idress, Texas, 
marriiMl to a Miss ,1. T. Orr, of Dallas; Will- 
i.'im V. and Martha .lane. 

The mother di(Ml in 1^6-1, w^m\ tw(nity- 
four. She was a member of the I'aptist 
('hiirch. Mr. Austin's second marriaf^e 
occurred fi'liruary If), 1850, and the lady of 
his (du)ice was M iss .Ian(! W. Wheeler, daugh- 
ter of l'.(<njamin and I'eatrice Wheeh^r, of 
Northam|)tonshire, Kne;land, wiicre they 
w<ire miurieil, and where Mrs. Austin was 
horn. There were eij^ht children in her 
family, two of whom died in early childhood. 
Of the remainder, live are still livinj,'. Mr. 



lIim'ORY OK llAl.l.AH VtiUNTY. 



868 



Wlieeler was a farmer wlio came to America 
witli Ih'h famil}', in ISU, si-tlliii^ in Waii- 
konlia, Wipcoiisin, on a farm and removed 
from tlicrc to Iowa, (iyin<r at Kdtiyvilie, Iowa, 
in 1874, after H residence of four years. His 
age was seventy-one, and both lie and liis 
wife were members of the Baptist Church. 
His wife survived him two years and tlien 
died at the same age as her lamented hus- 
band. 

Mr. and Mrs. Austin have had five chil- 
dren, namely: Frank, died at the age of cij^h- 
teen months, October 18, 1858; Ijenjaniin 
W., married Miss Fannie Swindells, daugh- 
ter of the publisher of the Dallas Herald, 
at that time, resides at Oak Cliff and is 
bookkeeper at the Waters- I'ierce Oil Com- 
pany, and Florence Marie is their only living 
child; Jacob H. and 8alina -land (twins): the 
former married Miss Ida L. Hickman, resi- 
dent of Ilico, Texas, engaged in the jewelry 
business. 

Mrs. Austin is a member of the Haptist 
Church of Dallas, and Mr. Austin is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity. He is a 
highly esteemed and valued citizen, who, 
with his wife, a very intelligent, Christian 
woman, are such peo|)le as give character to 
a community and (jf whom Dallas is proud. 
Tlieir i)lamelo88 lives and many sterling 
qualities of head and heart have endeared 
them to a host of friends, botli here and in 
other localities whore they have lived. 

We clip the following from one of the 
leading papers of the day: "Said Major 
Henry Brown to Round About Town: ' Five 
years ago at a birthday dinner given by 
Henry Holl, a solemn league and covenant 
was formed by six friends present, which was 
that annually at the birthday of each they 
should all meet and t)reak bi-ead together in 
the bonds of personal friendship. Since then 



on«! of tlieir numl)cr, William Werden, died 
and was biirieij amid their tears. On tlu; sec- 
ond of this month the reunion was on P'raiik 
Austin's sixty-sixtii birthday, and all but 
.ludge Hurford were present. Mrs. Austin 
officiated at the dinner, assisted by her 
daughter-in-law, Fannie Swindells, now the 
wife of Mr. Benjamin Austin. To these 
old citizens, some of whom knew her 
parents before Fannie Swindells was born, it 
was a sweet souvenir. Each of the old friends, 
Frank Austin, Dr. A. A. Johnston, Ih^nry 
Boll, and by inference Nat. M. I'urfrjrd, 
left the scene a happier and bett(!r man.' " 



p,EUBEUT PRICE, Vice-President and 
^ (leneral Manager of the Texas Mort- 
gage and Agency Company, Dallas, 
Texas, is a man of marked business ability, 
wide awake to the interests of whatever 
enterprise with which he identifies himself. 
He was elected to his jiresent position .Janu- 
ary 1, 18(J2, and with his characteristic push 
and energy is conducting the business of the 
company. The above company represents 
some of the strongest English and Scotch 
mortgage companies. 

Mr. Price was born in Cheshire, England, 
October 10, 1804, being the youngcht hoii of 
John and Emily (Marsh) Price, natives of 
F^ngland. His father, a ship merchant, left 
Liverpool, bound for New York, about De- 
cember, 1805, and as the vessid on which he 
sailed was never heard from or sighted after 
leaving Queenstown, it is supposed that he 
was lost with the balance of the crew and 
passengers. Mr. Price was at that time 
thirty-eight years of age. He and his family 
were memlters of the Established Church of 
England. At the time he was lost his wife 



364 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



was living at Soxithport, near Liverpool, and 
was left with three children, — John, Walter 
and Herbert. John, the eldest, died in En- 
gland in 1874, aged twenty-oue years. Wal- 
ter, still a resident of his native country, is 
junior partner of the firm of Montgomery, 
Jones & Co., of Liverpool, importers of all 
kinds of grain, shipping from all countries, 
principally India and South America. 

Herbert Price was educated at the Tatten 
Hall School, England, completing liis studies 
there in 1877. Then as one of the agents of 
Messrs. Perry, Berry & Co., esparto mer- 
chants of Liverpool, he went to Africa and 
thence to Spain, returning to England after a 
three years' sojourn in those countries. Many 
features of this trip were not of the most 
pleasant nature. Until the Tunisian war 
opened between the Frencli and the Arabs 
he was stationed principally at Tunis, Sfax 
and Tripoli. Then he was recalled, as it was 
impossible to do further business. This was 
in 1879. From England Mr. Price came to 
America, landing in Canada. In Manitoba 
he was engaged in farming two years. At 
the expiration of that time he went to Winni- 
peg and joined the expedition of the Hudson 
Bay Company, and went to the Northwestern 
Territory and the Hudson bay. He subse- 
quently returned to Winnipeg, and from 
there, in 1885, directed his course to New 
Orleans. We next find him in Abilene, 
Taylor county, Texas, where he was engaged 
in sheep- raising two years; thence to Jones 
county. In 1889 he came to Dallas, where 
he has since been with the Texas Mortgage 
and Agency Company. 

Mr. Price was married September 17, 
1890, to Miss Florence Flinn, daughter of 
Alfred Flinn, a ship-owner of Liverpool, 
England. They were married in that city, 
and came to America on their bridal tour. 



Both he and his wife are members of the 
Established Church of England. 

For one of his age, Mr. Price has had an 
extensive traveling experience. Although 
comparatively a recent acquisition to Dallas, 
he has made many friends here, by all of 
whom he is held in high esteem. 



^f- 



D. BOND, who is engaged iu the real- 
estate business in Dallas, has been 
® identified with the interests of this 
city since 1874. 

Mr. Bond was born in Harrison county, 
Mississippi, in 1854, the third in a family of 
four children born to Rankin and Charity 
Josephine (Dale) Bond. His father was a 
native of Mississippi and a member of one 
of the prominent early families of the southern 
part of that State. He was a stock dealer and 
farmer. His death occurred in Pass Chris- 
tian, Mississippi, in 1858, of yellow fever. 
The mother, a native of Georgia, is still 
living and resides with her son, S. D. Bond. 
Grandfather Bond was a distinguished poli- 
tician in southern Mississippi, and served as 
a member of the Legislature. 

The subject of our sketch was reared and 
educated in Pass Christian, Mississippi, 
coming direct from there to Dallas, Texas. 
For a few years he worked at the carpenter's 
trade, and then began taking contracts in 
connection with his building. Then for eight 
01' ten years he was engaged iu the mercan- 
tile business on Main street. He built and 
sold a brick block on Mc Kinney avenue. He 
also erected a number of other buildings, and 
has been actively engaged in buying and sell- 
ing property here. 

Mr. Bond has taken some interest in the 




^/n^'^cu^ 



'• ^/ ' 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



865 




political affairs of the county, voting with the 
Democratic party. He is a member of the 
Tannehill Lodge, No. 50, A. F. & A. M. He 
is a public-spirited man, and takes an active 
interest in any measure that has for its object 
the promotion of good. 

:iLLIAM B. MILLER, a pioneer of 
|A" Dallas county, was born in Madison 
county, Kentucky, in 1807, the 
second of seven children born to John and 
Mary (Brown) Miller, natives of Kentucky. 
The father moved to Madison county, Ala- 
bama, in 1818, and opened up a farm, and 
his death occurred in that State in 1864; his 
wife survived him until after the war. 

Mr. Miller, whose name introduces this 
brief sketch, was reared to farm life and edu- 
cated in the public schools of Madison county, 
and also at the academy at lluntsville, Ala- 
bama. He subsequently rented land and 
engaged in farming, but in 1834 began 
merchandising at New Market, Alabama, 
which he followed two years, when, on ac- 
count of the Henry Clay bankrupt law, he 
failed in business. He then moved to Ten- 
nessee and again engaged in farming for ten 
years, after which, in 1847, became to Dallas 
county, settling in Precinct No. 1. In 1856 
he bought 562 acres of land where he now 
resides, but later sold seventy acres for $30 
an acre, and afterward bought two acres back, 
giving therefor §12,500! and he still owns a 
a part of the original 562 acres. 

For forty-tive years has Mr. Miller ranked 
as one of the foremost and most honorable 
citizens of Dallas county, a model farmer and 
raiser of fine stock and fruits, with eminent 
success; and now, at the advanced age of 
eight-five years, enjoys the esteem of the 

36 



community as fully as any man living. Un- 
pretentious, affable and accommodating, he is 
a model man and citizen. In politics he is a 
steadfast Democrat. 

He was married in Madison county, Ala- 
bama, in 1828, to Elizabeth Waddy, a native 
of that State, whose ancestry on one side is 
traceable back to the Cherokee Indians, no- 
blest speciuien of their race. By this mar- 
riage there was one child, — Charilaus, — who 
is married and resides in the Cherokee na- 
tion, in the Indian Territory. He was a gal- 
lant Colonel in the Confederate army from 
Texas, has seen much of the world, spent 
several years in California, and is a very 
popular man. He is familiarly denominated 
•' Crill." At present he is in very poor 
health. His mother died in Alabama in 
1835, and in 1837 Mr. Miller, Sr., our 
subject, married Minerva Barnes, also a 
native of Madison county, Kentucky, and 
daughter of Jesse and Patsy (Ohlen) Barnes, 
also natives of Kentucky. In 1844 Mr. 
Barnes moved to Jackson county, Missouri, 
where he subsequently died. This Mrs. 
Miller died in 1856, after having had five 
children: Alonzo, who died about 1855; 
Martha, wife of W. C. Leonard, of Kaufman 
county; Mary, wife of Mr. Guess; Elizabeth, 
now Mrs. John Edmonson; and Susan, now 
Mrs. Dr. Ewing of Dallas. Mr. Miller was 
again married, in Dallas, in 1860, to Mrs. 
Emma Miller, widow of Madison M. Miller, 
and daughter of Silas II. and Amy (Spencer) 
Dewey, natives of New York. The parents 
were married at Cooperstown, New York, and 
later emitrrated to Ohic , wliei-e the father 
engaged in farming. The grandmother 
Dewey, previously Miss Hyde, was a grand- 
daughter of Lord Chancellor Hyde. The 
maternal grandfather, a AVescott, was of In- 
dian origin, and grandfather Eliphalet Dewey 



3«6 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



participated in the Revolutionary war. Silas 
fl. Dewey came to Walker county, Texas, in 
1855, and his death occurred near Bloomfield, 
Missouri, in 1863; his wife died in Grayson 
county, Texas, in 1884. 

Mr. and Mrs. Miller have had three chil- 
dren, viz.: Charles, J. H. and Minnie. The 
latter is the wife of Barry Miller, of Dallas. 



[HARLES FRANKLIN BARHAM, 

D. D. S., was born in the State of Ar- 
kansas in September, 1853, and is a son 
of J. M. and Lucy J. (Greer) Barham, natives 
of Kentucky and Tennessee respectively. The 
father emigrated to Arkansas in early days, 
and was one of the pioneers of that State. 
He was killed in the late war. The mother 
was born and reared in Nashville, Tennessee, 
and now resides in Arkansas. They had 
born to them eight children, the Doctor 
being the lifth-born. He passed his youth 
in liis native State, and attended the common 
schools. He acquired a good education, and 
began life as a teacher, following this pro- 
fession for two years. In 1878 he took np 
the study of dentistry, which he pursued at 
Vanderbilt University, Nasliviile, Tennessee. 
He was graduated in the spring of 1885, 
taking the degree of D. D. S. He went to 
Hope, Arkansas, and there established him- 
self in a paying practice. In 1886 he came 
to Texas, and located at Terrell, where he re- 
mained one year, coming at the end of that 
time to Dallas. He is a member of the 
Texas State Dental Association, and has won 
an enviable standing in professional circles. 
He is a careful operator, and is well posted 
on all the improved methods of treatment. 

In his political opinions the Doctor is a 
Democrat, "dyed in the wool." He is a 



member of Amity Lodge, No. 108, Knights 
of Pythias. He is a man of honor and in- 
tegrity, and is entirely worthy of the esteem 
in which he is held. 

JI^SILLIAM L. WHITE, deceased, for 
^0;lM1| many years a "prominent business 
I'-^^fc^ man of Lancaster, and at his death 
proljably the wealthiest man in the southern 
part of Dallas county, was born in White 
county, Tennessee, November 15, 1824, a 
son of Woodson P. and Nancy White, and a 
brother of Francis M. White, a sketch of 
whom appears in this work and contains 
their family biography. 

William L. was reared in White county, 
Tennessee. When about thirteen years old 
he commenced clerking in his father's store 
of general merchandise in Sparta and contin- 
ned in that business until his father's death. 
He afterward went into the mercantile busi- 
ness with his uncle, J. G. Mitchell, at the 
same place. 

In about 1846 he was elected clerk of the 
branch bank of the Tennessee Bank, located 
at Sparta, in which capacity he remained 
about six years. During this time he 
lived miles in the country, riding horseback 
each day over rough, mountainous roads, 
braving all kinds of weather, promptly and 
faithfully filling his position at the bank, 
also superintending his farm work at home. 

In the spring of 1854 he made his first 
visit to Texas, remained about three weeks, 
returned to Tennessee and brought his fam- 
ily to Texas the following October, bought 
and improved a 640-acre tract, now owned by 
J. P. Apperson. After coming to this 
county Mr. White was for a number of years 
engaged in the stock business, buying and 



HISTORY OP DAI.LAS COUNTY. 



307 



selling horses and innles, in which he made 
considerable money. In 1800 he removed to 
Lancaster, where, in the fall of that year, he 
opened a dry-goods store and was so engaged 
dnring the war. In 1865 his brother-in-law, 
John T. Ellis, hecame a partner, but later 
Mr. White sold his interest to his brother, 
Francis M. White. During the war he was 
also engaged in the milling business, oper- 
ating^ what was then known as the Keller 
mill, at Lancaster, which was then the only 
mill at that place, and during that time he 
was also Postmaster. After selling his in- 
terest in the dry-goods business Mr. White 
began liamlling cattle, and was actively en- 
gaged at that for a number of years, buying 
in western and central Texas and shipping 
or driving to Junction City and Abilene, Kan- 
sas. New Orleans and Shreve port, Louisiana, 
and other places. When the cattle business 
went down he be^an handling cotton, and 
was also interested in farming. Having 
considerable money of his own and business 
connections with parties East, he was en- 
gaged in the brokerage business, in which he 
made a great deal of money, and in fact was 
successful in everything he undertook and at 
his death left a large estate. He was a man 
of clear head, good foresight and great 
adaptability, and was the financier of Lancasr 
ter and vicinity for many years. He died 
at Nashville, Tennessee, May 28, 1881, while 
there for treatment under the celebrated Dr. 
Briggs, and was buried at the cemetery at 
Lancaster. Mr. White was always interested 
in the welfare of the community in which he 
resided, and tpok a leading part in every pub- 
lic enterprise. Five years before his death 
he made a bright profession of faith in 
Christ. 

He was married in White county, Tenn. s- 
8ee, to Lucinda F., a daughter of Samuel 



Turney, a prominent and at that day a well- 
known lawyer of Sparta, Tennessee. This 
lady accompanied her husband to Te.xas, and 
died a few months later near Wiliner, in the 
southern part of the county. She had two 
children, viz: Woodson P., who is now a citi- 
zen of this county, and Sophronia, who died 
young. 

Six years after the death of his first wife, 
Mr. White was married, April 17, 1860, to 
Louisa F., the youngest child of Thomas M. 
and Mary Ellis, whose sketch appears in 
this work. To tiiis union were born seven 
children, as follows: Addie H., the wife of 
Samuel L. Randlett, of Lancaster; Minnie E. ; 
Willicim L.; Hallie E.; Karl L.; Lula Pearl 
and Byrd E., twins. The children still reside 
with their mother. Mrs. White is a member 
of the Baptist Church and gives of her means 
to that and other worthy causes. She has 
acted as guardian for the six youngest chil- 
dren, developing a wonderful business 
woman and a devoted mother, as best she 
could tilling her own and that of her de- 
ceased husband. 



4^ 



^ 



HOMAS BEGGS, of the firm of Wat- 
son & Beggs, contractors and builders, 
can>e to Dallas in 1885, and were em- 
ployed by C. A. Gill, general contractor, and 
formed their partnership in 1888. They have 
built many fine residences in Dallas and 
Oak Clift", as those of J. S. Armstrong, S. E. 
Wilson, Messrs. Zang and Rich, of Chestnut 
Hill, Pearce and Cooper, etc., — buildings 
costing from $3,000 upward, besides many 
cottages of $1,500 to $2,000,— and the First 
Baptist Church of Dallas (all the wood and 
iron work). During the last year (1890) the 
firm employed thirty-tive men four months, 



368 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



anci the remainder of the year fifteen to 
twenty men. 

Mr. Beggs was born in Ireland in 1862, 
the son of William and Mary (Beggs) Beggs, 
natives also of Ireland. His father died in 
his native country, and his mother now re- 
sides in Dallas. Mr. J>eggs learned his trade 
in Belfast, Ireland. In July, 1882, he landed 
at New York, and soon after went to Pitts- 
burg and St. Louis, and finally came to Dal- 
las, as already stated. He was married here 
in September, 1887, to Frederica A. Lawther, 
a native of New Orleans, and a daughter of 
Colonel R. Lawther, who now resides in Dal- 
las. They have one child, by name Robert 
William. Tiiey are meiribers of the Second 
Presbyterian Church of Dallas, On national 
matters Mr. Beggs is a Democrat. 

fUDGE ARTHUR THOMAS WATTS is 
one of the public-spirited and enterpris- 
ing citizens of Dallas, and one of the 
leading members of the Dallas bar. Of his 
life and ancestry we present the following 
facts : 

Judge Arthur Thomas Watts was born in 
Covington county, Mississippi, August 31, 
1837. His parents, William and Patience 
(Lott) Watts, both natives of Georgia, were 
born near Milledgeville. His father went 
with his parents to Mississippi about 1810, 
at which time the Lott family also settled 
there. Thomas Watts, the Judge's grand- 
father, served in both the Revolution and in 
the war of 1812, being nineteen years of age 
when he took part in the first war. He died 
in Smith county, Texas, in 1856, at the age 
of about ninety-four years. His grandfather, 
Arthur Lott, also served through the Revolu- 
tionary war. In 1810 he started to Missis- 



sippi from Georgia, in company with a num- 
ber of families, and was shot from his horse 
and killed by Indians in Alabama. Several 
others of the party were wounded at the 
same time. His widow with her children 
went on their sad journey to Mississippi, 
and in due time the large familj spread out 
over western Mississippi and Texas. 

William Watts, the Judge's father, con- 
ducted farming operations on a moderate 
scale, working about thirty hands. He was 
a good business man, quiet and unassuming 
in manner, and in every way a worthy and 
highly respected citizen. He sold his inter- 
ests in Mississippi, came to Texas, and set- 
tled on a farm in Harrison county in 1841. 
He died there in 1844. For a numlier of 
years he was a member of the Baptist Church. 
He was a man of earnest devotion and great 
usefulness. His widow is still living, an 
honored and highly esteemed pioneer of 
Polk county, Texas. She is an earnest 
Christian woman, and since her girlhood 
days has been a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. She is now eighty-five 
years of age. Of her eight children, five are 
still living. 

The subject of our sketch received his 
education at Zion Seminary, Mississippi. 
After completing his course there, he began 
the study of law under the direction of 
John E. McNair, Circuit Judge of that dis- 
trict. His marked success and high stand- 
ing in the legal profession show the wisdom 
of his choice for a life work. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar at Livingston, Polk county, 
Texas, in 1859, and at once began practice 
in partnersliip with Judge Crosson, now of 
Balllnger, Texas. This partnership con- 
tinued a year. Mr. Watts then went to Mis- 
sissippi on business, and while he was there 
the war opened. He enlisted on the first of 



n I STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



369 



August, 1861, as a private soldier in Com- 
pany A, Sixteenth Mississippi Kegiinent, and 
served through the war in the Army of 
Northern Virginia, being first under "Stone- 
wall " Jackson, then under Longstreet, and 
latterly in A. P. IlilPs corps. During the 
war he received several slight wounds, at 
one time being disabled for about twenty 
days, but on the whole he stood the service 
well. 

The war over, he came to Livingston and 
began anew the practice of law. In 1872 
he was elected to a seat in the lower house 
of the State Leaislature, and served in the 
session of 1873. lie was instrumental in 
the passage of an election law, and also in 
securing a compromise with the Texas & 
Pacific Railroad for a bond grant of $6,000,- 
000, besides rendering other efficient services. 
January 1, 1874, he moved to Weatherford, 
Te.xas, and with Mr. Lanham, now a Con- 
gressman, practiced law there until 1878. 
In October of that year he settled in Dallas. 
Here he conducted a successful practice un- 
til December, 1880. At that time he was 
appointed one of the Commissioners of Ap- 
peals for the State of Texas, receiving his ap- 
pointment from Governor Roberts, and in 
that capacity he served till October, 1885, 
since which time he has been in the prac- 
tice of his profession. The work of the 
Commissioners of Appeals, with which he was 
connected, will be found in the Texas Re- 
ports, volumes lifty-four to sixty-four in- 
clusive. 

Judge Watts was married in June, 1869, 
to Miss Mary Victery, daughter of John 
Victory, of Polk county, Texas. Her father, 
a farmer by occupation, has been dead for a 
number of years. Mrs. Watts died Octol)er 
7, 1890, aged forty years. She was an 
Episcopalian and a most estimable woman, 




loved by all who knew her. She left four 
children, viz.: Ella, a former student of Dr. 
Wheat's school, Winchester, Virginia; Sam- 
uel, a stenographer and typist in his father's 
othce, reading law at intervals; and Arthur 
and Rosa, attending school. 

The J udge is a member of the Episcopal 
Church and of the Masonic fraternity. 



ILLIAM J. OWEN was born near 
the city of Rochester, New York, 
and inherited from his father the 
genius of handling stock. He was educated 
in the high school of Rochester and in that 
State learned the trade of a butcher, master- 
ing all its details — -practical and theoretical 
— with great aptness. After some years 
spent in business on his own account he re- 
moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, then to 
Waco, Texas, and finally drifted to Dallas in 
1883, and at once began l)usiness at his pres- 
ent location on Elm street, his establishment 
being in a very flourishing condition, owing 
to his upright and honorable business meth- 
ods. Although he began in a modest way 
his business has increased very rapidly, and 
at his market the largest business in the city 
is done. Two thousand beeves are disposed 
of each year and other meats in proportion. 
He is one of the orijanizers of the Texas 
Butchers and Drovers' Association and is 
vice-president of the National Association 
and president of the local branch. He is an 
enthusiastic and influential member and at- 
tends all the national associations. He also 
belongs to the order of Red Men and the 
Fat Men's Association. His present position 
is due to his own industry and integrity and 
he is probably one of the most universally 
popular men among all classes in the city 



370 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



He is kind-hearted and generous, and his purse 
has been many times opened to the calls of 
suffering humanity. He has built him a cozy 
home on Oak street and lives in a manner 
becoming liis position and intiuence. 

On the 22d of March, 1872, he was married 
to Miss Lillie Ward of Grand Rapids, Michi- 
gan, by whom he has one son, William J., Jr. 



*f. 



'^ 




V. COLE, a retired farmer of 
Dallas county, was born near Fay- 
"■^ etteville, Washington county, Ar- 
kansas, January 2, 1837, the tenth child of 
John and Polly (McDonald) Cole, natives of 
Virginia. The father moved to Tennessee in 
an early day, where he opened up a farm, 
and later removed to Arkansas, and in 1843 
to Dallas county, spending many years of his 
life on the frontier. He took up a claim of 
640 acres in Precinct No. 1, where his death 
occurred in 1850, and his wife's death occur- 
red there also, in 1869. The subject of this 
sketch was reared to farm life and was edu- 
cated in the subscription schools of the county 
and also attended the Hudson Academy, near 
Dallas. He came to this county at the age of 
six years, and, after reaching manhood, com- 
menced farming and stock-raising. In 1862 
he enlisted in Scott's Battalion, which was 
attached to Darnell's regiment, and was cou- 
iined mostly in Arkansas. He was discharged 
in the latter part of 1862, after which he re- 
turned to Dallas and engaged in farming. 
Mr. Cole has since added to his original pur- 
chase, one and a-half miles from Dallas, until 
now he owns 300 acres, ail of which is well 
improved. He also owns a tine residence and 
six acres in the city. Mr. Cole affiliates with 
the Democratic ^^'^^''^y' ^"^ i" 1873 was 
elected County Treasurer serving tliree terms. 



and 1884 served one year as County Com- 
missioner of Precinct No. 1. He is a niem- 
l)er of the School Board from the Ninth Ward, 
and was active in securing the erection of a 
fine school building, costing $20,000. So- 
cially, Mr. Cole is a member of Tannehill 
Lodge, No. 52, A. F. & A. M., at Dallas, and 
religiously both he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Missionary Baptist Church. 

He was married in this county, in 1862, 
to Margaret Preston, a native of Tennessee, 
and daughter of George and Anna (Roddy) 
Preston, natives of Virginia. The parents 
moved to Tennessee in an early day, thence 
to Cass county, Missouri, and thence to 
Dallas county, where the lather died 
in 1868, and the mother a short time 
previous. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have four chil- 
dren: Georgie, now Mrs. John F. Irwin, of 
Dallas; Edwin L., reporter for the Herald, 
of Dallas; Birdie May, at home, and Marshall 
v., also at home. 

A. POYNOR, City Engineer, was 
born in 1854, in Tennessee, and spent 
® his youth in that State. He pursued 
a course of study at the Nashville University, 
with the specialty of civil engineering, and 
graduated in 1874. The next year he came 
to Texas and was employed as civil engineer 
on the Texas Pacific railroad for a number of 
years, in addition to general work at his pro- 
fession throughout the State. In 1890 he 
was called by the city of Dallas to the office 
of city engineer, and he entered at once upon 
the discharge of his duties. His fitness for 
the place is amply tested by the excellent 
condition of all the public works under his 
control, — waterworks, sewers, streets, etc. 
He employs twelve men, skilled and efficient. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



371 



Mr. Poynor is a member of the American 
Society of Civil Engineers, a Knight of 
Pythias and a Knight Templar. 

The mother of our subject, Mrs. Charlotte 
T. (Stephens) Poynor, has been a resident of 
Dallassince 1874, coming here from William- 
son county, Tennessee. She is now in her 
eighty-second year, and has powers both of 
body and mind quite well preserved for that 
advanced age. Her children are: J. W., re 
siding in the Pan Handle of this State; Dr. 
J. S., of Williamson county, Texas; A. M., 
residing near Lancaster, Dallas county, Texas; 
and D. A., whose name heads this brief 
sketch. The entire family are members of 
the Christian Church. 



^ 



?AMES M. BRITAIN, a farmer and stock- 
raiser of Dallas county, Texas, dates his 
birth in Henry county, Missouri, No- 
vember 21, 1841. He is the second son and 
third child of Joseph and Sena (White) 
Britain, and when seven years of age came 
with them to Dallas county, Texas, where he 
was reared on a farm and educated in the 
subscription schools of that day. At the age 
of fourteen he engaged in freighting with oX 
teams, hauling from ports on the river and 
lumber from the pine woods. This occupation 
he followed till the breaking out of the late 
war, when he enlisted, January 1, 1862, in 
Company C, Sixth Texas Cavalry, and was in 
active duty in Mississippi, Georgia, Ala- 
bama,' Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri, 
participating in all the battles with his 
regiment and suffering the many hardships 
incident to a soldier's life. While they were 
on the retreat from Corinth he was taken 
prisoner and confined ten days. He served 
till the close of the war, after which he re- 



turned to Dallas county and again engaged 
in freighting, driving horses and continuing 
the business successfully for five years. 

Mr. Britain was married February 9, 1870, 
to Miss E. H. Gray, a native of Virginia and 
daughter of William and Betsey (Alderson) 
Gray. Her fatnily came to Texas in 1860; 
her father was killed during the war and her 
mother resides with her children. Soon after 
his marriage Mr. Britain bought 160 acres 
of land and engaged in farming, which, with 
stock-raising, has since claimed his attention. 
He now has 327 acres of line land, under a 
high state of cultivation, and is raising corn, 
cotton and oats. 

Mr. and Mrs. Britain are the parents of 
nine children: Otis D. E. married Kate T. 
Wright, of this county; PVeddie J., Eldon 
W., Oscar R., Claud, Elizabeth, Morris A. Ad- 
die and Blake B. Politically, Mr. Britain is a 
Democrat. He and his wife are members 
of the Baptist Church. They have been 
particularly fortunate in the enjoyment of 
good health. Only on two occasions have 
they required the services of a physician in 
their family on account of sickness. 



I^ENRY MOULARD, a carpenter and 
builder of Dallas, was born in the De- 
partment of Loier et Cher, France, in 
1862, the sixth of the seven children of Au- 
gust and Ann (David) Moulard, natives also 
of France. The father, a carpenter by trade, 
died in France, in 1882, aged sixty-three 
years; and the mother died in Dallas, Octo- 
ber 11, 1891, aged sixty-nine years, a be- 
liever in the Catholic faith, as are also the 
family still. Their children are: Eugene, 
who resides in Orleans, France, married to 
Josephine Forgeat; Camile, who died in Or- 



372 



HI8T0BT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



leaus, France, at the age of twenty-three 
years, unmarried: he served a year in the 
French army; Henry, the subject of tliis 
sketch; Jule J., unmarried, a resident of 
Dallas since 1871, and a successful carpenter, 
having been an employe of the firm of 
Murpliy & Bolas for the past seven years; 
and Anna, the wife of J. F. Martine of Dal- 
las: she died in 1877, at the age of twenty- 
three years. 

Mr. Moulard, our subject, was brought to 
the United States in 1871, by his parents, 
with three brothers and a sister, arriving at 
Dallas December 24. He has a brother 
unmarried, living here in Dallas, Jule J. by 
name. Henry began learning his trade in 1876, 
in Dallas, and completed it in Orleans, 
France, spending two and a half years there, 
where they both, Henry and Jule J., completed 
their trade. Not witiistanding he has suffered 
many privations and encountered many ob- 
stacles, he has been an industrious laborer 
ever since he was eleven years of age, and his 
present prosperity is proof of his wisdom. 
He has taken great interest in the material 
welfare of the city of Dallas and has seen 
many changes in its phenomenal growth. 

QAKNETT GIBBS, attorney at law and 
capitalist, Dallas, was born in Yazoo, 
Mississippi, a son of Q. D. Gibbs, — 
French and Irish on the paternal side: his 
father was also a lawyer. His paternal grand- 
father, General George W. Gibbs, was a well 
known lawyer and politician in the early days 
of Tennessee. For a time he was Attorney 
General of the State. Mr. Gibbs, our sub- 
ject, completed his school days at Cumber- 
land University, and in 1873 settled in Dal- 
las, for the practice of law, and since then he 



has also taken an active part in politics. 
Was City Attorney six years, from 1876 to 
1882; State Senator from 1882 to 1884, from 
the district composed of Dallas, Kaufman and 
Rockwell counties, and after serving two 
years was elected Lieutenant Governor of 
Texas. His popularity is shown by the fact 
that he ran far ahead of his ticket. For a 
time he was acting Governor. Since the 
close of his official career, he has been en- 
gaged in the practice of his chosen profession 
and in looking after his large landed interests 
in Texas and New Mexico. He is a leading 
Odd Fellow, in which order he was once the 
youngest Grand Master the State ever had; 
and he is also a Knight of Pythias. It is 
probably as a public speaker that he is best 
known His services on the rostrum are in 
constant demand, whether there is a cam- 
paign on hand or not. His views on prohi- 
bition and finance are clear and sound. Prob- 
ably no man in the State has had more to do 
with molding public sentiment than he. 
In addressing his fellow citizens his chief de- 
light is to find them cool and calm, so that 
they will follow I'eason only. 

Mr. Gibbs has erected many buildings and 
spent much money in improving the city of 
Dallas. He has also a large farm in this 
county, and is developing Arkansas Pass, on 
the coast. 

Quesney Dibrelle Gibbs, the father of the 
subject of the foregoing sketch, was a native of 
Tennessee, who became a leading lawyer in 
Mississippi, to which State he moved in the 
'30s, and finally died in the Confederate ser- 
vice, in which he was Captain, in the Thir- 
tieth Mississippi Regiment. He had held the 
office of Judge of Probate, although he never 
took kindly to politics. He married Miss 
Sallie Dorsey, a native of Kentucky and a de- 
vout member of the Methodist Episcopal 



HISTORY OF DALL,\a GOUNTT. 



873 



Church; she died in 1863, aged lifty-oiie 
years. 

He was married in 1876, to Miss Sallie 
llaynes, the daughter and only child of J. 
W. llaynes, a merchant. Siie was educated 
in New York and Virginia, and is a lady of 
rare culture. They have two sons and one 
daughter: Sallie IJayues, Wildy and Barney, 
Jr. The wife's parents, John W. and Maria 
J. (Phunraer) llaynes. came to Texas early in 
the '50s, perhaps in 1851. Mr. llaynes was 
a leading citizen in McKinney, and later in 
Dallas, where he died in 1873. Mrs. Hayneg 
was a native of West Virginia, and died in 
1888. 

l?]V. J. A. HARTNETT, Rector of St. 
Patrick's Church, Dallas, is a native of 
Erin's Isle, county of Limerick, Ireland, 
and a son of Daniel T. and Ilanora (Donuugh) 
Ilartnett. The father died in Weatherford, 
Parker county, Texas, in July, 1890, aged 
seventy years, and the mother now resides at 
the homestead in that county, aged sixty- 
eight years. They were the parents of twelve 
children, eight of whom are still living: 
Thomas D., a railroad contractor through 
Texas, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, and 
is now in Indiana on a contract for a railroad 
leading from Chicago East; Michael D., a 
hardware and farm implement merchant of 
Graceville, Minnesota; Cornelius D.,a whole- 
sale grocer of Weatherford, being the senior 
member of the firm of C. D. ilartnett & Co.; 
Bridget, wife of Charles Nolan, a farmer of 
Ankeny, Iowa; Margaret, wife of John 
Ilartnett, a railroad C(jntractor and farmer 
near Weatherford; Augustine, an Ursuline 
nun of Dallas, and known as Madam St. 
Mary Augustine; J. A., our subject; and 
Daniel D., a retail grocer of Weatherford. 



Our subject's father's half-brother, John F. 
Meagher, is ex-Governor of Minnesota. 
Daniel T. Ilartnett was a man highly re- 
spected for his honesty and industry, ant! his 
children grew to mature years under the best 
parental influence, as is evinced by the busi- 
ness tact and high standing of each. They 
are all persons of prominence in their line, 
and are respected by a large circle of ac- 
quaintances. 

The subject of this sketch came to Amer- 
ica with his parents in 1863, and to Texas in 
1871. He was educated at St. Mary's Col- 
lege, of St. Mary's Kansas, and his theologi- 
cal studies were pursued at St. Mary's Semin- 
ary, of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was ordained 
July 5, 1891, and first served as assistant at 
the Pro-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 
located at the corner of Bryant and Ervay 
streets, Dallas. Two months later he was 
appointed to his present position, which he 
has tilled successfully and satisfactorily. His 
congregation is increasing rapidly, and in 
fact, has almost doubled since his pastorata 
began. Since early life Father Hartnett has 
taken kindly to theology, his reading and 
studies l)eing directed chiefly to his present 
work, and his habits and customs being in 
strict keeping with his high calling. He is 
a worthy man, an esteemed citizen, and is 
endowed with both vigor and public spirit. 

D. BURKE, of the Arm of Burke 
Bros., Cornice Works, Dallas, has 
1^=^^* been a resident of this city for 
about nine years. 

Born in New Orleans, he spent his boyhood 
days and learned the trade of copper, tin and 
sheet-iron worker there. After working in 
different cities of the country for sometime, 




374 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



be settled in Dallas in 1882. In 1888 he and 
his brother, J. E. Burke, established business 
for themselves, since which time they have 
been having a thriving trade and employing 
constantly eight or ten men, tlieir work ex- 
tending to various towns in the northern part 
of this State. 

Mr. Burke's father, H. D. Burke, was a 
native of Ireland, was married at Independ- 
ence, Louisiana, to Miss Mary Taggart, also 
a native of Ireland, was a grocer for tliirty- 
five years in New Orleans, before and during 
the war had charge of Rowell, Sons & Wad- 
leigh's Southern Car Works, was a member 
of the Catholic Church, an honest and honor- 
able man, and died June 30, 1886, at the 
age of sixty-six years. His widow is still liv- 
ing, at Houston, Texas, now aged dfty-eight 
years. Of their eight children five are living, 
namely: J. E. ; W. D., the subject of this 
brief notice: Agnes, wife of Frank Alcala; 
Margaret M , unmarried and living with her 
mother; and Henry D. ; the others died in 
early childhood. J. E. married Mary Men- 
inger and their children are: Mamie, Lena 
Bell, Irene and John E. Mr. J. E. Burke is 
foreman on the Houston & Texas Central 
steam shovel, which position he has held for 
eleven years, being an excellent workman. 
Agnes has one child, John E., and she and 
her family live at Houston. 

W. U. Burke married, in Dallas, in 1886, 
Miss Angelica Vilbig, daughter of John C. 
and Barbara Vilbig, natives of Germany and 
married in Wisconsin. Mr. Vilbig was a 
shoemaker, and later a farmer; he died in 
1880, a Catholic, aged forty-eight years, and 
his wife is still living, in Dallas. Their chil- 
dren are: August, who married Kate Cramer, 
resides in Dallas and has one child, Anna; 
Sophie, who is the wife of E. A. Lott, re- 
sides in Dallas and has Teresa, Alfred, John, 



Ed. L., Mrs. Burke, John (a contractor in 
Dallas), Josie, at home, besides four who 
died in early life. 

Mr. Burke's children are William H. and 
Eleanor Irene. He is a thorougiigoing, earn- 
est business man, and an enterprising and 
public-spirited citizen. Socially, he is a 
member of the Dallas Lodge, No. 70, K. 
of P. 



ETH SLOCUM, plaster contractor at 
Dallas, ^tlie oldest contractor in his 
line of the city, — was born in Harrison 
county. West Virginia, in 1839, the third- 
born of the thirteen children of Elias and 
Maria (Pitcher) Slocum. His father was a 
native of Virginia and his mother of Connect- 
icut. The grandfather, Slocum, a native of 
New Jersey, settled in Virginia. Elias 
Slocum, a farmer, died in Virginia, about 
1878, at the age of sixty-five years. He was 
a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church for many years, and of good reputa- 
tion and extensive influence. At one time he 
was president of the agricultural society of 
Clarksburg, West Virginia. His widow died 
in the spring of 1892, at the age of about 
seventy-five years. She had been totally 
blind for about twelve years before her death, 
having lost her sight from catarrh. She was 
a good Christian woman. 

Mr. Slocum, our subject, was raised on a 
farm in Virginia. In 1863 he enlisted in 
Company D, Nineteenth Virginia Cavalry, 
and served therein until the close of the war, 
being engaged in the battles of Droop Mount- 
ain, Virginia, Fisher's Hill, Champion Hill, 
Shenandoah Valley, etc. Two horses were 
killed under him. At Droop Mountain be 
was wounded. After the war he went to 
Ohio, and learned his trade at Parkersburg, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



375 



West Virginia, and in Ohio. In 1872 he came 
to Dallas, 6ettling near where he now re- 
Bides, and engaged in his trade, in Dallas and 
siirrouiidiiig towns. Some of the principal con- 
tracts he has made and tilled are those for 
the building of the North Texas National 
Bank, Middleton Bros.', Central Bank, Bar- 
nett C. Gibbs' building, the St. George build- 
ing, the greatest portion of the Grand Wind- 
sor, the new Eighth and Seventh Ward 
school buildings. Exchange Bank, etc. He 
generally has about eight skilled men in his 
employ, and twelve laborers. The Acme 
Cement Plaster is superior, as it gives a 
very hard finish. One hundred and one- 
half tons of Acme plastering was used in 
the building of the new courthouse. Mr. 
Slocum was the contractor for the plas- 
terincp of the new courthouse of Dallas and 
did a most excellent job, costing over $8,000. 
His bid was accepted over all others, even 
while bidding the highest, although plenty 
low enough. This speaks well of the confidence 
of the community in him as a finished and 
thorough workman in his line. 

In his political views he is a Democrat. 

[AVID MACKAY, M. D., was born in 
Glasgow, Scotland, September 26, 1832, 
a son of David and Agnes (Cruikshanks) 
Mackay, natives of the same country. The 
father was a manufacturer and with his wife 
came to America in 1870, settling with his 
son in Louisiana, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his life, dying in May, 1872. 
There were seven children in this family, two 
of whom survive, — a sister living in Scotland 
and the subject of this notice. 

Dr. Mackay was educated in the Univer- 
sity of Glasgow, graduating in 1855. lie 



then went as assistant surgeon on one of 
" Her Majesty's" war-ships, and witnessed 
many of the engagements of the Crimean 
war. Upon the cessation of hostilities in 
that quarter he returned to Scotland, and in 
1857 emigrated to America. In 1861 he re- 
ceived the degree of Doctor of Medicine from 
the Uygeio-Therapeutic College of New 
York. 

At the beginning of the Civil war he en- 
listed in the Seventy-ninth New York Volun- 
teer Infantry (Highlanders), as Surgeon, 
and served at Vicksburg, Knoxville, etc., and 
in the Army of the Potomac under General 
Burnside. He was field surgeon in many of 
the most noted battles of the war, servinar 
faithfully until the close of the national con- 
test, being honorably discharged at Browns- 
ville Texas, in November, 1865. 

Engaging next in his practice in the city 
of New Orleans, he was soon appointed 
Surgeon of the Marine Hospital, and was 
City Physician of New Orleans for three 
years, the trying duties of which position he 
discharged satisfactorily to the public, and 
with credit to himself. Soon after his re- 
moval to Texas he was appointed Supervisor 
of the free schools of Dallas and sixteen other 
counties, comprising the Fifth Educational 
District, thus -establishing the first free 
schools in these counties. The present ex- 
cellent public-school system is the outgrowth 
of the efforts of the Doctor at that early day. 
He met with marked success in his profes- 
sional work in this county, and he has wou 
a wide and lasting reputation as a skillful 
practitioner. He has inherited many of the 
sterling straits characteristic of tlie Scotch 
nation, and he is well known as a fearless 
advocate of his principles. Under I'resident 
Harrison he was ajipointed a member of the 
Hoard of Pension Examiners, — an office which 



376 



EiaTORY OF DALLAS COUNT 7. 



his experience on the battle-iields fitted him 
to till with much more than ordinary ability. 
The Doctor was united in marriage to Sa- 
rah Weir, also a native of Glasgow, whose 
parents were natives of Scotland; she was 
their only child. She died in New Orleans, 
of yellow fever, in 1867, while the Doctor 
was Surgeon in charge of the Marine hos- 
pital there. He was married a second time, 
in 1870, to Maggie McDonald, of New Or 
leans, Louisiana, also of Scotch birth and par- 
entage, of Dundee. She has always been an 
active member in high standing of the 
Women's Relief Corps, G. A. R., Department 
of Texas. The Doctor and his wife have had 
two sons: David, who was born December 
14, 1871 and Alexander, July 22, 1875, both 
in Dallas, Texas. 

Politically the Doctor is a pronounced Re- 
publican, but a free-trader. He is an enthu- 
siastic member of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public, and has occupied high official positions 
in tbat body. He is a decided vegetarian, a 
system of dietetics he has practiced since boy- 
hood. 



^. 



4(@)^ 



^ 



W. HUNT. — Among the brightest 
young business men of Dallas, Texas, is 
J. W. Hunt, who was born in the city 
of Salina, Alabama, November 13, 1863. He 
was the younger in the family of two chil- 
dren born to William J. and Mary J. (Smith) 
Hunt, both natives of Alabama. The father 
was a blacksmith by trade and was well and 
favorably known in the city where he lived. 
His death occurred in 1865 and soon after- 
ward the mother and family moved to Mon- 
roe county, Mississippi, where the former 
now resides. She is the wife of William T. 
Isbell, a native of Mississippi, and the fruits 
of the second union were four children: 



Priestley, Charlie, Nettie and Emma. J. 
W. Hunt was reared on a plantation in 
Mississippi, received his education in the 
common schools, was united in marriage to 
Quilla Judon, the only child born to Newton 
and Amarilla (Miles) Judon, the father a 
native of North Carolina. Mr. Judon died 
in the army and his widow afterward married 
C. M. Jones, a native of South Carolina and 
a prominent citizen of his county. 

In 1883 Mr. Hunt and family moved to 
Texas and located in Dallas November 20, 
of that year. He rented a farm near the city 
and tilled the soil for two years, after which 
he accepted a position with the Spillraan 
Bros, on their dairy farm, and continued with 
them three years. After this he embarked 
in business for himself, starting a dairy of 
his own, and keeping two milk wagons on 
the road. He continued business alone for 
a year and then took a partner to whom he 
sold his interest some time afterward. He 
then engaged in his present business and is 
very popular in trade circles for his integrity, 
justly meriting the large measure of success 
achieved by industry and uprightness. 

To his marriage has been born two chil- 
dren: Amanda Lou, whose birth occurred 
August 10, 1889, and Minnie Lee, who was 
born December 11, 1891. Mr. Hunt is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, Dallas 
Lodge No. 70, and in politics he is Demo- 
crat. 

kHILIP LINDSLEY comes of distin- 
guished lineage, both social and literary. 
His descent is directly traceable, through 
nine generations, to Colonel Francis Liuds- 
ley, who left England in 1680, on account of 
religious persecution, emigrating to America 
and settling in New Jersey. His grandfather, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



a77 



Philip Lindsley, LL. D., D. D., was one of 
tlie most philosophical and accomplished 
minds of this country, and one of the leading 
spirits of his time. So says the eminent Dr. 
Leroy J. Ilalsey, now of the McCormick 
Theological Institute, of Chicago, in his pref- 
ace to "Tiie Life and Writings of Philip 
Lindsley, Theological, Educational and Mis- 
cellaneous:" 3 volumes. Here will be found 
the richest treasures of thought, concentrated 
into a single discourse. A man of impet- 
uous and imperious energy, his sermons, lec- 
tures, and orations, wielded a vast influence 
for good throughout the whole country. 
His great life work was as President of the 
University of Nashville, Tennessee, for which 
undeveloped field of labor, (and that he might 
develope it), he left the Presidency of Prince- 
ton College, New Jersey. Indeed, he was 
elected to, and declined, the presidency of 
more American colleges than any other man 
of his age. 

The father of the subject of our sketch, 
Dr. N. Lawrence Lindsley, an educator and 
scholar of national reputation, added lustre 
to tlie literary life of Tennessee, and was a 
man of singular beauty of character, blended 
with ability and erudition rarely equaled. 
He had in preparation, but which his death 
left undone, a noble work, such, indeed, under 
the same name and of similar scope, as the 
dictionary recently published by the Cen- 
tury Company. After helping largely to 
build upCumberland University, at Lebanon, 
Tennessee, while professor of Ancient and 
Modern Languages, and of Mathematics, he 
founded, at his own elegant residence, near 
by, a school for young ladies, the Greenwood 
Seminary, which became known as one of the 
foremost schools of the South. After his 
death, his accomplished widow, Mrs. Julia 
M. Lindsley, carried it on with signal ability 



and success. This lady's excellence of mind 
and heart won the strong alfection of pupil 
and friend. Her father, Moses Stevens, was 
an eminent educator at Nasliville, Tennessee. 
So that Mr. Lindsley comes of an educated 
race, and a family of educators, whose stud- 
ents are now scattered over Texas and the 
Southwest, filling posts of honor and useful- 
ness. 

The subject of this sketch was born in 
Nashville, Tennessee. In 1872 he was Pres- 
ident of the City Council of Nashville, and 
at the same time was a member of the Ten- 
nessee Legislature, from theoldllermitagedis- 
trict. His wife, Mrs. Louise D. Lindsley, is a 
danghterof the late Chancellor, Henry Dickin- 
son, of Columbus, Mississippi. Their chil- 
dren are Henry D., now in business with his 
father; Annie Louise; McGavock; and twin 
daughters, Julia and Kate. On her mother's 
side, Mrs. Lindsley is a great-granddaughter 
of Felix Grundy, the invincible advocate and 
lawyer, and Attorney General of the United 
States, whose wonderful achievements at the 
bar, will always live in American traditions. 
Her maternal grandfather was Jacob Mc- 
Gavock, who moved to Tennessee from 
Wytheville, Virginia, where his immediate 
relatives of the same name still live. His 
name was a synonyme in Nashville, for more 
than fifty years, for all that was good and 
noble. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsley, of Dallas, are 
thus directly descended from the noblest 
families of tlie land. 

Mr. Lindsley removed to Dallas in 1875, 
and for twelve years after settling here, he 
WHS engaged in a large and successful law 
practice. He has numbered among his cli- 
ents, three Dallas banks, the Pacific Express 
Company, Wells, Fargo & Company's Ex- 
press, Bradstreet Company, and leading banks 
and mercantile firms of the East and West, 



378 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



in their Texas business. He found time, in 
the midst of these multifarious duties, to write 
some able legal papers, the publication of 
which attracted much attention and com- 
mendation from the bar of Texas. Some 
years ago, he retired from the active practice 
of the law, since which he has established a 
lucrative business, as an investment banker, 
with which is connected an admirably con- 
ducted real-estate department, the latter of 
which is under the charge of his son and 
brother. 

By impartial critics, Mr. Lindsley is pro- 
nounced a writer of rare wit, and of the 
choicest diction. Some of his writings, pub- 
lished in the R(nind Table and Dallas News, 
have been widely coj^ied by the press of the 
country. He has also written some little 
poems, which editors of noted journals have 
commended as gems of beauty. He has 
found recognition in leading periodicals of 
the East, where his productions appear bv the 
side of those of the world's greatest writers. 
Successful and conservative in business, both 
in his own matters, and in those entrusted to 
him, possessed of a beautiful home and a 
happy family, Mr. Lindsley enjoys life, and 
the fruits of his earlier labors. 

lAPTAIN THOMAS FLYNN, a farmer 
and stock-raiser of Precinct No. 1, 
Dallas county, was born in Ireland in 
1833, a son of Patrick and Margaret (Flynn) 
Flynn, also natives of Ireland. The father 
came to America in 1887, but was never 
heard from after reaching New York; the 
mother died about 1881. Thomas was reared 
to farm life, and at the age of eighteen he 
joined the British army, serving five years. 
He was at the siege of Sebastopol, and served 



in all the attacks before that city. At the 
close of the Crimean war, in 1856, Mr. Flynn 
left England and came direct to New York 
city, and then ce to Loudoun county, Virginia, 
where he remained two years. In 1858 he 
came by water to Jefferson county, Texas, 
thence by ox teams to Hopkins county, where 
he engaged in brick making. In 1860 he 
sold out and came to Dallas city, where he 
engaged in the manufacture of brick. At the 
breaking out of the war in 1861, Mr. Flynn 
helped to raise Company A, Thirty-iirst Texas 
Cavalry, known as T. C. Hawpe's Regiment, 
of which he was elected First Lieutenant, and 
later Captain. He was in the battle of Spring 
Creek, Missouri, was taken prisoner at 
Neosho, Missouri, was confined at Springfield, 
same State, then at McDowell's College, next 
at Alton, Illinois, thence to Camp Chase, 
Ohio; was exchanged to City Point, Virginia, 
and later engaged with the same company and 
regiment. He was in the Red River expe- 
dition against Banks. At the close of the 
war he was at the mouth of Oyster creek, 
Texas. 

After the war Mr. Flynn was engaged in 
the manufacture of brick until 1875, when he 
moved to his farm of 810 acres, about eight 
miles from the city of Dallas, where has a 
good brick residence and other buildings. 
He also bought 140 acres of the old Money- 
ham homestead, owning in all about 500 acres. 
Mr. Flynn held the office of City Marshal of 
Dallas in 1872-'73, has taken an active inter- 
est in the Democratic party, and socially is a 
member of James G. Smith Lodge A., F. & 
A. M. He was married in Dallas, in 1873, to 
Jimmie Coleman, a native of Todd county, 
Kentucky, and daughter of Mr. Coleman, an 
early settler of Tarrant county. Mr. Flynn 
lost his excellent wife in 1874, and May 16, 
1877, in Dallas county, he married Eliza J. 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



379 



Terry, a native of South Carolina. She was 
the fourth in a family of nine children horn 
to Ashury and Winnie (Graydon) Terry, 
natives of Greenville, Lawrencedistrict, South 
Carolina. They were married in their native 
State and in 1841 the father started for Texas 
hut did not arrive there. His death occurred 
in Mississippi, in 1850. The mother came to 
Dallas county in 1871, and her death occurred 
in 1889 in West Dallas. Mr. and Mrs. Flynn 
liave one child, Jaines T. 

W. A BRIGHT, of the firm of Sonne- 
tield, Emmins & Abright, contractors 
V and builders, Dallas, came to this city 
in 1883, engaging in his present business. 
Tlie present partnership was formed August 
14, 1891. Mr. Abright has erected the 
Gould building and a line residence on the 
Corner of Koss avenue and Harwood street, 
the Dargan btiilding on Commerce street, 
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas passenger depot, 
the Frank Hanim building on Elm street, the 
Dallas City Water Works, the residence of J. 
B. Simpson on Maple avenue, and many other 
fine buildings of lesser note, and a bank in 
Waxahachie; and since the partnership was 
formed the tirra has erected the Dallas county 
jail, the Bowie county courthouse and jail at 
Boston, Texas, and inside finish of Dallas 
county courthouse. 

Mr. Abright was born in the city of New 
Orleans in 1858, the only child of R. W. and 
Elizabeth (Murphy) Abright, lather a native 
of Ohio and mother of Ogdensburg, New 
York. His fatlier went to New Orleans 
when a young man, was a joiner and builder, 
and ilied there, in 1858, of yellow fever. The 
subject's mother came to Dallas in 1884 and 
resides now on Pacific avenue, the wife of 



D. F. Buckmaster. When grown up Mr. 
Aliright went to Shreveport to learn his trade. 
His first contract was for the New York 
Lumber Company at Alexandria, Louisiana, 
putting up their mills, etc., which structures 
cost about half a million dollars. After that 
he came to Dallas, and has since taken an 
active interest in the welfare of the city. On 
State and national questions he votes with the 
Democratic party. 

He was married in Shreveport, in 1880, to 
Anna Davies, a native of New Orleans, and 
daughter of Reese and Mary (Williams) 
Davies, natives of Wales, who emigrated to 
the Crescent City before the war. Mr. Davies 
was foreman in a dry-goods store. He moved 
to Shreveport in 1869. The mother died in 
Shreveport in 1873 and the father in New 
Orleans in 1879. After his marriage Mr. 
Abright settled in Shreveport. He has had 
five children: Mary E., Anna M.. Isabelle, 
Robert W. and Arthur Re3se. 

AM H. DIXON, Inspector of Te.xas 
State Penitentiaries, was born in Hays 
county, Texas, Ausust 4, 1860, son of 
Dr. Shadrick and Ju<lith (Covington) Dixon. 
Dr. Shiidrick Dixon was engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits in connection with his pro- 
fessional work, and was a prominent nun in 
his day. He was a member of the State 
Legislature of Alabama, in 1840 and 1841, 
and was a member of the Constitutional 
Convention of that State, of 1841, he and 
e.x-Governor O. M. Roberts serving in the 
Legislature together, the latter in the Senate 
and the former i n the lower house. He was 
an officer in the Indian wars, ami was one of 
the commissioners who removed the Indians 
west of the Mississippi. He came to Texas 
in 1853, spent the residue of his life here, 



380 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



and died at the advanced age of eighty-five 
years. He was born in North Carolina, 
February 29, 1800, and died Febrnary 14, 
1885. He was a member of the Baptist 
Chui'ch and of tlie Masonic fraternity, and 
was held in the highest respect by all who 
knew him, his word being his bond and his 
name a synonym for honest and square 
dealing. His wife was born in 1813 and is 
still living, an honored resident of the old 
homestead in Hays county, a devoted Chris- 
tian and a Toeinber of the Ba])tist Church. 
She is the mother of sixteen children, ten of 
whom are living. One son, Benjamin F , is 
an eminent divine in the Baptist Church, 
stationed at Gonzales, Te.xas. Another son. 
Dr. W. C. Dixon, is a prominent physician 
of this State. During the late war he served 
with distinction as a surgeon in Lee's army. 
Sam H. Dixon i-eceived his education at 
Baylor University, graduating with the class 
of 1878, Dr. William Gary Crane, one of the 
most eminent educators of the South, being 
president of the University at that time. 
The four years following his graduation he 
was engaged in teaching, and while thus em- 
ployed won the respect and esteem of both 
the pupils and patrons. After that he was 
eueacred on the Galveston JVews. Next he 
secured a position as clerk in one of the 
departments at Austin, and was subsequently 
elected journal clerk of the Twentieth Legis- 
lature. He was then appointed by Hon. 
L. L. Foster, commissioner of agriculture, 
insurance, statistics and history, as Chief 
Clerk of the Agricultural Department, 
which position he held two years. At that 
time he was elected by the Board of Direc- 
tors of the Farmers' State Alliance as editor 
of their State organ, The Southern Mercury., 
and continued in the editorial chair until 
January, 1891, when he was elected Chi»'f 



Clerk of the Honse of Representatives of the 
Twenty-second Legislature, without opposi- 
tion. The caucus of the Democrat State 
Convention which met in San Antonio, in 
August, 1890, selected him as their secre- 
tary, to which the convention elected him 
without opposition. Soon after the adjourn- 
ment of the Twenty-second Legislature, 
Governor Hogg tendered him the position of 
Inspector of State Penitentiaries, to till the 
vacancy tnade by the resignation of W. C. 
Holland, and the duties of this important 
office he is faithfully performing. 

Mr. Dixon is prominently identitied with 
the Farmers' Alliance. In June, 1891, in 
connection with a number of prominent 
farmers, he established what is known as The 
Fai'mers' TFcrM, in opposition to that branch 
of the Alliance in this State which advocates 
the sub-treasury scheme. In 1890 he was 
elected by the Farmers' State Alliance as a 
delegate to the National Convention of that 
body at Ocala, Florida, he being one of the 
tour delegates sent from Texas. This was 
one of the most noted conventions of farmers 
that ever convened in the United States. 

As a writer Mr. Dixon has gained con- 
siderable note, the work of his facile pen 
being both interesting and instructive. He 
is the author of "Ten Nights with Big Foot 
Wallace, the Texas Ranger," a story of Texas 
border life, published in 1876; and "Agnes 
Dale, or, a Virginian in Texas," a story 
based on American and Texas history. His 
best known work, however, is "The Poets 
and Poetry of Texas," which contains bio- 
graphical and critical sketches of the poeti- 
cal writers of this State and selections from 
their works. This was published in 1885. 
He has in manuscript a novel entitled "Dix- 
oiiia; or, Life on the Farm," his father 
being tho hero of the story. At present he 




:t 





C^V.'-v.^ 




HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



381 



is engaged in writing a novel to be called 
"The Ileir of Incero," a story of the Meier 
expedition. 

Mr. Dixon is a man of family. He was 
married in 1880, to Miss Jennie Alice Wag- 
ner, of Robertson connty, Texas, and they 
have had five children, viz.: Andrew Ran- 
dolph Pendleton, Katie Grace, Mary Judith, 
Sam Ilayne and Stoddard. All are living 
except the second-born, Katie Grace, who 
died at the age of seventeen months. 

Both he and his wife are members of the 
Haptist Church. He is also a member of 
the K. of P. and the K. & L. of H., while 
in politics he is a stanch Democrat. 

Mrs. Dixon is a prominent worker in the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 
being Secretary of the State organization 
and editor of their State organ, The White 
lilhhon. Siie is a graduate of Baylor Col- 
lege, with the class of 1878, and is a woman 
of more than ordinary literary attainment 
and social grace. She has gained distinction 
as a writer on temperance and kindred sub- 
jects, and in this line is doing much etijcient 
work. 

Mr. and Mrs. Dixon have been residents 
of Dallas since 1889 and are classed vyith 
the best citizens of the place. 

;R. ANDREW P. DAVIS, one of the 

leading practitioners of the homeopathic 
system of medicine in Dallas countv, 
was born in Allegany county. New York, 
March 10, 1835, and is a son of George W. 
and Jane (Haywood) Davis, natives of the 
State of Connecticut. The father was a noted 
physician and was recognized as a profound 
8chol{\r and deep thinker in his day. He was 
a student of the science of medicine for six- 

2« 



teen years before he began his practice in 
Indiana, and the halutof painstaking, patient 
research was inherited by the son. Andrew 
P. On account of the dishonest settlement of 
his father's estate the Doctor was left to his 
own resources. He acquired a common-school 
education in the public schools, and took a 
more extended course at Wabash College, 
Indiana, where he made the most of his 
opportunities. He fitted himself for teach- 
ing, and while engaged in his profession lie 
began the study of medicine about the year 
1861. He first made an exhaustive investiga- 
tion of the eclectic system, after which he 
turned his attention to allopathy. For this 
purposeheentered Rush Medical College, Chi- 
cago, and was graduated at that institution 
in 1806. Afterward he practiced that sys- 
tem of medicine constantly for about 
eleven years. Not content with his know- 
ledge of medicine in these two systems, he 
began the study of homeopathy, and gradu- 
ated at Pulte Homeopathic Medical College, 
Cincinnati, Ohio, in the year 1877, and this 
same year he graduated in ophthalmology, 
having taken a special course therein under 
the instructions of Prof. AVilson at Cincin- 
nati, after which he returned to Terre Haute, 
Indiana, where he practiced for two years; 
then he moved to Corsicana, Texas, where 
he was the pioneer homeopathic physician of 
that place, and successfully and favorably iii- 
troduced that system in that community. 
Overwork and failing health forced him to 
suspend his practice for the time, and he 
went to New York city, where he attended 
a six months' course of instructions in the 
New York Ophthalmic College, and an in- 
spiration for still more pioneer work in the 
Lone Star State, in the Sunny South, — without 
unpacking his goods, — he returned to Texas, 
in the spring of 1880, and settled in Dallas, 



3S2 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTY. 



where lie has remained almost all the time 
since. Five years of this period he devoted 
his time to general practice, and the educ- 
ation of his oldest and youngest sons in medi- 
cine, and graduated them both in the Hahn- 
nemann Homeopathic College at Chicago, 
Illinois, and settled them both in a lucrative 
and respectable practice in this city. The 
last five years of his time have been devoted 
to special practice, — ophthalmology and otol- 
ogy, — until within the last two years. Not 
having attained as much knowledge of medi- 
cine as was commensurate with the neces- 
sities of his desires, he attended another 
special course of instructions, under the 
auspices of Prof. E. II. Pratt, Chicago, Illi- 
nois, in oriiicial sui-gery, since wnich time he 
has conlined himself exclusively to that branch 
of the prt)fession, and enjoys the satisfactory 
commendation of all of his patrons in his 
successful cures of many diseases thought to 
be incurable. 

He has been a regular correspondent of the 
Southern Homeopathic Journal, which is 
edited by one of his former partners. He is 
a clear and logical writer, and his articles are 
eagerly read by the members of the profession. 
The homeopathic system of medicine has found 
in Ur. Davis a stanch and able champion, 
and a conscientious adherent to its principles. 

ffAMES K. PALMER, Superintendent of 
Public Instruction for Dallas county, 
Texas, has done much toward building 
up the educational interests of the county. 
He is public-spirited and progressive in his 
methods, and to his efficient and untirincc 
effi^rts much is due. It is with pleasure that 
we present on these pages the following 
sketch of his life. 



James K. Palmer was born in Missouri, 
October 22, 1847, son of Thomas and Mi- 
nerva (Shrewsbury) Palmer, natives of Vir- 
ginia and Kentucky respectively. His father 
was a successful farmer and a highly re- 
spected and public-spirited citizen. He was 
in the Black Hawk war during tlie entire en- 
gagement. In the Christian Church he was 
a prominent and active member, and by all 
who knew him he was esteemed. About 
1845, he moved from Virginia to Missouri, 
and in 1866 went to Wayne county, Illinois, 
where he spent the residue of his life and 
died. His wife, born in 1827, is still a re- 
sident of AVayne county. She has been a 
member of the Christian Church the most of 
her life. To this worthy couple were born 
five sons and three dancrhters. One son, 
Samuel J., is deceased. One daughter and 
one son still reside in Wayne county, and 
three sons live in Texas. All were too young 
to take part in the late war. 

The subject of our sketch received his edu- 
cation in Kirksville, in the North Missouri 
Normal School, and a two years' special 
training in the Central Indiana Normal 
School, at which he graduated in 1884. He 
has been a teacher for twenty-one years, has 
taught in all grades, and has made a 
marked success in his profession. He came 
to Dallas county in 1872, and has taught in 
Ellis, Tarrant ami Dallas counties, chiefly in 
the country. In 1886 he founded the Cen- 
tral Institute in Dallas county, a school of 
four departments, primary, intermediate, pre- 
paratory and high school. He erected the 
building and establishetl the school, the house 
and grounds costing $2,600, and was serving 
here at the time he was appointed to his pres- 
ent position. This school, both a public 
and a private one, has been of much value to 
Dallas county, and is still in a prosperous 



niSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



383 



condition. For nearly tliiee years Mr. Pal- 
mer lias been superintendent of public in- 
struction of Dallas county, and is now a 
candidate for re-election, his many friends 
fceliniT certain tliat lie will remain in office. 
]sh: Palmer was married in 187() to Miss 
Rosa Carter, daughter of John R. Carter, of 
Wayne county, Illinois, and after six years 
of happy married life she was called to 
her last home, aged twenty-two years. She 
was a most amiable woman and a devoted 
member of the Christian Church. October 
28, 1888, he was again united in marriage 
with Miss Katie O'Rrate, a native of Mis- 
souri. At an early age she went with her 
parents to Kansas. Her education was re- 
ceived in Kansas City, and for seven years 
she has been engaged in teaching, in Kansas 
and Texas. Mrs. Palmer is a lady of much 
culture and retinement, is well posted on 
general topics, and, like her husband is 
deeply interested in educational matters. 
Both are members of the Christian Church. 
Mr. Palmer is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, having taken the blue lodge, chap- 
ter and Knight Templar degrees. In politics 
he is a Democrat. 

fOHJSi C. BIGGER, prominent among 
the successful legal lights of Dallas 
county, was born in Massillon. Stark 
county, Ohio, in 1844. His parents. Daniel 
and Martha L. C. (Michenerj Rigger, were 
natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and 
Ohio. His father was a popular druggist, 
and was noted for his upright, honorable 
character, while his mother was related to 
some of the first families of the Buckeye 
State, and was greatly esteemed because of 
her intelligence and amiability of character. 



The subject of this sketch was the eldest 
of a family of three children, and received 
his primary education in the public schools 
of Massillon and Freeport. Illinois, where he 
resided until he was eighteen years of age, 
when, on August 10, 1802, he enlisted in 
Company F, Ninty-Second Illinois Infantry, 
as a Corporal, at Freeport, Illinois. 

He participated in many battles, the hard- 
est being that of Chickamagua, and served 
bis country faithfully until 1864, when he 
was honorably discharged, by a special order 
of the War Department as First Sergeant. 
He never missed a day from duty, and es- 
caped without a wound. 

On returning home he entered the Univer- 
sity of Michigan and graduated in law in 
March, 1868, when he at once began the 
practice of his professon in St. Lonls, Mis- 
souri, where he remained until 1875; then 
he came to Dallas, Texas, where he has since 
lived. He has been very successful in the 
practice of his profession, has a large patron- 
age, and is highly endorsed by his brother 
attorneys at Dallas and elsewhere, as well as 
enjoying the respect of the various com^ 
munities in which he has the pleasure to 
reside. 

Mr. Bigger was appointed United States 
Attorney by President Arthur, in 1882, and 
served until 1885, continuing under Presi- 
dent Cleveland. He is now President of the 
Dallas Republican Club, Assistant Adju- 
tant General Department of Texas G. A. R., 
and a member of the Republican State Execu- 
tive Committee. He has prosecuted the true 
principles of Republicanism with vigor, and 
is well and favorably known throughout the 
State and country as a rig, sinaggressive, 
energetic and capable gentleman. He has 
twice been the nominee of his party for Con- 
gress. Socially, he is a Royal Arch Mason. 



38 1 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY- 



Of naturally superior intellectual powers, 
combined with rare judicial acumen and an 
energetic disposition, Mr. Bigger has carved 
his fortune unassisted out of the marvelous 
possibilities of the magnificent Lone 8tar 
State, while his probity and kindness of heart 
have gained for him the universal friendship 
of his fellow men. 

In 1884, Mr. Bigger married Mrs. Judge 
Thurmond, an estimable lady, and the widow 
of an eminent jurist of Texas. They have 
one child, a beautiful daughter, now six years 
of age. 



■-^2/i/^^m/^ 




gAJOR FRNCIS 

i for 



\y-^ 



M. ERVAY was 
iiiatiy years closely identilied 
with the business interests of Dallas 
county, but is not at present in active busi- 
ness. He was born in the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1836, and is a son of Jacob and 
Sophia (Sligh) Ervaj, who were also na- 
tives of the Keystone State. His father was 
born in 1801, and in 1849, while en route to 
the West, died of cholera at Cleveland, 
Ohio. His mother is still living, aged 
eighty-two years, and resides at Springfield, 
Missouri. They reared a family of ten chil- 
dren, all of whom are living, our subject be- 
ing the fifth in order of birth. He received 
his education in the common schools, and 
was early engaged in agricultural pursuits, in 
which he was employed at the time of the 
breaking out of the Civil war. He volunteered 
in 1861 as a private in Company I, Fourth 
Pennsylvania Cavalry, which a few months 
later was attached to the Army of the Poto- 
mac, and which participated in all the noted 
battles of that army, up to the close of the 
war. By successive promotions on the field, 
he rose to the rank of Captain and Brevet 



Major. On December 1, 1864, in the charge 
upon the fort of Stony Creek, Vii-ginia, Maj- 
ors W. B. Mays and Francis M. Ervay led 
the assault on the rear of the Confederate 
forts at the head of 200 mounted men of the 
regiment. They charged, pistol and saber 
in hand, and compelled the surrender of 200 
men, three pieces of artillery, and a large 
amount of stores. The Confederates found 
themselves virtually surrounded, and sur- 
rendered to a number not equal to their own. 
The attacking party set fire to the Confeder- 
ate stores, to the railroad station and to the 
bridge over Stony creek, and hastily retreated 
with their prisoners, all of which was so 
quickly done that Bainpton, whose head- 
quarters were only four miles distant, had no 
time to retrieve the losses of the day, al- 
though he attempted to do so. In this dar- 
ing assault. Major Ervay was twice wounded, 
from the effects of which he has never fully 
recovered. He was sent to the hospital imme- 
diately after this assault, and remained their 
until February 17, 1865, when he was honor- 
ably discharged on account of physical disabil- 
ity. He then located at Cleveland, Ohio, where 
he successfully engaged in the oil refinery 
business until 1869, wlien he came to Dallas, 
Texas. Here, he was interested in various 
lines of business, meeting with marked suc- 
cess in all his undertakings. His brother, 
Henry S. Ervay, preceded him to the South- 
west by twelve years, making a name for 
himself in the leading commercial circles of 
the county. 

Mr. Ervay was married, in 1858, to Miss 
Sarah A. Ross of Pennsylvania. One child, 
Ida, was born in 1859, and died in Texas in 
1870. The mother died in the same year. 
Mr. Ervay was married a second time, 1872, to 
Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor, a member of one of 
the pioneer families of Dallas county. They 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



385 



liad two cliildreii, Harry Frank, who died at 
the age of ten years, and Estelle, the only sur- 
viving child. Mrs. Ervay had two children 
by her first marriage. 

Major Ervay is a member of the Masonic 
order and a Knight Templar. He has for 
twenty years been an active member of the 
Church of the Disciples of Christ (Christian). 
He has been a member of the Dallas School 
Board, a zealous worker, and has ever attested 
the genuineness of his desire to see the com- 
ing generation well equipped in mental at- 
tainment for the duties of American citizen- 
ship. As a citizen, no man in the city of his 
residence more fully enjoys the confidence 
and esteem of those among whom he has 
lived for twenty-three years. 

^^uxnji/- 



f WILLIAM SMITH, a farmer and stock 
raiser of Precinct No. 1, Dallas county, 
** was born in Halifax county, Virginia, 
in 1821, the only child of Alexander and 
Nancy Smith, also natives of Virginia. The 
father died in his native State when our sub- 
ject was but a child, and in 1840 he moved 
to White county, Tennessee, where he 
learned the cabinet maker's trade, in Sparta. 
He afterward followed the shoemaker's trade 
for many years, and also worked at the same 
after coming to Dallas county. Mr. Smith 
subsequently returned to Virginia and 
brought his mother to Tennessee, and in 1855 
he came to Dallas county, Texas. In 1858 
he bought 256 acres of raw land, which he 
subsequently improved, and he now has his 
entire farm under a good state of cultivation. 
Mr. Smith was married in Virginia, in 
1841, to Susan II. Morris, a native of Vir- 
ginia, and daughter of Sophia (Herndoy) 
Morris, natives of Virginia. Tlie father died 



in his native State, and the mother afterward 
married James Dillen, and in 1855 they came 
to Dallas county, but both are now deceased. 
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had nine children, 
viz.: Mary, widow of P. A. Winn; Sophia, 
wife of W. S. Cummins, of Piano, Texas; 
James U., who is married and resides on the 
home farm; Altimesa, wife of George Seers, 
of Dallas; John C, a resident of Cedar 
Springs, Dallas county, Texas; Sally Jane, 
wife of A. G. White, of Bethel, Collin county, 
Texas; Susan, of this county; and W. II., 
who is married and resides in Fort Worth, 
Texas. Mr. Smith affiliates with the Demo- 
cratic party; socially, he is a member of 
James A. Smith Lodge, A. F. «fe A. M., and 
of Tannehill Lodge, No. 52, Dallas; and 
religiously, both he and his wife are members 
of the Cochran Chapel Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

L. OVERTON, Wheatland, Texas, re- 
sides in Precinct No. 7, and is eu- 
* gaged in farming and stock-raising. 
Mr. Overton was born here in Dallas county, 
September 3, 1848, oldest son and child of W. 
P. Overton, of whom prominent mention is 
made elsewhere in this work. He was reared 
on a farm and received his education in the 
common schools. He lived with his father 
until ho was thirty-two years old, and in 1880 
settled on his present farm, which is land 
his father had owned for many years. He 
owns 440 acres, 132 of which are near Lis- 
bon. 

Mr. Overton was married, April 14, 1881, 
to Miss Minnie Brannaum, a native of Texas, 
born in Dallas county, in lSf»4. She is a 
daughter of Lindsey and Margaret (Miller) 
Brannaum, who came from Missouri to 



386 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTY. 



Dallas at an early day. To them iive chil- 
dren have been born, four of whom are living. 
William Calvin, Roburta, Eula and Earl. 
James Moody died at the age of two years 
and a half. 

While Mr. Overton is engaged in general 
farming, he gives special attention to stock, 
having a fine herd of Durham cattle, and 
Berkshire hogs. His political affiliations are 
with the Democratic party. 



-^-^J^iV&^tT^ 



■^^r- 



[R. J. B. SMOOT, a promising young 
physician and surgeon of Dallas, was 
born in Collin county, Texas, February 
20, 1867, son of W. B. and Lizzie (Bozartli) 
Smoot, natives of Virginia and Missouri re- 
spectively. His father came from Howard 
county, Missouri, to Texas in 1861, and set- 
tled in Collin county, where he was engaged 
in farming and stock-raising, being especially 
interested in the latter occupation. He did 
his part toward opening up the way for the 
progress of civilization in this section of the 
country. His death occurred in 1867, at 
about the age of fifty years. His widow is 
still living, and is now a resident of Piano, 
this State. She is a member of the Chris- 
tian Church at Piano. She was his second 
wife, and is the mother of two sons, Walter 
and J. B. The former died at the age of 
twenty-seven years. At the time of his 
death he was engaged in the livery business 
at Quanah, Hardeman county, Texas. 

Dr. J. B. Smoot received his education at 
Thorp's Spring, at Carlton College and at 
Bonham, Texas; also attended Christian Col- 
lege, at Canton, Missouri. While at Canton 
he began the study of medicine under the 
instruction of Dr. M. A. Atkinson, of that 
place. Afterward he entered Beaumont 



Hospital Medical College at St. Louis, where 
he graduated in March, 1888. He then re- 
mained there in charge of the medical clinic 
until November. Returning to Texas, he 
located in Dallas, where he has since been 
engaged in the practice of his profession, 
meeting with marked success. He is a mem- 
ber of the Dallas County Medical Association. 

Dr. Smoot was married December 9, 1891, 
to Miss Marie E. Tyler, daughter of W. M. 
and Dixie Tyler, the latter being a daughter 
of Judge P. S. Lannaen, of St. Louis, Mis- 
souri. To Mr. and Mrs. Tyler were born 
four children, viz.: Walter, William, Mary 
E. and P. L. William died in 1891, at the 
age of twenty-three years. Mrs. Tyler was 
married in 1890, to Joseph A. Wherry, City 
Registrar of St. Louis. 

The Doctor is a member of the K. of P. 
order, having passed all the chairs in his 
lodge up to that of V. C, which position he 
now occupies. A man of pleasing address, 
scholarly attainments and professional ability. 
Dr. Smoot bids fair to make his mark in the 
world. Although only a recent accession to 
Dallas, he has gained the confidence of the 
people here and, both as a physician and a 
citizen, he is held in high regard by all who 
know him. 



LBERT C. VINING traces his an- 
cestry l)ack to 1776, when his paternal 
^^ grandfather, Benjamin Vining, was 
born. He served in the war of 1812 and lived 
to a ripe old ago, dying in 1862. Mr. Vining's 
father, Cosby Vining, was born in Murray 
couiity, Georgia, in 1801, and remained there 
until 1838, when he moved to Cherokee 
county, Alabama. In 1839 he came to Texas 
and located in Cherokee county, where he 



niSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



387 



dieJ in 1849. He was a self-made man, hav- 
in<r heguii life for himself when (juite young 
witiiout any capital save his own persevering 
energy. lie prepared himself in early life 
for the practice of medicine, which he began 
in 1838 and continued till the time of his 
death. In his profession he met with emi- 
nent success, traveling over a territory having 
a radius of sixty miles. In 1845 he allowed 
himself to be elected Seheriff of Cherokee 
county, thinking l)y that means he would be 
able to quit the practice of medicine. However, 
finding his professional duties did not di- 
minish, he resigned tiie position of Sheriff 
after eight months, thereafter devoting his 
entire attention to his practice. For some 
time he was Indian agent for Cherokee Na- 
tion. In politics he was a Whig. He was an 
active member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Churcli for many years. 

Mr. Vining's mother was Martha (Hudson) 
Vining. She was born in Georgia in 1811 
and died in Texas in 1858. She was a zeal- 
ous, consistent Christian woman and for years 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Her marriage with Mr. Vining occurred in 
1832, and they had a family of seven chil- 
dren, viz.: Joseph W., who is engaged in 
the undertaking business at Rusk, Cherokee 
county, Texas; George M., deceased; Albert 
C, the subject of this sketch; Terena E., wife 
of W. N. Sloan, of Cherokee, Texas; James 
Monroe, who was killed in battle; Rosa A., 
wife of Elijah Moslej, Cherokee county, 
Texas; and Sallie, wife of Dr. W. H. Pier- 
son, a practicing physician of Cherokee 
county. 

Albert C. Vining was born in Georcia in 
1837. He went with his parents to Alabama 
and in 1839 came witli tliem to Texas, re- 
maining under the parental roof as long as 
they lived. He continued to live on the old 



homestead until 1860. He then went to 
Mexico and from tliere to Arizona, where he 
secured a position on the overland mail route, 
stationed at Leon Hole, remaining there 
nine months. At the end of that time he 
was transferred to the San Antonio & San 
Diego line, continuing till August, 1862. 
From San Antonio he drove a team to Mar- 
siialltown, Texas. He was then appointed 
wagon master in the Confederate service, 
which position he held till 1864. He came 
to Dallas county, and the following year, 
1865, located near his present home. In 
1871 he moved to where he still lives. 

In April, 1867, Mr. Vining married Miss 
Isabel Fondren, daughter of M. R. and 
Millie Fondren. She was born in this county 
in 1852, and died here in 1868. 

Mr. Vining is a Democrat and a member 
of the Farmers' Alliance. 



-^ 



R. J. M. PACE, a physician and surgeon 
of Dallas, was born in Marengo county, 
Alabama, April 19, 1836. His great- 
grandfather, Frederick Pace, was born in 
Wales, and came to the United States in 
1768, seven years before the Revolutionary 
war. He was the father of five children, 
three sons atid two dauijhters, all born in 
Wales. William, the eldest son, and a great 
uncle of our subject, was eleven years of age 
when he came to America. At the age of 
about seventeen years he enlisted in the 
Colonial army, where he served until the 
close of the struggle, taking part with the 
Patriots, or " Rebels," as they were called by 
the iJritish. He married Miss Grissora, of 
Georgia. He lived to the good old age of 
four score years. John, the second son, and 
our subject's grandfather, was eight years of 



388 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



age wlien he caine to the United States, and 
was twenty-one years of age at the close of 
the lievolutionary war. He married Miss 
Elizabeth Jones, of South Carolina, and 
they had a family of ten boys and three 
girls, viz. : Louis, deceased at the age of three 
years; Steven, at the age of sixty years; 
James was killed at the age of fifty seven 
years; Dempsey, deceased at the age of 
seventy-five years; William, our subject's 
father, is still living, aged eighty-five years; 
Mary, born in February, 1822, married 
Colonel Robert Small, and they have eight 
children; John died at the age of fifteen 
years; Thomas died at the age of forty-five 
years; Richmond is still living, aged seventy- 
six years; Jessie, deceased at the age of 
seventy-one years; George Washington died 
at the age of fifteen years; and Martha, the 
first, and Martha, the second, botii died at 
the age of three years. The father of these 
children died of congestive chills, at the age 
of forty years, and his wife died at the age of 
seventy-five years. Dempsey, the third child 
of Frederick Pace, was six years of age when 
the family came to the United States. He 
was twice married, first to Miss Elizabeth 
Rainwater, and later to Miss Mary Yar- 
brough. He died at the age of ninety-three 
years. Dillie, the fourth child of Frederick 
Pace, was four years of age when the family 
came to America, and Anna, the fifth, was 
two years of age. 

William Pace, the father of our subject, 
is a native of Mississippi, is a farmer by 
occupation, and during the late war he did 
much good service at home. For fifty years 
he has been a Deacon in the Baptist Church, 
is a man of great Christian devotion and 
signal usefulness, and in him the truest and 
finest type of religious life are imitated. He 
is extensively known, and highly respected 



as a pioneer settler. In 18 — Mr. Pace mar- 
ried Miss Sarah Yarbrough. a lady of culture, 
possessing many amiable and Christian quali- 
ties, also a devout member of the Baptist 
Church. She was born January 6, 1811, and 
died November 27, 1857. Her whole life 
reflected the power and beauty of a holy 
Christianity in its relations to the family, the 
community, and the church of her choice. 
Mr. and Mrs. Pace had ten sons, viz.: James 
M., born January 2, 1831, died in March, 
1831; John W., born July 15, 1832, died 
September 23, 1841; Thomas L., born Janu- 
ary 31, 1834, died of camp dysentery during 
the late war, August 12, 1862; Jesse M., our 
subject; Edward F., born April 26, 1838, 
died cf pneumonia in the Confederate army, 
April 15, 1862; Nathan Y., born January 
12, 1840, died September 10, 1843; Frederick 
A. T., born January 17, 1843, died January 
23, 1844; Williamson AVinlield Scott, born 
July 7, 1848, is still living; and Lawrence 
Julius, born January 14, 1851, resides at 
Jefferson, Marengo county. Williamson W. 
S. entered the army at about seventeen years 
of age, and served until the close of that 
struggle. His wife was formerly Miss Mary 
Avery. He now i-esides at Camden, Arkan- 
sas; has served as Mayor of his town, as 
secretary of the Fair Association, and was 
postal clerk at Washington city during 
Cleveland's administration. Lawrence Julius 
is engaged in general merchandising at 
Jefferson, Alabama. He is a man of line 
business qualifications, and is well liked 
among his acquaintances for his social quali- 
ties. 

The subject of this sketch, J. M. Pace, 
was educated at the University of Louisiana, 
graduating at that institution in the class of 
1858. He then took a course at the Post- 
Graduate School at New York city, after 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



which he began the practice of medicine at 
Camden, Arkansas, continniiig tliere from 
1858 to 1878. He tiien visited Europe and 
took a private course under the tutorship of 
the celebrated Lawson Tait, of the Queen's 
College, at Birmingham, England, where he 
remained three months. Dr. Pace came to 
Dallas in 1878, and has been a continuous 
practitioner here ever since, with good suc- 
cess, lie is a member of the County, State, 
American and International Medical Associa- 
tions. He met the last mentioned society in 
Berlin, Germany, in 1890, and the next 
meetinsr will be held at Ronje. During their 
meeting in Wasliington City, in 1876, he 
was appointed a delegate from the State 
Aledical Association of Arkansas, and was 
appointed to the one at Berlin for the State 
Medical Association of Te.xas. The Doctor 
has always ranked high in his profession in 
whatever community he has resided, and has 
been an unceasing student tliroughout all the 
years of his practice. His professional skill, 
his kindly, genial temperament, coupled with 
his manly qualities, have gained him the re- 
spect and esteem of the community. 

Dr. Pace was married on New Year's day, 
1860, to Miss Anna J. Woodland, a daughter 
of Edward Norris Woodland, of Camden, 
Arkansas. Mrs. Pace is a lady of culture 
and refinement, and possesses many admira- 
ble traits of character. They are the parents 
of six children, namely: Edward, born Octo- 
ber 1, 1860, died March 23, 1861; Jessie, 
born January 23, 1862, is the wife of Edward 
Gray, an attorney of Dallas, and Beulah is 
their only living child; Montrose, born Octo- 
ber 7. 1864, died August 28, 1865; James, 
born October 25, 1865, is a druggist of this 
city; Beulah, born March 13, 1871, is the 
wife of Harry Kahler, agent for the Middle- 
sex Banking Company, of this city; Sadie, 



born September 26, 1876, is a pupil of the 
Dallas High School. Mrs. Piice is a mem- 
ber of the I'resbyterian Church. Our sub- 
ject is a member of the Masonic order, blue 
lodge, Koyal Arch and commandery, and of 
the K. of P. and the K. of II. Dr. Pace is 
in thorough sympathy with the progress of 
the city on every line of advancement. 

fV. CHILDEKS, M. D., occupies a 
prominent place in professional circles 
'' in Dallas, and is well worthy of repre- 
sentation in this volume. He was born in 
Giles county, Tennessee, in 1832, and is a 
son of J. Vaulton Childers. He passed his 
boyhood and youth in his native State, and 
received his education in the private schools 
of the county. Having chosen the profession 
of medicine as his life work, he began the 
study of the science at Pulaski, Tennessee, 
and was graduated at the University of Penn- 
sylvania in 1859, with the degree of M. D. 
He had just begun his practice when the war 
between the North and South ended the pur- 
suit of all private interests. He took an 
active part in the raising of a company for 
the Third Regiment Tennessee Volunteer In- 
fantry, Confederate States America, and was 
soon appointed Assistant Surgeon. He was 
afterward commissioned Surgeon, and spent 
the most of his time in the hospitals, although 
he was often in the field in active service. 
Viewed from the position of a citizen in a 
civilized quarter of the globe, it was a ter- 
rible thing to witness the carnage of battle, 
but from a professional standpoint, he gained 
a rare experience, and one that will be ot 
profit to him throughout his career as a 
physician. 

After the cessation of hostilities Dr. ('hil- 



390 



\ni8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ders returned to Tennessee, where he practiced 
until 1872, when he "came to Texas, and at 
once entered into professional work in which 
he was actively engaged until 1889. He was 
among the earliest doctors in the place, and 
justly claims the title of " pioneer." 

He was married to Miss Corinne Elliott, 
a daughter of Dr. Elliott, a full history of 
whom is given elsewhere in this volume. 
Two years after her marriage Mrs. Childers 
died. Five years later the doctor married 
Mrs. Ida Patton, nee Randall, whose family 
were among the early settlers in Texas. They 
have no children. The Doctor is a member 
of the Masonic order, belonging both to the 
blue lodge and the chapter. For many 
years he has been a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, and has contributed 
liberally towards its support. He is a man 
of great integrity of character and high moral 
principles. He has acquired a competency 
througli his professional labors, and lives in 
a handsome home on Pearl street, where he is 
surrounded by all the comforts of a modern 
civilization. 

^NDKEW J. PULASKI, a prosperous 
farmer of Dallas county, residing near 
^ Mesquite, dates his birth in Upson 
county, Georgia, September 29, 1852. He 
started out in life at the age of sixteen with 
nothing save the clothes he had on his back, 
and, unaided, he has risen to his present 
position of prosperity. He served a three- 
years' apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade, 
and subsequently decided to try his fortune 
in the West. He started out in company 
with another young man, he (Mr. Pulaski) 
furnishing the money, and when they reached 
Texas his companion gave him the dodge, 
and has never been heard from since. Alone 



and without money, he walked day and night 
until he reached his destination. He then 
hired out to work on the railroad as a section 
hand, and, after being thus employed for a 
short time, went to Arlington and worked at 
his trade in the day time and piled wood at 
night for the railroad company, working 
eighteen hours a day for eighteen months, 
rain or shine. At the end of three years Mr. 
Pulaski had made money enough to buy sev- 
enty-live acres of improved land. He then 
returned to Alabama and was married to 
"the girl he had left behind," and came back 
to Texas that same year. Again he was em- 
ployed on the railroad, this time as section 
foreman, continuing as such two years. Next 
we find him at Forney, where he bought 
property and kept hotel six months. Not 
liking that business he moved to his farm, 
and here he has since lived, engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits. He has purchased other 
lands and is now the owner of 505 acres, all 
fenced and otherwise iniproved. He is now 
comfortably situated and is enjoying the 
fruits of his early years of toil. 

John C. Pulaski, his father, was born in 
1823. He was married to Miss Maggie 
Moore in 1844, and in 1855 moved to Ala- 
bama, bought land and still lives on his farm 
there. By his first wife he had six children: 
Sarah, wife of Wiley Sanders; Bettie, who 
died young; Andrew J.; Charley, now de- 
ceased; Drusy G.; David R. Mrs. Pulaski 
died in 1862, at the age of thirty-five years. 
In 1866 Mr. Pulaski wedded Sarah Ingram, 
and by her has had five children. Mollie, 
the oldest, is the wife of Thomas Tobias. 
The others are: Jolin, Mely, Owen and James. 
Mr. Pulaski, Sr., was in the Confederate army 
during the war, was captured at Fort Blakely, 
and was paroled. 

Mr. Andrew J. Pulaski was married to 



HISTORY OP DALLAS GOUNTT. 



891 



Miss Mollie Simpler, April 4, 1880, in Ala- 
bama, as already stated. She was born No- 
vember 15. 1858, a daughter ot William and 
Sophia (Murphy) Simpler. Her father was 
born in Georgia. She is one of a family of 
three daughters, her two sisters being Mattie, 
wife of V. F. Pace, and Lena, wife of James 
Lang. Mr. Simpler's wife died in 1869 and 
he was married in 1870 to Lizzie Cox, by 
whom he had four children: Florence, wife 
of Samuel Armstrong; Houston and Mallie. 
Mr. and Mrs. i'ulaski have had four children, 
whose names and dates of birth are ao follows: 
Ola, born September 1, 1881; Maggie, Au- 
gust 4, 1884; Jerome, January 28, 1886, 
and Andrew, May 9, 1889. The last named 
died October 27, 1890. 

C. AKARD, engaged as city drum- 
mer for Corden, Crjsler & Co., 
i ® wholesale grocers, of Dallas, Texas, 
is a native born resident of Dallas, his 
birth occurring in 1865. He is the sec- 
ond in a family of seven children born toW. 
C. C, and Sarah (Bowen) Akard, natives of 
North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. 
The father moved to Polk county, Missouri, 
at an early day, and was there married. He 
was a merchant, and in 1864 came to Dallas, 
where he followed general merchandising. 
Everything was freighted in those days, and 
the father's death occurred while en route for 
goods, in 1871, at Calvert, Texas. The 
mother, who is still living, resides in Dallas, 
is the wife of A. C. Daniel. 

W. C. Akard (our subject) was reared in 
Dallas, educated in the schools of that city, 
and afterward engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness on Main street, Dallas. He continued 
in that business for six or seven years. In 




1887, he was married in Springfield, Missouri, 
to Miss Gertrude Staley, a native of Spring- 
field, Missouri, and the daughter of \V. B. 
and Josephine (Lacey) Staley, natives also of 
Missouri. Her father was an early merchant 
of Springfield, but about 1876 moved to 
Dallas county, settled on a farm, and there 
he* now resides. Her mother died in Dallas, 
Texas, in 1873. After his marriage, Mr. 
Akard settled in Montrose, Colorado, but in 
September, 1887, returned to Dallas, wiiere 
he embarked in the grocery business, con- 
tinuing in the same until engaging in the 
real-estate business in 1889 and '90. Politi- 
cally Mr. Akard supports the principles of the 
Democratic party, and socially he is a mem- 
bur of the K. of P., Amity Lodge, No. 108. 
His marriage was blessed by the birth of one 
child, William Harry. 

Mr. Akard has seen the complete growth 
of the city of Dallas, and has fished where 
the City Hall now stands. He is now resid- 
ing on a part of the original homestead, and 
also owns considerable real estate in the city. 
One street in the city, William, is named 
for our subject, and another street, Akard, 
is named for his father. Porter street was 
named for a brother of our subject. Mr. 
Akard is a public-spirited citizen, and has 
given his hearty support to all enterprises 
that had for their object the upbuilding of 
the city. 

fESSE CALLAWAY, one of the repre- 
sentative citizens of Dallas county, is a 
son of Joshua and Margaret ,Callaway. 
The father was born and reared in AVilkes 
county, Georgia, but subsetjuently removed 
to Walton county, same State, where he 
spent the greater part of his life, dying in 
1838. Our subject's mother was born in 



392 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Virginia, a daughter of Charles Crawley, also 
a native of Virginia. Her parents removed 
to Wilkes county, Georgia, where she was 
reared and married. She accompanied her 
husband to Walton county, Georgia, where 
she spent the remainder of her days, dying 
in 1868, at the age of sixty-eight years. Mr. 
and Mrs. Callaway were the parents of eleven 
children, viz.: Samuel, William, Charles, 
John, Eleanor, Robert, Lydia, Nancy, Jesse, 
James and Joseph. 

Jesse Callaway, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Walton county, Georgia, June 
29, 1828. In the latter part of 1852 he 
went to Tallahassee Florida, where he engaged 
in the mercantile business, having previously 
followed farming. He was a resident of the 
city about seven years, after which he sold 
out and began traveling, visiting different 
points in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana 
and Texas. Returning to Florida in 1860, 
he located at Pensacola, and was a resident of 
that city when the war broke out. He cast 
his lot with his State, enlisting in the winter 
of 1860, in a local company, which was soon 
incorporated in the First Florida Regiment 
of Infantry, and which was soon a part of the 
Confederate troops that took possession of 
the United States Navy Yard at Pensacola. 
Mr. Callaway served in that vicinity until the 
expiration of his term of enlistment, when 
he entered Cobb's Legion, Wade Hampton's 
iirigade, and went to the front. He was in 
all the engagements fought by liis command, 
which comprised some of the heaviest of the 
war, and served to the general surrender, lay- 
ing down his arms at Salisbury, North Caro- 
lina, in April, 1865, having had the good 
fortune never to be captured or wounded. 

At the close of the war Mr. Callaway went 
to Pike county, Alabama, where he remained 
sixteen months, engaged in farming, and 



next removed to Missouri, living in various 
localities of that State, and enoao'ed in vari- 
oils occupations. Having accumulated some 
money, he purchased a number of teams in 
1869, and began working on railroads in Mis- 
souri, which he continued during the years of 
1869-'70-'71. He then came to Texas to take 
work on the International Railroad, then 
being constructed through east Texas, but 
remained there only a few months, when he 
sold out and came to the city of Dallas. 
Here his first investments were in city lots, 
which became very valuable in 1888-'90. A 
short time after coming to Dallas, he secured 
employment from J. T. Elliott, in the lum- 
ber business, but after sixteen years his health 
gave way, and he decided to retire from ac- 
tive business pursuits. In 1879, he bought 
a farm in partnership with M. L. Cordell, 
consisting of 160 acres, and situated near 
Dallas, which he subsequently divided. He 
afterward bought a few acres at different 
times, and now has 100 acres, all of which is 
either cultivated, or in pasture, and which, 
on account of its proximity to the city of 
Dallas, is very valuable. Mr. Callaway gives 
his entire attention to this farm, and to his 
other interests. He has traveled a great 
deal, and now often takes trips to different 
parts of the country. He is a member of the 
Baptist Church, having united with that de- 
nomination at Tallahassee, Florida, in 1858. 
He is a public-spirited and progressive man, 
liberal with his means, and kind and charit- 
able. 

OMINIQUE BOULAY has been a resi- 
dent of Dallas county since May 10, 
1856, when he came here with the 
French colony and engaged in farming. He 
was born in France, in 1826, the eldest child 



nrsToiir of dallas county. 



898 



in tlie family of Benjamin and Marianne 
(Antiebou) Boulay, natives also of France, in 
which country his parents died, his father in 
1S32. Mr. Boulay was reared in a small 
town in the north of France, learnino; the 
carpenter and joitier's trade, as well as the 
vocation of farming. He was thirty years of 
age when he came to Dallas county, being on 
the voyage in a sailing vessel from January to 
May, 1856, landing at New Orleans. He 
proceeded thence by water to Houston, and 
thence by ox team to Dallas. In 1866 he 
returned to Natchitoches parish, Louisiana, 
where he followed farming until February, 
1882, when he returned to Dallas, since 
which time he has worked at his trade. Here 
lie has made what he possesses by his own in- 
dustry. He owns desirable town property. 
Practically he is a self-made man, attaining 
liis present high standing amid many diffi- 
culties. He is a member of the Catholic 
Church. 

He was married in 1856, the year of his 
arrival in this country, to Isahelle Pimpare, 
a native of France and a daughter of Rene 
Pimpare. Her father, a native of that 
country, came with Mr. Boulay to America. 
Mr. Boulay has one child, Adolphine, now 
Mrs. Armand, of Dallas. 

^R. THOMAS H. D. STUART, of Ellis 
county, is a son of Dr. R. J. Stuart, who 
who was born in Princess Anne county, 
Maryland, in 1812. The father emigrated 
from his native State to Georgia, and in 1873 
to Texas, settling on a farm where a portion 
of the city of Oak Cliff now stands, and 
thence to the southern part of Dallas county, 
where he remained until his death, wliich 
occurred in 1883. He was thoroughly edu- 



cated, having taken a literary course at Balti- 
more, and also a medical course at Atlanta, 
Georgia. For several years he practiced 
successfully in Georgia and Louisiana. Our 
subject's mother, nee Melvina Coker, was a 
daughter of Thomas and Precious (Lovejoy) 
Coker. Mr. and Mrs. Stuart were married in 
1883, and were the parents of four children: 
Susan A., widow of Caldwell Bishop, a farmer 
and merchant by occupation; Thomas H. D., 
our subject; Mary L., deceased, was the wife 
of A. S. Blythe, Sheriff of Miller county, Ar- 
kansas; and Jefferson A., general agent for 
Curtis & Co., of St. Louis, and a resident of 
Aberdeen, Mississippi. The father was mar- 
ried a second time, in 1853, to Miss Sarah E. 
Simmons, a native of Georgia. 

Thomas Stuart was born in Georgia, in 
1839, and at the age of fifteen years he re- 
moved with his parents to Louisiana, where 
he remained until the breaking out of the 
war. He enlisted in the Seventeenth Louis- 
iana Regiment Infantry, Company D, was at 
at the battle of Siiiloh, and served to the 
close of the war. He then returned home 
and resumed the study of medicine under his 
father, and in the fall of 1866 he began a 
course of lectures at Philadelphia Medical 
College, and graduated at that institution in 
1868. Dr. Stuart at once began the practice 
of medicine in Ouachita parish, Louisiana, 
where he remained until coming to Texas, in 
1871, locating in Dallas county, where he 
continued his practice in connection with 
farming. He remained there until 1889, 
when he bought and settled where he now 
lives. In 1874 he was married to Florence 
T. Palmer, a native of Dallas county, and a 
daughter of Dr. A.B. and Francis A. (Dick- 
son) Palmer. To Dr. and Mrs. Stuart have 
been born six children, namely: Francis L., 
Robert J., Nellie Blythe, Jessie B., Mary 



394 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



and Charlie P. Mr. Stuart began life for 
himself at tlie close of the war, with compar- 
atively little assistance, and, notwithstanding 
his having met with heavy losses, he is now 
in good circumstances, owning 276 acres of 
well improved land. He is a kind, hospi- 
table man, of refined tastes and good habits, 
and the golden rule is exemplified in his 
every day life. In politics he is a Democrat, 
and has been a delegate to county and State 
conventions for years; and socially is a 
Master Mason. 

iOBERT MURPHY dates his birth in 
Daviess county, Indiana, March 18, 
1845. His father, John L. Murphy, 
was born in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1852, 
in company with his brother-in-law and 
others, he went to California, leaving his 
wife and children in Indiana, and never re- 
turned. His family remained in Daviess 
county until 1860, when they moved to 
Washington, same State. At the latter place 
Robert engaged in the tobacco business. 
Their next move was to Union county, 
Illinois, where they turned their attention to 
fruit raising. Five years later the family 
moved to Dallas county, Texas, arriving here 
in the fall of 1870. 

Mr. Murphy's mother was before her mar- 
riage Miss Pauline J. Cross. She wedded 
John L. Murphy in 1841, and by him had 
four children, viz.: Marion, Robert, Monroe 
and Johanna. Monroe died, leaving a widow 
and one child. Johana is the wife of Matthew 
Gillmore. Mrs. Murphy now lives with her 
son at Mineral Wells, Texas. 

On their first arrival in Texas, they settled 
near Dallas, rented land and began raising 
cotton. Roberts worked until he had money 



enough to buy some land in the eastern part 
of Dallas county, about five miles south of 
Garland and fourteen miles northeast of the 
city of Dallas. He and his brothers bought 
615 acres. They subsequently divided it, 
and the share which fell to Robert is that on 
which he now lives — a fine farm of 200 acres. 
He also owns other land, making in all 254 
acres, worth, at the lowest figure, $40 per 
acre. Besides this he owns valuable property 
in Dallas. Starting out in life a poor boy, 
Mr. Murphy has worked his way up to his 
present position of prosperity. 

October 15, 1885, he wedded Miss B. L. 
Shawver, who was born in August, 1867, 
daughter of James Shawver. She has one 
sister. Miss Edna. Two children have been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, whose names 
are Robert C. and Carl Thompson Murphy. 

He and his wife are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

Mr. Murphy is well known throughout 
this part of Dallas county as an enterprising 
and progressive farmer and stock-raiser. On 
his farm are found some fine specimens of 
Jersey and Durham cattle and Clydesdale 
horses. 

^ENRY B. BENNETT, a successful 
farmer of Dallas county, was born in 
Freco, Arkansas, May 12, 1843, a son 
of Pleasant and Docia (Simpson) Bennett, 
the former a native of Alabama. 

The parents settled in Polk county, Ar- 
kansas, many years ago, where the father 
died during the war, at about the age of 
fifty-five years, and where the mother still 
lives, being well advanced in years. They 
were the parents of twelve children, namely: 
Fannie, deceased, married a Mr. Allen; 
Sallie, the wife of James Mays, resides in 



niSTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



895 



Frio county, Texas; Rena, deceased, married 
Andrew Joinison; Thomas, deceased; Mar- 
garet, who married Daniel Williams and is 
DOW deceased; Mary Emily, deceased, mar- 
ried Rafo Turner; Parolee, deceased, was the 
wife of William Williams; Ueiiry B., our 
subject; Matthew, a resident of Montague 
county, this State; Carroll who resides in 
Frio county; Lucinda, the wife of John Por- 
ter, of Frio county; Laura, deceased, was the 
wife of Dock Hopkins, of Frio county. 

The subject of this sketch came to Texas, 
and resided successively in Titus, Davis, 
Cherokee and Tarrant counties. He re- 
moved to the latter county in the fall of 
1872, where lie was engaged in milling at 
Grapevine. In 1878 he came to Dallas 
county, and bought the place of 150 acres 
where he now resides, sixty acres of which is 
under cultivation. Mr. Bennett was married 
in December, 1866, to Susan, a daughter of 
J. M. Stringfellow, of Frio county. She 
died April 26, 1885, leaving eight children: 
Mollie Lee, the wife of Cal Prewett, of Choc- 
taw Nation, Indian Territory; Docia Ann, 
now Mrs. John Galliert, of this county; Will- 
iam Madison, John lienry, Kufus Edward, 
Jesse Carroll, Jennetta and Susan at home. 
Mr. Bennett was again married in November, 
1885, to Mrs. Mary Walls, the widow of 
Berry Walls, of Tarrant county. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bennett and live children are members 
of the Freewill Baptist Church. 



fOIIN LOU POT has been a resident of 
Dallas county, Texas, since February, 
1856, but was born in Ardennes, France, 
in the month of February, 1836, to Nicholas 
and Adaline Gilet, also natives of France. 
The elder Loupot w^s a mason by trade and 



accumulated a fair competency. John Loupot 
obtained his knowledge of masonry under 
his father, prior to the sixteenth year, at 
which time he went to work at Sedan as a 
grocery- keeper, and until his removal to 
America in his twentieth year, he was en- 
gaged in various occupations. During this 
time his education was not neirlected and be- 
sides attending the common schools he has 
also attended, for some time, a commercial 
college. November 11, 1855, he sailed for 
America from An vers, Belgium, to Liverpool, 
England, and there took passage in a sailing 
vessel bound for New Orleans, the distance 
being covered in thirty-one days. He came 
to Galveston, Texas, by steamer, thence to 
Houston, but not lieins able to find a con- 
veyance to Dallas he returned to Galveston 
and came up the Trinity river, which occu- 
pied three weeks. He was accompanied by 
his uncle, Francis Loupot, who returned to 
France in 1869. At Newport he could not 
come further and the rest of the journey 
was made on foot, a distance of 150 miles. 
He and his companion, being unable to speak 
English, were unable to obtain food, some- 
times two ilays elapsing before their fast was 
broken. The settlers' houses were few and 
far between, there were no bridges across 
streams, and at last Mr. Loupot's companion 
broke down and he was compelled to leave 
him at Palestine. With SI. 50 in his pocket 
made the remaining 100 miles alone, swim- 
ming the swollen streams with his clothes 
tied to his back with a grapevine. He reached 
his destination February 24, 1856, his sole 
capital being 15 cents. The first week he 
secured employment at herding sheep and 
for one year he farmed with the French 
colony. He then went to Ivaufman county 
and worked on a farm four months, then re- 
j turned to Dallas and began improving the 



396 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



farm which he now owns but wliicli belonged 
to his uncle. He followed various occupa- 
tions until his marriage October 4, 1869, to 
Miss Rosina Getzer, a native oi Switzerland, 
who came to this country in 1867, when sixteen 
years of age, a daughter of Andrew Getzer. 
After the celebration of his marriage he re- 
sided in Dallas for four years, conducting a 
bar and bakery business, and also erected 
many buildings in the city, one of which 
was the Odd Fellows' Hall in 1872. During 
the Civil war he was in Mexico, engaged in 

freiehtino; cotton and remained in that conn- 
to o 

try for four years. In 1875 he moved to his 
present farm, and although he at Urst followed 
general farming he has since made a spe- 
cialty of gardening and dairying. His land 
comprises 160 acres and is well and carefully 
tilled. He and his wife are the parents of 
five children: E.osina, John, Ema, Maxime, 
and Emile. Mr. Loupot is a member of the 
I. O. O. F., and politically is independent. 
He IS a self-made man, in the fullest sense of 
tiiat oft abused phrase, and by his own ef- 
forts has accumulated a comfortable com- 
petency, notwithstanding tlie fact that in 
early life he met with many reverses and dis- 



couragements. 



-^-^^yuifh- 



??~ 



l/inrx^^ 



fOSEPH BLAKENEY, City Assessor of 
Dallas, was born in Kildare county, Ire- 
land, March 29, 1856, a son of Hugh 
and Mary (Kehoe) Blakeney, also natives of 
Ireland. The father died June 11, 1892, 
aged sixty -five years. He was a member of 
the Board of Trade, and a member of the 
Equalization Board for four years, and a 
member of the Catholic Church. He was 
highly respected by tlie community, having 
always been identified with every enterprise 



that tended to the advancement of the cit}'. 
Tlie mother of our subject died July 28, 
1885, aged fifty-three years. She was a de- 
vout Catholic from early girlhood. The par- 
ents reared a family of seven children, four 
of whom are still living: Marv, wife of C. F. 
Bohonon, resides in Nashua, New Hamp- 
shire, and has one child, Lillie; Joseph, our 
subject; Thomas James, who attended the 
celebrated college at Carlow, Ireland, three 
years, the Allegany college. New York State, 
four years, was ordained priest in 1892 by 
Bishop Brennen, of Dallas, and is now lo- 
cated in St. Patrick's Church as curate; and 
Hugh J., who married Annie Foy, and they 
have four children: Thomas, Mary, Annie 
and Sophie. 

Joseph Blakeney our subject, graduated 
at the Boston high school in the class of 
1875, and the following year came to Dallas, 
where he successfully conducted a bakery for 
ten years. He was then connected with the 
Blakeney Manufacturing Company 1888 to 
1891, having been secretary of the company 
during the latter part of the last year. His 
brother Hugh was vice-president of the 
same two years, and his father president 
three years. April 5, 1891, our subject was 
elected to his present position, on the Demo- 
cratic ticket, and in a most hotly contested 
election. His opponent, E. R. Fonda, re- 
ceived 1,900 votes, and our subject 3,030. 
Mr. Blakeney is a member of the Catholic 
Church and takes an active part in the 
Democratic party. 

Ht was married July 18, 1880, to Miss 
Ellen Griffin, a daughter of John Griffin, of 
New Castle, Pennsylvania. Four children 
have been born to this union: John J., 
Hugh, Ellen and Edith. The latter died at 
the age of seven months. The mother died 
at New Castle, Pennsylvania, having gone 



nrSTOHY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



397 



to her old home to improve her health, 
Septemher 30, 1891, aged tliirty years. 
She was a member of the Catholic Church, 
was a woman of eminent devotion and sicrnal 
usefulness, and in tlie prime of life was called 
upon to act in another sphere. She had 
many warm friends, was a worthy and devoted 
woman, a loving wife, a fond mother and a 
cherished friend. Tlie family liave ever been 
active in business, have shown enterprise in 
helping forward the best interests of the city, 
and stand well in church and business circles. 
Mr. Blakeney is a man of good business 
qualifications, and will do honor to his pres- 
ent office, or any position of trust, as he car- 
ries the confidence of the people. 

V. LEADBETTER, Oak Cliff, Dallas 
county, Texas, is one of the prominent 
'** pioneers of the county, having settled 
here in 1848. 

Mr. Leadbetter was born in Overton county, 
Tennessee, May 30. 1827, the second son and 
third child of Arthur Leadbetter. His father 
was born June 3, 1798, son of Arthur Lead- 
better, a native of England, who came to this 
country before the Revolutionary war and 
served as a soldier in that conflict. He first 
settled in North Carolina, and during the 
Revolution moved to Jamestown, Virginia, 
coming at an early day to Tennessee, where 
he died when his son Arthur, father of the 
subject of this sketcli, was a child. Grand- 
mother Leadbetter was nee Frances Brooks, 
a native of Ireland, who lived to an advanced 
aga and died in Tennessee. Arthur was 
reared on the farm by his mother, and was 
engaged in agricultural pursuits on the old 
homestead. At about the age of thirty he 
became a Baptist minister, having charge of 

27 



churches near his home. He chose for his 
wife Miss Elizabeth Robbins, who was born 
in Tennessee March 18, 1802, daughter of 
Isaac Robbins, a native of Scotland. He 
continued farming in connection with his 
church work in Tennessee until 1832, when 
he emigrated to Illinois, then the border-land 
of civilization. In less than a year, however, 
on account of sickness, they returned to Ten- 
nessee, making that State their home until 
March 7, 1848, when, with their six children, 
they came to Dallas county, Texas. Mr. 
Leadbetter first settled on East fork, whei-e 
he resided till 1850, when he located in what 
is now known as the Lea(ll)etter nei<ihbor- 
hood. He organized five churches in this 
county, having charge of four at one time in 
connection with his farming pursuits, and 
during the latter years of his life he devoted 
his whole time to the ministry. He took a 
headright of 640 acres, and located it four 
miles north of Cedar Hill, on what is known 
as the Cedar mountain, on the waters of 
Mountain creek. He improved a farm of 
seventy-five acres, where he lived at his death. 
By his first wife he had eight children, seven 
of whom lived to be grown, viz.: Mary A., 
(deceased), Isaac L., O. V., Lewis B., Martha 
(deceased), Cynthia (deceased), and Arthur 
Brooks. Mrs. Leadbetter died of small-pox, 
in 1848, three months after her arrival in 
Texas, having contracted the disease while 
en route to this State. Mr. Leadbetter was 
subsequently married to Mrs. Elizabeth Pier- 
son, nee Ogle, and by this union had five 
children: Francis, James, William, Eliza- 
beth and George. After a most active and 
useful life, Arthur Leadbetter passed to the 
reward beyond, November 7, 1859. 

O. V. Leadbetter, whose name heads this 
biography, received his education in the sub- 
scription schools of that period, and remained 



398 



HISTOUY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



on the farm with his parents until his mar- 
riage, whicli occurred March 4, 1848, to Miss 
Margaret Fox, a native of Alabama. Her 
parents, Joseph and Lucy (Evans) Fox, were 
natives of Tennessee, her birth occurring 
wliile thej were sojourning in Alabama. 
They sul)sequently moved to Texas, and lo- 
cated in Dallas county. Mr. Leadbetter took 
a headright in Mercer's colony, in the east- 
ern part of the county, remained there three 
years, and in 1851 exchanged his right for 
one in Peters' colony, where he has since 
lived. The land was wild and he began im- 
proving it, at the same time working at the 
blacksmith's trade, being a natural mechanic. 
In July, 1862, he betame a soldier in the 
Twenty-second Texas Infantry, and was a 
participant in the battle of Galveston. He was 
detailed in the Commissary Department, and 
took charge of the Government shop at Beau- 
mont, Texas, and remained in the service 
until the close of the war, receiving his dis- 
charge at Houston. The war over, he re- 
turned to his farm and agricultural pursuits, 
where, as the years glided by, prosperity 
attended his honest and earnest efforts, and 
to-day he is the owner of 254 acres of well- 
improved land, all under a high state of 
cultivation. The water supply of this place 
comes from a spring, over wliich the friendly 
branches of a large elm tree casts a most de- 
lightful shade. This immense tree was but 
a sapling live feet high when Mr. Lead- 
better took up his abode here. Changed 
is the scene now. A two-story residence, 
erected in 1876, has taken the place of the 
primitive log cabin, 12 x 14 feet, with its dirt 
floor, in which Mr. and Mrs. Leadbetter es- 
tablished their home. Sons and daughters 
have grown up around them. Two have 
passed to the other world and eight are still 
living. Thomas J. died at the old home, and 



Nathaniel B., a civil engineer, while acting 
as Deputy County Surveyor and locating land 
in Brown county, was drowned in Pecan 
bayon, near Brownwood, aged twenty-four 
years. Those living are Wesley C, Minerva, 
William O., Linnie, James J., Arthur L., 
Thomas J. and Carroll E. 

Mr. Leadbetter is a member of the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Chnrch, and his wife of the 
Christian Church. In politics he affiliates 
with the Democratic party. 



OBERT P. TOOLE, a prominent citi- 
zen of Dallas, Texas, office in the Bank- 
ers & Merchants' bank building, dates 
his birth in Blount county, Tennessee, Novem- 
ber 18, 1854. Of his life and ancestry the 
following facts have been gleaned: 

Mr. Toole's parents, James M. and Loucilla 
H. (Patton) Toole, were natives of Tennessee 
and Georgia, respec':ively. His father was a 
merchant in Maryville and Knoxville, was 
successful in his business enterprises, and 
accumulated large possessions. He lost 
heavily, however, during the war. He was 
well and favorably known both in business 
and social circles; was for many years an 
Elder in the Presbyterian Church, and also 
served as Sabbath-school Superintendent for 
a number of years. Grandfather William 
Toole, a native of North Carolina, was a sad- 
dler and had a large establishment in Mary- 
ville, employing a large number of hands. 
This was the leading industry of the place. 
He was a very devout member of the old- 
school Presbyterian Church. His death 
occurred in 1861. For a number of years he 
served as a Justice of the Peace in Maryville. 
Matthew Toole (the grandfather of Colonel 
Keller, of Dallas) was his brother, their 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



399 



fiitlier lH'iiif» a native of the Emerald Isle. 
Mattliew moved to Mississippi from North 
Carolina, and died there many years ago. 
William Toole's wife was before marriage a 
Miss Berry. James M. Toole was twice 
married. His tirst wife was a Miss Wallace. 
Their two children were George A. and Eliz- 
abeth. The latter is now the widow of Stew- 
art N. Fain, and lives in East Tennessee. 
The subject of our sketch is the oldest of the 
four children by his second wife, the others 
being Matthew M., Albert J., and Annette. 
Robert P. Toole moved with his parents 
to Knoxville, Tennessee, when he was ten 
years old, Knox being an adjoining county 
to Blount, and was educated at the Univer- 
sity of Tennessee, located at Knoxville. He 
read law in the ofhce of W. P. Washburn, 
Esq., and was admitted to the liar in 1876. 
In that year, when only twenty-one years of 
age, he was made a sub-elector for Knox and 
adjoining counties, and became prominent in 
politics through his canvass for Tilden. In 
1880, he was elected City Attorney of Knox- 
ville, but in the fall of that year resigned his 
position and came to Texas. Settling at Dal- 
las, he assumed an editorial position on the 
old Dallas daily Herald^ of which Colonel 
John F. Elliott was the editor-in-chief, and 
one of the proprietors. In 1884, upon the 
adoption of Olin Welborn, member of Con- 
gress from tlie Dallas district, as chairman 
of the House Committee on Indian Affairs, 
he selected Mr. Toole as the Secretary of the 
Committee, and I'rivate Secretary of the Chair- 
man. This appointment called him to Wash- 
ington, where he remained for three winters. 
He afterward was connected with various 
newspapers in the capacity of editorial 
writer, special reporter, and legislative cor- 
respondent, among them the Memphis Ava- 
lanche and the Houston Post. 



In consequence of impaired liealth, Mr. 
Toole gave up his newspaper work in 1890, 
and, returning to Dallas, took charge of the 
Dallas Land Title Abstract Company's busi- 
ness, the management of which he has at the 
present time. In 1890, he ])urcliased a home 
in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas, where he 
now resides. In April of this year (1892) he 
was elected one of the Aldermen of this iTiagic 
little city, leading the entire ticket by a flat- 
tering margin. In response to a call signed 
by over 400 of the leading and representa- 
tive citizens of Dallas, in May of this year, 
Mr. Toole announced liimself as a candidate 
to represent Dallas county in the Twenty- 
third Legislature of Texas, and was nomin- 
ated by acclamation for the position by the 
Democratic County Convention of Dallas 
county, on the 19th of July. His ability to 
fill this honored position, and his great popu- 
larity witli ail classes of people, reiider him 
a strong man for the race. 

Mr. Toole is a man of family. He was 
married in 1883, to Miss Cletnmie Parker, 
who was born and reared in Dallas. Their 
only child is Cora McCoy Toole. 



BEAM McCOY UORNE, deceased, one 
of the earliest settlers of Dallas county, 
had the distinction of being the first 
white person born in Lexington, Missouri, tlie 
date of his birth being July 31, 1819. He was 
a son of the liev. William Home, a native of 
East Tennessee, and a minister of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church, who removed 
to Missouri in 1817 and was among the pio- 
neer settlers there; he died while on a journey 
to California in 1857. He niarried Elizabeth 
McCoy, a native of east Tennessee and a 
member of one of the oldest families of that 



400 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



section. She died in Texas, in her eighty- 
fifth year. 

Abrain McCoy received a fair education 
for those early days, and was trained to the 
occupation of fanning. He followed the 
plow for thirty-five years in his own State, 
and then went to Kansas, where he engaged 
in freighting goods across the plains for two 
years. He then returned to agricultural pur- 
suits, and in 1866 he came to Texas, settling 
in Dallas county. The county was then thinly 
settled, and business in Dallas city was 
confined to the public square. He embarked 
in the dry-goods and grocery trade, the firm 
being Home & Blake, and conducted a very 
successful business. It was too confining to 
suit his naturally rural tastes, and he accord- 
ingly sold out and invested in a plantation. 
This land he never occupied himself, but 
bought eleven acres from Judge N. M. ijur- 
ford in the heart of tlie present site of Dal- 
las, and built a residence there. He had to 
cut the tinaber to clear a spot for the house, 
and thus has witnessed a wonderful trans- 
formation in the surroundings of his early 
home. 

Mr. Home was married in 1842, to Miss 
Elizabeth J. Johnson, and six children were 
born to them, one of whom survives, Mrs. 
Ernest, a resident of Dallas. The mother 
died in 1874 and her remains were buried in 
the old cemetery. In 1875 Mr. Home was 
married a second time, to Ruth Ann Ross, a 
native of Tennessee. She died March 2, 
1891. Three grandchildren until recently 
made their home with our subject: Annie L. 
Kelly, John M. Ernest and Arthur M. White. 
December 3, 1891, in Dallas, Mr. Horne 
married Miss Clara O. Ramsey, of Norwood, 
Louisiana. January 29, 1892, his horse ran 
away, throwing him from his buggy and so 
injuring him that he died two days after- 



ward, January 31, 1892, at 6:30 r. m. 
Mr. Horne was a faithful member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church for forty- 
eight years, and politically was an old Jack- 
son Democrat. While he was a resident of 
Kansas he was County Judge for a time, and 
while on the plains held a Captain's commis- 
sion from the United States Government, 
having charge of fifty men. He was the old- 
Missourian in Dallas county and took prece- 
dence on Missouri day at the State Fair. Mrs. 
Ruth Ann Ross Home was a charter mem- 
ber of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church 
in Dallas, and Mrs. Elizabeth J. Horne be- 
longed to the same society. 

C. BARLOW, an able constructive 
architect, contractor and builder, and 
® an efiicient general superintendent of 
all kinds of buildings, located at JS'o. 317 
Flora street, Dallas, Texas, has followed his 
vocation in this place since the fall of 1880. 
His parents were Joseph and Ariana 
(Norwood) Barlow, both natives of Maryland 
and both belonging to well-known and highly 
respected families of that State, in which the 
grandparents of each were bom. His mater- 
nal grandmother was a Howard, and married 
Edwin Norwood, who was a prominent man 
of his day. His grandmother's brother, 
Samuel Howard, inherited all his parents' 
large property, including many slaves, ac- 
cording to the old English law prevalent in 
Maryland, which provided that, in case of no 
will the eldest son should inherit everything. 
He, however, was more liberal than the law, 
for he divided his possessions with the rest, 
some time later, selling out and going West 
to Ohio, which was then a wild and unset- 
tled country, and where he afterward died. 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



401 



Tlie fatlier of the subject of our sketch was a 
prosperous wholesale and retail grocer of 
lialtimore, who, after the close of the war, 
settled on a large farm near that city, on 
which he died in 1882, aged sixty-four years. 
He was a man of very great financial ability, 
intensely energetic and of exalted probity, 
all of which conspired to gain for him the 
universal respect of his associates and friends 
who were much attached to him on account 
of his rare personal and social attractions. 
The mother of our subject, who was two 
years older than her husband, is still living, 
at the age of seventy-seven years, and re- 
sides on the old homestead. She is a wo 
man of intelligence and many amiable traits 
of character, which have endeared her to a 
iiost of friends in the neighborhood in which 
she has resided for so many years. 

The subject of our sketch was born in 
Baltimore, Maryland, in 1848, and was the 
sixth in order of birth of a family of eight 
children. He received his education in that 
city, where he was living when the city 
authorities called for the enlistment of all 
loyal citizens, between the ages of sixteen 
and sixty-five, who should assist in the de- 
fense of the city against the invasion of Gen- 
eral Early's army, who in their attempt to 
capture Washington city made a bold raid 
through Maryland. Among those to answer 
this imperative call was the subject of onr 
sketch, his father and two elder brothers of 
onr subject. Tiie former two served for only 
a couple of weeks, or until the fright was 
over, and, upon the father being solicited to 
permit his youngest son to continue in the 
service, lie very justly replied that he had 
boys in the army, and if it should become 
necessary he liimself would enlist and take 
with him the subject of tiiis sketch. This 
checked further importuning on that point; 



but after the close of the war, in order to 
abate somewhat the excessive fervor en<;en- 
dered by recent military performances, our 
subject enlisted in the regular service for 
three years, and served out his time, during 
which he was mostly in Arkansas and the In- 
dian Territory, and assisted in reconstructing 
the former state. 

Mr. Barlow suffered the inconvenience of 
having a wealthy father, and was thus not 
forced to early learn a trade or exert his nat- 
ural abilities, with which latter he is un- 
doubtedly abundantly endowed. It thus 
transpires that we find him serving an appren- 
ticeship of six months at the carpenter's trade 
in St. Louis, in the meantime, and without a 
teacher, other than books, studying architect- 
ure, for which, it seems, he had a decided 
adaptability, being a born mechanic, and hav- 
ing, almost, come whittling into the world. 

In 1871 he came to Texas, settling in 
Houston, where he was employed as a jour- 
neyman and also worked in the railroad 
shops. In 1880 he came to Dallas, where 
he has done a great deal of work, having 
erected some of the finest buildings in the 
city. He has the advantage of having served 
in every department of his business, and 
thus brings a thorough knowledge of all de- 
tails and an extended experience to bear on 
all work under his superintendence. He has 
traveled extensively throughout the State, 
is widely and favorably known, and often 
has his judgment referred to in matters of 
importance, both relating to his business, in 
which he is conceded to be an authority, as 
well as in other matters of moment to the 
State and country. 

Thus has intelligent and persistent effort 
resulted in eminent business success, while 
his noble qualities of heart have attracted 



402 



HISTOMY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



and retained the universal esteem of his fel- 
low men. 

In politics he is independent, selecting 
from the various tickets those candidates who, 
in his opinion, are the best adapted, by 
reason of natural ability and experience as 
well as thorougli probity of character, to fill 
tlie important positions to which they aspire 
to be elected. 

He was married in Maryland in 1883, to 
Miss Laura Virginia Forsyth, an estimable 
lady and a native of that State. She is a 
daughter of John and Margaret (Ilipsley) 
Forsyth, both natives of the fame State, 
where they are well and favorably known. 
Her father died in 1876, but her mother still 
lives, near Baltimore, where she is much es- 
teemed on account of her sterling qualities 
of mind and heart. 

Mr. and Mrs. Barlow have three children, 
Emerson Caspar, William H. and Margaret 
Arianua. 

fH. MITCHELL, physician and surgeon, 
Dallas, Texas, was born in Sumner 
'^ county, Tennessee, September 6, 1834, 
son of Pleasant and Sarah (Hunt) Mitchell, 
the former a native of Virginia and the latter 
of North Carolina. 

Pleasant Mitchell went from Virginia to 
Tennessee with his parents in 1820, and was 
engaged in farming along the Bledsoe creek 
for twenty years. His death occurred there 
in 1840. He was well and favorably known 
in that vicinity, and was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and a leading 
spirit and officer in the church. His wife 
survived him a number of years, her death 
occurring in 1888, at the age of seventy-two 
years and three months. She, too, was an 
earnest Christian and a member of the Meth- 



odist Church. Of their three children the 
Doctor is the oldest, the others being Sophia 
C. and Mary F. Sophia C, wife of John 
Dunnegan, was born in 1836, and died in 
September, 1857; Mary F., wife of William 
Kersy, lives in Polk county, Missouri. 

The subject of our sketch was educated in 
Humansville Academy, Polk county, Missouri, 
to which place the family moved in 1847. He 
graduated at the Eclectic Medical Institute 
in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1861. Previous to this 
he made the overland journey to California, 
taking with him a drove of 800 cattle, and 
after an absence of two years returned East 
in 1859. In July, 1861, he entered the Con- 
fedei-ate service, and as assistant surgeon was 
with Dr. Chenoweth in Cothron's Brigade) 
under General Price. At the end of one 
year failing health compelled him to leave 
the service. 

Dr. Mitchell had opened an office in Dallas 
county, Missouri, in March, 1861, and prac- 
ticed there till July. After leaving the army 
he located in Rockwall, Texas, in the fall of 
1862, where he was engaged in the practice 
of his profession until 1866. Then he spent 
six months in Alexandria, Louisiana; was in 
Nashville, Illinois, from 1866 to 1871, and 
in Sweet Springs, Missouri, from 1871 to 
1884. Coming to Dallas, Texas, in 1884, he 
established himself in practice here, and has 
since been ranked with the worthy members 
of the medical profession of Dallas county. 
While in Rockwall he was medical examiner 
of furloughed soldiers and of those who en- 
tered the service there. At Sweet Springs 
he was medical examiner for the Hartford 
Life Insurance Company. He is a member 
of the State Medical Association of Texas, 
and of the National Medical Association of 
the United States. 

The Doctor was married in 1864 to Mrs. 



UISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



403 



Siirali Vassallo. Tlioy liave six children: 
Emma G.; John IJrittan, who is in the em- 
ploy of Meyer Brothers, wholesale druggists, 
Dallas; Lloyd B., who has been with the 
Crowd us Drug Company five years; Joseph 
Edwin; Rena, and Natalin V. Dr. Mitchell 
is a member of the Masonic fraternity, both 
of tlui blue lodge and chapter, and he and 
his wife are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. 

Mrs. Mitchell is a daughter of Benjamin 
and Sarah Dye, she being one of the four of 
their sixteen children — nine daughters and 
seven sons — who are still living. Her par- 
ents, both natives of Virginia, were married 
there and early moved to Kentucky, and, after 
rearing a family in that State, came to Texas 
in 1847, being among the honored pioneers 
of the State. Her father died in 1852 and 
her mother in 1879. By her former husband, 
Francesco Vassallo, she has one child, Angio- 
letta, who is now the wife of W. J. McCon- 
nell, of Dallas. 

3B«?Ti L. SMITH, brick contractor and 
\'\l\jj, builder of Dallas, has been engaged 

l*"fe;^ "* at his trade here since his arrival 
November 24, 1870. His work has been the 
construction of business blocks, such as the 
Newsoffice on Commerce street and the Farm- 
ers' Alliance building.and as sub-contractor on 
the Harwood school building, tlic addition to 
an academy, and what is now the Guild build- 
ing on Elm street, three tire-engine buildings 
in Dallas, and many other structures, besides 
a number of residences, as tiiose of Mr. 
Foster, P. Wilkinson on Ervay street, etc. 
He generally has in his employ ten me- 
chanics and fifteen laborers. 

Mr. Smith was born in Jefferson county. 



Tennessee, in 1834, the eldest child of Ab- 
salom (a farmer) and Mary (Lockhart) Smith, 
natives of Teimessee. His father died in 
1851, and his mother about 1864. In 1862 
Mr. Smith enlisted in Company II, Twenty- 
third Tennessee Infantry, was captured at 
Vicksburg May 22, 1863, confined in prison 
twenty-two months at Fort Delaware and 
Point Lookout, in Delaware and Maryland, 
paroled in 1864 and went to Decatur, Illi- 
nois, where he was employed; he also worked 
at Springfield. 

He was married in Tennessee, in 1858, to 
E. C. Rowe, a native of Tennessee and a 
daughter of Abraham and Dorcas (McKehan) 
Howe, natives of Tennessee and both now 
deceased. Mr. Smith moved with his family 
to Dallas in 1876. 

As to political matters he lias not been 
active, except so far as to vote the Demo- 
cratic ticket when presented. He is a raem- 
beir of the American Legion of Honor, Lodge 
No. 410, and of the order of the Golden 
Cross. He and his wife belong to the Pres- 
byterian Church. Of their eight children, 
five are living, namely: Charles N., married 
and residing in Dallas; Clara, Bell, William 
E., Frank D. and Arthur T. 

HOUSLEY. — America is peculiarly the 
home of young business men, and 
particularly is this true of the West, 
where they have a chance to grow, not being 
stunted or crowded out of existence by the 
fierce competition of older civilization. This 
is particularly true of Texas, whose wide ex- 
panse is peculiarly adapted to the cultivation 
of this promising product, as is amply testi- 
fied by its numerous successful businessmen. 
Among these, none are more conspicuously 



404 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



endowed with those qualifications necessary 
to insure success than is the subject of this 
sketcli, wliose extraordinary energy has re- 
moved all the obstacles of circumstances, and 
gained for him a foremost rank among this 
army of pushing mercantile giants. 

L. Housley was born near the town of the 
same name, Housley, located in Dallas county, 
on December 25, 1863, and remained on the 
liome ff.rm until he was fifteen years of age. 
At this time he began to learn the drug busi- 
ness, working, for this purpose, in a drug 
store in Dallas for two years, when, varying 
his occupation, he engaged in farming for a 
while, subsequently starting a dry-goods and 
grocery store in the town of Housley. It 
was while thus employed that he was sum- 
moned to official duty, having been ap- 
pointed Postmaster by President Cleveland, 
which office he still holds, under the present 
administration. This fact of itself suffi- 
ciently testifies to his ability and integrity, 
both of which are necessary for a titness for 
this office. 

Mr. Housley was married October 3, 1888, 
to Miss Willie E. Stokes of Chapel Hill, 
Washington county, this State, a vivacious 
and amiable young lady, and a representa- 
tive of a prominent family. Her parents 
were originally from Mississippi, and her 
grandfather. Rev. J. H. Stone was one of the 
pioneers of Washington county. She has a 
brother, who is an able lawyer, residing in 
Wichita Falls, Texas. He married Miss 
Lillie Billiiigslea, a well known society lady. 
Mrs. Ilousley's sister, Miss Mannie Stokes, a 
very bright young lady, was married to R. 
I). Exum, a wealthy planter, and a promi- 
nent business man of Vaughan, Mississippi. 

The subject of our sketch and his wife have 
two children: the elder, Blanche, was born 
July 17, 1889, and the younger child was 



born June 25, 1891. Mrs. Housley is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

The location and natural environments of 
the place chosen by Mr. Housley for his 
home, eminently fit it for that use. With 
190 acres of highly cultivated land situated 
on the shores of a sparkling sheet of water, 
covering three acres at a depth of twenty- 
H-ve feet, known as Housley lake, abounding 
with the greatest quantity of fine fish, it 
may well be one of the show places of the 
State. On an atti'active site on this land Mr. 
Housley has built a handsome residence, with 
all modern conveniences and improvements, 
besides commodious barns for his grain and 
stock. Two hundred yards from his residence 
is his store, which is the largest in the town. 
Here he conducts a large business in dry goods 
and groceries. Mr. Housley is permanently 
located, and will lend all his efforts to make 
Housley lake the metropolis of this part of 
the county, which with his reputation for 
energy and determination he will no doubt 
accomplish. 

Public-spirited and liberal-minded, ever 
ready to lend his efforts to the promotion of 
the public good, Mr Housley has gained the 
confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, 
while his cordial, accommodating disposi- 
tion has endeared him to a large circle of 
friends. 

fW. MORRISON, a contractor and 
builder of Dallas, came to the city in 
April, 1873, at which time the place 
contained a population of 5,500, and he has 
ever since followed his vocation here. For 
the first four or five years he was a journey- 
man carpenter, commencing to take contracts 
for himself in 1877. He erected the busi- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNl'T. 



405 



ness houses of Blankenship & Blake, at the 
corner of Commerce and Lamar sti-eets, and 
tliat of Doran Bros., a two-story brick on 
Mann street, a large three- story brick at the 
corner of Elm and Ervay streets, and all the 
buildinp;s at the fair grounds; also the pri- 
vate residences of Alderman Loeb on Wood 
street, a line brick residence at the corner of 
Harwood street and Ross avenue, costing 
about ^15,000, one on Bryan street costing 
about S7,000; also a few business houses and 
residences at Waxahaehie, a two-story resi- 
dence in tlie country, twenty or thirty cot- 
tages, and three residences tor himself on 
south Harwood street — two of one-story each 
and one of two stories. 

Mr. Morrison was born in Scotland, June 
22, 1854, the eldest of the three children of 
John and Jane (Ralston) Morrison, natives of 
Scotland. Ilis mother, who was born in 
Paisley, Scotland, died in the old country, in 
1861; and his father came to America in 
1865, settling in Hancock county, Illinois, 
and engaging in farming there until his 
death, occurring August 6, 1887. Mr. J. 
W. Morrison was educated in the schools of 
Glasgow, and served his apprenticeship there 
at the carpenter and joiner's trade. In 1871 
he emigrated to the United States, landing at 
New York, and going thence by way of Chi- 
cago to Hancock county, Illinois. He com- 
menced work for himself in Keokuk, Iowa, 
and in 1873 came to Dallas as first stated. 
At that time the Texas Central and Pacific 
railroads had just reached this point. Since 
coming here he has earned a substantial rep- 
utation and prospered in business. He takes 
no active part in partisan politics, but votes 
for the best man and measures independently. 
He is a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 70, K. 
of P. 

In Dallas, March 14, 1877, he married Min- 



nie Elmily Etta Tooth, a native of Manchester, 
England, and a daughter of Richard and Ann 
(Blears) Tooth, natives also of England. Her 
father was a civil engineer and was sent out 
1)y the Government to survey and construct 
a railroad in South America, and he died in 
Peru, about 1873. Her mother, with two 
daughters, came to Canada, and finally to 
Dallas, about 1875. Her death occurred in 
Mexico, about 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Morri- 
son have three children, viz. John Richard, 
Robert Samuel and Albert Arthur. 

EORGE W. NEWMAN, M. D., was 
born in Dallas county, Texas, February 
18, 1861. He was reared on a farm in 
his native county, where he remained with 
his father until he was grown. He then 
attended the Trinity University, and after 
completing his college course, chose medi- 
cine for his profession, beginning its sttidy 
under the instruction of Dr. D. C. Pardue. 
Subsequently he entered the Tulane Univer- 
sity at New Orleans, and graduated in medi- 
cine, in 1888. He then returned home 
and commenced the practice of his pro- 
fession in his own neighborhood, Pleasant 
valley, where he has since remained. 

He was married to Miss Bettie Munday, 
December 17, 1882, on her twentieth birth- 
day, she having been iiorn in Mercer county, 
Kentucky, in 1862. After his marriage the 
Doctor bought a farm of 241 acres, on which 
he built a nice residence. His farm is now 
one of the finest in the county. He lias two 
tenant houses for his hired help. The farm- 
ing operations are all under his personal 
supervision, and this, together with his ex- 
tensive professional duties, wholly occupies 
his time. 



406 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



A biography of the Doctor's father, 11. R. 
Newman, will be found on another page of 
this volume. 

Mrs. Newman's mother died when she was 
one day old, and she had also the misfortune 
to lose her father when she was quite small. 
She was reared by her grandmother, Mar- 
garet Munday, and after her marriage the 
venerable grandmother came to live with her. 
She is a most amiable old lady, and is now 
eighty-nine years of age, having been born in 
Kentucky, December 22, 1802. Her son, 
Thomas Munday, father of Mrs. Newman, 
was born in Woodford county, Kentucky, 
December 6, 1827, and was married to Miss 
Nancy Baldwin, on the 30th of November, 
1860, Mrs. Newman being their only child. 

The Doctor and his wife have had four 
children: James A., born July 6, 1885; Char- 
ley, March 30, 1887, died April 25, 1890; 
Guy, born April 11, 1889, and Maggie May, 
January 29, 1891. 

Dr. Newman is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, and his wife of the 
Baptist Church. 



jNDREW T. REID, of the firm of Lind- 
say & Reid, stone contractors and pro- 
prietors of a stone yard on Broadway 
and Pacific avenue, Dallas. In September, 
1882, he came from Marquette, Michigan, to 
Texas, locating at Austin, where he followed 
his trade; the next year he came to Dallas 
and worked at stone-cutting by the day until 
he formed the present partnership, in 1888. 
He was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, in May, 
1852, the only child of Andrew T. and Mar- 
garet (Peat) Reid, natives of Perth, Scotland, 
and deceased many years ago. At the age of 
twenty-seven Mr. Reid emigrated to the 
United States, stopping first for a while in 



New Jersey, next in Chicago and Indiana, 
then Marquette, Michigan, then to Austin, 
Texas, and finally, as before stated, to Dallas. 
In politics he takes an active interest, but 
votes independently; has been actively identi- 
fied with many public-spirited enterprises 
and is a useful citizen. He is a member of 
the Caledonia Club of Dallas. He was mar- 
ried in Marquette, Michigan, in 1881, to 
Elizabeth E. Lee, a native of Canada and a 
daughter of Michael and Mary Lee, natives 
of Ireland who in early days moved to Cana- 
da and died there. Mr. Lee, as well as the 
the father of the subject of this sketch, were 
farmers. Mr. Reid's children are James and 
Mary. 

■-^^^-^^^'^^^^/^ 

fULIUS BAUMANN, a carpenter and 
builder of Dallas, was born in Germany, 
in 1858, the youngest son of August and 
Welhelmine (Heise) Baumann, also natives of 
Germany. The parents remained in their 
native country until death, the father dying 
in 1872, and the mother in November, 1890. 
Julius was reared and educated in his native 
country, where he also learned the cabinet- 
maker's trade. After coming to Te.xas he 
remained a short time in Abilene, but in 
November, 1881, he came to Dallas, where 
he has since remained. He has been en- 
gaged in the building interests since coming 
to this State; also bought and improved his 
place on Caroline street, and has fonr resi- 
dences on McKennon street, which he rents. 
Mr. Baumann is identified with the Demo- 
cratic party, but takes no active interest in 
politics, and socially, is a member of die 
Knights of Honor, at Dallas. He has always 
taken an active interest in everything for 
the good of the county, and has made what 
he has by his own efforts. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT F. 



407 



Fie was married in this city, in 1884, to 
Minna Thiede, a native of Germany, and a 
dautrhtur of Christian and Caroline Thiede, 
also natives of Germany. The parents were 
married in that country, and in 1883 came 
to Dallas county, and they now reside near 
Kichardsi>n, this county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Thiede have reared a family of eight chil- 
dren, six of whom are now living. Mr. and 
Mrs. Banmann have three children: Otto, 
Emma and Metha. 



I AMUEL KLEIN, President of the Dal- 
las County Council, was born in Ba- 
varia, Germany, and is a son of Joseph 
and Johanna (Weiss) Klein. He received the 
thorough education characteristic of the 
German nationality, and at the age of four- 
teen years engaged in mercantile pursuits 
with his father. He had been thus employed 
for two years, when he determined to cross 
the sea and try his fortunes in a foreign 
country. The new world offered induce- 
ments to the young and brave that the 
European countries did not possess, and with 
a heart full of brightest hope for the future 
he landed in New York city. He continued 
his journey to the West and at the age of 
seventeen years he was engaged in the manu- 
facture of clothing at liushvilie, Indiana. 
He was very successful, and carried on this 
enterprise until 1873, when he removed to 
Te.xas, and settled in Dallas, which was then 
a village. He first gave his attention to the 
wholesale liquor business, associating him- 
self with Mr. Wolf, under the firm name of 
Klein & Wolf. This relationship existed 
until 1875, when the firm was changed to 
Freiberg, Klein & Co., and the business 
transferred to Galveston, Texas. They es- 



tablished a high reputation for integrity and 
fair dealing. Since his residence in Dallas, 
Mr. Klein has been interested in various en- 
terprises, and has aided very largely in the 
development of the city. When the new 
city charter was granted, he was chosen First 
President of the Council, and he is now a 
member from the fourth ward. He is a 
stanch, efficient officer, and has the courage 
of his convictions. He belongs to the 
Masonic order, to the Knights of Pythias, 
and to the I. O. B. B. Politically, he is a 
Democrat. He is one of the leading mem- 
bers of the Jewish congregation, and has 
contributed liberally to the support of the 
synagogue, and other churches as well. 

Mr. Klein was married August 29, 1877, 
to Miss Henrietta Simon, and they are the 
parents of four children. 

Itt J. LACY, engaged in the real-estate 
business in the city of Dallas, was 
* born in Christian county, Kentucky, 
on July 14, 1854, the third of four children 
born to William and Mary Caroline (Carsley) 
Lacy, also natives of Kentucky. The father 
died in his native State in the early part of 
1858, and the mother afterward married and 
moved to Brenham, Texas, and in 1S74 to 
Dallas. Mr. and Mrs. Lacy had four children: 
Fannie, now Mrs. B. P. Wallace, of Dallas; 
Minnie A., the wife of Tom Morris, of 
this city; N. J., onr subject; and Mattie IL, 
now Mrs. Credo, of Galveston, Texas. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in 
Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and educated at the 
schools of Ripley, Tennessee, after which he 
engaged in clerking. A few years later he 
began buying and selling real estate, and in 
1874 he came to this county, where lie en- 



408 



HiaTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



gaged in the same business. Mr. Lacy is 
identified with the Democratic party, has 
witnessed the complete growth of the city of 
Dallas, and has taken an active interest in 
everything for the good of the city and 
county. He was married at Hot Springs, 
Arkansas, August 13, 1878, to Miss Rosa 
Moore, a native of Tennessee and a daugh- 
ter of J. W. and Agnes (Derring) Moore, 
natives of North Carolina. The parents 
moved to Tennessee at an early day, and 
later to Hot Springs, where the father fol- 
lowed merchandising. The father died in 
that city. Mr. and Mrs. Lacy have had 
seven children, namely: William N., Harry 
T., Ruby, Mary Helen, Jessie A., John N. 
and Genevieve. 



•€^ 



oW^^^" 



tR. A. M. ELMORE, a prominent and 
highly respected physician and surgeon 
of Dallas, Texas, is a native of Perry 
county, Missouri, born August 20, 1837. 

His parents were James and Anna (Cosner) 
Elmore, natives, respectively, of South and 
North Carolina. In Missouri the father was 
a farmer and distiller, later a merchant. He 
came from Missouri to Grayson county, Texas, 
jn 1852, and in this State engaged in milling 
and mercantile business, and also successfully 
carried on farming and stock operations. He 
was known far and wide as "Uncle Jiramie,'' 
and by all who knew him he was respected 
and admired for his many estimable qualities. 
He died in Pilot Point, Texas, in 1865, aged 
fifty-seven years. His worthy companion 
passed from earth's activities to her reward in 
1869, at the age of fifty-six. Of their six 
children, the Doctor was the third-born. He 
received his literary education in public and 
private schools, also attending the Literary 



Institute at Clarksville, Texas. He then read 
medicine under the tutorship of Dr. J. P. 
Hutchinson at Pilot Point. He attended the 
McDowell College, St. Louis, Missouri, grad- 
uating in 1861. 

Returning from college. Dr. Elmore opened 
an oflice in Cooke county, near the present 
site of Marysville, and practiced there one 
year. Then, in 1862, he enlisted in the 
Twenty-ninth Texas Cavalry, under Colonel 
Charles DeMorse, and was with the forces 
that operated in Indian Territory and Arkan- 
sas. Until the battle of Elk Creek he was a 
private. At that time he was transferred to 
general-hospital service, and later was pro- 
moted to assistant surgeon, under Dr. Crow- 
dus, in the First Choctaw and Chickasaw 
Regiment, remaining thus engaged until the 
war closed. 

After the war he came back to Texas and 
located at Pilot Point, where he engaged in 
the practice of medicine and sale of drugs. 
In 1887 he came from there to Dallas, and 
has since been engaged in practice here. The 
Doctor is a writer of some distinction. He 
is also engaged as business manager of The 
Texas Health Journal. This journal is a 
handsome and well written monthly magazine, 
devoted to preventive and State medicine, the 
creation of a State Board of Health, and the 
exposure of medical frauds, secret reiaedies 
and quacks. Following are the names of its 
officers: J. R. Briggs, M. D., managing 
editor; J. C. Rucker, M. D., and T. P. Pip- 
kin, M. D., associate editors; A. M. Elmore, 
M. D., business manager; and Hon. Dudley 
G. Wooten, attorney for the company. 

Dr. Elmore was married in 1862 at Pilot 
Point, Texas, to Miss Frances Dirickson, 
daughter of Isaac and Harriet Dirickson, of 
Pilot Point, she and her parents being natives 
of Kentucky. The Doctor and his wife had 



HISTORY OF DALL.iS COUNTY. 



409 



eiglit children, viz.: E. E., a clerk in the 
general freight office of the Texas & Pacific 
Kailroad; Kate, a music teacher in Indian 
Territory; Ida, wife of Jolin T. Alexander^ 
Ardniore, Indian Territory; James, a clerk in 
the otKce with his i)rother, E. E. ; Uelen; 
Clarence, and two that <iied in early child- 
liood. Mrs. Elmore died in December, 1884. 
She was a devoted Christian woman and a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
February 14, 1886, the Doctor married Mrs. 
Mattie Clouse, widow of Henry Clouse, of 
Pilot Point. She is a daut^hter of Alphonso 
Wilson, of Shawneetown, Missouri, and she 
and her first husband were natives of Missouri. 
She has four children, viz.: Effie, wife of W. 
11. Vaughn, of St. Louis, Missouri, and 
Emma, Grace and Alphonso. Her father 
died in January, 1891, aged seventy-two 
years, and her mother in May, 1891, at about 
the same age. 

Dr. Elmore is a physician of ability and a 
man of integrity, and for his many estimable 
qualities he is held in high esteem by all who 
know him. He is a Mason of high degree 
a member of the Knights of Honor and 
Knights and Ladies of Honor, and is identi- 
fied with tiie Methodist Episcopal Church. 
He is a Democrat and takes an interest in 
political matters; has served as a member of 
the central comniittee, and as chairman of 
the county committee in Denton county, 
Texas. 

(OLONEL D. A. WILLIAMS, attorney 
of Dallas county, Texas, was born in 
Prince Edward county, Virginia, Octo- 
ber 19, 1832. 

His parents were Royal and Delilah (Gaul- 
den) Williams, both natives of Virginia, the 
father being a planter, raising tobacco. He 



moved to Livingston county, Missouri, and 
later two Mercer county, where he followed 
farming and was also engaged in merchandis- 
ing. He was one of the prominent men of Mis- 
souri of his day. He was held in high esteem 
fur his strict integrity and sterling qualities of 
head and heart. With the Masonic frater- 
nity he was prominently identified. He 
served as Worshij)f'ul Master of his lodge. 
He owned many slaves, and it is a fact 
worthy of note that while he lived on the 
border of a free State and often took his 
slaves with him into Iowa, to assist in driv- 
ing stock, etc., no!ie of them ever showed the 
least disposition to leave their master, but 
always seemed happy and contented. He 
died in 1865, at about the age of seventy. 
His wife died in December, 1889, at the 
home of one of her married daughters in 
California, she also being seventy at the time 
of her death. There were seven in her fam- 
ily, the snbject of our sketch being the fifth 
born, and six are still living, the sisters all 
in California. 

In 1861, D. A. Williams enlisted with his 
brother, William Monroe, in Company G, 
Gates' regiment — a company he had raised 
himself — of which he was First Lieutenant. 
He and his brother remained together till 
1863, when the latter was killed while on a 
raid through Missouri, aged nineteen years. 
After they had served nine months D. A. 
was made Captain and William M., First 
Lieutenant. Later, our subject raised a regi- 
ment, organized the companies, and was 
elected Colonel, which position he held dur- 
ing the remainder of the war. For some time 
previous to the organization of this regiment 
he commanded the advance guard of the 
Missouri Cavalry, under J. O. Shelby. He 
was in all the principal engagements west 
of t)ie Mississippi river: Lexington, Elk 



410 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



Horn, Prairie Grove, Jenkins' Ferry, Prairie 
de Ann and all the engagements against 
General Steele, ever acting the part of a 
brave soldier and officer. At the battle 
Mark's Mill he had two horses killed under 
him. 

After the close of the war Colonel Williams 
went with a number of prominent officers and 
400 or 500 private soldiers to Mexico, going 
through in battle line to the city of Monterey. 
After remaining there three months, the 
Colonel returned to the United States and 
joined his family (wife and three children) in 
Illinois, from whence he went to Arkansas 
and located in Chico county There he was 
engaged in cotton planting one year. From 
there he went to Jefferson county, that State, 
and continued the same business three years; 
thence to Desha county, near the mouth of 
the Arkansas river, where he bought a cotton 
plantation and also conducted a mercantile 
business, remaining there till 1876. That 
year he met with misfortune, caused by the 
overflow of the river, and moved to Te.xas. 
Here, he located in Dallas, and has since been 
actively engaged in the practice of law. He 
was elected County Attorney in 1888, re- 
elected in 1890, and is now closing his second 
term in a most satisfactory manner. His 
office is in the new courthouse, one of the 
finest buildings in the State. The Colonel is 
well known as a good citizen and an efficient 
officer, and his duties and able services are a 
part of the county's history. 

He was married February 24, 1859, to 
Louisa Wynn, a member of a prominent 
Virginia family residing in Tazewell county. 
By her he had four children, viz.: Samuel, of 
Ponham, Texas, married Josie Williams, by 
whom he has two children, Harry and Lucile, 
and at this writing is employed as a commer- 
cial traveler; Edward G., of Dallas, is his 



father's assistant in the practice of law ; Mary 
is the wife of Joseph Scott, a produce dealer, 
Gallatin, Missouri; and William M., who 
died in infancy. The mother died of cholera, 
near Pine Blufl", Arkansas, in 1866, her 
youngest child dying of "the same disease a 
few days later. Her death occurred when 
she was thirty years of age. She was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, and was a most devoted Christian 
woman. On both sides her ancestry repre- 
sented people of excellent character, high 
social influence and great personal worth. 
In her the truest and purest type of the affec- 
tionate daughter, the loving wife and the 
fond mother were united. Her memory is 
sanctified by a love as tender as it was sweet. 
Colonel Williams is a member of the Elks 
and has been associated with the Masons and 
Odd Fellows. 



fHOMAS L. MARSALIS, a resident of 
Dallas, and one of the most enterpris- 
ing and public-spirited men in the 
Southwest, has accomplished wonders in de- 
veloping the resources and promoting the 
interests of this section of Texas, especially 
of Dallas. He has succeeded where thou- 
sands would have failed. The following facts 
(while we regret that they must be so brief) 
will serve to show something of his ability, 
his persistence, and the stupendous results he 
has accomplished. 

Thomas L. Marsalis was born in Mississippi, 
October 4, 1852. His parents, descendants 
of Holland ancestry, were Pennsylvanians and 
Quakers. They went from Pennsylvania to 
Mississippi at an early day, and when Thom- 
as L. was a year old they moved to Louisiana. 
In that State young Marsalis spent his boy- 
hood days. In 1871, at the age of nineteen. 



nrSTOUY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



411 



he came to Texas and located in Corsicana, 
wiiere lie eD<iaged in the wholesale grocery 
business. In the following year he came to 
Dallas, and here he did a wholesale grocery 
business for a period of sixteen years. When 
he was twenty-tive he was doing an annual 
business of l?750,000, at thirty his sales 
amounted to $1,500,000 annually', and 
during the seventeen years of his career 
as a wholesale grocerymau his sales amounted 
to over $20,000,000. During all this time 
he took great interest in tlie uphnilding of 
Dallas, contributing freely of his money and 
time to the advancement of its best interests. 
He helped to organize the first fire company 
of Dallas, also helped to organize the Mer- 
chants' Exchange, and is a charter member 
of several of the railroad companies that have 
built roads to Dallas. He built four grocery 
stores ihiring the time he was in business, 
each larger and more commodious than the 
one that preceded it. The last one he built 
covered about an acre and had a railroad 
track runnina; into the building, where seven 
cars could be loaded and unloaded. In 1881, 
while the streets of Dallas were in mud, and 
the people afraid to experiment, Mr. Marsalis 
paved the street in front of his store with 
bois d'arc blocks, thus demonstrating the 
fact that this kind of pavement was a suc- 
cess. His example was followed, and to-day 
the streets of the city are well paved. 

Mr. Marsalis is a born leader. He is one 
of the very few men who know the wants of 
a city. In Dallas, at this juncture, his busi- 
ness tact had a large field for successful oper- 
ations. In 1887 he conceived the idea of 
giving Dallas a beautiful, accessible and 
healthful residence and manufacturing sec- 
tion, and to carry out this |)lan he bought 
about 2,000 acres of land, just across the 
river from Dallas, at that time in fields and 



rocky cliffs. This he platted, and in jtaving 
its streets spent about $200,000. In order to 
make it accessible to the business portion of 
Dallas, he built an elevated railway from the 
courthouse across the river bottom to and 
through this property, building a nice station 
house on this road on every alternate block. 
He then built a complete system of water 
works, covering most of the streets and alleys. 
He also built an electric light plant and a 
magnificent hotel, and improved about 150 
acres as a park. This park is the chief at- 
traction as a place of recreation for the people 
of northern Texas. The first house that was 
built on the ground was a school liouse, in 
June, 1887. In order to make living in this 
beautiful locality attractive it was necessary 
to have first-class railway accommodations. 
The same plan was adopted as the one used 
on the elevated roads of New York city. 
This is the only road of the kind in the 
South. As has been shown, Mr. Marsalis 
has invested a large fortune in this property. 
People from all parts of Texas soon saw the ad- 
vantages of tliis business site at Dallas, com- 
menced to buy and build here, and by 1890, 
thice years from the date of purchase, it had 
2,000 magnificent and commodious residences 
and a population of 7,000. To-day it is an 
incorporated city and is known as Oak Cliff. 
It has seventy-five stores, four or live fac- 
tories of various kinds, and has recently let 
the contract for a public high-school i)uil(]- 
ing, and in September, 1892, a young ladies' 
college will be opened for the accommodation 
of some 300 young ladies. Already the city 
of Oak Cliff is becoming the most prominent 
educational as well as desirable residence loca- 
tion in the State. For nearly five years Mr. 
Marsalis has worked from fifteen to eighteen 
hours a day, expending more labor on the 
enterprise than could be expected of any one 



412 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



man, and the work he has achieved in so 
short a time lias no parallel in America. 

Mr. Marsalis is president of the following 
companies: Dallas & Oak Cliff Kailroad 
Company, Oak Cliff Crosstown Railway 
Company, West Dallas Railway Company, 
Oak Cliff Water Supply Company, Oak Cliff 
Light & Power Company, and Oak Clift' 
Hotel Company. 

In 1878 Mr. Marsalis was united in mar. 
riage with Miss Lizzie J. Crowdus, daughter 
of Dr. Crowdus. They have had three chil- 
dren: Allene, who died at the age of four 
years, and Lalia]and T. L.,Jr. Mrs. Marsalis 
is a lady of culture and refinement, posses- 
sing rare intellectual and social attainments. 
She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South. Mr. Marsalis is also promi- 
nent in fraternal as well as business circles, 
being a member of the Masonic order, the I. 
O. O. F. and the K. of P. He combines 
with an easy adaptability to circumstances a 
pleasing presence and has the happy faculty 
of ingratiating himself with all who are for- 
tunate enough to know him. 



iLFRED \\ SUMMERS was born in 
Henry county, Tennessee, August 15, 
1839. He has been identified with the 
interests of Texas from his early manhood, 
is now one of the prosperous farmers of Dal- 
las county, and is justly entitled to appropriate 
mention in this volume. Of his parents and 
family, we record the following facts: 

Charles L. Summers, his father, was burn 
in North Carolina, July 21, 1800. He was 
first married to Miss Lovelace, who died soon 
after her marriage. His second marriage 
occurred in North Carolina, to Malinda 
Chandler. He then moved to Kentucky, and 



ere long was again bereft of his companion, 
who died, leaving one child, Mary Ann, who 
became the wife of William Oray, and died 
in December, 1869. After his wife's death 
Mr. Summers moved to Tennessee, and there, 
in 1888, wedded Mrs. Elizabeth (Paschall) 
Key. Mr. Summers was for many years en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits, owning a farm 
in Tennessee. In 1858 he came to Texas, 
coming through with wagons and being forty 
days on the journey. The first year he rented 
land, and the second year bought 200 acres 
near where Mesquite now stands. It was all 
unimproved then, and he moved upon it and 
at once began the work of development. At 
that time the county was thinly settled, and 
they had to go to Dallas to do their trading 
and get their mail Seven children were 
born to them, Alfred P. being the oldest. 
The others are: Thomas; Sarah, deceased; 
John M., who was killed at the battle of 
Chickamauga; Luther R. ; Rebecca E., wife 
of Stephen Moore; and Frances C, who died 
young. 

Alfred P. lived with his father up to the 
time of the war. He enlisted in the Sixth 
Texas Cavalry, in September, 1861, and 
served through the war, participating in the 
battles of Pea Ridge, Fayetteville, Corinth, 
Franklin, Inka, i^eacli Tree Ridge, Holly 
Springs and Thompson Station, and fighting 
Sherman on his march to the sea. He was 
detailed and went to Vicksburg with Major 
Quay, going to Mississippi to gather up mules 
for the army. He was surrendered at Jack- 
son, Mississippi, May 13, 1865. 

Returning home, he rented land and en- 
gaged in farming. January 27, 1869, he was 
united in marriage with Miss Mary F. Elam, 
who was horn in Hickory county, Missouri, 
April 15, 1842, and came to Texas when she 
was five years old. Her parents, Isaac and 



HI STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



413 



Margaret (Laiiliam) Elam, were natives of 
Virginia and Kentucky respectively, the 
father born in 1803, and her mother in 1811. 
The names of the twelve children in the Elatn 
family are as follows: Parallee, wife of B. F. 
Bethuriun; Emily, wife of H. Cox; Narcissa, 
wife of Joseph Cox; B. F. Elam; William C; 
Jane, wife of Money Weatherford ; Drusilla, 
wife of Christopher Cox; Mary F., wife of A. 
P. Summers; Adaline, wife of J. J. Pratt; 
Thomas B.; Livonia, who died young; and 
Matilda, who has been blind since siie was 
three months old. Of these, six are now 
living. 

In 1870 Mr. Summers bought 172 acres 
of land. He now has it all fenced and sixty- 
five acres under cultivation. Beginning life 
a poor boy, he has made fair progress and is 
now the owner of a nice little farm and com- 
fortable home. He and liis wife have had 
six children: Charles E., who died November 
29, 1890, at the age of twenty-one year^; 
Alva W. ; Mattie and Maggie, twins; and 
Frank D. Mr. Summers belongs to the A. F. 
& A. M., Scyene Lodge, No. 295, of which 
he has .served as W. M. for several years. He 
and his wife are members of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. 

;1LLIAM THOMAS, of Dallas, Texas, 
was born in Butler county, Ohio, and 
was reared within the environment 
of science. His father was a physician and 
dentist, and from his earliest youth he was 
able to use the dental instruments with a care 
and nicety worthy of an older head. He at- 
tended the public schools until he reached his 
twelfth year, when he developed into a young 
nomad, lie went away from home, and wan- 
dered in nearly every portion of the United 
States. Wherever he remained any length of 

28 




time he practiced dentistry, and always made 
an e.xeellent reputation for skillful and sub- 
stantial work. Early in the '70s he came to 
Dallas, Texas, and is one of the two pioneers 
who anchored in this port and remained. He 
now attracts patronage from all part-} of the 
State, and has accumulated a competence 
from his practice. 

Dr. Thomas was united in marria<'e, in 
1871, to Miss Sibbil A. Sawyer, and one child 
has been born of this union, Harry Sawyer 
Thomas. Ho is a young man of exceptional 
ability, and has inherited much of tiie me- 
chanical genius of his father and grandfather. 
He has been a student in the Chicago College 
of Dental Surgery, and while there made an 
enviable record. Few young men stand so 
high in the estimation of the business men of 
the city. He is associated with his father in 
practice, the firm being Dr. Thomas & Son. 
They have a pleasant home on Gaston ave- 
nue, where they are surrounded with all the 
comforts of life. The Doctor and his son are 
intelligent, honorable competitors, and repre- 
sentative citizens in every sense of the word. 



ILLIAM M. JOHNSON, civil 
engineer and surveyor, is a promi- 
nent and most highly esteemed citi- 
zen of Dallas, Texas. By hl.s scientific knowl- 
edge and skill he has contributed much to 
the material benefit of the city and State, 
having directed numerous improvements, 
such as railways, roadways, bridges and 
sewers, besides superintending the laying 
out of the Fair grounds, City Park, and 
numerous suburban additions to Dallas. 

Mr. Johnson is the eldest son of Colone- 
Thornton Fitzhugh Johnson, of Barbours- 
ville, Virginia, and Margaret Louisa (Warl 
ren) Johnson, of Georgetown, Scott county, 




414 



BISTORT OP DALLAS OOUNTY. 



Kentucky, andwas born March 11, 1833, at 
Georgetown. His father was educated at 
the Wefct Point Military Academy, and moved 
to Kentucky in 1827. He was the founder 
of Bacon College, a school for civil engineers, 
which was afterward incorporated into the 
Kentucky University. In 1847 Colonel T. 
F. Johnson organized the Western Military 
Institute, at Georgetown, Kentucky, which 
in 1850 was removed to Blue Lick Springs, 
and in 1851 to Drennon Springs, Kentucky. 
Among the faculty of the institute, as pro- 
fessor of ancient languages, was the Hon. 
James G. Blaine, late United States Secre- 
tary of State, but then a young man of 
twenty, a recent graduate from Washington 
College, Pennsylvania. 

In 1851 the subject of this sketch gradu- 
ated at Drennon Springs with the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts, and in 1855 the deg-ree of 
Master of Arts was conferred on him by the 
University of Nashville, Tennessee. Pre- 
vious to the war he was engaged in civil 
engineering in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ar- 
kansas, since which time he has followed the 
same pursuit in Missouri, Nebraska and 
Texas. 

He was married on March 61, 1861, at 
Hannibal, Missouri, to Miss Anna Buckner 
Owsley, youngest daughter of William P. 
and Almora (Robards) Owsley. They have 
two children living: Margaret, now Mrs. H. 
C. Coke, and Stoddard P. Johnson. 

In September, 1872, Mr. Johnson came to 
Dallas as resident engineer, in charge of the 
construction of the Texas & Pacific Railway 
between Mesquite and Eagleford. In 1873 
he had charge of the track-laying on the 
Texas & Pacific Railway from Dallas to 
Grand Salina, and again in 1880 and 1881 
he was in charge of the track, bridges, depots 
and telegraph line on the Texas & Pacific 



Railway from Fort Worth to Blanco Junc- 
tion. In the spring of 1882 he again occu- 
pied the same position on the Missouri Pa- 
cific Railway from Hillsboro to Taylor, thus 
representing over 1,000 miles of track con- 
struction in Texas. He was City Engineer 
of Dallas in 1874, 1875, 1876 and 1877, 
also in 1882, 1883, 1884 and 1885. While 
in this capacity he superintended the build- 
ing of the first brick sewer, the laying of the 
first pipe sewer, the construction of the first 
Macadam street, and the putting down of the 
first bois d'arc street pavement in Dallas, 
being the patentee of the bois d'arc paving 
as used in Dallas. In 1889 and 1890 he was 
engaged by the State of Texas as the engineer 
in charge of the improvements of the State 
Capitol grounds at Austin, having served as 
State Engineer twice before, when he was 
employed to measure and inspect the con- 
struction of the Dallas & Wichita Railway 
from Dallas to Lewisville. He located the 
present line of the Texas & Pacific Railway 
from Forney to Dallas, and from Dallas to 
Fort Worth; and the Dallas & Wichita Rail- 
way from Dallas to Lewisville; and the Dal- 
las & Cleburne Railway from Alvarado to 
Cleburne, in Johnson county. As engineer 
in charge of track construction, it was his 
fortune to ride on tlie first locomotive that 
crossed the 'Sabine, Trinity, Brazos, Colorado 
and Pecos rivers, on the Texas & Pacific rail- 
way, and the Brazos river at Waco, on the 
Missouri Pacific railway. As a surveyor he 
laid out the Trinity Cemetery, the Fair 
grounds and the City Park, also many 
suburban additions to Dallas, such as Oak 
Cliff, Belmont, Chestnut Hill and Monarch. 
He and wife are consistent members of the 
Christian deuotnination, having both joined 
that denomination at the same time, when 
they were immersed in the Royal Spring 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



415 



branch at Georgetown, Kentucky, during the 
war. They now belonor to the Central Chris 
tian Church on Masten street. 

From Mr. Johnson we learn the following 
interesting facts: The first brick sewer ever 
built ill Dallas was an oval arch, about three 
feet high and 300 feet long, extending from 
the northeast corner of Griffith and Elm 
streets, southeast (through what was at that 
time Pink Thomas' wagon-yard) to the north- 
west corner of Main and Murphy streets. 
This sewer was afterward taken out and re- 
built from Elm to Main street, down Murphy 
street: Bob James, contractor. The first 
pipe sewer ever laid in Dallas was the six- 
inch pipe in Elm street, from Jefferson to 
Murphy street, and the fifteen-inch pipe down 
Murphy street from Elm street to the Trinity 
river at the Rock ford: Captain Ed. Doyle, 
contractor. The first Macadam street ever 
constructed in Dallas was on lioss avenue, 
from Oleander (now Ervay) street to the 
Houston & Texas Central railway: Lanig 
& Radicam, contractors. The first bois d'arc 
block street paving ever put down in Dallas, 
or anywhere else, was a strip ninety-five feet 
long on the south side of Elm street, east of 
Murphy street, done at the expense of Mr. 
Tom ifarsalis: Miller & Rell, contriictors. 
To Mr. Marsalis is due the credit of intro- 
ducing this valuable improvement into Dallas 
at a time when its principal business streets 
were almost impassable. The latitude of 
Dallas, as determined by a United States scien- 
tific party in 1878, is 32° 47' 9", and the 
longitude is one hour and eighteen minutes 
west from Washington. The elevation of 
Dallas above mean tide of the Gulf of Mexico 
is 430 feet at the courthouse, and 474 feet at 
the Union depot. 

The numerous responsible undertakings 
which have been intrusted to Mr. Johnson is 



sufficient endorsement of his ability, without 
further comment on the subject. He de- 
servedly stands high in his profession. This, 
combined with his many admirable traits of 
character, unimpeachable integrity and univer- 
sal courtesy, have conspired to win the re- 
spect and esteem of the community at large, 
while he enjoys the affection of a host of 
personal friends. 

Mr. Johnson cast his first vote for Bnchanan 
and Breckenridge in 1860, and has ever since 
voted for the nominee of the Democratic 
party, including Jeff. Davis. 

fS. HUGHES, a farmer and stock-raiser, 
residing four miles north of Dallas, has 
' watched the progress of Dallas county 
since the fall of 1869, since which time he has 
been more or less prominently identified with 
her interests. 

He was born in Spencer county, Kentucky, 
on August 28. 1838, and was the fourth son 
and sixth child in order of birth in a family 
of nine children. His parents w^re Elijah 
and Permelia(Well6) Hughes, both natives of 
Kentucky. His father was a son of William 
Hughes, who went from Virginia to Ken- 
tucky at an early day and whose paternal an- 
cestors were Irish. His mother was a daiiarh- 
ter of General Wells, a Keiituckian by birth, 
and of Scotch descent. His parents always 
resided in Kentucky, his father dying there 
in the year of 1860, and his mother surviving 
until l'866. 

The subject of our sketch resided with his 
parents until he attained his majority, soon 
after which he came to Texas. His journey 
to this State was made in the conventional 
way, with horse and teams, which, on account 
of heavy rains and swollen streams, was much 



416 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



retarded, being eleven weeks en route. After 
arriving in Dallas county he engaged in farm- 
ing, and continued his agricultural pni-suits 
on rented land for five years, at the end of 
which time he and his brother, George, pur- 
chased 415 acres of wild land, which they at 
once began ilnproving and building on it a 
home. They now have 230 acres of Dallas 
county's best soil, fifteen acres of which are 
in timber. 

Mr. Hughes was married on July 15, 
1875, to Miss J. Williams, a native of Dallas 
county. Then have had four children: 
George T., born May 24, 1876; Ernest J., 
February 1, 1878; Dowell W., December 10, 
1880, and Virda M., August 27, 1886. 

Mr. Hughes is a member of the Christian 
Church, and his wife belongs to the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church. He atiiliates socially 
with the Masons, having been a member of 
that fraternity for eighteen years. 

Mr. Hughes is a typical American and 
striking example of the self-made man. 
Starting in life without much means, he has 
by industry and economy acquired a compe- 
tence, and is now classed with the substantial 
farmers of this community. His fidelity and 
uprightness of character and cordiality of 
manner have gained for him the respect and 
esteem of his fellow citizens, and endeared 
him to a laige circle of personal friends. 



^R. W. A. McCOY, one of the leading 
members of the medical profession at 
Dallas, Texas, dates his birth in Clark 
county, Indiana, September 1, 1844. Of his 
life and ancestry, the following brief outline 
is presented: 

The Doctor's parents, Louis and Rebecca 
(Hester) McCoy, were both born in Clark 



county, Indiana. The latter was born in 
1806, and lived for sixty-eight years on the 
same farm on which he first saw the light. 
He moved to Franklin, Indiana, in 1874, and 
died soon after at about the age of sixty-nine 
years. He was a member of the Baptist 
Church, and was an exemplary man in every 
respect. In the Temperance movement he 
was an active worker, being among the first 
to discard the use of intoxicants in the har- 
vest field. He kept up a meeting of the 
" Washingtonians" (of which he was a prime 
mover), for many years. He was also active 
in Sunday-school work. At one time he was 
Captain of a militia company. Indeed, he 
was a leading spirit in all enterprises that 
had for their object the good of the com- 
munity in which he lived. His widow is 
still living, having reached the advanced age 
of eighty-six years. 

Dr. McCoy's paternal grandparents were 
John and Jane (Collins) McCoy. They went 
from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, where they 
were married in 1803. Following are the 
names of their children: Lydia, who was first 
married to Jesse Coombes and afterward to 
Thomas McCorraick, died in Clark county, 
Indiana; Lewis, father of the subject of this 
sketch; Spencer Collins, a farmer of Clark 
county, died about 1872; Isaac, a prominent 
educator in southern Illinois, diedabout 1884; 
Thursey, wife of John McCormick; Rev. 
William McCoy, a Baptist minister, who died 
in 1890; Eliza, of whom mention is made as 
a missionary to the Indians elsewhere in this 
volume; George Rice McCoy, who died in 
Illinois some time in the '403, and John C. 
McCoy, a biography of whom appears on an- 
other page of this work. 

Of the Hesters, the Doctor's maternal 
grandparents, record is made as follows: 
Matthias and Susan (Hucklebury) Hester 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



417 



reared <a la rtfe family of children, all of whom 
grew up to occupy honored and useful posi- 
tions. Matthias Hester, when nineteen years 
of atre, was scalped and speared by the In- 
dians on Blue Grass creek, near where Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, now stands, and was thrown 
into a ditch and left for dead. He recovered, 
however, and lived to an advanced age. Fol- 
lowing are the names of their children: Rev. 
George K., one of the early Methodist minis- 
ters of Indiana, and one of the founders of 
Asbury (now Dc Pauw) University, was born 
in 1792 and died about 1874; Mary M., who 
married Mr. Muir, and resided in Kentucky, 
died about 1860; Cowen P., one of the found- 
ers of the Indiana State University at Bloom- 
ington, went to California in 1849, was 
elected Judge, and is now a resident of Los 
Angeles; Elizabeth, a teacher of more than 
ordinary ability, died in 1846; David, who 
was drowned in the Mississippi river; Sarah, 
wife of John Coombes, died in Clark county, 
Indiana, in 1880; the seventh born was Dr. 
McCoy's mother; William, who died at the 
age of thirty years, left an only son, W. W.j 
who is now a practicing physician in Chi- 
cago; Milton P., of Illinois, is now eighty 
years of age; and Dr. Uriah A. V., a promi- 
nent physician of Owen county, Indiana, is 
the youngest of the family. 

Rev. George K. Hester's sons were among 
tlie first graduates of Asbury University. 
They are Rev. Asbury Hester, D. D., of 
Greencastle, Indiana; Rev. Addison Hester, 
who died in St. Louis in 1842; Rev. W. Mc- 
Kinsey Hester, D. D., of the Southeast Indi- 
ana C'onference, and Rev. Andrew Hester, 
who died at Charleston, Indiana, in 1869. 

Lewis McCoy and his wife were the par- 
ents of four children, viz.: George K., a sur- 
geon in the Union army, ilied in New Or- 
leans, December 18, 18G4, aged about thirty 



years; J. C. McCoy, a leading attorney of 
the Dallas bar; Henrietta J., wife of William 
Taggart, of Chicago, Illinois, and W. A., the 
subject of this sketch. 

Dr. W. A. McCoy was educated at Frank- 
lin College, Indiana, and at the State Univer- 
sity at Bloomington. He graduated at the 
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, with 
the class of 18b3-'84, and at once began the 
practice of his profession in Decatur county, 
Indiana, remaining there two years. In 1887 
he came to Dallas, Texas, and since that time 
has been conducting a medical practice here. 

The Doctor was married in 1880, to Miss 
Lizzie McCain, daughter of J. D. McCain, of 
Franklin, Indiana. They have two children. 
Earl and Lewis. Both he and his wife are 
members of the East Dallas Baptist Church. 



fA. McMURRY", brick contractor, Dal- 
las, has put up many buildings through - 
' out Dallas and vicinity, and he has put 
in the foundations for cotton compresses 
nearly throughout the State; has contracted 
for many large business blocks, put up the 
Empire mills, the brick work for the Todd 
Milling Company, the Exchange building for 
Mr. Jamison, residences for Loftwick & Jami- 
son, the East Dallas Bank on Elm street, the 
W. E. Best building at the corner of Ross 
avenue and Griffin street, also for J. S. Terry 
on Commerce and Jefferson streets, and many 
other residences. 

Mr. McMurry was born in Smith county, 
Tennessee, in 1842, the oldest son of James 
and Emily (Black) McMurry. His father 
was a native of North Carolina and his 
mother of Virginia. The senior McMurry 
was a boy when with his father's family he 
went to Tennessee, in which State he t{rew 



418 



HISTOUr OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



up to manhood and was married; he was a 
farmer and millwrif^ht; his death occcnrred 
in 1867, and his widow survived him two 
years. His grandfather, McMurry, came 
from Scotland and settled in North Carolina 
at an early day, and some years afterward 
moved to Tennessee. Mr. McMurry, our 
subject, was raised in farm life to the age of 
sixteen years, and then learned his trade. 

In 1861 he enlisted in Company D, Fourth 
Tennessee Cavalry, and served twelve months, 
engaging in a skirmish at Albany, Kentucky, 
etc. He was discharged, and re-enlisted in 
1862, in company F, Fifteenth Tennessee 
Cavalry, and continued to serve during the 
war, being in Morgan's raid, in the battle of 
Chickamauga, etc., and received two Hesli 
wounds. He was taken prisoner just before 
the battle of Missionary Ridge and confined 
at Rock Island; was exchanged before the 
battle of Petersburg and returned to his com- 
mand in Virginia, and continued with his 
company until the close of the war. 

Returning to Tennessee, he was married 
there, in June, 1870, to Miss Emily Turner, 
a native of Sumner connty, Tennessee, and a 
daughter of Edmund and Eliza (Whitworth) 
Turner. Her father was a native of North 
Carolina, and her mother, of Sumner county, 
Tennessee. She was a sister of Judge Whit- 
worth, of Nashville. Her father, born in 
1793, moved in 1809 to Tennessee, became 
a model farmer and continued to make Sum- 
ner county his home until his death, in 1871. 
His wife survived till 1888. residing in Dal- 
las. After his marriage Mr. McMurry set- 
tled in Union City, Obion county, Tennessee, 
and continued a resident there until 1874, 
when he came to Dallas and since then has 
been identified with the building interests of 
this city. He votes with the Democratic 
party, but takes no part in the political ma- 



chinery. Mrs. McMurry is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. They have 
been interested witnesses in the growth of 
Dallas. Their children are: Edmund, Nor- 
man, Qiieenie, Adnie, Jennie and Lizzie. 



REIGHTON R. SKELTON, dentist, 
Dallas, Texas. — One of the most popu- 
lar dentists of Dallas, Texas, has availed 
himself of all the modern improvements in 
this branch, and his skillful manner in per- 
forming all operations is well known. He 
was born in the Keystone State in 1852, and 
is a son of Elizabeth (Rnxton) Skelton, na- 
tives of England; the father a merchant by 
occupation. Dr. Skelton attained his growth 
in his native State and supplemented a public 
school education by attending Ypsilanti Nor- 
mal School, Michigan. After leaving school 
he began the study of dentistry with Dr. A. 
B. Bell and subsequently entered the dental 
department of the Michigan University at Ann 
Arbor. He began practicing in the West, 
Aberdeen and Fargo, Dakota, and St. Paul, 
Minnesota. He came to Dallas, Texas, in 
1888, began practicing, and by strict profes- 
sional methods has built up a lucrative prac- 
tice. Safe, conservative and reliable, he is 
one of the rising dentists of the State. He 
is a member of the Masonic fraternity and 
socially is a pleasant and genial gentleman. 



C. FORRESTER, a member of the 
police force of Dallas, Texas, first 
** came to this city in February, 1874. 
A short time afterward he went to Waco, 
Texas, and after remaining there two years 
came back to Dallas in August, 1877. Since 






^^^^c 




HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT Y. 



419 



that time he has made this city his home. 

Mr. Forrester was l)orn in Chatham couiitj, 
North Carolina, in 18-17, the youngest of 
seven ciiildren born to David and Keziah 
(Ciilbertson) Forrester, natives of that same 
county. Ilis father was a farmer by occupa- 
tion, passed his life there, and died in 1868. 
Ilis mother also died in Chatham county, her 
death occurring in 1864. Mr. Forrester was 
reared on a farm, educated in the district 
schools, and in his native county was mar- 
ried, in 1869, to Miss S. M. David. She and 

her parents, H. Q. and (Crutchiield) 

David, were all natives of Chatham county. 
Her father and mother were members of old 
North Carolina families, and both are de- 
ceased. After his marriage Mr. Forrester 
settled on a farm and was engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits until he came to Texas. 
Here he was first engaged in contracting and 
building. For some two or three years he 
was Superintendent of Streets in East Dallas. 
He has resided in East Dallas for years, and 
has been on the police force ten years. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Forrester four children 
have been born, namely: Julian J.; Lizzie; 
Annie, who died in 1873, and William H., 
who died in 1875. 

Mr. Forrester is in politics a Democrat, 
and in every respect he is a public-spirited 
and enterprising citizen. His wife is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church. 



[•IIAIiTON BUANCII, an attorney at 
' law, Dallas, Texas, was born in Lib- 
erty county, this State, March 4, 
1848, the fourth in a family of six children. 
Ilis father, Edward Thomas Branch, was born 
in Virginia, in 1811, and his mother, Ann 
Wliartou (Cleveland) Branch, was born in 
Kentucky, December 25, 1822. 




The father of our subject was a prominent 
man in his day. When a mere youth he be- 
gan the study of law, and at the age of 
eighteen he left home, went to Jackson, Mis- 
sissippi, and engaged as a bank clerk. Soon 
afterward he became a member of a company 
that chartered a small sailing vessel and 
started for the West Indies. The vessel being 
shipwrecked off Galveston Bay, in 1833 or 
'34, he was taken prisoner and was carried to 
Anahuac, where he was released. He subse- 
quently joined the Liberty Company in the 
Texas army, in 1836, took part in the battle 
of San Jacinto, and was afterward commis- 
sioned by Sam Houston as Lieutenant 
Colonel. May 27, 1838, he was licensed to 
practice law. He was a member of the first 
Congress of the iiepublic of Texas; was ap- 
pointed Judge of the Fifth Circuit, May 25, 
1838. He was married in Brazoria county, 
at the residence of Colonel Willam II. AVliar- 
ton, August 28,1838; and after his marriage 
settled at Nacogdoclies, and was prominently 
identified with the courts of Texas. At one 
time he was Supreme Judge. He moved to 
Liberty, Texas, December 29, 1841, and re- 
mained there until the time of his death, 
which occurred September 22, 1861. Aside 
from his other business interests he was also 
engaged in land speculation and stock deal- 
ing, he having introduced blooded stock into 
that part of Texas. His excellent wife sur- 
vived him some years. Her death occurred 
in 1867. The name of Edward T. Branch is 
well known to all who are familiar with the 
history of Texas, and is one that will long be 
remembered for the important part he took 
in advancing her best interests. He was the 
first Speaker of the House after the annexa- 
tion, and was the author of the first exemp- 
tion law in Texas. 

Wharton Branch was reared in Liberty, 



420 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTY. 



Texas, and received the principal part of his 
education there. He subsequently took a 
course at Colorado College, Columbus, Texas. 
The war, however, interfered with liis college 
course, and his education was completed un- 
der private instructions. He began the study 
of law under the tutelage of E. B. Pickett, 
the framer of the Texas State Constitution, 
and in 1870 commenced the practice of law 
in Galveston. On the election of E. B. Pick- 
ett to State office, Mr. Branch went to Lib- 
erty, and took charge of the former's law 
business, practicing in the courts of south- 
eastern Texas, and meeting with eminent 
success. Returning to Galveston in 1874, he 
was engaged in the practice of his profession 
there until 1889, when he came to Dallas. 
He has been appointed by the Governor, and 
chosen by the Bar to preside at different times. 
Besides his law practice he has also been en- 
gaged in the real-estate business. In 1881, 
and '82, he purchased for Kountz & Co. 
large ti-acts of pine lands. He also located 
many sections in western Texas, receiving a 
fourth interest for his part. He has now 
about 40,000 acres of timber land and 5,000 
acres of good farming land. 

Mr. Branch was married in Galveston, 
Texas, March 14, 1872, to Miss Marie Louise 
Loomis, a native of Colorado county, Texas, 
and a daughter of James J. and Mary 
(Wooton) Loomis, natives of Kentucky, and 
early residents of Colorado county, this State. 
Her father was a professor in the Colorado 
College for some years; was also Clerk of the 
Court of Colorado county. He died there in 
October, 1871. Her mother's death also 
occurred in Columbus, in 1867. Mr. and 
Mrs. Branch have four children living, 
namely: Edward Thomas, who was born Feb- 
ruary 15, 1876, is now in the book store of 
Jolin T. Kingan, Elm street; Lulu May, born 



March 4, 1878; Nellie, born February 8, 
1880; and Olive, born September 19, 1882. 
Mr. Branch is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, having been made a Mason in 
Tucker Lodge, No. 297, Galveston; has 
served as Senior Warden in the order. His 
father was a charter member of Holland 
Lodge, No. 1, A. F. & A. M., at Houston, 
Texas. In his religious views, Mr. Branch 
inclines toward the Episcopal faith. 



W. C. SMITH, a pioneer of Dallas 
county, was born in Simpson county, 
'' Kentucky, in 1832, the third of eight 
children boi-n to David and Mary (Cummins) 
Smith, also natives of Kentucky. The lather 
was a merchant, farmer and stock-raiser by 
occupation and resided in Kentucky until his 
death, which occurred in -1865; the mother 
survived him several years. Our subject was 
reared and educated in his native county, 
where he also studied surveying under Billy 
Williams. He came to Dallas county in 
1854, settling in the town of Dallas, where 
he engaged in clerking for J. W. Smith sev- 
eral years. He then took a herd of cattle 
to New Orleans. 

In 1862 Mr. Smith enlisted in the army, 
in Captain Iluffmann's company, and re- 
mained until the close of the war. He par- 
ticipated in the battle of Somerville, in 
Morgan's raid, and was taken prisoner in 
1863. He was afterward paroled at Gallatin, 
Tennessee, after which he returned to Dallas 
and engaged in stock-dealing, and later began 
clerking, which he has since followed from 
time to time. Mr. Smith bought sixty acres 
of land, which he has since improved, and 
also owns property in Dallas. He is a Dem- 
ocrat, politically, and in 1857-'58 held the 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUHTT. 



421 



office of County Surveyor, and later was 
electt'd Pnhlic. Cotton Weiglier. 

Mr. Sinitli was married in Dallas county, 
February 22, 1859, to Miss Uannah C. Huff- 
man, a native of Kentucky, but reared in 
Sumner county, Tennessee, and daughter of 
M. L. and Mildred (Glouver) Huffman, na- 
tives of Kentucky. The parents settled in 
Tennessee in an early day, and in 1838 
moved to Richardson, Dallas county, where 
the father died, in 1861; the mother still re- 
sides in Dallas. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had 
three children: Ida, now Mrs. John Bosley, 
of Dallas; Lily C, wife of Philip Jones, also 
of Dallas, and Katie. Mr. Smith lost his 
excellent wife in 1882. 

?OHN GKAUWYLER, a farmer and gar- 
dener of Dallas countj', was born in 
Switzerland, in 1837, the youngest of 
seven children born to Jerome and Verona 
(Balmer) Grauwyler, also natives of Switzer- 
land. The father was a mason by occupation, 
and remained in his native country until his 
death, which occurred in 1865; the mother 
also died in Switzerland, in 1849. 

John, our subject, was reared in the city 
of Basle, Switzerland, where he was engaged 
for a time as iwokkeeper for a large silk-rib- 
bon factory. At the age of seventeen years, 
in 1854, he left his native country and came 
to Rochester, New York, where he remained 
until coming to Texas. In x\pril, 1861, in 
Rochester, he enlisted in Company E, Twenty- 
eighth New York Infantry, for three months, 
and was in the battle of Bull Run, seven days 
before Richmond, Antietani, Chancellorsville, 
Gcttysi)urg, Wilderness and Petersburg. Mr. 
Grauwyler received a gunshot wound at An- 
tietam and was conKned in the hospital at 



Frederick, Maryland. He took part in the 
review at Washington, District of Columbia, 
and in 1S65 returned to Ontario county, 
where he followed his trade until coming to 
Dallas county, in 1883. He has a fine farm 
of 365 acres, all of which is under a fine state 
of cultivation. Politically, Mr. Grauwyler 
affiliates with tlie Democratic party, and has 
held the office of Road Overseer for five years. 
Socially, he is a member of the G. A. R. 
Post of Rochester. Mrs. Grauwyler is a 
member of the Episcopal Church. 

He was married at Rochester, New York, 
in 1859, to E. H. Thomas, a native of On- 
tario county, and daughter of Marcus and 
Abigail (Graham) Thomas, natives of New 
York. Grandfather Thomas was an early 
pioneer of Ontario county. New York, and 
the family still have a sabre, plume and coat 
of arms, relics of the war of 1812. Marcus 
Thomas remained in New York until his 
death, which occurred in 1880, and the 
mother survived until 1882. 

tT. BOREN, book-keeper and salesman 
for a grocery firm on McKinney avenue, 
^' was born in Washington county, Ten- 
nessee, in 1835, the third of eight children 
born to William and Plioebe (Protfett) Boren, 
also natives of Tennessee. The parents were 
married in that State, and in 1843 removed 
to Polk county, Missouri, where the father 
engaged in the mercantile business, and later 
in life settled on a farm. He made Missouri 
his home until death, which occurred in 1863, 
and the mother survived until 1885. 

I. T. Boren, the subject of this sketch, was 
reared and educated in the city of Bolivar, 
Missouri, where he was also connected with 
the mercantile business. He afterward took 



422 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



a stock of DTOceries to Montana, where he re- 
mained six or eight months, and then re- 
tnrued to Missouri. He was engaged in 
mercantile business there until coming to 
Dallas. Texas, in 1876 where, in company 
with his father-in-law, Mr. Bo wen, he com- 
menced fruit and vegetable raising. They 
first bought thirteen acres, which they planted 
to small fruits, but have since sold all but 
one acre, where they raise abundance of fruit 
and vegetables. 

Mr. Boren was married in Polk county. 
Missouri, in 1861, to Miss Jennie Bowen, a 
native of that State and a daughter of Ahab 
and Mary L. (Easley) Bowen, natives of 
Grantrer county. East Tennessee. At an early 
daj they removed to Missouri, where the 
father was a merchant and farmer, and in 
1S63 they came to Dallas, Texas, and engaged 
in fruit raising. The mother died in this 
city, in 1889, and the father is still living. 
Mr. and Mrs. Boren have had seven children: 
Fred, who died in 1888. at the age of nine- 
teen months; LulnE., wife of Arthur L. Led- 
better; William A., at home; Edgar, a clerk 
in the National Exchange Bank; Benjamin 
E. and Arthur L. Mr. Boren takes an active 
part in politics, voting with the Democratic 
party, and his wife is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

hOSES D. GAKLINGTON, promin- 
ent among the men whose enterprise 
^^^^ and business sagacity have made 
Dallas an important rulroad center, and one 
of the largest and most flourishing cities of 
Texas, was born in Franklin county, Missis- 
sippi, January 15, 1835. He is tte senior 
member of the firm of M. D. Garlington «fe 
Co., of Commerce street, wholesale dealers in 




confectioneries, fruit and produce, and also 
engaged in the manufacture of candy. His 
parents were Dr. James and Sarah (Jones) 
Garlington, natives of Barnwell district. 
South Carolina. The father, a physician by 
profession, had an extensive practice, which 
extended through a period embracing nearly 
an entire lifetime. He took part in the war 
of 1S12, and was near New Orleans at the 
time of that noted battle. Dr. Garlington 
was largely a self-made man, having had but 
few opportunities in those primitive times 
for professional advantages, was extraordinary 
in many ways, very temperate and prudent, 
and his name was almost a synonym for hon- 
esty and square dealing. He was a local 
minister of great zeal and inlluence in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, was fluent and 
I versatile, and did sreaX crood while laboring 
in his high calling. He exercised his gifts 
as a minister for many years, and lived to the 
good old age of about eighty-two years. His 
wife, in temperament and religious culture 
much like her husband, died at about the age of 
ninety years. The lives, influence and Chris- 
tian example of these good old people, are 
endearing heritage to their family, neighbors 
and the church of their choice. Dr. Garling- 
ton's parents were Christopher and Sarah 
(Young) Garlington. They resided near and 
a part of the time at Charleston, South Caro- 
lina, and owned a farm on which a part of 
that city is located. The Doctor was their 
eldest child; Benjamin, the second son, was 
a Baptist minister; Christopher was the 
youngest brother; the eldest sister, Sarah, 
was the wife of James H. Parsons, who owned 
a mill on Ammit river, Mississippi; Eliza- 
beth was the wife of William Pate, and they 
lived on a farm in the same locality; and 
Lavina, the youngest living sister, married 
Winston Clark, a Baptist minister. These 



HISTORY OP DALLAS GOUNTT. 



428 



brotliers and sisters, with tlieir companions, 
have all gone from labor to reward. 

Dr. and Mrs. James Garlington were the 
parents of twelve children, two of whom died 
in infancy. Mary, the eldest, died unmarried; 
Susannah, deceased soon after the war, was 
the wife of John Akin, and they reared a 
large family of children; Lavina married 
William Kennedy, resided in Claiborne parish, 
Louisania, and both lived to a jrood old age, 
but are now deceased; Samuel, married Sarah 
Iluckaby, of Mississippi, in 1835; Martha, 
whose first husband. John Armstrong, was 
killed by being thrown from a horse soon 
after their marriage, afterward married 
Stephen C, a brother of William Ken- 
nedy, above mentioned; Lydia Ann, the only 
surviving sister, married Green Akin, a 
brother of John Akin, also referred to, and 
the former died in 1891; Stephen W., mar- 
ried Sarah Weaver, and resided near Monti- 
cello, Arkansas; Joseph married Martha 
McDonald, and the latter is deceased, and the 
former resides in south Louisiana; William 
married Martha Carson of north Louisiana. 
where they afterward resided. He died in 
the army from the effects of disease con- 
tracted while in the discharge of his duties. 

Moses D. Garlington, the youngest child, 
was reared to farm life, and, when arriving 
near manhood's years, he taught school, thus 
procuring money with which to attend school 
at Homer, Louisiana. After securing his 
education ho engaged as clerk and book- 
keeper at Trenton, same State, where he spent 
eighteen years of his life, serving there both 
before and after the war. He first discharged 
the duties of clerk, then of clerk and book- 
keeper for Dunn & Mallory, later for Dunn 
& He.ad, and subsequently for the house of 
Slaughter & Crosley. He then went to the 
front in the late war, as Second Lieutenant of 



Company A, Seventeenth Louisiana Regi- 
ment, and after the reorganization in 18G2 
he was elected First Lieutenant. He served 
in that capacity until after the fall of Vicks- 
burg, at which place his regiment was sta- 
tioned after the battle of Shiloh. July 4, 
18G3, Mr. Garlington was made Quarter- 
master of the regiment, and served faithfully 
and acceptably in that capacity until the war 
closed. He was discharged at Mansfield, 
Louisiana, after serving about four years. 

After his arrival home he became a partner 
of J. P. Crosley & Co., at Trenton, Louisiana, 
Mr. Slaughter, the former partner of Crosley, 
having been killed during the war. Mr. 
Garlington remained in this firm several 
years, and then became a member of the part- 
nership of Williamson & Garlington, Mr. 
Crosley still holding privately a controlling 
interest in the firm, and furnishing most of 
the money. After three years the name was 
changed to Head, Williamson & Co., and 
after remaining a few years as silent partner 
our subject sold his interest. In 1871 he 
came to Corsicana, Texas, where he opened 
business relations under the firm name of 
Garlington & Marsalis, and after the ter- 
minus of the railroad reached Dallas, in 1872, 
he came to this city. He still continued his 
business in Corsicana, under the name of 
Garlington & Underwood, ten months, and 
then closed out and opened in Dallas, doing 
business under the firm name of Garlington, 
Marsalis & Co. In 1874 Mr. Garlington 
changed his operations from a grocer to a real- 
estate dealer, and about the year 1876 he 
engaged in his present business. The firm 
name was first Garlington & Underwood, 
later Garlington it Fields, and a year after- 
ward Mr. Fields withdrew and our subject 
continued alone until 1888, when A. F. Deck- 
man became a partner, and tlie firm name 



434 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



of M. D. Garlington & Co. has ever since 
continued. In 1888 the former opened a 
house in Fort Worth, under the name of Gar- 
lington & Montgomery, which still continues 
in successful operation. In 1892 he opened 
a wholesale and retail buggy business in Dal- 
las, under the firm name of Garlington & 
Kogers, and tliey now carry a large and well 
selected stock of vehicles of all kinds. The 
firm of M. D. Garlington & Co. are also run- 
ning the steam candy manufactory, where 
they manufacture their own candy, and are 
doing a very extensive and successful business. 
This is one of the important industries of 
Dallas. Mr. Garlington also handles a large 
real-estate business, and owns many residences 
and business houses, the rental of which 
amounts to a large sum. These different 
firms are shipping their goods over north 
Te.xas, to Indian Territory and Mexico, doing 
a large business at El Paso. 

Our subject was married on his birthday 
in 1868, to Miss Anna Moore, a native of 
Arkansas, and a daughter of John Moore, 
who was born in South Carolina and died in 
Louisiana. Her mother, Sarah Fortenberry, 
was a native of Tennessee, and died in Arkan- 
sas when her daughter was but a child. Mrs. 
Garlington is the eldest of four children, and 
the only one now living. She was educated 
at Mount Lebanon Institute, Louisiana, is a 
lady of intelligence and refinement, and has 
much of that culture that comes from an 
acquaintance M'ith schools and books. To 
their twenty-four years of married life she 
has brought the sweet and noble attributes to 
be found in the loving wife, the devoted 
mother and Christian neighbor. The home 
of our subject and wife have been blessed 
with seven children, two of whom have 
already passed to the " House of many Man- 
sions.'' The living children are: Willie D., 



engaged in business with his father; and 
Charles Frank, Maurice Moore, Anna Emma 
and Henry Lee, attending school. The par- 
ents and all but one child are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South, in which 
the father is a Steward. The latter has served 
as Alderman of this city; he is a member of 
the Masonic order, and was Secretary of the 
same while in Louisiana; is a Democrat in 
his political views, and takes an active in- 
terest in the success and welfare of his party. 
He is a well respected Christian gentle- 
man, such as any community may feel proud 
to claim as a citizen. 

fOHN W. DIXON.— The pages of this 
historical review would be quite incom- 
plete without giving accurate reference 
to an agent and broker who has contributed 
materially to tlie activity and development 
of Dallas' real -estate market, and so directly to 
the prosperity of the community at large. He 
has been established in business here since 
1889, with office at 539 Elm street; and al- 
though this has covered only a short space of 
time he has built up an extensive and influen- 
tial patronage, numbering among his custom- 
ers many wealthy investors and active operat- 
ors. He came to Dallas in 1876, engaging at 
once in his profession, and until 1889 was 
teaching in the public schools of this city. 
He was born in East Feliciana parisli, Loui- 
siana, iu 184:7, the third of fourteen children 
born to Rev. Thomas F. and Sarah A. (Sims) 
Di.\on, native Louisianians. The father is a 
minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and since 1878 he and his wife have been 
residents of the city of Dallas. The family were 
among the early settlers of Louisiana. Dur- 
ing the last year of the great Civil war he 



HTSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



4'J5 



was in Company I, Tliird Louisiana Cavalry, 
and served princijially in Louisiana. Jolm 
W. Dixon was reared in Louisiana and edu- 
cated in Centenary College at Jackson, and 
after leaving this institution he turned his 
attention to teaching, a calling in which he 
met with remarkable success, spending 
twenty-three years of his life in the profes- 
sion, and has lived to see many of his stu- 
dents till high official positions in life. He 
was married in Jackson, Louisiana, Novem- 
ber 25, 1868, to Miss Wjnona A. Ambrose, 
a native Lonisianian and a daughter of 
Steplien and Priscilla A. (Bradford) Am- 
brose, who were also born in Louisiana, the 
father being a planter. lie remained in Louis- 
iana until his death in 1858. His wife died 
in Port Hudson while it was being besieged 
during the war. In 1889 John W. Dixon 
purchased fifty acres of land adjoining Dallas 
on the southeast, and platted it as Dixon's 
addition to the city of Dallas. He then be- 
gan selling lots, and, as the property was very 
desirable and within easy access to the busi- 
ness portion of the city, they sold rapidly 
and at fair prices, and laid the foundation of 
Mr. Dixon's present flourishing business. 
He has taken some interest in politics and 
votes with the Democratic party, lie is a 
member of Trinity Lodge, No. 198, of the I. 
O. (). F., and he and his wife are Methodists 
in their religious views. To their union nine 
children have been born: Wynona Marsh; 
Leonora Wesleyanu, deceased; Sarah Pris- 
cilla; Eva Carrie; John Wesley, deceased; 
Mary Warren; Stephen Ambrose; Eleanor 
Pearl, and William Bradford. Mr. Dixon is 
a j)ublic-8pirited citizen in every sense of the 
word, and his usefulness has been thoroughly 
recognized and appreciated. In 1862 he en- 
listed from East Feliciana parish, Louisiana, 
in Company G, Fourth Louisiana Infantry, 



C. S. A., and although only a lad of fifteen 
years at the time he faithfully fought for the 
cause he espoused, and was in the engage- 
ments at Baton Rouge, Port Hudson, the 
siege of Vicksburg and in numerous minor 
skirmishes and battles. In 18G3 he was 
transfened to Company C (McKowen's com- 
pany). Fourth Louisiana Cavalry, with which 
he remained until the close of the war, being 
paroled at G-ainesville, Alabama, in 1865, by 
Major General E. R. S. Canby, Commander- 
in-chief of the Federal forces. 

OLOMON H. BEAN was born in 
North Carolina, December 27, 1831. 
His father, William Bean, was a native 
of the same State, born in 1805, and was 
there married to Charity Kilgrove. In 1832, 
the year following the birth of Solomon H., 
he moved to Georgia, and from there, the 
next year, to Alabama. In the latter State 
he bought land and farmed on it until 1859, 
when he died, at the age of titty-four years. 
His wife died in 1845, at about the age of forty. 
They had a family of seven children, whose 
names are herewith given: Manerva S., wife 
of Charles McCall; Mary Ann, wife of David 
Pilkinton; Solomon H. ; Martha E., wife of 
Daniel Anderson; Naiiila J., who was tirst 
married to Jeremiah McDaniels and after- 
ward to Joseph Bolton; Delilah H., wife of 
David Ilarkins; Frances J., wife of Joseph 
Camp; and Susan S., who first married James 
Anderson and afterward William Flood. 
After the death of his first wife, Mr. Bean 
was married to Jane AValker, by whom he 
also had seven children, nauaely: Elvira, wife 
of Henry Smith; William N.; Nancy, wife of 
Clay Hubbard; Lucinda H., wife of D. 1. 
Walton; J. C; Sarati, wife of Isaac Hub- 



426 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



bard. Mr. Bean's stepmother is still living 
and is now sixty-five years of age. 

Solomon H. Uean was married in Ala- 
bama, September 10, 1854, to Miss Sarah 
"Walker, who was born August 14, 1831. 
Her father was Jesse AValker. For the his- 
tory of the Walker family see the biography 
of John Florence. 

On the 7th of May, 1862, Mr. Bean en- 
listed in the Thirtieth Alabama Regiment, 
and served during the war, participating in a 
number of important engagements. He was 
twice captured — first, at Baker's creek, and 
after being held three months was ex- 
changed. At the battle of Nashville he was 
taken prisoner and sent to Camp Douglas 
at Chicago, Illinois, where he was kept till 
the close of the war. 

Returning home, he engaged in farming 
there until 1882, when he moved to Texas, and 
settled where he now lives, fifteen miles east 
of the city of Dallas. At that time he 
Ijought fifty acres of land, and since then he 
and his son-in-law have made other purchases, 
now owning 350 acres in partnership. The 
whole is well fenced and 230 acres are under 
cultivation, 150 acres being devoted to the 
production of cotton. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bean have one child, Mary 
Jane, wife of W. S. Jobson. Mr. Bean is a 
Mason, holding his membership in Alabama, 
and both he and his wife are members of the 
Baptist Church. 



--^-Lnn/h- 



—^l/znn^- 




ILLIAM JOHJN CAVEN, who has 
been a leading real-estate dealer in 
Dallas since 1872, is a native of the 
State of Georgia, but was reared in Alabama. 
He is a son of David and Eliza (Scott) Caven, 
the father coming from Belfast, Ireland, and 
the mother from Augusta, Georgia. His 



father was a merchant and planter by occu- 
pation. In 1859 his father moved to Texas, 
settling in Harrison county, where he passed 
the remainder of his life. He died in 1883; 
his wife had preceded him twenty-two years; 
she died in 1861. Their family consisted of 
six children, all of whom lived to maturity. 
Previous to his removal to Texas Mr. Caven 
served in Alabama as Judge of the County 
Court, proving himself an efficient and re- 
liable officer. 

The subject of our sketch received more 
than ordinary educational advantages, taking 
up the pursuits of his father on leaving 
school. On the breaking out of the civil war 
he enlisted in the Third Texas Cavalry, 
which formed part of what was afterward 
known as the Ross brigade, in which he saw 
a great deal of active service, first in Missouri 
and Arkansas. Later on, beginning the sec- 
ond year of the war, their brigade crossed the 
Mississippi and joined the Army of the 
Tennessee. He was twice wounded; once 
seriously at Rome, Georgia, and again at 
luka, Mississippi. He was four years in the 
service, proving himself a faithful and gallant 
soldier and officer. After the surrender he 
returned to Texas, resuming farming in Har- 
rison county and taking charge of the home 
plantation, in the management of. which he 
was very successful. Later he invested in 
considerable real estate, particularly in Dallas 
and Fort Worth, where he bought quite 
heavily in 1872, and from which purchases 
he has realized a profitable income, it being 
the foundation to the increase of his fortune 
to a quarter of a million of dollars. This 
property and the care of it necessitated his 
leaving the plantation, which he soon after 
did, and took up his residence in Dallas, 
though still retaining possession of the home 
farm. He has one of the finest homes in the 



niSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTV. 



427 



city, surrounded by every comfort and an in- 
teresting family, of whicli lie is very fond; lie 
enjoys his home. He has served the county 
as Representative to the State Legislature for 
three terms. In this capacity he has proved 
himself an able legislator, and carefully 
watched the interests of a large and appre- 
ciative constituency. He is affiliated with 
the Democratic party, and has been actively 
identified with the deliberations of that body. 
Mr. Caven was married in 1867, to Miss 
Virginia Driskell, a native of Alabama. Of 
their eight children six arc still livincr. Mary 
Pearl, their tirst child, died when live years of 
age; Janie, the second child, a graduate from 
the Montgomery In8titute,Virginia; William, 
David, George i^ayton, Virgie Rose, Thomas 
Preston are at home; Ethe, the youngest, 
died when three years of age. Their children 
are being liberally educated and well fitted 
for the duties of life. Janie Caven was in 
the awful railroad wreck, where a great many 
lives were lost, at Tha.ston Switch, Virginia, 
July 2, 1889, where she was highly compli- 
mented by the press of the country upon her 
heroic conduct in caring for the wounded and 
dragging them from the burning cars out of 
reach of tiio flames, and we give the follow- 
ing quotation from a Virginia paper at the 
time: 

"Realizing the awful condition of the 
passengers Miss Caven, though delicately and 
elegantly dressed, leaped unreckoningly into 
the deep mud and water by which the train 
was surrounded and hurried to the relief of 
the suffering and dying. She labored untir- 
ingly in their rescue and in caring for them 
when rescued, tearing the clothing from her 
person into strips as bandages for their 
wounds. By such self-forgetfulness, such 
fortitude in peril and blessed ministrations, 
she has won an endearing place in the hearts 



of all who can appreciate a true and noble 
womanhood.'" 

iir. ('aven is not a member of any church, 
is liberal in his religious views, subscribes 
to no creeds or doj^inas and believes in the 
universal brotherhood of man. Surrounded, 
as he is, with an affectionate and interesting 
family and all the comforts of a happy home, 
he is what you might truly call a successful 
man. 

LBERT N. MANN, Dallas, Te.xas.— 
This successful and prominent business 
man was originally from Indiana, hav- 
incr been born at Mount Vernon in 1856. 
His parents were Albert and P. G. Mann, 
both natives of Indiana; the mother is still 
living. The parents came to Texas in 1879, 
where the father followed merchandising 
until his death in 1884. They had eight 
children, of whom Albert N. was the fifth in 
order of birth. 

Our subject grew to manhood in his native 
State, attend ng the Indiana State Normal 
School at BlooiningtoD, and came to Te.xas 
with his parents in 1879. When free delivery 
was first instituted in Dallas, he was one of the 
first force of carriers. He afterward became 
bookkeeper for W. D. Knowles, who was 
State manager for the New Home sc.ving 
machine, and it is there he gained an insight 
into the business, which has since proven so 
prosperous under his control. When Mr. 
Knowles resigned, Mr. Mann became State 
manager, which position he fills in a very 
creditable manner. He has branches at 
Waco, Fort Worth and Dallas. In 1890 the 
New Home machine reached 5,503 sales, and 
the business is prosperous and constantly in- 
creasing. 

Mr. Mann was married in 1881, to Miss 



428 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT- 



Knowles, a native of Indiana, who caine to 
Texas in iier youth. She is the daughter of 
W. T. Knowles, the former manacrer. Mr. 
and Mrs. Mann liave two children, Grace and 
Eloise. Mr. Mann is independent in his 
political views, and socially belongs to the 
Knights of Pythias. He is wide-awake and 
enterprising, and is probably one of the most 
successful sewing-machine men in the State. 



' 1 ** 1 ' 



tOUIS M. T. FLOOK, a prominent far- 
mer of Dallas county, was born in Mary- 
land, in 1848, the third of nine children 
born to Daniel and Elizabeth (Mnmma) Flook. 
The families both came originally from Ger- 
many, and first settled in Pennsylvania. The 
present family lived in that State with their 
parents, where they resided until the death of 
their father, Daniel Flook. Of the nine 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Flook, only 
five survive, namely: William S., a farmer of 
Maryland; L. M. T., our subject; John P., 
who resides in Anderson county, Kansas; 
Millard F., of Maryland; Fannie E., wife of 
John Ahalt, of Maryland. The remaining 
four died when small. The father died in 
Maryland in 1871, on the farm on which he 
was reared, and his widow still resides in this 
county with her children. The father was a 
member of the German Reformed, and the 
mother of the United Brethren Church. 

L. M. T. Flook, our subject, was educated 
in the common schools of his native county, 
whicii he attended until the age of twenty 
years, but only went a short time each year, 
and therefore acquired only a limited educa- 
tion. Cy close application to study he has 
so informed himself that he is a recognized 
authority on most subjects open for discus 
sion. He came to this county in 1875, and 
settled on the farm which he now owns, one 



mile west of Garland, where he purchased 150 
acres. He now has the entire acreage under 
cultivation, has erected a splendid residence, 
and one of the finest barns in the locality, 
together with other necessary out-buildings. 
He has added 205 acres to the original pur- 
chase, and now has the entire farm under 
cultivation, 280 acres of which is in corn, 
wheat and cotton. This year his wheat aver- 
aged seventeen and a half bushels per acre, 
corn from twenty-five to thirty bushels per 
acre, and cotton one-half bale per acre. He 
also owns another farm of 150 acres, besides 
some timber land. 

Mr. Flook was married in 1874, to Miss 
Mary C, daughter of Daniel and Maliali 
(Biser) Bechtol, whose sketch appears in this 
work. To Mr. and Mrs. Flook have been 
born six children, viz.: Delia V., Fannie E., 
deceased, Charles D., Millard H., Walter V., 
deceased, and Hattie M. Both parents are 
members of the Baptist Church. 




HAKLES MEISTERHAUS, the popu- 
lar and efficient representative of Will- 
iam J. Lemp, of St. Louis, Missouri, 
has a been a resident of Dallas county since 
1870. He was born in Switzerland i:! 1844, 
where he grew to mature years and acquired 
a good education. At the age of twenty- 
four years he came to America, believing 
that the new world offered wider opportuni- 
ties than the old. He came from New Or- 
leans, the point at which he landed, to Dallas 
county, Texas, where his uncle, Mr. Bohl, 
was a well-known citizen and at that time 
Clerk of the county. Mr. Bohl gave his 
nephew a position under him, and there he 
acquired a thorough knowledge of the Eng- 
lish used in the business world. 

In 1871 Mr. Meisterhaus was united in 




(0/^-« 



eji- 



7 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



429 



marriage to Mrs. Yetcer, a native of Baden, 
Germany. She owned a brewery, of which 
Mr. Meisterhaus took charge, conducting it 
very successfully until the State tax was 
levied upon beer of home manufacture. He 
then abandoned this occupation, and secured 
the position of representative of William J. 
Lemp, of St. Louis, Missonri. He has been 
his chief a^ent in Texas since, the main office 
being located at Dallas. He travels ex- 
tensively throughout the State, and has a 
wide ac([uaintance in commeicial circles. 

In his political thought and action Mr. 
Meisterhause is independent, casting his vote 
for the man best fitted in his estimation to 
discharge the duties of the oflice. He is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and of the 
Knights of Honor. The German Lutheran 
Church ha? expressed his religious convic- 
tions, and he has been for many years an 
active member of the society. 

Two children have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Meisterhaus, Charles and Elizabeth. 
They occupy a handsome residence in Dallas, 
and are surrounded witii all the comforts and 
luxuries of modern civilization. 

A. GIIACEY, a prosperous and promi- 
nent Dallas county farmer, was born 
'" in Bond county, Hlinois, March 13, 
1887, tlie youngest son of eleven children of 
William and Isabella M. (Harris) Gracey, 
natives of South Carolina, of Scotch and 
Irish descent and pioneer settlers of Illinois. 
At the age of thirteen years Mr. Gracey 
came to Texas, Vjy way of steamboat to New 
Orleans, and thence up the Red river to Jef- 
ferson, Texas, whence he walked to the tiiree 
forks of the Trinity, now Dallas city, — a dis- 
tance of 200 miles. For the first three 

^9 



months here he was employed by Colonel 
John M. Crockett, at S12 a month; and 
the rest of that year he assisted his 
brother in Ellis (now Johnson) county, in 
the improvement of his farm, and for a time 
with an ox team, broke prairie, etc., for dif- 
ferent parties. In the fall of 1854, with 
Colonel M. T. Johnson (after whom Johnson 
county was named) and Captain Robert Sloan, 
he went to Fort Belknap as a prospector for 
the Texas & Pacific Railroad Company. 
From the fall of that year until 1860, he 
was engaged in the live-stock business. Next 
he joined a party of rangers, who were scouts 
and had several fights with the Indians. 
They killed one Indian, captured two, and 
recaptured nine horses at one time, and thir- 
teen at another. 

After a year thus engaged the great Civil 
war broke out, and Mr. Gracey enlisted in 
Company H, Captain J. B. Barry, of the 
First Texas Cavalry, Colonel II. E. McCul- 
lough commanding. They took the first line 
of posts vacated by the United States forces 
on the frontier of Texas; next were at Camp 
Cooper, when that was surrendered to the 
Confederates, and remained there until April, 
1862, ten months, during which time they 
v,ere in eight engagements with Indians, 
killing seventeen of the red savages, and cap- 
tured forty-seven head of horses, and losing 
four men killed and thirteen wounded, be- 
sides two mortally frightened, — at least they 
were never heard from afterward. In April, 
1862, the company was reorganized, when Mr. 
Gracey was elected Lieutenant. They were 
then ordered to Fort Mason, thence to San 
Antonio, and thence to Ringgold barracks on 
the Rio Grande, to hold the Mexicans in 
check. During this campaign they had at 
one time to do without bread for twenty-four 
days. From Ringgold barracks they were 



430 



EI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ordered to Brownsville, whence they were 
sent witli a detachment into Mexico, to buy 
mules for the Confederate Government. They 
purchased sixty head, near Monterey, at 
$7 each. Next they were sent to Cor- 
pus Christ], Goliad and Sabine Pass, — at 
which latter place they had a battle with 
United States troops, captured two gunboats 
and 160 prisoners. Here Mr. Gracej was 
promoted First Lieutenant. Next the com- 
pany was sent to Niblett'e Bluff, where they 
entered winter quarters. 

In March they were sent to Mansfield, 
Louisiana, to meet Banks coming up Red 
river. On the 8th of April they had an en- 
gagement with him, and followed up his re- 
treat to Yellow Bayou, where they engaged 
him again. During the remainder of the 
snmmer they picketed the line, and then 
went into winter quarters at Iveechie, Louisi- 
ana, and were there when Lee surrendered at 
Appomattox. June 15 following, they were 
disbanded. 

Ketiirning to Dallas county, Mr. Gracey 
was married, August 27, 1865, to Miss Mar- 
tha Amanda Matlock, a native of Kentucky, 
and a daughter of A. C. and Malvina M. 
(Harris) Matlock, and thej have had fourteen 
children, live of whom died in infancy. The 
living are: Malvina Isabella, now the wife of 
L. M. Goforth, of Hall county; Ann White, 
A. Lee, Effie, Laura, Addie, John, Walter 
and Jo. 

After his marriage Mr. Gracey settled upon 
his present farm, which then consisted of 
185 acres of wild land, which he improved, 
and added to, until he now is the owner of 
340 acres of Dallas county's best soil, besides 
640 acres in Hall county. Ever since his 
location here he has followed farming and 
stock-raising. In 1874 he put up a cotton 
gin, which he remodeled in 1889, giving it a 



capacity of twenty-five bales per day, and is 
now doing an extensive business in ginning. 
He now resides in the villaore of Lisbon, of 
which he is the founder, and where he gave a 
lot of three acres for a church and burying- 
ground, built a blacksmith shop, and obtained 
the establishment of a post office. 

During the administration of Governor E. 
J. Davis, he was cattle inspector. He is a 
ciiarter member of Oak Cliff Lodge, A. F. 
& A. M., and an elder in the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church, of which denomination 
his wife and four ot the children are also 
members. Mr. Gracey is a self-made man, 
his prosperity being due to his own industry 
and well directed etforts. 

mlLLIAMJ. UALSELL came to 
Texas in 1852 and located in Dallas 
county, near the city of Dallas Two 
years later he moved to Dallas, and from 
1854 to 1858 followed blacksmithine, he 
being both a blacksmith and a carpenter. He 
erected several buildings there. In 1859 he 
married and settled near where Richardson 
has since sprung up. In 1860 be took charge 
of a store at Breckenridge, selling goods for 
Smith & Murphy of Dallas, and remaining 
there two years. In 1862 he enlisted in a 
squadron. Colonel R. M. Gano, and left Texas 
for Kentucky, with the understanding that 
they were to act as body guard to General 
Breckenridge. After arriving in Kentucky, 
however, they were transferred to Morgan's 
command, and remained with him up to the 
time of his capture in eastern Ohio. Mr. 
Halsell was first taken to Johnson's Island, 
soon afterward to the penitentiary at Al- 
legheny city, and eight months later was ex- 
changed. While at Point Lookout he took 




UISTORT OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



4;tl 



sick, was sent from there to Washington and 
then to Fort Delaware, where he remained 
until the close of the war. He was in many 
skiriuislies, but received only slight wounds. 
Returning home in August, 1805, he re- 
sumed the occupation of farmin<r, improved 
a new farm, and followed agricultural pur- 
suits until 1881. He then came to Richard 
son, which at tiiat time contained only a few 
buildings. Ho bought a house to live in, 
and in 1882 began selling goods, he being 
the second merchant in the town. Richard- 
son is now a thriving town and a good trad- 
ing place. Mr. Halsell carries a well-assorted 
stock of general merchandise, and deals in 
produce. 

William J. Halsell was born near Rowling 
Green, Kentucky, in August, 1830. He was 
reared on a farm in that State and remained 
there until coming to Texas, as above stated. 
His father, William Halsell, was also a native 
of Kentucky. His mother, nee Miss Mary 
Garland, was a daughter of Jack Garland. 
The latter went to Kentucky at an early day; 
was a school teacher; afterward moved to 
Missouri, and died there at near the age of 
100 years. The subject of this sketch was 
the third born of their eight children. He 
has one brother living in Texas, who is now 
serving as County Commissioner. 

Mr. Halsoll's marriage has already been 
referred to. The lady he wedded was Miss 
Martiia Hutfhines, a member of a dis- 
tinguished and highly respected family of 
this State. Her parents, John and Elizabeth 
HuflFliines, natives of Kentucky and of Ger- 
man descent, came to Texas in 1853, and ber 
came prominent pioneer? here. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Halsell five children have been born, 
Mollie B., September 15, 1870; Sarah C, 
October 10, 1872; Cindarella, November 16, 
1874; John C, December 19, 1877; and 



Elijah H., July 17, 1881. Mr. Halsell has 
served as Magistrate four years. He is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and he 
and his family belong to the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. 



fREDRICK M. MOUSE R, one of the 
successful farmers of Precinct No. 3, 
Dallas county, Texas, was l)orn in Ken- 
tucky, in 1835, he being the oldest of the 
eight children born to John and Nancy L. 
(Hargrave) Mouser, natives of Kentucky. 
Both the Hartrrave and Mouser families wore 
of German descent, their ancestors having 
moved from North Carolina to Kentucky at 
an early day. John Mouser was a prominent 
and successful farmer, and is still living on 
the place on which he was born in 1811. He 
is an honored and highly esteemed citizen, 
and for many years has been a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His 
wife died in 1889, at the advanced age of 
seventy-seven years. She was a consistent 
member of the same church. The names of 
their children are as follows: Fredrick M., 
the subject of our sketch; William F., de- 
ceased ; John W., a resident of Marion county, 
Kentucky; Mary E., who was the wife of 
Henry Sparrow, is deceased; George, de- 
ceased; E. G., deceased; G. T., a farmer, re- 
sides at Bryan, Texas; R. M., a resident of 
Marion county, Kentucky; and Nanny L., 
deceased. 

Fredrick M. Mouser received a common- 
school education, and at the age of twenty 
commenced life for himself. He was mar- 
ried that year (1855) to Miss Sophia Flan- 
nagan, daughter of Austin and Margaret 
(Shuck) Flannagan, natives of Kentucky and 
Pennsylvania respectively, and of Irish and 



432 



HI8T0RY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



German descent. In 1858 Mr. Mouser came 
to Texas and settled where we find liim to- 
day. Here he purchased sixty-three acres of 
land, at a cost of $7 per acre. He has since 
added to his first purchase eighty-two acres, 
and now has under cultivation ninety-four 
acres. He makes a specialty of raising fine 
horses; has some very fine-bred horses of 
Morgan, Black Hawk and Hamhletonian 
stock; and lias a colt eired by a Morgan 
horse that is said to be one one of the finest 
colts in the county. 

During the war Mr. Mouser served in the 
Confederate army, and after the surrender 
and his return home he found himself with- 
out anything save his land and his family. 
His fences all down, his land laid waste, no 
money, and only one horse, he was compelled 
to rent land for two years, or until he could 
get his own farm in condition to cultivate. 
From that time he has been successful. He 
now has a splendid farm, good buildings, etc., 
and is ranked with the prosperous farmers of 
his precinct. 

Mr. Mouser and his wife are the parents of 
eight children, viz.: John A., a farmer of 
this county; William P., deceased; Fannie 
B., wife of I. N. Kange, of this county; 
Charles B., who resides in Dallas; Matilda 
A., wife of Charles Spilhnan, of this county; 
and James O. and Eddie B., at home. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mouser are members of the 
St. Paul Catholic Church of Dallas. 

IQ G. LANHAM, a farmer and stock raiser 
living in precinct No. 3, Dallas county, 
* Texas, was born in Franklin county, 
Missouri, January 14, 1820. He was the 
fifth born in the family of eight children of 
Sylvester and Jane (Estes) Lanham, natives 



of Kentucky and Virginia respectively. Mr. 
Lanham moved to Missouri when that State 
was yet a Territory and located in what was 
afterward Franklin county. He served in 
the Winnebago campaign for a short time. 
In 1814 he joined the American army for 
the war with Great Britain, but peace being 
declared soon afterward, he saw no active 
service. During Mr. Lanham's residence in 
Franklin county, the earthquake occurred in 
New Madrid and other points in southeast- 
ern Missouri, and was so serious in Franklin 
county that many chimneys were felled to 
the ground. From Missouri he moved to 
Morgan county, Illinois. This was about 
1838. After living there seven years he went 
to Adams county, where he remained about 
the same length of time. As the country 
settled up he moved from place to place, ever 
seeking the frontier. Next he located on 
the Pratt purchase in Missouri, then in An- 
drew county, next to Nodaway county, same 
State, where he lived until 1853. That year 
he harnessed his team and started across the 
country for Texas, arriving in Dallas county 
and taking up his abode at the place where 
his son, B. G. Lanham, now lives. In mak- 
ing this trip they were seven weeks on the 
road. Arriving here December 34, 1853, he 
and. his son immediately purchased a farm of 
600 acres. Eight acres of the soil had been 
broken and a little log house had been built, 
these being the only improvements on the 
place. Although game was plenty here the 
senior Mr. Lanham found himself too old to 
enjoy the pleasures of the chase. He died 
at this place in 1863, at the age of seventy-two 
or three years. His wife lived until 1868, 
when she died, at the age of seventy-one. Of 
the eight children born to them all lived to 
be grown. Their names are as follows: Mar- 
garet, wife of Isaac Elam, died, leaving a 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



433 



family in this county; Curtis H., resides in 
Kockwell county, Texas; Lucy, wife of Jacob 
Sliepparti, of Nodaway county, i[issonri; 
Clary, wife of Andy Slieppard, of the State 
of Washington; B. G., whose name heads 
this biography; Druzilla, wife of J. K. Allen, 
is deceased; Ilirani, deceased; Julia A., wife 
Jonathan Cook, is deceased. 

B. G. Lanham's educational opportunities 
were limited in youth, but in later life he 
has made up for those deficiencies by obser- 
vation and reading, and keeps himself well 
posted on the general topics of the day. He 
landed in Texas with more money than most 
ot'the early settlers, he having $1,600 in cash. 
For the 600 acres already alluded to they 
paid $1,000. A few years afterward the title 
failed to be good, and after having a suit he 
was compelled to give up half of the land. 
Game was plenty then and Mr. Lanham says 
his early days in Texas afford him some of 
his happiest recollections. 

In 1862 Mr. Laniiam joined the Confeder- 
ate army and served in the trans-Mississippi 
department; was on the frontier all the time 
with the exception of three months spent on 
the coast. At the close of the war he returned 
home, and, like many others, found himself 
a financial wreck, having only his land — his 
stock all gone. He is now engaged in stock- 
raising, although not having as much stock 
as before the war. He makes a specialty of 
horses, having some line specimens on his 
farm. 

Mr. Lanham has been twice married. 
When he was twenty five he wedded Miss 
Emma Clark, of Andrew county, Missouri, 
daughter of Samuel and Nancy Clark. Two 
children were born to them: Julia A., wife 
of William Glover of tliis county, and Hiram, 
of Coleman county, Texas. His first wife 
died in 1854, and in 1856 he married Miss 



Mary A. Beaman, daughter of Samuel and 
Polly (Smelcer) Beaman, natives of Illinois 
who came here at an early day. This union 
was Ijlessed by the birth of eight children, 
two of whom died when small. Jacob S. 
resides in this county; Samuel S., of Clay 
county, Texas; Sarah J., wife of Alexander 
Dickey, of Johnson county, Texas; F'ranklin, 
Clay county, Texas; Catherine, wife of Brance 
Furggerson, of this county, and William, at 
home with his parents. 

Mr. Lanham is a member of the Farmers' 
Alliance of Dallas county. 



fT. DARGAN, one of the prominent 
business men of Dallas, was born in 
* Fairfield district. South Carolina, in 
1846, son of Dr. K. S. Dargan and wife, both 
natives of the Palmetto State. 

Mr. Darean received his education in his 
native State. He took a course of study at 
the Citadel Academy, and afterward entered 
the University of South Carolina, where he 
graduated with the class of 1867. He 
enlisted in the army in 1863, and served in 
White's battalion, doing duty in defense of 
Charleston and the coast. He stood the ser- 
vice remarkably well, being regarded as one 
of the toughest men in his company. 

The war over, he began the study of law 
with Carrol, Melton & Melton, at Columbia, 
South Carolina, but he never engaged in the 
practice of law. In 1869 he embarked in 
the life and tire insurance business and pur- 
sued it with success at various points in the 
South until he came to Dallas, in 1875, 
where he devoted his energies to fire insur- 
ance oidy, being a member of the tirm of 
Dargan & Trezevant, insurance managers, 
until 1889. This tirm built up the largest 



434 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COrSTr. 



business in the South, rnnning over §500,- 
000 net preiuiams a year. On retiring from 
the insurance business in 1SS9, Mr. Dai^n 
promoted and organized the Security Mort- 
gage and Trust Company of Dallas. The 
officers are as follows: J. T. Trezevant, 
president; J. T. Dargan, vice-president; J. C. 
O'Connor, second vice-president; Guy Sump- 
ter, third vice-president: W. W. itogers. 
secretary: E. M. Reardon, treasurer. The 
assets of the company amount to §2,250,000. 
Their building, which is now near completion, 
with the grounds, cost #250,000. It is con- 
yeniently located and is undoubtedly one of 
the finest structures in the Southwest for 
office purposes. There are over 100 rooms 
for offices above the crround floor. Of this 
immense business Mr. Darcjan is the head 
and front. 

He is a man of Scotch-Irish extraction and 
has marked individuality. He is a thor- 
oughly self-made man; has l>een an earnest 
student in every line of business in which he 
has engaged : has been a splendid success in 
the insurance business; and all who kuow 
him in business relations appreciate him for 
bis true worth and good business qualifica- 
tions. He has a beautiful home with attrac- 
tive surroundings and everything to make 
life enjoyable. Mr. Dargan is well known 
in the Eastern cities as throughout the 
Southwest, his business relations having 
brought him in contact with many of the 
prominent men of Xew York, I*hiladelphia 
and Baltimore. He affiliates with the De- 
mocratic party, but is not a politician. In 
1880 he took the prize in Chicago for the 
ablest essay on the subject of Fire Insurance, 
against the best talent in the United S* u?:'' 

Mr. Dargan was married in 1876. ; ,^1 ?? 
Teresse Carlton, daughter of K. G. Carlton, 
of Union Point, Georgia. To them hare 



been born three children: Ret. J. T. and 
Ellie. Mrs. Dargan is a lady of culture, 
refinement and social attainments, and is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South. Mr. Dargan, accompanied by his 
\vife. has traveler! extensively in Europe, 
visiting its principal cities. 



-^ 



OHN V. MERRIFIELD, deceased, set- 
tled in Dallas county in 1849, but was a 
native of Kentucky, born near Louis\Tlle 
March 12, 1S23, a son of John and Sarah 
Merritield, both of whom were born in the 
blue-grass regions of Kentucky. John W. 
Merritield, was brought up on a farm and 
upon his removal to Texas in the fall of 
1S49, he was thoroughly familiar with all 
the details of the business. He at once lo- 
cated on a farm which he had previously 
securer! about five miles west of Dallas, where 
he assisted his father, who had also come to 
this section, in improving the land. After 
remainincr with his father until 1S53 he em- 
barked in the grocery business, to which his 
attention was devoted for two years. He then 
turned his business over to the mangement of 
a clerk, and upon a tract of 320 acres of wild 
land he began the task of improving. 

He was married August IS, 1S59, to Miss A. 
E. Hern, a native of Clay county. Missouri and 
a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Sloan) 
Hern. Tennesseeans by birth, who were of 
French and Irish descent respectively and 
who removed to Missouri in an early day. The 
Herns came to Texas in 1844 and settled in 
Red River county, where they resided four 
years: then he came to Dallas county, arriv- 
ine May 10. 1S49, where the father died in 
1859, at the age of fifty-two years, the mother 
beinsT still a resident of Dallas. After their 



HTSTORr OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



4^5 



tnarriHge Mr. and Mrs. Merrifiold settled on 
tlie headriglit lie had purchased and he soon 
after closed up his business in Dallas and 
began giving his entire attention to agricul- 
tural pursuits, which he followed until his 
death. They became the parents of six chil- 
dren, five of whom still survive: Sarah Eliz- 
abeth, the wife of James Freeman; William 
Jefferson; Thomas Alexander; John Samuel, 
who died in 1878 at the age of eight months; 
Charles Boone and Rachel J. 

Mr. Merrifield was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and died while 
in full commnnion with that church, Septem- 
ber 8, 1888, not only his immediate and sor- 
rowing family monrning his loss, but also a 
large circle of friends. He was a member of 
the A. F. and A. M., socially. During the 
Civil war he served in the Commissary De- 
partment. His widow, who is also a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, resides 
on the home place which is matiaged by one 
of her sons. Mr. Merrifield first started out 
in life on borrowed capital, but by giving 
bis closest attention to his business, and by 
good management, he accumulated a large 
property, becoming the owner of 1,080 acres of 
land, some of tlie most fertile of Dallas county. 
He was a successsul business man, and his 
honorable way of conducting his affairs won 
him the confidence and esteem of all who 
knew him. 

> :>=< e: — ^v 

L. STUART, carpenter and builder of 
Dallas, was born in Lincolnton, Lin- 
* coin county. North Carolina, in 1841, 
the third in a family of eight children of N. 
T. and Caroline (Robinson) Stuart, natives 
also of North Carolina. His father, a me- 
chanic and farmer, and his mother are still 
living, on a farm in North Carolina. The Stu- 



arts of North Carolina are descendants of two 
brothers, Scotch men, who settled near Davison 
College, that State, before the Revolution. 
Uoth the grandfathers were in the Revolu- 
tionary war and grandfather Robinson was a 
soldier also in the war of 1812; he was a na- 
tive of County cork, Ireland. 

Mr. Stuart, whose name heads this sketch, 
was attending a military college of Charlotte 
at the breaking out of the war, and in 18(52 
he enlisted, at Lincolnton, in Company G, 
Fifty-seventh North Carolina Volunteer In- 
fantry, as a private and color-bearer, or Ser- 
geant, and was engaged in the battle of Seven 
Pines, the Wilderness, of the Shenandoah 
Valley, etc. At the battle of the AVilderness 
he received a gunshot wound which was so 
severe that he was left on the field for dead. 
He was confined in the hospital at Richmond, 
Virginia, from May to July. Afterward he 
received another gunshot wound in the foot, 
at the battle of Winchester, an he was also 
engaged in the ])attle of Petersburg and at 
Newborn. He was paroled at Appomattox 
Court-House in 1865. 

Returning to North Carolina, he attended 
school six months. He was married in Co- 
lumbia, the capital of South Carolina, De- 
cember 23, 1867, to Eliza Gibson, a native 
of that State and daughter of Nicholas and 
Onslow (Ilussey) Gibson, natives also of that 
State, respectively of Fairfield and Charles- 
ton. Her father was a cotton buyer and in 
later life a railroad agent, and was finally 
killed at Killian's mill. South Carolina, in 
1850, in a railroad wreck. Her mother died 
in 1862, in the same State. Her grand- 
father Hussey, a native of England, was a 
seafaring man who lost his vessels durinor 
the Revolutionary war. After his marriage 
Mr. Stuart settled in South Carolina. In 
1872 he came to Dallas, and since that time 



436 



HISTOET OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




he lias followed his trade. For the first sev- 
eral years he was employed by others, then 
was a contractor for a few years, and then 
worked by the day. He has traveled over a 
large portion of this State, prospecting, and ' 
has become interested in considerable land in | 
western Texas. Has taken much interest in 
p>olitics. voting with the Democratic party. For 
this party he is a member of the City E.xecu- 
tive Committee, but he is not desirous of 
office. He is a public-spirited citizen. His 
children are: A. M.; Etta T. (now ilrs. D. 
G. Hinckley in Dallas), Thomas, and 
^Nannie. 

• ILLIAM KELLEY, dealer in general 
merchandse, is one of the prosperous 
business men of Dallas. Texas. 
Mr. Kelley was born in Lockport, Xew 
York, January 1, 1850, son of Thomas and 
Mary (Hicks) Kelley. who were natives of 
Ireland, and who were married in 2s ew York. 
His father, a civil engineer, went to Wiscon- 
sin as a surveyor in 1852, and bought a farm 
and settled on it in Dodge county. He died 
there in 1862, aged forty years, and his wife 
in 1864, aged forty-five. Both were devout 
Catholics. Their family of nine children are 
as follows: Ann, wife of John Manning; 
William, the subject of this sketch; Mary, 
a sister in the convent. Sacred Heart, at St. 
Louis; Ellen, wife of Michael Murphy; 
Thomas; Elizabeth, a sister in the Milwaukee 
convent; John, who died at the age of eleven 
years; Margaret; and Catherine, wife of 
James Murphy. 

William Kelley received his education in 
the leading schools of Wisconsin. February 
6, 1862. at the age of twelve years and 
thirty-seven days, he enlisted iu Company D, 
Seventeenth Wisconsin Infantry, and re- 



mained in the service of the Union until the 
war was practically over. He was probably 
the youngest soldier in the Federal army. 
Tall, mature-looking, wiry and tough, with a 
nature bold and daring, frank and generous, 
he combined physical strength and powers of 
endurance, and was thus equipped with 
soldierly traits possessed by few. He partic- 
ipated in many of the principal engagements 
of the war, was never wounded or imprisoned, 
and after leaving; the service returned to 
New York, reaching that city on the Satur- 
day following the assassination of President 
Lincoln. After remaining in Xew York 
about a mouth, he went to Chicago, thence 
to St. Louis, and from there to Little Rock, 
Arkansas. At the latter place he clerked in 
the Quartermaster's Department for a time, 
after which he was employed by the Govern- 
ment to exhume the dead Union soldiers and 
remove them to the cemetery at Little Rock. 

Leaving the Government service, Mr. 
Kelley was engaged as passenger agent on a 
line of boats (also had charge of the mail) 
between Little Rock and Memphis, being 
thus employed three years. The following 
two years he clerked in the railway station at 
Little Rock, after which he was captain of a 
ferry boat three years. After that he took a 
course in a commercial college of that city, 
and at the same time was engaged in buying 
cotton on the streets on a commission. 

Mr. Kelley dates his arrival in Texas in 
.1876. He clerked in a grocery in San 
Antonio for nearly a year, after which he 
canvassed for various articles in several cities. 
In 1877 he engaged iu his present business 
in Dallas. As a merchant he has been very 
successful, and has also made some money in 
the real-estate business. 

Mr. Kelley was married May 10, 1881, to 
Miss Anna Fleshheimer, stepdaughter of 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



487 



Ileiny (Tiiyer, of Little Rock, Arkansas. 
Her father died in St. Louis wiien she was 
nine years of age. Her mother passed away 
in Little Rock, in 1890. Mr. and Mrs. 
Kelley have three children: Elsie, Thomas J., 
and Stafford E. He is a Catholic, wliilo his 
wife is a member of the Lutheran Church. 



H. LINDSAY, of the firm of Lindsay 
& Reid, contractors and builders, Dal- 
* las, have a stone yard on Pacific av- 
enue and Broadway, where they dress and pre- 
pare building stone of every description. 
Among the principal structures furnished 
with stone by this company are the Guild 
and the Jones buildings, the Dallas Club- 
house, F. M. Cockerell Imilding on Main 
street, the Sanger building, theliaptist Church 
on the corner of Patterson avenue and Ervay 
street, the Barton building and the Simpson, 
Hutfinan & Ardrey building — all in Dallas, 
besides a bank building at Waxahachie; and 
they have contracted for the courthouse in 
Limestone county, Texas. Mr. Lindsay also 
did the stone work on the patrol station, in 
Dallas, on the (/. T. Rowan building, on 
Main street, etc., etc., besides a vast amount 
of trimming on business blocks, public build- 
ings and residences. He first came to Dallas 
in 1883, at first working by the day on the 
Windsor Hotel and the Merchants' Exchange 
building. About 1887 he formed his pres- 
ent partnership. 

Mr. Lindsay was born in Edinburgh, Scot- 
land, in June, 1862, the eldest child in a 
family of four sons of David and Sarah Lind- 
say, natives respectively of Scotland and Eng- 
land. He was very young when his mother 
died; but his father, also a stone mason by 
trade, is still living, in Edinburgh. Mr. 



Lindsay was reared in the city of Edinburgh, 
learning his trade there. In 1881 he went 
to London for a while, following his vocation; 
then returned to Scotland, and in March, 1882, 
he sailed from Glasgow to America, landing 
at New Y'ork. For a time lie worked at 
Cleveland, Ohio, and towns in the vicinity, 
and visited LaFayette, Indiana, and came 
thence to Dallas. 

He was married in December, 1888, in 
Dallas, to Helen Struthers, of Strathaven, 
Lanarkshire, Scotland. 

Mr. Lindsay votes with the Democratic 
party, but is not active in political circles. 
Socially, he is a member of Dallas Lodge, 
No. 70, K. of P., and of Cceur de Lion Divi- 
sion, No. 8, of the Uniformed Rank. He 
and his wife are members of the Second Pres- 
byterian Church. He has always been iden- 
tified with the best interests, both material 
and moral, of the city of Dallas. 

fC. GARISON was born in l*ooue 
county, Missouri, August 22, 1844. 
'His father, W. C. Garison, a native 
of North Carolina and of Irish ancestry, went 
to California in 1850, and died there in 1852. 
The mother was a native of Missouri and a 
daughter of William Huff, who went from 
Tennessee to Missouri among the pioneers of 
that country. The Huffs were of English 
ancestry. 

When J. C. Garison was nine years old he 
was left an orphan, and at that age was 
thrown upon his own resources. In 1859 he 
started across the plains to California, assist- 
ing in driving a large herd of cattle and be- 
ing from May until the following November 
ill making the journey. After arriving in 
California he worked at various occupations 



438 



HISTOBT OF DALLAS COUNTt. 



for eight years; attended school two years of 
the time; returned to Missouri, and in 1869 
came to Texas, locating in Lisbon, Dallas 
county, where he engaged in farming. He 
was married July 9, 1874, to Miss Sally Pal- 
lord, a native of Virginia and a daughter of 
T. J. and Elizabeth Pallord, early settlers of 
Dallas county. After his marriage he lived 
near Lisbon for one year, then moved to 
Cedar Creek, near Oak Cliff, where he lived 
fourteen years, and in 1888 sold out and pur- 
chased his present farm. Here he owns 314 
acres of improved land, 200 acres of which 
are under cultivation. 

Mr. and Mrs. Garison are the parents of 
three children : Nellie, Ida and Clyde. Mr. 
Garison is associated with the Masonic fra- 
ternity, being a member of the Tannehill 
Lodge. Mrs. Garison is a member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

fW. EDMONDSON, a prominent farmer 
and stock-raiser, has been identified 
® with the interests of Dallas county 
since 1850. He is a native of Tennessee, 
born in Shelby ville, November 17, 1839, the 
oldest son of W. T. and Sarah A. (Davis) 
Edmondson. "When he was eleven years 
old he with his father's family started 
for Texas and after spending one season in 
Louisiana arrived in Dallas. Here he was 
reared and received his early education, com- 
pleting his studies at Baylor University, In- 
dependence, Texas. In 1860 he went to 
Tennessee to attend school, but the war came 
on and he returned to Texas, and in 1861 
enlisted in Company C, Colonel Dannell's 
Reo-iment. He served in the Indian Nation, 
in Arkansas and Louisiana, and at the close 
of the war camehome with the rankof Captain. 



December 23, 1865, Mr. Edmondson mar- 
ried Miss Bettie H. Miller, a daughter of 
William B. Miller, prominent mention of 
whom is made on another page of this vol- 
ume. After his marriage Mr. Edmondson 
settled at Cedar Springs and remained there 
one year. Then he located on the old place 
where Mrs. Edmondson departed this life 
September 5, 1872, leaving one child, John 
Franklin, born September 24.1867, who now 
holds a position in the Ninth National Bank 
of Dallas. After the death of his wife Mr. 
Edmondson moved to his present farm and 
built the home he now occupies. Here he 
owns 825£ acres of land, which is devoted 
to general farming. 

Politically he is a Democrat. 



^ENJAMIN L. BRANSON, a member 
of one of the pioneer families of Dallas 
county, is a farmer and stock-raiser and 
lives in Precinct No. 5, his postoffice being 
"Wheatland. 

Mr. Branson was born in Sangamon county, 
Illinois, October 7, 1850, son of Thomas and 
Louisa (Cole) Branson, of whom mention is 
made elsewhere in this volume. When he 
was three' years old he was brought by his 
parents to Texas, and was reared on a farm 
in Dallas county. His education was ob- 
tained in the common schools and completed 
at Mansfield, Tarrant county, this State. His 
father died in 1864 and the following year 
his mother ])assed away. He, however, con- 
tinued to reside on the old homestead until 
1875, at which time he engaged in farming 
for himself on a part of the land his father 
had owned. He now has a farm of 280 acres 
of well improved and highly cultivated land, 
on which he is engaged in general farming. 
He also owns twenty-five acres of timber land. 



niSTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



4S0 



Mr. Branson was married, November 14, 
1886, to Miss S. K. Davis, a native of Ten- 
nessee. Although born in Tennessee, she 
was reared in Tarrant county, having been 
broutfht here in 1858, wlien an infant, by 
iier parents, P. G. and Caroline Davis. 
Their union has been blessed with three chil- 
dren: Carrie Louise, Tom and Ada Mozelle. 
Mr. and Mrs. Branson are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South. Frater- 
nally he is associated with the A. F. & A. M. 

fAYETTE R. ROWLEY, a prominent 
citizen of Dallas, was born in New York 
State in 1840, son of Robert S. and 
Sophia (Taylor) Rowley. His father, a native 
of Connecticut, moved to Ohio early in life, 
was married there and returned to New York 
and afterward to Ohio again. He finally died 
in Texas, in 1885, at the age of seventy 
years. By occupation he was a farmer and 
stock-raiser. His wife, a native of Ohio, is 
still a resident of that State. 

Mr. Rowley, whose name heads this sketch, 
received a good education, followed clerking 
for a while, taught scliool two years, and in 
1876 came to Dallas as a representative of 
Russell &('o., of Massillon, Ohio, with head- 
quarters here, having as his territory the 
States of Te.xas and Louisiana, Indian Terri- 
tory and old Mexico. In his extensive trav- 
els in the interest of his company he saw many 
queer and startling scenes in pioneer life. 
His engines and threshers were often moved 
over 100 miles by eight or ten yoke of oxen, 
that had brought in loads of buffalo hides. Ill 
health at length compelled him to abandon 
his hard, itinerant work. In 1889 he was 
unanimously chosen by the City Council of 
Dallas as Auditor, which position he filled 



with greater fidelity, perhaps, than they had 
ever before. He had three and a half years 
experience as Alderman, being Chairman of 
the Committee on Finance and Municipal 
Affairs. In the discharge of his official du- 
ties he was careful, conscientious and ener- 
getic. 

For his home he purchasetl eight acres of 
the Eakin tract, adjoining the city park, and 
on that lovely spot built an elegant residence, 
which he now occupies. The premises are 
embellished with flowers and furnished with 
all that culture could dictate. It is indeed an 
ideal home — one of the kind that trains the 
best class of citizens, and to which his chil- 
dren will ever turn with pleasure. 

Mr. Rowley has been a member of the 
Masonic order for twenty-eight years, and of 
the order of the Knights of Pythias for ten 
years; he has represented the last named sev- 
eral years in the grand lodge. On national 
questions he is a Republican, but locally he 
votes for the " !)est man."' No man in Dal- 
las county is more popular than Mr. Rowley. 

He was married in 18G2 to Miss Maria S. 
Ensign, of Ohio, a woman of sterling worth, 
than whom no one is more highly esteemed. 
The children by this marriage are: Robert 
E., who died at the a^e of thirteen years; 
Sophia E., now Mrs. P. G. Gordon, of New 
York; Emma E.;Mary E., who died in in- 
fancy, and Fayette Robert, Jr. 



W. FLEMING, farmer and stock- 
raiser, Dallas, Dallas county, Texas, 
* dates his birth in Knox county, east 
Tennessee, September 2, 1827. He is the 
ohlest of the family of eight children born to 
Washington S. and Ruth (Brown) Fleming, 
natives of Tennessee and Virginia respect- 



440 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ivelj and of English and Scotch ancestry. 
When he was fourteen years old his par- 
ents removed to Montgomery county, Illinois, 
where he was reared on the farm and edu- 
cated in the subscription schools, held in prim- 
itive log schoolhouses, remaining a mem- 
ber of his father's household until he reached 
his twenty-fifth year. 

In 1854 Mr. Fleming came to Texas, 
traveling through with teams and being 
thirty days en route. For two years he rented 
land, after which be went to the western 
part of the State and spent one year in what 
is now Jack county, then unexplored and in- 
habited chiefly by Indians and wild animals. 
From that place he came back to Dallas 
county and purchased ninety-six acres of 
wild land, at once beginning to make improve- 
ments on it. He was married September 30, 
1856, to Miss C. J. Britain, daughter of 
Joseph Britain, of whom prominent mention 
is made elsewhere in this volume. After his 
marriage he settled on his present farm, 
which, from its wild State he has brought to 
a high standard of development. An attract- 
ive feature of his place is a flne grove of 
shade-trees which he planted. As a curiosity 
we may mention here that Mrs. Fleming 
adorns her house with a beautiful hair wreath, 
consisting of locks of hair taken from 117 
different members of five generations of the 
family. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Fleming, three children 
were born, two of whom are still living: 
Eachel Anna, the eldest daughter, was born 
December 5, 1857 in 1881, was united in 
marriage to Mr. C. E. Logan (son of Dr. A. 
R. Logan), of Davenport, Iowa; live children 
blessed this union, four of whom are still 
living: three girls and one boy. Mrs. Logan 
is a member of the Christian Church. Lee 
Fleming, second child, a sou, born De- 



cember 25, 1866, in Dallas county, Texas, 
died in Pana, Illinois, July 13, 1868, aged 
one year and seven months; Shular V. Flem- 
ing, the youngest son, was born in Dallas 
county, Texas, April 9, 1871, and resides 
with his parents on the old home place. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fleming have twice made 
the trip back to Illinois with teams since 
they took up their abode in Texas. In poli- 
tics he is independent. Mrs. Fleming is 
a member of the Christian Church. 

In connection with the history of Mr. 
Fleming's parents, it should be further 
stated that his father died in 1864, aged 
sixty-one years, and his mother is still living, 
in Illinois, having reached the advanced age 
of eighty-six years. She retains her mental 
and physical powers to a remarkable degree. 
Seven of their eight children still survive. 
She has forty-six grandchildren, twenty-eight 
of whom are living, and she has twenty-four 
great-grandchildren, of whom twenty-one are 



li 



:ig. 



-^^^i^^^^^T^^^ 




iOSES GOODFELLOW, of Dallas 
county, was born in Meigs county, 
Ohio, January 12, 1820, a son of 
Peter B. and Annie (Crow) Goodfellow. The 
father, a native of New York, moved to 
Meigs county, Ohio, at an early date, later 
to Mason county, Virginia, and in 1841 to 
Randolph county, Missouri, where he died 
in 1869, at the age of eighty-five years. He 
was a soldier in the war of 1812, for which 
he received head-warrants in Arkansas. Mr. 
and Mrs. Goodfellow were married in New 
York, and the wife accompanied her husband 
in all his moves, sharing his fortunes, and 
survived him eight years, dying in Randolph 
county, Missouri, in July, 1877, at the age 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT F. 



441 



of eighty-four years. The children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Goodf'ellow are: MelancthoTi, 
Snsan, Moses, John, Peter, Adam, James 
and Mary. All tlie ciiildren are now deceased 
e.xcept the subject of this sketch and a sister, 
Susan, who is now the widow of Francis 
Wolf, and resides in Ilandolph county, Mis- 
souri. 

Moses, the subject of this sketch, settled 
in Missouri when a young man, and in the 
fall of 1860 he came to Dallas county. Be- 
fore coming to this State he traded for 205 
acres of land in Dallas county, and to this 
he has since added until he now owns 276 
acres on Grapevine Prairie, about one-half of 
which is in cultivation, and the remainder in 
pasture. Mr. Goodfellow also owns ninety 
acres of timber land near his homestead, and 
forty-live acres on the West Fork of the Trin- 
ity. He has done all the improving on his 
home place, having fenced the entire tract, 
cultivated about 100 acres, set out a fine 
orchard, and erected a comfortable, two-story 
frpine house. 

Mr. Goodfellow was married in Missouri, 
November 25, 1846, to Nancy Beale, who 
was born in Boone county, Kentucky, De- 
cember 16, 1828. She was taken by her par- 
ents, Thomas and Lncy Beale, to Missouri 
when ten years of age. Jlr. and Mrs. Good- 
fellow have reared a large family of children, 
all of wiioin are now grown, and most of 
whom are married. They are as follows: 
Urillia, born February 7, 1848; Lucy Ann, 
January 20, 1850; William B. May 16, 1852; 
Sarah Nancy, June 29, 1854; John James, 
August 11, 1856; Thomas Peter, February 
15, 1859; Mary Frances, August 26, 1801; 
Mosettie, March 12, 1864; and Robert, ilarcii 
26, 1867. Lucy Ann died October 11, 1870; 
Sarah Nancy, September 17, 1880; Marv 
Frances, October 22, 1882. William B. 



married Sarah E. Jasper, of Dallas county; 
John James was married Deceml)er20, 1882, 
to Lou Swan, of Tarrant county; Mary Frances 
was the wife of Isaac D. Houston, of Tarrant 
county; Jfosettie was married to William 
Lucas, of Dallas county, October 20, 1886; 
Thomas Peter was married February 27, 
1889, to Idelia Burgoon; and Robert married 
Fannie Foster, of Coleman county, Texas, 
March 26, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Goodfellow 
are members of the Missionary Baptist 
Church, the former having been baptized at 
Sweet Springs Church, Randolph county, 
Missouri, October 12, 1849, and the latter 
at Bear Creek Church, Tarrant county, July 
27, 1875. 

fOHN B. MAY was born in Bowling 
Green, Kentucky, November 1, 1847, 
and was seven months old when his par- 
ents emigrated to Texas. They tirst settled 
in Bonliam and after remaining there two 
years moved to McKinney. They soon after- 
ward located in Dallas county, and there John 
B. was reared on a farm and received a com- 
mon-school education. When a boy he was 
full of energy and push, and since grown has 
been engaged in various enterprises, always 
making a success of whatever he undertook. 
After his marriage, which occurred January 
6, 1869, he engaged in farming. He sub- 
sequently turned his attention to the grocery 
business and conducted a store two years. He 
afterward ran a market house at Dallas. Next 
we find him in Palo Pinto county, west Te.xas, 
conducting a cattle ranch. In 1881 he re- 
turned to Dallas, fanned one year and then 
sold groceries two years. In 1884 he moved 
to Farmers' Branch, where he has since re- 
mained and is now the leading merchant and 
produce dealer of the place. During the 



442 



E18T0RY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



season of 1890 he bought about 400 bales of 
cotton, fully one half of all that was sold at 
this market. The grain crop of 1890 being 
a failure, he shipped corn from Kansas and 
sold to fanners here for their stock. Mr. May 
Las recently built a line residence. He also 
owns his store building. 

His father, Andrew J. May, was a native 
of Kentucky. He taught school in his early 
life, and after he was able to buy a farm he 
gave his attention to agricultural pursuits. 
After an active and useful life he died, near 
the city of Dallas, in Fel)ruary, 1863. Dur- 
ing the war he served from 1861 until the 
time of his death. He was detailed to im- 
portant branches of the Confederate service, 
his duty being chiefly in the vicinity of his 
home. His wife was before her marriage 
Miss Mary White. Her father was one of the 
earliest pioneers of Texas. After his death 
his daughter returned to Kentucky, where 
Mr. May met and married her, and they then 
came back to Texas, as above stated. Their 
union was blessed with seven children, three 
sons and four daughters, all of whom are liv- 
ing and filling honorable positions in life. 
Their names are as follows: John B., the 
Bubjeet of this sketch; Eliza J., wife of B. 
F. Junes, an ex-SherifF of Dallas county; 
Benjamin A., who resides in Dallas; Bell, 
wife of J. B. Slanter, resides in Colorado 
City; Davis W., who is engaged in the real- 
estate business in San Antonio; Lulu, a resi- 
dent of Dallas; and Sally, who married 
Thomas Scurlock and is now livino- at Cle- 
burne, Johnson county, Texas. 

John B. May married Miss Sally A. Thomp- 
son, daughter of M. M. Tiiompson of Ten- 
nessee. Her father came to Texas before the 
war and was prominent in many enteprises 
here. His death occurred in 1886. This 
happy union has resulted in the birth of 



eight children, seven of whom are still liv- 
ing. Their names are Byron, Allie, Mitinie, 
Jennie B., Lela, Edward, Lee and Annie 
May. Lee died in 1889, at the age of two 
years; Allie is the wife of M. W. Cox, a 
Dallas county farmer. The others are all at 
home with their parents. 

Politically, Mr. May affiliates with the 
Democratic party. 

IW^^ONTIOLLION SHAWVEK,afarm- 
wWWi e"* of Precinct No. 3, also interested 
-^5^^ in a large cattle ranch in Baylor 
county, Texas, was born in Missouri, a son of 
John and Caroline (Walker) Shawver, natives 
of Virginia and of English parentage. The 
father came to Missouri in an early day and 
settled in Macon county, eight miles from the 
city of Macon, where he engaged in farming. 
He served as Justice of the Peace of his pre- 
cinct, and became prominently identified with 
the growth and development of his county. 
The parents had ten children, namely: Ben- 
ton, deceased; Amanda, the wife of L. C. 
Ebrite, of Mesquite; Daniel, deceased; Elisha, 
deceased; John, who resides in Baylor county, 
Texas; George, a resident of this township; 
Nannie, the wife of Richard Mathews; Mon- 
tiollion, our subject; Lora, in Dallas county; 
and Robert, who resides in Baylor county. 
The father came to this State in 1869, locating 
north of Dallas fur two years, and in 1871 
bought 260 acres of land east of Mesquite, 
paying from $5 to $10 per acre. His death 
occurred in 1880, at the age of eighty years, 
and his wife died in 1872, at the age of fifty 
years. 

The subject of this sketch was educated in 
the common schools of his native county, and at 
the age of twenty-o;ie years commenced life 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



443 



for liimself. He remained on his father's 
farm until 1S83, when he removed to Baylor 
county, and in company with his brothers, 
Robert and John, conducted a ranch, owning 
one section of land. Thirty acres of this land 
is improved, and part is sown in Johnson 
grass and the remainder is in pasture. The 
brothers also own about 4,200 head of cattle 
of all ages. 

Mr. Shawver was married in 1881, to Linnie 
Rowe, a da\ighter of William and Emily 
(McDaniel) Kowe, natives of Tennessee and 
Illinois. T!.e parents came to this State 
about the same time, where they were mar- 
ried, in 1845, and the next year settled on the 
place now owned by our subject, consistingof 
100 acres. Mr. Rowe tirst erected a log house, 
not having built a frame dwelling till after the 
war. Before the war he owned 550 acres of 
land, one of the tinest farms in the county, 
where he erected good buildings, etc. He 
died July 21, 1888, at the age of sixty years, 
and his wife died in 18S9. They were the 
parents of three children: Linnie, wife of 
Mr. Shawver; W. S., of Dallas; and Emma, 
the wife of A. F. Cross, also of Dallas. Mr. 
and Mrs. Shawver are the parents of three 
children: Emma L., M. R. and Veda C. 



UDOVIC C. LEEDS, one of the most 
enterprising and energetic of Dallas 
city's business men, was born in New 
York city, in 1842, and is a son of Alexander 
and Susan E. Leeds. The father is a native 
of Hartford, Connecticut, but was reared to 
agricultural pursuits. He emigrated to Mich- 
igan, and for many years held offices of honor 
and trust in Berrien county. He still resides 
there, and is one of its most highly respected 
citizens. The mother of our subject was born 



in the West Lidies, and was the daughter of 
a physician. She died in 1860. They reared 
a family of three children, all of whom are 
living at the present time. 

Ludovic C. was educated in the common 
schools and began life as a clerk in his father's 
otMce. He remained there three years and 
then enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Michigan 
Volunteer Infantry, Company C, August 8, 
1862. He saw service in Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Georgia and North Carolina, and was 
with General Burnside on the Knoxville cam- 
paign, and was with General Thomas at 
Nasiiville, Tennessee. He was in many forced 
marches, and participated in some of the most 
noted battles of the war. 

After the declaration of peace he returned 
to Michigan, and went thence to Omaha, 
Nebraska, where he secured employment with 
the Union Pacific Railroad Company. In 
1869 he came to Jefferson, Texas, and opened 
a hotel, which he conducted until 1875. In 
that year he came to Dallas and embarked in 
the lumber business. He began at the bottom 
of the ladder, and mastered every detail of 
that industry, profiting by the experience of 
older heads. After several years of service 
under the direction of excellent business men 
he formed a partnership with Mr. Conkling, 
under the fii-m name of Leeds & Conkline, 
and purchased the plant of one of tiie oldest 
and most reliable firms in the county. They 
do a general lumber business, and have con- 
ducted their affairs with much success. They 
have met with some adversities, the most 
severe being the destruction of their mill by 
fire. They have rebuilt, however, and are 
fairly re-e-stablished with their old customers. 

Mr. Leeds was married in 1875, to Miss 
Mattie Bartholomew, of Michigan, and they 
are the parents of six children: Alexander 
B,; Ludovic; Mary, wiio died at the age of 



444 



HISTOnr OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




one year; Will L., and Jessie M. and Carlos 
W., twins. Our subject is an active member 
of John A. Dix Post, Grand Army of the 
Republic, and holds one of the offices of the 
post. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and takes an interest in all the en- 
terprises that have for the object the elevation 
of humanity. 

SILLIAM E. BEST, who is actively 
engaged in mercantile trade in Dal- 
las, Texas, has been a resident of the 
city and prominently connected with her 
commerce since 1874 The lot where his 
handsome residence stands was then in the 
suburbs. He purchased this land and a 
small grocery store located on the corner of 
Caroline and McKinney streets, where he 
had his first experience in mercantile life; 
he continued in business there until the end of 
eighteen months when he tbund his quarters 
were too small for the growing demands of 
his trade, and established himself in the com- 
modious quarters he now occupies at 161 
Ross avenue. Here he has by fair means, 
indnstry, and an intelligent comprehension 
of the conditions of the markets, built up a 
trade of which any man might well be proud. 
Mr. Best is an American citizen by adop- 
tion, his native land being the Emerald Isle, 
county Armagh, where he first saw the 
light of day May 26, 1839. He is the 
second of a family of nine children born to 
Robert and Sarah (Thompson) Best, natives 
of Ireland; the father was a land owner in 
that country, residing in county Armagh; 
he died in 1867, and his wife survived him 
two years. In 1854 our worthy subject bade 
farewell to home and friends and native land, 
and crossed the sea to America, landing in 
New York city; he started West at once, 



and stopped in Hillsboro, Illinois, where 
he remained until the beginning of the Civil 
war. In September, 1862, he went to 
Springfield, Illinois, and there enlisted in 
defense of the flag of his adopted land. He 
joined Company A, Ninty-seventh Volun- 
teer Infantry, and was transported to Vicks- 
burg. To trace the Ninety-seventh through 
all the varying fortunes of warfare would be 
an oft-told tale. Sutiice it to say, that Mr. 
Best bravely and gallantly participated in 
the engagement at Arkansas Post, the siege 
of Vicksbnrg, the attack on Fort Gibson, at 
which place he was commissioned First 
Lieutenant, the battle of Edwards Station, 
Black River Bridge, Jackson, Mississippi, 
and many of less note. Mr. Best was 
mustered out of the service at Galveston with 
the rest of the Ninty-seventh in August, 
1865, and honorably discharged at Spring- 
field, Illinois. 

In January, 1865, during the war, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Isabella Otway, 
a daughter of John A. Otway, of New Or- 
leans. Mr. Otway was the owner of a tine 
line of steamers on the Mississippi, and he 
was otherwise interested in the transpor- 
tation lines of New Orleans. He was well 
known in business circles throughout the 
South; his death occurred in New Orleans 
in 1876. 

After his return from the war, Mr. Best 
settled down to the more peaceful pursuit of 
agriculture, cultivating his farm near Hills- 
boro, Illinois. There he lived until 1871, 
when he removed to Louisiana; he purchased 
a plantation near St. Martinsville, and made 
it his home for three years. Not being 
satisfied with the results of this operation, he 
sold out and moved with his family to Dal- 
las county, Texas; he settled near the pres- 
ent city on rented land, and in one year 




^A^-Xy^-^n/z^r^^ (^W^lnytA^y^^^ 



niSTOHY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



445 



moved into Dallas. lie lias been one of the 
energetic workers in commerce, and has 
larirely aided in establishing the present 
reputation of Dallas as a business center. 

Mr. an<l Mrs. Best are the parents of nine 
children: Katie, the wife of Dr. Hicks; Flor- 
ence is the mother of one son, Hugh; 
Philip K., Maud, Zoe, Bessie, Willie, Rob- 
ert, Edward and Jatnes. 

fOHN HENRY BROWN, of Dallas, 
protniuent in the annals of Texas as a 
pioneer, legislator, soldier and citizen, 
was born in Pike county, Missouri, October 
29, 1820, live months before that Territory 
became a State. His parents were both na- 
tives of Kentucky, being, at the time men- 
tioned, well-to-do, owning a good farm, slaves 
and tine stock in horses and cattle. 

The family is essentially one of patriots 
and historical worth. The originator of the 
family in this country came across the ocean 
in the time of Lord iialtimore. The father 
and trrandfather of Colonel Edward Brown 
were born in Maryland, where the Colonel 
was born, in 1784. who commanded a Mary- 
land regiment in the Revolution, married 
Margaret Durbin, of the same State, removed 
to Kentucky in 1780, where he died in 1823. 
His sou, Caleb Brown, was also boi-n in 
Maryland, in 1759, was a soldier in the Rev- 
olution, and married, int hat State, Jemima, 
daughter of Colonel Henry Stephenson, an 
officer in the Maryland line, and died in 
Kentucky in 1837. Captain Henry S. Brown, 
the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
born in Kentucky March 8, 1793, and won a 
fine reputation as a youthful soldier in the war 
of 1812, serving against the Indians in Mis- 
souri and Illinois. From the close of the 

80 



war till 1824 he traded on the Mississippi to 
New Orleans. In 1814 he was married, in 
St. Charles county, Missouri, to Mrs. Mar- 
garet Jones, widow of Mr. Richard Jones, of 
Maryland, and a daughter of Elder James 
Kerr, of Danville, Kentucky, her mother 
being a daughter of Colonel Richard Wells, 
of Maryland, a Revolutionary officer. Her 
elder brother, James Kerr, for whom Kerr 
county was named, was well known as the 
first American settler of southwest Texas (in 
1825), as the surveyor of De Witt's and 
De Leon's colonies, and as a representative 
man of great talent and patriotism. He died 
in 1850, aged sixty years. In December, 
1824, Captain Brown entered Texas as an 
Indian and Mexican trader, in which capacity 
he was chiefly engaged for ten years. He 
often commanded companies against the In- 
dians, first defeating them where Waco now 
stands, in 1825, north of San Antonio in 1827, 
on the Nueces in 1828, at the mouth of Pecan 
bayou in 1829, and on the Medina in 1833. 
June 26, 1832, he commanded the largest 
company in the battle of Velasco, where Col- 
onel Domingo Ugartechea, of the Mexican 
army, surrendered the fort and 150 men to 
130 Texans. He was a member of the con- 
ventions of 1832 and 1833, and served iu the 
latter year as a member of the ayuntamiento 
of Brazoria. lie died suddenly in I>razoria, 
July 20, 1834. Brown county, created in 
1856, was named in his honor, at the request 
of many old citizens. His talented and de- 
voted wife survived him until April 30, 1861, 
when she expired at her home in Lavaca 
county, Texas. 

John Henry Brown was but four years of 
age when he heard, with all the intensity of 
earnest childhood, of the charms of Texas, 
than which no other place, except his child- 
hood's home, has engaged his ati'ections, thjs 



446 



HISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



partiality having increased with the flight of 
years, until now, at sixty-four, it is rendered 
sacred by a thousand ties. After working 
on the farm until he was twelve years old, he 
entered a printing office in his native county 
town, under the protection and guidance of 
the afterward distinguished A. B. Chambers, 
who so long and ably edited the St. Louis 
Refubican. In that nolile-hearted gentle- 
man and his wife he found akind and consider- 
ate father and a wise, ever tender and model 
mother. Under such auspices, in the purest 
moral atmosphere, his pupilage was passed, 
iirst through the printing office in the coun- 
try, and next in St. Louis, whither the family 
removed. Under the influence of this hon- 
ored and beloved couple his mind was di- 
rected to the acquisition of useful knowledge 
— much from books — and much from asso- 
ciation with them and the educated and re^ 
fined circle in which they moved. 

His first residence in Texas was with his 
uncle, Major James Kerr, on the Lavaca 
river, where he mingled with the young 
men of the country and acquired practical 
knowledge of Texas border life. 

When Austin was laid out, in 1839, as the 
new seat of government, he, being then nine- 
teen years of age, repaired to that place in 
search of employment on one of the two news- 
papers to be established there. He was fa%'or- 
ably introduced to President Lamar, Vice- 
President Burnet. General Albert Sidney 
Johnston, Dr. Branch T. Archer, Secretary of 
War; Judge Abner S. Lipscomb, Secretary of 
State, and neaidy all the prominent men at 
the capitol, and had the good fortune to ob- 
tain their good will, and ever after to retain 
their esteem. 

In the winter of 1839-''40 he was one of a 
company of volunteers who pursued the In- 
dians, who had made a night raid on Aus- 



tin. Early the following summer he returned 
to his uncle's, on the Lavaca, where he joined 
in the "Archer campaign,'' after which sev- 
eral other expeditions followed in quick suc- 
cession, all in defense of the raided frontier. 
After one of these, with his brother, Rufus 
E. Brown, he aided in opening a farm for 
their mother in what is now Lavaca county, 
which was the outside house in that imme- 
diate section and entirely open to Indian 
raids. In 1841 he was First Sergeant of a 
company of "minute men," which made sev- 
eral expeditions. The winter of 1841-'42 
was comparatively quiet, proving to be the 
"calm before the storm." He was one of the 
volunteers who, under Captain John C. Hays, 
in chief command, evacuated San Antonio, 
after which he served as a scout and a picket 
against Mexican and Indian surprise, west of 
that city, under the same commander. He 
participated in the battle of Salado, on Sep- 
tember 18, 1842, in which Lieutenant Brown 
received a wound in the hip joint, which he 
did not then regard as serious, but which has 
annc^yed him more or less ever since. He 
also participated in a severe skirmish with 
the Mexicans on the 22d. He afterward 
participated in the unfortunate Somervell 
expedition, in which the returning volunteers 
suffered greatly from hunger and the inclem- 
ency of the weather, reacliing San Antonio 
January 7, 1843, where they were honorably 
discharged. Lieutenant Brown, with a single 
companion, reached his mother's home late 
at night, barefooted and nearly naked, after 
traveling all day in a cold, wet norther, and 
would have perished had not shelter been 
soon found. 

After assisting in planting the crops the 
following spring, Mr. Brown left, on the 4th 
of April, 1843, on a trip to Missouri, and at 
his native place met, and on the 9th of July 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



447 



married, Miss Mary Mitchei, of Groton, 
Connecticut, an educated and accomplislied 
young lady of one of tlie oldest and most 
hii^lily respected families of New England. 
The next winter was spent in Missouri, where 
Mr. Brown lay at ileath's door with the ma- 
lignant disease called "black tongue," which 
fastened upon iiis lungs and rendered liini 
unfit for active labor for several years, and 
the effects of which yet manifest themselves 
under exposure. Returning to Texas he re- 
mained for a time at his mother's, where his 
iirst child, Julius Kufus, was born, on the 1st 
of February, 1846. 

Later in the same year, when the Victoria 
Advocate was started, he removed to that 
place and was employed on that paper, assist- 
ing in its editorial department. 

When the militia of the new State was 
organized in 1846, al)out the commencement 
of the Mexican war, he was appointed Brigade 
Major of the Southwest, with the rank of 
Colonel, which position he held four years. 

In February, 1848, he removed to the new 
town of Indianola, and until 1854 was an 
active and zealous worker in the interests of 
that place, holding various positions of trust. 
ile also founded and edited the Indianola 
Bulletin, a widely circulated and influentia} 
journal. During this time he was a contrib- 
utor to De Bow's Review, under the general 
title of "Early Life in the Southwest." 

During the time from annexation in 1845- 
'46 to 1854 he became a thorough disciple 
of Slates' rights, as held by the great sage 
and apostle of liberty, Thomas Jefferson, 
which beliefs were the corner stones of his 
political actions from that time until seces- 
eipn occurred. 

In 1854 he purchased an interest in and 
became co-editor of the Galveston Civilian,' 
but Mr. Hamilton Stuart, his senior associate. 



the founder of the paper and an able writer, 
held the j)osition of United States Custom- 
house Collector, and the chief editorial labor 
devolved on Colonel Brown, lie manifested 
such ability that he was nominated for the 
House of Representatives, and began his 
career as a public speaker with such effect 
that he was considerably the foremost man 
when the votes were counted. 

Colonel Brown was an active, laborious 
and conscientious worker in the Legislature — 
never speaking over five minutes and only on 
subjects on which he could throw light — 
always watcliful for the interests of his con- 
stituency, yet an attentive listener, anxious 
to understand the bearing of every question 
discussed upon the permanent good of Texas. 
That his course was eminently satisfactory to 
his constituency was proven by his unanimous 
nomination before his return home and his 
triumphant election a few days after his 
arrival, as Ma^'or of the city, a position he 
neither sought nor desired. 

Under liis first year's administration the 
streets were improved, the laws of the city 
revised and published, so that each voter 
could have a copy, many abuses were cor- 
rected, one of which was giving the mayor a 
fee of $2.50 for each conviction before him, 
and none for acquittal, of which he had never 
heard, and which he denounced as a bribe, 
refusing to touch money thus received, and 
induced the council to strike this law from 
the municipal coile. 

At the ex|)iration of his term in March, 
1857, he was re-elected without opposition. 
During his second term public improvements 
continued. His editorial labors continued 
during all this period, though his health re- 
mained precarious* as it had been for tiiirteen 
years. As the time approached for another 
election, he was unanimously nominated by 



448 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUSTT- 



the Democratic party for the House of Rep- 
resentatives, and elected iu September, 1857, 
without opposition. 

About the tirst of ^November he resigned 
the mayoralty and took his seat for the third 
time in the Legislature, and throughout its 
long session was so occupied with its labors 
that he was but twice in the business portion 
of Austin. During the session he received 
an injury from a fall, destined, several years 
later, to require a surgical operation. His 
health continued to decline, and on returning 
home in March, 1858, he sold his interest in 
the Civilian and his home in Galveston and 
removed to Belton. with the view of convert- 
ing his means and recovering his health in 
stock raisiDff. 

About the last of 1859 the Belton Demo- 
crat was founded, and Colonel Brown became 
its editor and so continued until secession 
was accomplished, in February, 1861. He 
was elected a delegate to the secession con- 
vention from the district of Bell and Lam- 
pasas, without a sinf^le vote being cast against 
him. The convention met and organized on 
January 28, 1861, and on February 2 the 
ordinance of secession was passed. He con- 
tinned an active member of this body until 
final adjournment, March 25. 

By this time he was in such a condition 
from the injury previously mentioned that 
a surgical operation was performed, in 
Belton, in July, and late in August he left 
for the headquarters of General Ben McCul- 
loch, in the southwest comer of Missouri, 
and served on the general's staff through the 
fall and winter, until the death of the gen- 
eral. He was immediately appointed Adju- 
tant General on the staff of General Henry 
E. McGulloch. Owing to ill health he re- 
turned to his home in Texas, in 1863. In 



the summer of 1864 another snrgical opera- 
tion was performed. 

Soon afterward he removed with his family 
from Austin to Mexico, and was appointed 
chief Commissioner of Immigration by the 
Imperial government. He received a similar 
commission in March, 1866, to explore and 
report upon the country along the Panuco 
river. In the spring of 1S69, he visited 
Texas, proceeding thence to Xew York 
and to New England on a mission in re- 
lation to the purchase of improved arms 
for the Mexican government. On his return 
he remained nine mouths in Mexico. In 
March, 1S70, he left Mexico by steamer, re- 
joined by his family in New Orleans, and two 
months later they proceeded to Indianola, 
Texas. He was occupied from April until 
November in delivering over 100 addresses 
in the Northern States and Xew England in 
aid of the reform society in Mexico, from 
which a liberal amount was raised in aid of 
the cause. He declined further service for 
the cause, and rejoined his family in Indian- 
ola, in January. 1871. On July 17, 1871, he 
located in Dallas. 

In 1872, he was unanimously nominated 
by the Democratic party for the House of 
Representatives from the district of Dallas, 
Collin and Tarrant, and was elected by a ma- 
iority of over 2,000. It was said bv his asso- 
ciates that he never seemed to sleep, during 
the session of the Legislature, being ever at 
work for the good of the country. He re- 
turned home, careworn and wearied, but re- 
lieved of a long-felt anxiety, on the 7th of 
June, 1873, to find his eldest son, Julius, re- 
cently returned from Mexico, very sick, and 
witnessed his death .on the 9th. This first 
death in the family was a shock from which 
he was long in recovering, and he withdrew 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



AA'i 



as much as possible from the public to the 
quiet of liis faiiiilj-. 

In 1875, he was brouglit forward as a can- 
didate for the constitutional convention for 
the counties of Dallas, Tarrant and Ellis, and 
was elected by a large majority. As in for- 
mer deliberative bodies Colonel Brown was a 
laborious worker in this, and wasted no time 
in useless debate. A constitution was drawn 
up, which was ratified l)y a majority of the 
people, and went into effect April 18, 1870. 

The death of his other son, on May 19, 
1876, was anotiier severe blow to him and he 
again withdrew for a time into seclusion. In 
1877 and again in 1879 he was on the front- 
ier, his wife and daughters accompanying him 
in the former year, in 1880-'81 he was em- 
ployed as revising editor of the " Encyclo- 
pedia of the New West." In the autumn of 
1881 he was appointed by the Governor, Com- 
missioner to superintend for the State the 
survey and location of school lands, and en- 
tered on his duties in 1882. In 1884 he was 
Alderman and Mayor pro tem. of Dallas. In 
1885-'86-'«7 he was Mayor of that city and 
in 1888-'89 and 1890 was a local judge. 

During all this time his pen has never 
been idle, and his productions will be scru- 
tinized in vain to find a deliberate utterance 
antagonistic to public or private virtue, or 
unfaithful to the glory of Texas. lie has 
labored to cultivate fraternal feelings between 
the North and South, to encourage immigra- 
tion, and, holding the negro blameless, has 
championed all his rights under the amended 
coiKstitntion. 

The result of his life work is now in press, 
and may be published before this history is 
issued. It consists of two works: first, the 
history of Texas from 1685 to 1892. This 
is a large work of two volumes. Secondly, 
a large and handsome volume entitled " The 




Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas." In the 
latter at least 3,000 names of early pioneers 
who largely clothed, fed and iti war mounted 
themselves, for their unpaid services will ap- 
pear, to prove that no country was ever set- 
tled, reclaimed, populated and defended by a 
braver, more unselfish and patriotic people. 



iERY REV. DR. JOUN F. COFFEY, 
of Dallas, Texas, was born in the prov- 
ince of Untario, Canada, April 5, 
1855, a son of Thomas and Bridget (Mc- 
Keogh) Coffey, both natives of Tipperary 
county, Ireland. The father was a grain, 
provision and lumber merchant of Ottawa, 
Canada, and held various offices of public 
trust. He was one of the leading men in 
the liberal party in his part of the province, 
and was foremost in all the good works of 
the church. His wife has ever been a good 
help- mate for such a worthy man, full of 
energy, ready for every good word and work, 
and possesses many of those qualities that are 
beautiful and amiable anong women. Their 
children are: J>ridget, wife of the late Fat- 
rick Kelly, and now rebides with her seven 
children in Ottawa, Canada; John F., our 
subject; Charles, who resides with his 
mother, engaged in looking after her es- 
tate; Thomas died in 1889, at the age of 
thirty years. He held a responsible position 
in the Government, in the department of the 
Indian affairs, and his death was a very 
severe blow to the friends as well as the 
family; Patrick is Registrar of Deeds in 
Carleton county, being one of the youngest 
persons in the country ever appointed to that 
responsible ofKce. At the age of eighteen 
years he was secretary of the Liberal As- 
sociation. His wife was Mary A. Tierney, a 



450 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



lady of estimable qualities, and a relative of 
some of the best families of Ottawa. They 
have three promisincr children. 

Dr. Joha F. Coffey was educated in the 
University of Ottawa, and was the first to 
receive the degree of A. B. at that university, 
which was in 1871, at the age of sixteen 
years. He then studied law for a brief 
period, and since his sixteenth year he has 
been connected with the press, religious and 
secular. Having studied theology in the 
university, our subject was ordained priest 
by the Most Rev. John Walsh, Archbishop 
of Toronto, December 19, 1877, and imme- 
diately afterward was appointed to important 
pastorates, such as Onslow and Almonte. 
Dr. Coffey subsequently cesigned his pas- 
toral charges to take editorial charge of The 
Catholic Record, published at London, On- 
tario. This paper was almost worthless 
when he took charge, and it soon became the 
leading Catholic journal in Canada. Later, 
he resigned that position to become editor 
of the The Canadian Freeman, published 
at Kingston, Ontario. In 1888, at the re- 
quest of leading public men of Canada, he 
founded the journal known as United Can- 
ada, but his advocacy of liberal principles 
incurred for him the enmity of influential 
persons, and, seeing little hope of the down- 
fall of Canadian Toryism in the early future. 
Father Coffey decided to retire forever from 
Canadian editorial and public life. In 1891 
he resigned his editorship of the Z7?^^ie(^ Caw- 
ada, and, at the invitation of the Right Rev. 
Bishop Brennan, came to lend his energies 
to the building up of the Catholic interests 
in northern Texas. He immediately assumed 
the editorship of the Texan Catholic, which 
had just been founded by Bishop Brennan. 
A few weeks later Dr. Coffey was appointed 
Secretary to the Right Rev. Bishop, and 



now has charge of several important mis- 
sions in the diocese. He enjoyed the esteem 
and friendship while in Canada of such ster- 
ling men as Hon. Edward Blake, Sir Richard 
Cartwright, Hon. Wilford Laurier and others. 
He received the degree of LL. D. of Man- 
hattan College, New York, in 1885. Father 
Coffey is a man wide awake to the interests 
intrusted to him, is in the prime of vigorous 
manhood, has a level head and a large warm 
heart, and is evidently the right person in 
the right place for the times and territory. 
On the twenty-first day of July, 1892, the 
Right Rev. Bishop Brennan appointed him 
Vicar General of the diocese of Dallas, the 
highest honor a Catholic bishop can bestow 
on one of his clergy. 



}SAAC C. WEST, M. D., is an honored 
member of this profession and is worthy 
of the space that has been accorded him 
in this record of the progressive and success- 
ful men of Dallas county. He is a native of 
Maryland, born in 1843, a son of Isaac C. 
and Nancy H. (Derickson) West, natives of 
the State of Delaware. The father was a 
blacksmith by trade. The mother of the 
Doctor still survives. Dr. West has been a 
student all his life, and there are few profes- 
sional men who have devoted more time 
to painstaking research then he has. He 
received his literary education at Dickinson 
College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he took 
the degrees of A. B. and A. M. Afterward he 
studied law, and was admitted to the bar. 
He abandoned the law because of a throat 
trouble which interfered with speaking or 
reading aloud, and took up the study of 
medicine, under the preceptorship of his 



brother. 



After a course of reading he en- 



HISTORY OF n^LLLAS COUNTY. 



45t 



tered JeflFerson Medical College, Philadel- 
phia, where he graduated ia 1868. lie prac- 
ticed for some time before he located in Bal- 
timore, Mar^'land, and remained there until 
1877. In that year he came to Texas, be- 
lieving there were greater opportunities in 
the Southwest than existed in the East. He 
settled in Ovilla, Ellis county; while living 
there he attended a course of lectures at tlie 
University of Lonisiana, and later removed 
to Waxahaohie. The success of the homeo- 
pathic school attracted liis attention, and he 
determined, with the disposition of a true 
scientist, to investigate the system. Fortius 
purpose he went Chicago, and entered the 
Ilalinemann Medical College, and was grad- 
uated from that institution. He then returned 
to Texas, and located in Dallas, where he lias 
won large patronage, and met with marked 
success. lie is a member of the Homeopathic 
Medical Society, and is deeply interested in 
the success of the entire brotherhood. In 
his political opinions he adheres to the prin- 
ciples of the Democratic party, but he is 
wholly independent in his voting. He be- 
longs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
has been a member of the 1. O. O. F. for a 
number of years. 

The Doctor was married in 1870, to Miss 
Mary E. Slay, a native of Delaware. Their 
marriage was celebrated in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania. One child was born to them, 
Sadie G. 

fM. FUKGARSON, retail grocer.— 
Nothing so visibly shows the strength 
* and prosperity of Dallas' trade as the 
number of large concerns engaged in han- 
dling the staple necessaries of life. Promi- 
nent among them is the pushing grocery 
house of Mr. Furgarson, which is located in 



West Dallas. He was born in Carroll county, 
Missi.ssippi, July 2, 1846, being the eldest 
of nine sons and four daughters born to J. 
T. and Sarah (Stovall) Furgarson. J. M. 
Furgarson was reared on a farm in the county 
of his nativity and remained with his parents 
until the war-cloud burst in 1861. On the 
4th of May, 1862, he enlisted in Company 
E, Fourth Mississippi Infantry, Sears' Brig- 
ade, French's Division and Stewart's Corps, 
and served under General Joe E. Johnston in 
the Georgia and Alabama campaigns, partici- 
pating in the battle of New Hope Church, 
Atlanta, Lovejoy, Kenesaw Mountain, Frank- 
lin, Tennessee, and others of less importance. 
He was wounded at Franklin, Tennessee, and 
was disabled for sixty days, this being the 
only time he was off duty during the war. 
He served until the close, and honorably 
surrendered at Fort Blakely, Florida, in 
April, 1865. After the war he returned to 
his Mississippi home and for a short time 
thereafter attended school and assisted in 
tilling the old homestead. His marriage to 
Miss Ruby C. Lane took place December 29, 
1870. She was a native of (Carroll county, 
Mississippi, a daughter of Simon T. Lane, 
who was from North Carolina, and Caroline 
M., nee Marshall, both of Scotch ancestry. 
For one year after his marriage Mr. Furgar- 
son resided on a farm in Choctaw county, 
the three subsequent years being spent in his 
native county. At the end of this time he 
went to Le Flore county and there remained 
until he came to Texas, in 1878, locating 
near Wheatland, Dallas county, where farm- 
ing occupied his attention until August, 
1885. He then purchased his present home 
in West Dallas, containing two and seven- 
tenths acres. November 13, 1886, lie 
became Deputy SlierifF under W. H. Lewis 
and served as such for three years. In 1890 



452 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



he made the race for Sheriff but was beaten 
by about 130 votes. March 3, 1891, he 
opened a grocery and feed store in West 
J Dallas and in this short time has built up a 
trade and founded a reputation ranking him 
in every way but in age witli the oUlest 
liouses of the city of West Dallas. A family 
of six children has been born to himself and 
wife, live of whom are still living: Sarah 
Alice, Willie Hugh, Montague, Homer and 
Robert Ohappell. Lonnie died at the age of 
thirteen months. Mrs. Furgarson is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
an exemplary Christian and a noble and 
thoughtful wife and mother. In his polit- 
ical views Mr. Furgarson affiliates with the 
Democratic party. 



^. 



^ 




flLLIAM H. BENNETT was born in 
Franklin county, Georgia, April 30, 
1825, son of Hiram Bennett, who 
was also a native of Georgia, born in 1798. 
The senior Mr. Bennett went from Georgia tQ 
Tennessee when he was a young man, and after 
remaining there a while returned to Georgia 
and married Dosia Dobs. She was born in 
Georgia, in 1805, and died in camp soon 
after their arrival in Texas, in 1845, aged 
forty years. She bore him nine children, 
namely: J. Madison, who died at the age of 
sixty-eight years; Delilah, wife of Redrick 
Manning, and after his decease in 1843 
married John U. Barlow; Sarali A., wife of 
James Cole; W. H.; Clark and Elisha, both 
deceased; David; Josiah; and Mary J., wife 
of William Cole. For his second wife Mr. 
Bennett married Sarah Dougan, in 1846. 
Following are children of that union : John 
C; Solomon M.; Emily E., wife of Isaac 
Wilkinson; Martha N.; and A.Stephenson 



and Alfred L., twins; — all now living in 
Texas excepting the twins. Hiram Bennett 
moved from Georgia to Alabama in 1833, 
to Arkansas in 1840, and to Texas in 1845, 
settling on Mesquite creek east of Dallas 
city; then moved to Eagle Ford on Elm fork 
of the Trinity river, next to Arkansas again 
and finally back to Texas. 

William H. Bennett, the subject of this 
sketch, was married in Arkansas, September 
29, 1843, to Miss Sidney Manning, who was 
born to Redrick Manning, in Fayette county, 
Georgia, January 3, 1827. Her father, 
Redrick Manning, died in Arkansas in 1843, 
at the age of sixty-two years; her mother, 
whose maiden name was Sarah Wiliford,died 
in 1837. The three children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Manning are Sidney, wife of W. H. 
Bennett; Sarah A., wife of Benjamin Meral; 
and Travis. Mr. Manning's second wife was, 
before her marriage, Miss Delilah Bennett, 
and by her he also had three children, 
Dosia, Bennett and Elizabeth, all deceased. 

l^miCHAEL T. CONE.— The beautiful 
Emerald Isle lias contributed to 
'^i^^ America some of her most loyal citi- 
zens, among whom we find the subject of 
this brief biographical sketch. He was born 
in county Galway, Ireland, in 1858, and in 
his youth emigrated to the United States with 
his parents who settled at Maysville, Ken- 
tucky. In 1875 he came to Dallas, Texas, 
and secured employment with the companies 
then constructing railroads over the State. 
While serving these corporations he tilled 
many positions of trust guiding his conduct 
by the strictest principles of honor and integ- 
rity. When the work of construction was 
finished he embarked in the grocery business. 




IIlsroiiY UF DALLAS COUNTY. 



453 



umler the firm name of Cone & Co. 
and carried on the husiness for five years. 
At the end of tliatjperiod he went into patent- 
roofiDg bnsiness with Mr. King, his brother- 
in-law. They liave liad contracts over the 
whole State, and every transaction has added 
to their business and list of personal friends. 

In 1888, without his personal knowledge 
or solicitation, Mr. Cone was nominated for 
Alderman from the Sixth ward, was elected 
and was almost immediately appointed chair- 
man of one of the important committees, the 
one on Sewers and Drains. With his usual 
energj lie disj)atched the business of this de- 
partment. In 1890 the citizens of Dallas 
further testified to their confidence in his 
al)ility by requesting a continuance of his 
services in the same capacity. There is no 
member of the council more devoted to the 
interests of the city than he, and none have 
iriven more serious thoucrht and attention to 
the business under their control. 

Mr. Cone was married in 1885 to Miss Mol- 
lie Riley, of Louisville, Kentucky. They are 
the parents of two children : Thomas King and 
Nellie Agnes. 

Our subject affiliates with the Democratic 
party, and is a stanch adherent to all its prin- 
ciples. He belongs to the Uniformed Rank 
K. of P., and is a member of the Catholic 
Church. 

(EORGE THOMAS BULLOCK, a pros- 
perous farmer of Dallas county, was 
born on a farm in this county, January 
19, 185(5, a son of Washington C. and Caro- 
line Bullock, a sketch of whom appears in 
this work. George T., our subject, was reared 
in his native place until the age of ten years, 
and then on the farm where his mother now 
lives. In 1883 Mr. Bullock bought 100 acres 



of land on the prairie adjoining Grapevine 
creek, and has since added to this purchase 
until he now owns about 800 acres, 100 acres 
of which is under a fine state of cultivation, 
lie is engaged principally in stock-raising, is 
a good trader and hunter, and an active, ener- 
getic citizen. 

Mr. Bullock was married in Dallas county, 
November 1, 1883, to Laura, a daughter 
of Conda S. and Margaret Dunagan, then of 
Tarrant county, but who now resides in the 
Indian Territory. Mrs. Bullock was born in 
Vernon county, Missouri, and is one of six 
children, namely: James T.^ David N., Rob- 
ert Lee, Laura and Snow. Mr. and Mrs. 
Bullock have had five children: Dora L., 
Minnie F., Maggie, William T. and Ben H. 
Politically, Mr. Bullock is identified with the 
Republican party. 



ENJAMIN F. GALLOWAY, a farmer 
of Precinct No. 3, was born in Sullivan 
county. East Tennessee, in 1833, the 
ninth of twelve children born to James and 
Sarah (Barns) Galloway, natives of Virginia 
and Tennessee, and of English and Irish pa- 
rentage. The paternal grandfather of our 
subject, Marshall Galloway, served seven 
years and seven months in the war for in- 
dependence, and participated in numerous 
engagements. James and Thomas Galloway 
were both in the war of 1812, and the latter 
served in the battle of New Orleans. The 
maternal grandmother was stolen from Ire- 
land when a little girl, while playing on the 
wharf, was induced on board the ship and 
brought to America. She afterward married 
Mr. Marshall. James (Talloway was a suc- 
cessful farmer, and a workman in wood, iron 
and stone, who died in 1855. Of their twelve 
children all lived to be grown, and the mother 



454 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



witnessed the raarriao;e of all but our subject. 
The eldest, Amanda, now deceased, was the 
wife of William Spurgin, of Missouri; Will- 
iam is deceased, but his family now reside in 
Tennessee ; Eliza is the widow of A. H. Beard ; 
Jane is the wife of Jesse Crouch, of Tennes- 
see; James H. is deceased, and his family 
reside in Tennessee; John M., deceased, 
whose family also reside in Tennessee; 
Thomas resides in Washington county, Ten- 
nessee; Sarah, deceased, was the wife of J. 
R. Smith, of Phelps county, Missouri; B. F., 
our subject; Mary, deceased, the wife of Rev. 
William A. Keen, of Tennessee; George W. 
resides in Virginia; and Nathan, of Washing- 
ton county, Tennessee. George W. was a 
Lieutenant in the late war, was twice severely 
wounded, once in the back and again in the 
eye, and after surrendering he was supposed 
to liave been shot the last time by a neighbor 
boy, with whom he had attended school. The 
mother died in 1870; she was a member of 
the Baptist Church. 

Benjamin F., our subject, received his 
education in the common schools, and also, 
when twenty-one years of age, attended the 
Boon's Creek Seminary for twenty months, 
when his eyes failed and he was obliged to 
quit school. At the age of twenty-three 
years he cotnmenced farming on rented land, 
whicli occupation he followed until the break- 
ing out of the war. He enlisted in Company 
G, Nineteenth Tennessee Regiment, under 
Colonel Cummins, and participated in the 
battles of Murfreesboro, Atlanta, Jones- 
borough, Franklin, Chickamauga, Missionary 
Ridge, and numerous skirmishes. He sur- 
rendered with Joseph E. Johnston, after which 
he came home on foot, but found his place a 
wreck. Mr. Galloway continued farming in 
Tennessee until 1870, when lie traveled for 
three months, and afterward sold goods for 



two years. He was married October 8, 1872, 
at 11 o'clock, and three hours later started for 
Texas, with a two-horse wagon, and Decem- 
ber 10 landed at the east side of this State. 
He came to this county in January, 1873, 
where he rented laud for about two years, 
and in 1874 bought his present place of 101 
acres, with no improvements. He has since 
added 117 acres, and now has 100 acres un- 
der a line state of cultivation. Mr. Galloway 
pays much attention to the rearing of mules, 
and also horses and cattle, but is now reducing 
his herd of cattle. 

His wife, Eliza Fletclier, was a daughter of 
Reuben Fletcher, of Washington county, 
Tennessee. To Mr. and Mrs. Galloway have 
been born four children, two of whom are 
now deceased. The living are Bedford F. 
and Nathan L. The mother died in 1883, at 
the age of twenty-nine years, and in 1887 
Mr. Galloway was married to Amanda J. 
Miller, of Washington county, Tennessee. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Galloway and eldest son 
are members of the Baptist Church, and the 
former has been a member of the A. F. & A. 
M. since 1868, and also of Cyane Lodge, 
No. 295. 



ANIEL M. BAKER, Chief Registry 
Clerk in the Dallas, Texas, postofiice, 
was born in the State of Tennessee, in 
1840. His father was born in North Carolina, 
and removed thence to Tennessee at an early 
day. In 1852 he went to Pope county, Hii- 
nois, where Daniel M. grew to manhood, and 
received his education. He had just attained 
his majority when he enlisted in Company F, 
Twenty-ninth Illinois Infantrj', United States 
Army, and entered upon a long and severe 
term of service in a cause which he esteemed 
of the highest importance. He participated 



HISTORY OF DALL^IS COUNTY. 



465 



in tlie battles of Fort Doiielson, Sliiloh, Cor- 
inth, and the siego of Vickshiirgand Mobile. 
Early in 18(55 he was transferred to Texas, 
and in November of that year he was honor- 
ably discharired. lie enlisted as a non-com- 
missioned officer, and was promoted succes- 
sively from post to post until he was made 
Caj)tain, and was discharged with this title. 
When the war was ended, be became a mem- 
ber of the revenue service at Galveston, 
Texas, and served eighteen years. In 1887, 
he removed to Dallas, ajid after engaging in 
railroad business for several months, was ap- 
pointed Chief Registry Clerk, a position 
which he has ably tilled to the present time. 

Politically Mr. Baker adheres to the princi- 
ples of the Republican party, and is one of 
the leaders in this county, lie is Com- 
mander of John A. Dix Post, G. A. R., and 
takes a deep interest in the organization. 

In 1867, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Harrington, and to them have been born three 
children: Lizzie, Arthur, and Henry. 



^. 



4Ch> 



'^ 



?C. FISHER, who is engaged in farm- 
ing in Precinct No. 3, Dallas county, 
' Texas, dates his birth in Benton county, 
Missouri, November 1, 1849. His parents, 
James M. and Eliza (Bennett) Fisher, natives 
of Barren county, Kentucky, wont to Mis- 
souri at an early day, and settled on a farm 
in Benton county. Of their ten children, 
the subject of our sketch is the seventh-born. 
Their names are as follows: G. W., deceased; 
Sarah, wife of Alexander Holmes, St. Clair 
county, Missouri; Nancy, wife of H. B. 
Lightfoot, of Polk coutity, Missouri; Amanda, 
wife of Jacob Job, of Moniteau county, Mis- 
souri; Mary E., wife of R. Thrower, of Cali- 
fornia; Margaret E., wife of a Mr. Foster, of 



California; J. C; Eliza, deceased; and Will- 
iam G., deceased. The father died in Polk 
county, Missouri, in 1868, and the mother 
died the following year in Nebraska, where 
she was living with one of her children. 

J. C. Fisher was educated in Polk county, 
and at the age of twenty- one commenced life 
for himself as a farmer, which vocation he 
has since followed. He moved from Polk to 
Vernon county, remaining at the latter place 
three years. In 1875, he came to Texas, and 
at first farmed on rented land. In 1883, he 
purchased the farm on which he now lives, 
thirty-six and two-thirds acres, for which he 
paid $25 an acre. It is all prairie land and 
at the time of purchase was nearly all under 
cultivation. Being choice farming land, it 
is now valued at from $50 to $60 an acre. 

Mr. Fisher was married, April 10, 1871, 
to Miss Mary A. Morris, of St. Clair county, 
Missouri. ller parents. Ham and Susan 
(Dallas) Morris, had six children, viz.: Nancy 
M., wife of Jefferson Durhatn, of Cedar 
county, Missouri; Hilda, wife of A. T. Mul- 
lins, of Cedar county Missouri; Mary A.; 
the next born is deceased; Snodon, a resi- 
dent of St. Clair county, Missouri, and Hugh, 
of Palo Pinto, Texas. To Mr. and Mrs. Fisher 
were born seven children, five of whom died 
when small. Those living are L. S. and 
Minnie P., both residing with their father. 
Mrs. Fisher was born November 30, 1851, 
and departed this life February 27, 1884. 
Siie was a member of the Missionary Baptist 
Church. 



-"^^uX/l/c 



inri^^ 



'i^—^^-a/t 



fOHN T. HAND, SuperintcTident of Pub- 
lic Schools of Dallas city, Texas, is a 
native of Georgia, born in February, 
1835. He is a son of Isaiah and Hannah I,. 
(Henderson) Hand, natives of South and 



456 



HISTOUr OF DALLAS UOUSTT. 



North Carolina respectively, of Irish extrac- 
tion. The father was a planter by occupa- 
tion, but he served a long and honorable 
term as Probate Judge. He died in 1867. 
The mother still survives, and lives in Ala- 
bama. Both were consistent members of the 
Primitive Baptist Church. John T. attended 
school until he was fourteen years old, and 
then began to meet the world, relying upon 
his own resources. He was desirous of con- 
tinuing his studies, and by industry and 
economy he managed to enter Mercer Uni- 
versity at Macon, Georgia, where he was a 
student three years. He was graduated in 
the class of 1856, sharing the honors with 
Governor McDaniel. He then taught one 
year in Georgia, removing at the end of that 
time to Tyler, Texas, where he entered upon 
the duties of educator, which did not end for 
seventeen years. The next scene of his la- 
bors was the A. & M. College at Bryan, 
Texas, where he taught the dead languages 
until they were cut from the course. He 
then went to Brenham, Texas, and for three 
years had charge of the public schools in 
that place. He next went to Corsicana, 
Texas, and for live years the public schools 
there reaped the benefit of his wide experi- 
ence. In 1887, when he came to Dallas, he 
he found the schools in great need of system- 
atic organization. He at once went to work 
with that vigor and assurance which character- 
izes the touch of the master, and did not dimin- 
ish his efforts until the schools of Dallas took 
rank with the leading schools of the south- 
west. 

Prof. Hand was married in 1858, to Miss 
Helen J. Spurlin of Georgia, a lady of rare 
intelligence and tine attainments. Four chil- 
dren were born of this union: Flora Philo, 
the wife of J. W. Lambard; Lulu Corinne, 
wife of Jack Baker; Barton Bee, a resident 




of Cleburne, Texas; and Lillia Belle, wife of 
Sam. M. Kerr. The parents are members of 
the Missionary Baptist Church. Prof. Hand 
belongs to the Masonic fraternity. Politi- 
cally he is an independent Democrat. 



ILLIAM H. W. SMITH is a truly 
representative Texan, although a 
native of the State of Alabama, l)orn 
in 1855. His father. Captain W. S. Smitli, 
was a native of South Carolina and a lawyer 
by profession. After removing to Alabama 
he gave his attention to agriculture. He 
married Jane Hillhouse, of South Carolina, 
and they had born to them ten children, of 
whom Willliam H. W. is the fourth in order 
of birth. At the age of fourteen years he 
went to Mobile, Alabama, and there secured 
employment in a hardware store, which he 
held until coming to Dallas in 1873. There 
he followed the same business until he was 
appointed Deputy Sheriff in 1878. He dis- 
charged his duties with so much promptness 
and ability that he won the entire contidenco 
of the community, and in November, 1882, 
he was elected Sheriff. He had a strong op- 
ponent in Benjamin Jones, Esq., and the 
race was a close one. He served to the end 
of the term, and was re-elected in 1884, de- 
feating W. P. Cochran by the largest 
majority ever given any county official. He 
was especially successful in the administra- 
tion of his office, and reflected great credit 
upon himself and his constituency. 

Mr. Smith was married in Texas, in 1876, 
to Miss Fannie P. Sharp, granddaughter to 
the Hon. Robert Y. Hayne, South Carolina's 
gifted orator. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the 
parents of three children, two were sons and 
one was a daughter, but only one son survives. 



niSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



457 



Mr. Smith is a prominent Mason, and lias 
held hiojli official positions in the lodge. In 
hia religions views he snl)S(!ril)es to the doc- 
trines of the Preshyterian Church. Politically 
he is an ardent Democrat. When Oak Cliff 
was incorporated he was chosen Marshal, 
and has been twice selected to fill that office. 
He has been Assessor and Tax Collector of 
this subnrb of Dallas, and has aided very 
materially in the growth and improvement of 
the place. He is a man of attractive person- 
ality, and is very popular with all classes of 
citizens. Frank and out-spoken, true to iiis 
friends, e.xact and honorable in all his busi- 
ness transactions, his name is worthy of 
preservation in the records of his county. 



-^ 



^ 



jOBERT J. MILLS, as a farmer and 
stock-raiser, has been identified with 
the interests of Dallas county, Texas, 
since 1873. 

Mr. Mills was born in Daviess county, 
Kentucky, September 30, 1849, son of Will- 
iam Holmes Mills and Sally Ann (Estes) 
Mills, his wife, both natives of Kentucky 
and of English ancestry. Robert J. was 
reared on a farm and received his early edu- 
cation in the common schools, finishing with 
a course of study at the Baptist Institute, 
at Owensboro, Kentucky. He made his 
home with his parents until he was twenty-two 
years old. Then for two years he taught in 
the schools of his native State. In the spring 
of 1873 he came to Texas, and for one season 
was engaited in herding cattle. After that 
he engaged in farming near Dallas, renting 
land on shares for two years with Mr. Bum- 
pas. 

September 27, 1874, Mr. Mills married 
Miss E'fieda Ellis Coorabes, a native of Dal- 



las county, Texas, and a daughter of Isaac 
Nelson Coombes, of whom mention is made 
elsewhere in this volume. After his mar- 
riage Mr. Mills settled on his present farm 
of 159 acres, which he has improved and on 
which he has since been engaged in agricul- 
tural pursuits. Six children have been born 
to them, namely: Allen, Ruby, Annie 
Holmes, Henry, Lilian Ivy (who died at the 
age of one year), and Lou Ellen. Mr. and 
Mrs. Mills are both active and earnest mem- 
bers of the Christian Church, and in politics 
he affiliates with the Democratic party. 

-^y\nJl/h — >< — iTLnn^^ 

K. WRIGHT AND SON, contractors 
and builders of Dallas, have erected 
* some of the principal buildings of this 
city, among which may be mentioneil the 
Third Ward School, three churches, the Jones 
building, Ryan building, and many others. 
They also erected the Dilley residence of 
Maple avenue. They employ on an average 
ten or fifteen men the year around, and do an 
extensive business. 

N. K. Wright was born in Franklin county, 
Vermont, in 1833, a son of Benjamin and 
Phoebe (Whitney) Wright, natives also of 
Vermont. The father moved to Minnesota 
in 186G, where he died ten years later. Our 
subject left home in 1852 and went to St. 
Paul, Minneapolis, where he worked at his 
trade. In 1861 he enlisted in the ^''irst Min- 
neapolis Regiment for three months, and at 
the ex|)iration of that time he returned to St. 
Paul, in 1862 went to Peoria, Illinois, and 
engaged in contracting and building, and in 
1876 came to Dallas. Mr. Wright was mar- 
ried in St. I'aul, in 1855, to Mary E. Hunter, 
a native of Indiana, and daughter of William 
F. Hunter, who went to Minnesota in 1852, 
and remained there until his death in 1873. 



458 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Mr. aad Mrs. Wright had three children: 
Lewis R., who lias been connected with his 
father in business since 1886; Wiley, a Pres- 
byterian minister of Mishawaka, Indiana, 
and Jennie, at home. The parents are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church at Dallas, 
and socially, Mr. Wright is a member of 
Tannehill Lodge, A. F. ife A. M., and was 
a Mason in Minnesota in 1854, is a member 
of George H. Thomas Post, No. 6, G. A. K., 
of Dallas. Politically, he affiliates with the 
Republican party. 

L. R. Wright, who is associated with his 
father in business, spent two years studying 
architecture, and the firm is now prepared to 
draw their own specilications. He drew the 
plans for thirty-five buildings built by the 
firm in 1890. 

After the above was written Newel Wright 
departed this life, November 11, 1891. His 
sickness, heart-t'ailure, dates from February, 
1891, when he was prostrated with an attack 
of la grippe. He was buried under the 
auspices of the Masonic order. 



^ 



^ 



F. BRANDENBURG is a farmer and 
stock-raiser, and is one of the well- 
® known citizens of Dallas county, his 
postoffice address being Duncanville. In 
brief, a review ot his life is as follows : 

B. F. Brandenburg was born in La Fayette 
county, Missouri, October 27, 1842, the 
seventh son and ninth child of Absalom and 
Nancy (Barker) Brandenburg, natives of 
Kentucky. Grandfather Samuel Branden- 
burg was probably a native of Virginia, and 
his father, Solomon, was a native of Ger- 
many. Samuel Brandenburg moved to Ken- 
tucky, settled on a farm and reared four 
sons. One of these, Absalom, married a 



daughter of James Barker, a native of Ken- 
tucky and of English descent. In 1827, he 
emigrated to Missouri and located in La 
Fayette councy, where he improved a farm 
and resided twenty years. In 1847, with his 
wife and eight children, he started for Texas, 
his outfit consisting of four wagons — two 
drawn by horses and two by oxen — and a 
spring wagon, landing in Dallas county in 
the fall of that year. Of Calvin G. Cole he 
purchasad 257 acres, a part of which is now 
included in the city of Dallas, He improved 
that property and purchased other lands 
until he owned 277 acres, on which he was 
engaged in farming until his death, which 
occurred in 1872, at the age of eighty-one 
years. His first wife died in 1863 and he 
was subsequently married to Mrs. Patton, by 
whom he had one child. 

The subject of our sketch was five years 
old when he came to Texas. He was reared 
on his father's frontier farm and remained 
with him until the breaking out of the Civil 
war. He enlisted in February, 1862, in 
Company C, Sixth Texas Cavalry, followed 
the fortunes of the Army of the Tennessee 
and served until the close of the war. He 
then retui'ned to Dallas county and engaged 
in farming. He was married March 26, 
1868, to Miss Sarah Josephine Merrifield, a 
native of Dallas county, Texas, and a daugh- 
ter of William and Catherine (Hickman) 
Merrifield. Her parents came from Kentucky 
to this place in 1849 and purchased 320 acres 
of wild land and resided here the rest of their 
days. They had eight children who grew to 
maturity and seven are still living. Mr. 
Merrifield died in November, 1880 and his 
wife in 1882. 

Aftei' the death of his father, Mr. Bran- 
denburg removed to the old homestead, re- 
sided there nine years, and in 1883 moved 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



459 



to the Merrifield place. He lias a farm of 
575 acres of improved land, all in a liigli state 
of cultivation. His chief products are wheat, 
oats and corn. Mr. and Mrs. Brandenburg 
are the parents of nine children: William 
Henry, Hurbert Walter, Charles Lee, Lilly 
Catherine, James Franklin, Jesse James, 
Oscar Merrion, Maud and Alma. Politically, 
Mr. Brandenburg is a Democrat. His 
brothers, James and Tlioma.-*, were killed in 
battle during the late war, the latter being 
in command of his company at the time he 
was killed. 

[EORGEW. SONNEFIELD,of thefirm 
of Sonnetield & Emmins, contractors 
and builders, Dallas, arrived here in 
the winter of 1885 and formed their partner- 
ship in 1887. Among the principal build- 
ings erected by tiiese gentlemen are the Leach- 
man, on Live Oak street, the Blakeney 
building on Camp street, the C. W. Guild 
building on Elm, street the patrol station on 
Commerce street, the Hinckley cornice fac- 
tory on South Harwood street, the Pabst 
beer and storage room, the Texas State Fair 
building and music hall, W. J. Lemp's stor- 
age and bottling house, Grant's and Drake's 
residences, and many other dwellings, etc., in 
Dallas and Oak Cliff, as the J. T. Dargan 
residence, Armstrong's two residences, etc. 
The firm employ on an average about tifteen 
men. 

Mr. Sonnefield was born in Clay county, 
Indiana, in 1860. the eldest son in a family 
of ten children of J. S. .and E. (Wagner) Son- 
nelield, natives of Indiana. His father has 
for a long time resided in Terre Haute, where 
he was for many years contractor and builder. 
Mr. Sonnetield was brought up in that city, 
learning his trade of his father, with whom 



he first formed a partnership for two years. 
He made his first visit to the South in 1879, 
going to New Mexico, where he worked at 
his trade. A year or so afterward he went to 
El I*aso, that State. Returning to Indiana, 
he was married, in Terre Hante, in 1884, to 
Anna Dodson, a native of that State and a 
daughter of Elijah and Jane Dodson. Mr. 
Dodson, a pioneer of Indiana, died in 1885, 
aged ninety-live years: his widow is still liv- 
ing. Mr. Sonnetield has one child, Eva by 
name. 

He has taken some interest in the political 
welfare of the country, by voting with the 
Democratic party. He began life for him- 
self a poor man, and he has also been pnblic- 
spirited and benevolent, and done his share 
toward building \ip his chosen city. Frater- 
nally, he belongs to Dallas lodge, No. 70, K. 
of P., and he is also a member of the Uni- 
formed Rank of that order, Lodge No. 18. 
He is also a member of the Builders' Ex- 
change. 

fOM CADE, one of the oldest voters in 
the First Ward, was born in London, 
England, in 1834. His parents were 
William and Mariah Cade, both natives of 
England, where they were reared, married 
and reared a family of fourteen children and 
are there buried. 

Tom was educated in his native country 
and was apprenticed to the carpenter trade, at 
which he worked for many years. He later 
was a contractor and did the carpenter work 
on the road from Bryant to Corsicana, Texas. 
He also built several of the finest residences 
in Dallas, at that time. His residence in 
Dallas dates from 1871, but he has done very 
little carpenter work since 1872. 

On coming to this city he settled in the 



%. 



4(50 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



lirst ward and as far as is known is one of tlie 
oldest voters. He has never turned benedict, 
preferring the freedom of bachelor life. In re- 
ligion he is an Episcopalian and a represent- 
ative of the Established Church. He takes 
but little interest in politcs, but votes with 
the Democratic party. 

Mr. Cade is a pioneer of this city and has 
always been regarded as one of its most hon- 
ored and respected citizens. He has gained 
the respect of all his fellow citizens by his 
honesty and good work. 

I^OBEET H. LAWS.— This gentleman 
J^k is one of the rising young men of Dal- 
^^ las, and is the proprietor of a new and 
nicely equipped board and sale stable. He 
is a native of Texas, and dates his birth at 
Dallas, July 27, 1860. He is the youngest 
of a family of three children born to George 
W. and Martini E. (Record) Laws. His 
father was born near Lewisburgh, Marshall 
county, Tennessee, October 20, 1829, and was 
reared in that State as a farmer and trader. 
Emigrating to Texas at an early day, he set- 
tled near the spot where Dallas now stands. 
Becoming dissatistied with the West, how- 
ever, he returned to the land of his birth in 
1847, where he remained until October 5, 
1854. At that time he was married to Miss 
Martha E. Record, a daughter of George W. 
andMahulda(Hedsperth) Record. Her father, 
a well-to-do farmer, moved to Texas in 1857, 
and was prominently identitied with the set- 
tlement and development of Dallas county. 
His death occurred in 18(39. Her mother 
was born in 1828, and died in 1855. Mr. 
Laws' father again took up his residence in 
the village of Dallas, and was closely con- 
nected with northern Texas and Dallas 



county in every step of her prosperity. He 
at one time embarked in a commercial enter- 
prise, and, in company with Captain McGov- 
ern, purchased a steamboat, the '• Sallie 
Haines," which he loaded with a carjro of cot- 
ton and other products for the lower river 
trade. Unfortunately, at a point below the 
city of Dallas, they struck a snag, the boat 
sank, and they lost their entire cargo. 

Mr. Laws was elected to the office of 
County Clerk, which position he tilled with 
entire satisfaction to his constituents for a 
term of two years. His death occurred Feb- 
ruary 8, 1881. He bore the enviable repu- 
tation of being his worst enemy, which is a 
eulogy that few can have pronounced over 
their graves. His virtues were always great 
enough to be always prominent. His faults 
were always small enough to be excused. The 
mother of our subject died April 25, 1861, 
and her untimely death was a source of much 
bereavement to her family and many friends. 

Deprived of a mother's loving care at a 
tender age, Robert H. Laws was early in life 
thrown upon his own resources, to a certain 
extent, although he was reared by kind 
friends. He began life as an office boy in a 
livery and sale stable, and in 1883 he en- 
gaged in business for himself. His first ven- 
ture was a livery, board, and sale stable, 
located at 308 and 310 Elui street, he being 
in partnership with T. O. Hargis. This part- 
nership lasted only two months, T. O. Har- 
gis retiring and Mr. Laws continuing at the 
same place for three years. He then dis- 
posed of his interests in this establishment, 
and became associated with Clark & Cable, 
at the same time being engaged in buying 
and selling stock of all kinds. He was made 
superintendent of the C. & C.'s large sale 
stable, and this position beheld for a number 
of years. Severing his connection with B. 




^ r^. ^"^^^iM<^<::<^rrS> 





MJ^ J, 




<^>^eJ> 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



461 




E. Cable, lie opened up the business he is 
now successfully conducting. He is the only 
survivor of his family, and is noted for his 
generosity, hosjiitality, and hearing of the 
true Soutlierii gentleman. Ilis early educa- 
tion was obtained in the district schools of 
Dallas county. Later in life he attended the 
preparatory school at Culleoka, finishing his 
education at Swanay, Greene county, Tennes- 
see. He is a member of the Coeur de Lion 
Lodge, No. 8, K. of P. His political views are 
in harmony with the Democratic principles. 

C. WILLIAMS, a retired farmer, and 
one of the most widely known and 
highly respected citizens of Dallas 
county, has been associated with its best in- 
terests since December, 1845, making at that 
time his first appearance on its scene of 
action. 

He was born in Williamson county, Ten- 
nessee, on April 1, 1819, being the son of 
Jesse E. and Elizabeth Ann Smith (Greeg) 
Williams, both of whom were natives of Vir- 
ginia, and both of Welsh ancestry. His 
parents were married in the Old Dominion, 
shortly afterward moving to Williamson 
county, Tennessee, in which latter place our 
subject was born. Subsequently they re- 
moved to Bedford county, the same State, 
when our subject was quite small, and it was 
there that he was reared. His parents had 
six children, all reaching adult years, three 
being still alive. Our subject w^s the only 
son and the oldest child. After his father's 
death, and when he was about twelve years of 
age, his mother married Colonel William 
Burnett, our subject remaining a member of 
his stepfather's family until he was grown. 
Ilis youth was spent on a farm, and he re- 



ceived his education in Dixon Academy, at 
Shelbyville, Tennessee. 

On June 24, 1841, he was married to Miss 
Sarah M. Hughes, who was born in North 
Carolina on March 24, 1819, a daughter of 
William and Elsie Hughes. Her parents 
moved from North Carolina to Tennessee 
when she was quite young, where she was 
reared, receiving her education at Columbia 
Ft male College, Maury county, of the same 
State. After his marriage Mr. Williams 
settled on a farm in I'edford county, Tennes- 
see, where he remained until he came to 
Texas, making the journey overland with 
horse teams. On arriving in Dallas county 
he first located on a headright in Beters' 
colony, where he resided until 1855, thence 
removing to Cedar Springs. At this latter 
place he purchased land and followed farming 
for over thirty years, remaining there until 
1887. Mr. Williams taught the first school 
in Dallas county for one term, and his wife 
has the distinction of having been the first 
female teacher in the same county. 

He and his wife were members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife died 
on January 20, 1869, leaving to him the care 
of six children. They had had ten children: 
George E., born April 5, 1842, died Novem- 
ber 1, 1857; Archolaus Madison, born May 
10, 1844, died December 25, 1848; William 
Hughes, born September 3, 1846, died Octo- 
ber 15, 1848; Alice Ann Elizabeth, born 
January 3, 1849, is the wife of Captain J. S. 
Dowell, of McKinuey, Te.xas; Thomas JeflFer^ 
son, born January 2, 1851, died September 
28, 1887; Sarrenar Margaret Oleria, boru 
September 17, 1853, died September 10, 
1854; Mary Jane, born June 20, 1855, is the 
wife of J. S. Hughes, of Dallas county, 
Texas; Ben Hester, born May 18, 1857, is 
now a resident of Kaufman county, Texas; 



462 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY 



Buck Holmes, born August 31, 1859, died 
August 1, 1860; and Jesse B., l)orn Decem- 
ber 14, 1862, lives in Kaufman county, 
Texas. 

Politically Mr. Williams affiliates with the 
Democratic party. During the war he served 
eight months in Colonel Nat. M. Burtbrd's 
regiment, being discharged on account of ill 
health. -He was twice elected to the position 
of Assessor and Tax Collector of Dallas 
county, to which office he was appointed 
during the war by the Comptroller of State. 
When he was elected to that office the county 
was in debt, and county scrip was worth only 
50 cents on the dollar, but during the four 
years he served as Collector the county liqui- 
dated all debts and built a ^4,000 courthouse, 
besides having a surplus in the treasury. 
This of itself is sufficient encomium upon the 
fidelity and integrity of the subject of our 
sketch, had he never done anything else 
worthy of esteem. Mr. Williams also took 
the first scholastic census of his county, 
which was ably done. 

His unswerving fidelity and unfaltering 
integrity are matters of comment in this day 
of uncertainty, while his uniformly cordial 
and courteous manner have only served to 
adorn his more rugged qualities and endear 
him to the community at large, and enlist for 
him the affectionate regard of his family and 
a host of personal friends. It would seem 
that he had earned all happiness and that 
misfortune and deatli would lay their hand 
gently on him; but such is the mutability of 
human affairs that the great and good suffer 
alike with the ignoble and poor. 

The subject of this sketch, Thomas C. 
Williams, is the only survivor of the seven 
brothers-in-law who married sisters, daugh- 
ters of William and Alcy Hughes, in Ten- 
nessee, and who emigrated to Dallas county, 



Texas, in an early day in the order in which 
they are named, to wit: William M. Coch- 
ran, Isaac B. Wel)b, Thomas C. Williams, 
O. W. Knight, John B. Bachman, George 
W. Record and Levi R. Dennis, — all of whom 
were prominent members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South, two of whom 
were ministers of the gospel, to wit: John 
B. Bachman and Levi R. Dennis. All of the 
above named were leading citizens of Dallas 
county in their day, none of them ever having 
been arraigned in the courts or charged witli 
any dishonorable act. In fact, the characters 
of all seven were above reproach and worthy 
of emulation. 

On September 28, 1887, Mr. Williams had 
the misfortune to lose his son, Thomas J., 
aged thirty-seven years, who died at Eureka 
Springs, Arkansas. He was a young man of 
great promise and much beloved, as is shown 
by the resolutions of respect, and an article 
"In Memoriam," which we subjoin: 

EESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT. 

To the Worship/id Master, Wardens and 

Brethren of Wichita Lodge, No. 635, 

A. F. &A. M.: 

We, your committee, appointed to draft 
resolutions relative to the deatii of our 
esteemed brother, Thomas J. Williams, re- 
spectfully submit the following: 

Whereas, It has pleased the Great Archi- 
tect of the universe to take from our midst 
our beloved brother, Thomas J. Williams, 
and to transplant his spirit to that house not 
made with hands, eternal in the skies; and as 
we desire to give expression to the confidence 
and love with which we cherish his memory; 
therefore be it resolved, 

First, That in the death of Thomas J. 
Williams the community has lost one of its 
most trusted and useful citizens, society one 
of its purest and best members. Masonry 
one of its most faithful supporters, who by 
his daily walk and conversation constantly 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



46iS 



illustrated the truth and beauty of its sub- 
lime tenets; and his family lost a tender, 
devoted and noble husband, father and pro- 
tector. 

Second, That while our hearts are filled 
with grief at the loss of our brother, yet we 
recognize in this affliction the hand of our 
Supreme Grand Master, who doetli ail tilings 
well, and we bow with humble submission to 
his will, trusting and believing that our loss 
is our brother's jjain. 

Tliird, That we offer our sincere sympathy 
to the family of our deceased brother in this 
their great bereavement, and assure them 
that their sorrow is our sorrow, that we 
mourn and mingle our tears with theirs. 

Fmuth, Tliat tliese resolutions be spread 
upon the minutes of the lodf^e, and that a 
copy of them be sent to the family of our de- 
ceased brother, and to the Wichita Herald 
for publication. W. E. J^rotuebs, 

C. E. Reid, 

W. A. MoCuTCHEN, 

Committee. 

IN MEMORIAM. 

Died, at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, Sep- 
teml)er 28, 1887, Thomas J. Williams, aged 
thirty-seven years. The deceased was born 
in Dallas county, Texas, January 26, 1850; 
was one of the earliest settlers in Wichita 
county, and at the time of his' death one of 
her best known and most highly respected 
citizens. He was elected a member of the 
first Commissioners' Court when the county 
was organized, was reelected and served two 
years, declining running again in 1884, but 
was elected a member of the present court in 
1886, and served until last July, when he re- 
signed on account of his health. 

To those who knew him it is unnecessary 
to speak any words of praise in behalf of his 
memory, for his genial, kindly nature, his 
fidelity and unswerving honesty in every 
position of life, both public ami private, 
secured for him the love and esteem of all 
who knew him, and the entire community 
united, during hie last illness, in their efforts 
to allay his sufferings, and to testify their 



appreciation of and respect for him. Mr. 
Williams died at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 
where he had gone with the hope that his 
health might be restored, but Providence has 
decreed otherwise. His remains were brought 
to Wichita Falls, and interred on October 2, 
in the presence of his family and friends, and 
the number in attendance at his funeral was 
only another evidence of the high esteem in 
which he was held by the entire community. 
He became a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church about two years ago, and the 
members of his family, his relatives and 
friends, sorrow not as those who have no 
hope; they are consoled by the promises 
made by the ascended Savior to those who 
trust in ilim. W. 

ENJAMIN S. WATIIE?^.— As a civil 
engineer of rare skill and much experi- 
ence, this gentleman lias rendered valued 
services throughout the South, and is well 
and favorably known here. There is probably 
not another man in the State who has a better 
knowledge of the topography of Texas than he. 
Mr. Wathen was born in Marion county, 
Kentucky, and in that county received an aca- 
demical education. In 1862 he joined the 
Eighth Kentucky Cavalry, and served during 
the war, much of the time under that matchless 
leader, General J. II. Morgan. He took part 
in that historic campaign that is the romance 
of the war — Morgan's Raid. He enlisted as 
a private and served with Morgan, excejit 
while he was imprisoned. He was with the 
general in the Indianapolis and Ohio raid 
and was captured at Salineville, Ohio. Was 
imprisoned for a time and was in Virginia 
when the war closed. 

At the close of the war he turned his at- 
tention to civil engineering, and until 1869 
was on the Louisville & Nashville railroad 
in Kentucky. He then came to Texas in 



464 



EISTOUT OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



1869, and as a builder of railroads began a 
career that is not equaled by any man's in 
the South. The International & Great 
Northern, Missouri, Kansas & Texas, 
Texas & Pacific, and Cotton Belt and several 
others are some of the great roads that he has 
helped to construct. He also helped to build 
some of tlie lirst railroads in Mexico, viz., 
the Mexican, Oriental, Interocean and 
the International. Ever since 1874 he has 
been chief engineer of some important 
branch of railroad building. At this writing 
he is president engineer of the Texas & 
Pacific. He has had an office in Dallas the 
past six years, though his home is in Hender 
son, Texas. 

Personally, Mr. Wathen is a quiet and unas- 
suming gentleman, having the confidence and 
respect of all classes of people. 



fOIlN H. COLE, a retired farmer of Dal- 
las county, was born in Robertson county, 
Tennessee, in January, 1827, the fifth of 
ten children born to John and Mary (McDon- 
ald) Cole, natives of Virginia. The father 
moved to Tennessee in an early day, where he 
was a farmer and physician. He was one 
of the early practitioners of Dallas county, 
and in 1829 went to Arkansas, settling in 
Washington county, where he improved a 
farm, and in 1843 again came to Dallas 
county. He took up a claim of 640 acres, 
which now joins the city of Dallas. He took 
an active interest in politics, and also in the 
early history of the county, being the first 
Probate Judge of Dallas county. His death 
occurred in the spring of 1851, and the 
mother survived him many years, dying about 
1865. 

John H., our subject was reared to farm 



life and educated in the district schools of 
Washington county, Arkansas, also at Fay- 
etteville, Arkansas. He came to this county 
at the age of seventeen years, and took up a 
claim, which he afterward sold. He then 
followed surveying for many years, being the 
first County Surveyor of this county, and 
prior to that was Deputy Surveyor. In 1858 
he moved to his present farm, where he erect- 
ed a fine brick residence, and the whole place 
is now under a fine state of cultivation. Alto- 
gether he has u\ the county 5,000 acres, — 
400 acres at his residence. 

In 1862 he enlisted in Captain William 
McKaney's regiment, in the State service, 
and later received a position in the supply 
department, where he remained until the 
close of the war. Mr. Cole has taken an 
active interest in politics, and was the first 
Notary Public and County Surveyor of 
Dallas. Socially he is a member of Tantie- 
hill Lodge, A. F. & A. M.; and religiously, 
both he and his wife are members of the 
Christian Chnrch. 

He was married in Dallas county, in 1856, 
to Elizabeth Preston, a native of Tennessee 
and granddaughter of Captain George Preston, 
an early pioneer of Tennessee and a soldier 
in the Creek war. She is a daughter of 
George and Anna (Rody) Preston, natives of 
Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have had seven 
children: George C, of Dallas; John D., 
Anna, Cora, at home; Margaret, wife of W. 
R. Myers, of Dallas; Walter and Hester. 



-^^LnJt/lr- 



^^ 



■'Vinn^^ 



P^ENRY BURGOON, was one among the 
oldest settlers of Grapevine Prairie, Dal- 
las county, was born in Sandusky 
county, Ohio, a son of Charles Burgeon, a 
native of Baltimore, Maryland, and success- 
ively a citizen of Ohio, Iowa and Texas. 



HiaTORT OF DALLAS COUNT F. 



465 



After contribiitins liis share toward the set- 
tlement of the coininunities in wliicli he re- 
feided, lie died, in Tarrant connty, tliis State, 
wliere he located in 1853, passing away a 
few years ago, at the age of seventy-eight 
years. Onr subject's mother, nee Ann 
Maria Geiger, was also a native of Baltimore, 
Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Burgoon were 
married in their native place, and started 
West soon after this event, and the mother 
died at onr subject's home in March, 1889, 
at the age of seventy-six years. They were 
the parents of twelve children, namely: 
Francis, Julia Ann, Eli, Joseph A., George, 
Caroline, Maria, Elizabeth, Margaret, Pris- 
cilla and Henry. 

The latter was born June 17, 1834, and 
was reared mainly in Scott and Linn conn- 
ties, Iowa. He was one among the first set- 
tlers of Grapevine Prairie, Dallas county, 
having settled on the farm where he now lives, 
in 1853. He located a headright of 320 
acres, but being anxious to secure new set- 
tlers for the community he sold oft' 120 
acres of this land, and now has 100 acres of 
his remaining land under cultivation, the re- 
mainder being in pasture and hay. He has 
comfortable buildings, beautiful hedges and 
good orchards. When he settled where he 
now lives his nearest neighbors were from 
two to four miles distant, and the country 
was an opon prairie. In October, 1883, Mr. 
Burgoon erei^ted a store building on his 
premises, near his residence, and began a 
mercantile l)U6ine8s, which he has since fol- 
lowed in connection with his farming. At 
the same time he secured the removal of the 
post office from Estelle to this place in Dallas 
county, Texas. 

in September, 1801, he married Miss 
Mary V. Boals, a native of Christian connty, 
Missouri, and a daughter of John T. Boals. 




The parents came to Texas in 1859, settling 
in Tarrant county, where they now reside. 
Mr. and Mrs. Burgoon have had ten chil- 
dren, as follows: Edward M. ; Ettie M. now 
the wife of W. J. Crawford; Henry T.; 
Mary Idelia, wife of Thomas P. Goodfellow; 
Oscar L., Charles E., Anna F., Jesse E., 
Rosser I. and Homer T. All of the children 
are still living, and most of them are now 
grown, and those who have settled in life 
reside near the old homestead, either in Dal- 
las or Tarrant counties. Mr. Burgoon is a 
plain, unpretentious citizen, a man of more 
than ordinary intelligence, of a kindly dis- 
position, and is esteemed by his neighbors. 



Fg||. K. KNIGHT, architect, contractor 
and builder, Dallas, was born in 
Polk county, Texas, in 1853, the 
third-born of the four children of W. J. and 
Marietta (Rossell) Knight. His father, born in 
Nashville, Tennessee, came to Texas in 1835, 
settling first in Polk county, where he engage<i 
in general merchandising and was County 
Clerk for several terms. Mr. Knight's 
mother, a native of New York, came to Polk 
county in 1842, was married there, and she 
and her husband settled in Moscow, that 
county. They also resided for a time in 
Livingston, the county seat of that county, 
where Mr. W. J. Knight's death occurred, in 
1855, while he was in office as County 
Clerk. His excellent wife still survives him, 
now residing in Dallas. Mr. Knight, our 
subject, was brought up in Houston and 
Galveston, learning his trade in the latter 
city. He commenced taking contracts for 
building on his own account in Cleburne, 
Johnson county, and continued tliere four 
years. In 1885 he went to Galveston and 



400 



niSTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTY. 



engaged in contracting, and in 1887 came to 
Dallas, where he has since prospered in Lis 
chosen calling. On national questions he is 
an independent Democrat, taking an active 
interest in tiie public welfare. He is a mem- 
ber of the Board of Trade and president of 
the Builders and Traders' Exchange; also a 
member of Coeur de Lion Lodge, No. 8, K. 
of P. Mrs. Knight is a member of the 
Methodist Church. 

In February, 1882, he married Anna Gill- 
coat, a native of Fort Smith, Arkansas, and 
a daughter of George W. and M. A. (Mc- 
Clung) Giilcoat, who settled in Dallas in 
1888, coming from Cleburne, Johnson 
county, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Knight have 
four children: Mabel, Myrtle, W. R., Jr., 
and an infant daughter. 

W. AULICK, a merchant of liein- 
hardt, Dallas county, Texas, was 
born in Kentucky, in 1845, son of 
C. E. and Partbenia D. (Adams) Aulick, 
natives of Kentucky. His great-grandfather, 
Aulick, came to this country from Germany, 
and settled near Falmouth, Kentucky, where 
he engaged in farming. C. E. Aulick was a 
prominent and successful farmer. He and 
his wife were the pai-ents of nine children, 
namely: N. D. and James A., residents of 
Kentucky, W. W., the subject of our sketch; 
T. N., deceased; Nancy F., deceased; Albert 
T., who resides in Kentucky; C. J., deceased; 
M. L., a resident of Kentucky. Mr. Aulick 
died in 1889, at the age of seventy-two 
years. Mrs. Aulick died in 1871, aged sixty- 
seven. By a former marriage she had two 
children, Thomas and Robert Duley, resi- 
dents of Illinois and Kentucky respectively. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Aulick were Uiembers of 




the Baptist Church, and for many years he 
had been associated with the Masonic fra- 
ternity. 

W. W. Aulick received his education in 
the common schools of his native county, 
and when he was twentj-two years of age 
began farming on his own account. He was 
engaged in agricultural pursuits in Ken- 
tucky until 1871, when he came to Texas 
and located in Dallas comity. The first year 
he worked by the month, and the second 
year rented land near Dallas. In 1873 he 
gardened and made considerable money, 
chiefly on onions. He continued to rent 
land, raising corn and cotton, until 1880, 
when he bought a farm in partnership with 
W. P. Peary. Three years later he disposed 
of his interest to his partner, and bought the 
farm he now owns, 193 acres, for which he 
paid $26.50 per acre. It is now valued at 
$40 an acre. In 1884 he erected a cotton- 
gin, which he ran until 1889. That year he 
sold the machinery in it and placed new and 
improved works in the building. He con- 
tinued his farn)ing operations until 1890, 
when he engaged in the mercantile inisiness 
at Reinhardt, carrying a general stock of 
goods and doing a business of some $10,000 
annually. For a number of years he has 
made a study of and given much attention to 
bee culture, now having about fifty stands, 
which are doing well. 

Mr. Aulick has been twice married. In 
1874 he wedded Miss Mildred S. Cliitton, 
daughter of A. G. Chitton, of Texas. Her 
father, a native of Missouri, came to this 
State soon after the war. By this union Mr. 
Aulick had three children, — Arthena D., 
Rufus B. and Ella O., the last two being de- 
ceased. Mrs. Aulick died in 1878, at the 
age of twenty-one years. In 1885 he was 
united in marriage with Mrs. Lee Hart (^nee 



UlSrOltY OF DALLAJS GOUHTY. 



4G7 



Rupert), daughter of Erasmus (\ and Martha 
(Inglits) Kupert, of German and Scotcli-Irish 
parentage. They came to this State from 
Missouri, where Mrs. Aulick was born. By 
his present companion he has one cliild,— 
Roscoe R. 

Mr. and Mrs. Aulick are members of the 
Baptist Church. 

JiOUIS C. EBRITE, a lumber merchant 
Jntw and farmer of Mesquite. was born in 
^^ Ohio, in 1852, the sixth child born to 
John M. and Martha A. (Plummer) Ebrite, 
natives of Ohio. The father was a plasterer 
and finisher by trade, and also served as a 
nurse in a hospital in Vircrinia three years 
during the war. He came to tliis State in 
1888, and is at present Postmaster of Mes- 
quite. His first wife, the mother of our sub- 
ject, died in 1859. They were the parents 
of eleven children, six of whom still survive, 
viz.: James M., a school-teacher by pro- 
fesfcion, is a resident of Ohio; Missouri A., 
wife of Bloon Rickey, a farmer of Ohio; 
VV. B., a farmer of Indiana; Louis, onr sub- 
ject; G. D., a plasterer by trade, resides in 
Ohio; Laura A., the wife of Mack Nafus, a 
carpenter of iSiew York. Mr. Ebrite was 
again married in 1860, to Sophia Swanner, 
and they have two children, — John H., mail 
agent on the Fort Worth & Denver railroad; 
Anna A., the wife of Mr. Dunn, a cattle 
dealer of Ohio. 

Our subject received his early education in 
the country schools of Ohio, and at the age 
of sixteen years commenced life for himself. 
He followed various occupations until 1877, 
when he came to this State and settled where 
he now resides. For two years he farmed on 
rented land, and then followed the carpenter's 
trade for some time, contracting and building 



the majority of the best residence houses of 
this place. He followed that occupation until 
1884, since which time he has confined him- 
self strictly to his business of handling lum- 
ber. In 1889 he bought forty acres adjoin- 
ing the village, where he has three houses, 
and also owns his town residence, which is 
one of the handsomest in the village; also 
the best business house in the town and 
other buildings. After landing in Dallas, 
Mr. Ebrite had but $4 in his pocket, and he 
is; now numbered among the leading business 
men of his village. He does a lumber busi- 
ness of some $10,000 or $12,000, besides 
having other interests. In April, 1888. he 
was elected Mayor of Mesquite; in 1889 
served as Alderman, and in 1890 was again 
elected to Ull the unexpired term of the 
Mayor who had resigned, and in 1891 lie 
was elected to the same office, thereby show- 
ing his popularity in the village of his adop- 
tion, where he has so long shown himself a 
worthy citizen. 

Mr. Ebrite was married in 1888, to Mrs. 
Amanda Goodson, a native of Missouri, and 
daughter of John Shawver, of this county. 
Mr. Ebrite is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
Plato Lodge, No. 203, of North Amherst, 
Ohio, and also of the K. of II., of this place. 
Mrs. Ebrite is a member of the Methodist 
Chnrch. 

S. KIMBROUGU, the present State 
Senator from Dallas county, was born 
l' iu Tennessee, the son of J. C. and 
Martha Ann Kimbrough, natives of Ten- 
nessee and Virginia. Our subject received 
his early education in his native State, but 
the facilities for securing an education wore 
not of the best, but the environments of his^ 
youth stimulated and concentrated though 



468 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTT. 



and action into lessons more useful than the- 
ory. With this kind of training, and with a 
spirit of adventure, lie came to Texas and 
settled at Mesquite, August 26, 1874, with 
only a few dollars in his pocket. He first 
engaged in school teaching, in which he soon 
came to the front rank as an instructor, and 
his services were sought in various places. 
His last school was taught in Linden, where 
he had a large and flourishing attendance. 
In 1875 he returned to Tennessee, and spent 
some time at the old homestead, but came 
again to Texas in 1876, and settled in Clay 
county, building the first house ever erected in 
what is now the populous town of Post Oak. 
He also improved a farm in this locality, and 
when in proper condition sold it for sufiicient 
capital to embark in the mercantile business 
at Mesquite, where he has ever since been 
successful. 

Mr. Kimbrough's political life opened with 
the Nineteenth Legislature, having run ahead 
of his colleague, who was also elected, by 
1,100 votes, demonstrating clearly his popu- 
larity. November 6, 1888, he was elected to 
the Senate of the twenty-first session of the 
Legislature of Texas, by a majority over his 
Union Labor competitor of 6,000 votes. He 
represents the Sixteenth district, composed of 
the counties of Dallas, Kaufman and Kock- 
wall. He served on the Committee on Claims 
and Accounts, and also on other important 
committees. Senator Kimbrough is a fluent 
speaker, an earnest and logical debater, and 
exhibits great tenacity and skilfull conduct, 
through the mazes and opposition of legis- 
lators, of any measure he thinks will be a 
benefit to the people, not alone of his section 
but of the State. He at once took his nat- 
ural position as one of the ablest men of the 
Senate, and maintained it witli rare skill and 
judgment throughout the session. Perhaps 



his main characteristic is straightforward 
earnestness of purpose and unflagging zeal of 
the object he has in view. He is now yet in 
the meridian of life, and has before him years 
of usefulness. He is also doing a fine busi- 
ness in a mercantile way, and is the owner of 
a good farm in the county. 

tOBERT C. BUCKNER, D. D., founder 
and general manager of a large orphans' 
home at Dallas, Texas, was born in 
Tennessee, but reared in Kentucky. He is 
the son of Daniel and Mary (Hampton) Buck- 
ner, natives of South and North Carolina 
respectively. The father moved to Kentucky 
when our subject was a small boy, and there 
reared his family of six children, of whom 
Robert C. was the fifth child. The father 
jjrofessed religion in 1816, and walked twelve 
miles to join the church. He was baptized 
by Elder Caleb Witt, and began preaching 
in 1823, and was ordained by Chestua Church, 
Elders George Snider and James D. Sewell 
Presbytery. He was the first Baptist minister 
to preach at Madisonville, Tennessee, and at 
the first protracted meeting at that plaije he 
baptized twenty-five persons, five of whom 
afterward became Baptist ministers. Three 
of them were Bradley Kimbrough, Samuel 
Henderson, D. D., and his own son, the late 
H. F. Buckner, D. D. 

The latter was among the most noted of 
American ministers to the Indians. He was 
a minister to the Creek Indians for thirty- 
four years, and during this time arranged a 
Creek alphabet, made them a gi'ammar and 
hymn book, and also translated the greater 
portion of the Scripture into the Creek lan- 
guage. He and his interpreter spent one year 
in New York in organizing and properly 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



469 



classifying the work. Dr. Biickner suffered 
many liardships during the time he was with 
tiie Indians, and during his residence with 
them lie was adopted as a citizen ot'the Creek 
^'ation, and since his death his widow and 
family still resides in the Nation, where they 
enjoy all the privileges of citizenship. Rev. 
Jjuckuer, during his residence among the In- 
dians, was always recognized as their true 
friend, and traveled alone through any of 
the wild tribes without a feeling of fear. He 
died while in the Nation, in 1882, at the age 
of sixty-four years. 

Our subject, Rev. R. C. Buckuer, removed 
to Texas in 1859, and was for about fourteen 
years pastor of the Baptist Church in Paris. 
He then became the founder, and for ten 
years editor and proprietor of the Texas 
Baptist, which reached a circulation of more 
than 5,000. His next work was as the 
founder of the Orphans' Home at Dallas, 
which bears his name and of which he is yet 
general manager. It has at this time 212 
inmates, and for the last several years has 
cared for an average of 150 orphaned chil- 
dren annually. The children are clothed, fed 
and educated, and the boys are taught farm- 
ing and the girls housekeeping. The facili- 
ties for receiving an education are as sood or 
better than at other schools in the county. 
The school runs the entire twelve months of 
the year, and is managed by A. F. Reddo, a 
graduate of Baylor University at Waco, 
Texas, and son-in-law of Dr. Buckner. His 
wife is now the matron of the institution. 
The purpose of this Home in the future is to 
establish manufacturiiiir industries, such as 
broom and shoe manufactories, etc. It has 
now under construction one large brick build- 
ing with different departments for the female 
inmates and infants; and in this building will 
also be an immense dining hall, 23x130 feet. 



The boys will be domiciled in cottages 
throughout the grounds, which will be hand- 
some and commodious buildings. The Home 
has all the modern improvements to be found 
in the county, and the building now under 
construction will be heated by steam, and in 
the near future it is the intention to have it 
lighted by electricity, with a steam laundry 
attached. The farm belonging to the Home 
has 100 acres under cultivation, besides 200 
acres in grass and pasture. 

Dr. Buckner, our subject, is a member of 
the National Prison Congress, and is fre- 
quentlj' in attendance at the meetings of that 
society, of which General Rutherford B. 
Hayes is the president. Mr. Buckner has 
also been frequently sent by the Governors of 
this State to the National Convention of 
Charity and Corrections, meeting in the dif- 
ferent States, and connected with his work 
has visited many of the charitable institu- 
tions in the United States. He is still en- 
gaged in his ministerial duties and has calls 
from different churches, both to preach and 
lecture, and has recently accepted an invita- 
tion extended him to go to North Carolina to 
deliver an address on orphanage work. Dr. 
Buckner was for some years president of the 
Baptist General Association, of Texas, also 
general agent of the same organization, 
trustee of Waco University, and is frequently 
called upon to deliver literary addresses and 
commencement sermons. A number of his 
addresses have been published in various 
forms, several in the proceedings of the 
National Prison Congress, and the National 
Convention of Charities and Corrections. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Buck- 
ner are as follows: Bobbie, born January 5, 
1867, was married in 1890 to Dr. T. L. Wes- 
terfield, of Dallas; Mary Bell, born Septem- 
ber 10, 1855, was married to Rev. L. W. 



470 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




Colraan, now principal of the McKennie 
High School of Dallas; Maggie, born in Per- 
ryville, Kentucky, November 23, 1857, was 
married February 1, 1877, to James L. Good, 
now the senior member of the firm of James 
L. Good & Company, of Dallas; Addie, born 
October 5, 1862, in Paris, Lamar county, 
Texas, was married May 25, 1881, to Kev. A. 
F. Bedo, now principal teacher at the Buck- 
ner Home; Sam, born July 11, 1860, died 
February 10, 1861; Joe Dudly, born in 
Paris, Texas, April 14, 1872; and H. F., Oc- 
tober 13, 1878, at Dallas. 

^ILLIAM HARRIS, Notary Public 
^^ of the city of Dallas, was born in 
Lowndes county, Alabama, April 11, 
1830, the sixth of eight children born to 
Randolph C. and Sarah (Quartz) Harris, 
natives of South Carolina. The parents were 
married in their native State, and afterward 
moved to Lowndes county, Alabama, and in 
1836 to Bowie county, Texas, where the 
father took up a league-and-labor head-right. 
They remained in that county until death, 
the father dying in 1847, and the mother in 
1837. Of their eight children, two are now 
livins: James M., who resides near Van Al- 
styne, Grayson county, Texas, and the subject 
of this sketch. 

The latter was reared to farm life in Bowie 
county, Texas, and graduated at the Union 
University, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and 
at Lebanon Law School. After leaving school 
he engaged in teaching at Quitman, Wood 
county, Texas, and in 1858 moved to Dallas, 
and engaged in the same occupation near 
Cedar Springs, and two years later worked 
in the County Clerk's office. In 1861 Mr. 
Harris enlisted in Captain Good's battery as 



Second Lieutenant, and was in the battle of 
Elkhorn, was with the Rangers in Louisiana, 
Arkansas and Southern Missouri, later was 
in Walter P. Lane's Cavalry, and served in 
the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. He 
was then sent under General Steele, and later 
under Genera! Maxey, into Indian Territory, 
but at the close of the war returned to Gray- 
son county, where he engaged in teaching. 
He afterward followed farming at Farmer's 
branch, Dallas county, and in 1880 settled 
permanently in Dallas city. Mr. Harris takes 
an active part in politics, voting with the 
Democratic party, and is now serving as Al- 
derman of the Ninth Ward, and as Chairman 
of the Committee on Schools and Education. 
Socially, he is a member of the James A. 
Smith Lodge, No. 495, A. F. & A. M. ; and 
religiously both he and his wife are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

Mr. Harris was married in this county, 
April 10, 1867, to Martha Alice Cochran, a 
native of Dallas county, and a daughter of 
William M. and Nancy J. (Hughes) Cochran, 
natives of South and North Carolina, respect- 
ively. Mr. and Mrs. Harris have had seven 
children: Laura J., wife of H. H. Jacoby, of 
Dallas; Clara A.; Mary M.; James H., who 
died in 1873, aged seven months; Willie R., 
Archie B., and John C. 



3f»iORATIO NELSON HASKELL, who 
has been a resident of Dallas county for 
a quarter of a century, has had a varied 
experience on this sphere since his existence 
here began, in 1825. The place of his birth 
was Graves county, Ken'.ucky, and he is a son 
of James and Susie (Alexander) Haskell, 
natives of Rhode Island and Georgia, re- 
spectively. The father was a farmer and fol- 



HI STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



471 



lowed this occupation until his death, which 
occurred in Graves county, in 1871. The 
mother died many years before. Our subject 
received a fair education in his own county, 
and remained under the parental roof until 
1844, when he removed to Texas, landing at 
the mouth of the Kio Grande river. He en- 
listed in the Government service, and was in 
the battle of Cerro Gordo, and all of the en- 
iragenients up to the city of Mexico. He was 
honorably discharged at Vera Cruz, in 1847, 
and returned to Texas. He staid at Browns- 
ville, Texas, two years, and then went to 
Corpus Christi, where he took charge of a 
Government post under Major Chapman. He 
was there' fonr years, and then was stationed 
at San Antonio for two years. During all 
this time he had many narrow escapes from 
death at the hajids of the Indians, and fre- 
quently was compelled to keep guard all 
night. He helped to tit out an expedition 
to Utah, and took charge of it from Fort 
Leavenworth to Salt Lake City. He remained 
two years in Utah, and, on his return trip, 
met with many perils both by water and land. 
Tiiere were ten in the party and only four of 
the number came through alive. They spent 
three weeks on the ice in the Platte river, 
where six of the company froze to death. 
Sonae of the ponies suffered the same fate. 
Mr. Haskell finally reached civilization, but 
his love of adventure was not thoroughly 
satisfied, so he joined the expedition with Gen- 
eral Johnson to survey the Indian Territory 
line. This work occupied six months, and he 
then returned to his old Kentucky home, 
from which he had not heard for fifteen years. 
After a visit there he went back to Texas and 
located in Dallas county, where he has taken 
a place among the progressive citizens. 

During the Civil war Mr. Haskell was de- 
tailed to carry supplies, but he settled on 



thirty-three and a third acres, which he had 
purchased in Precinct No. 1. His first house 
was a small cottage, which was replaced twelve 
years ago by a more commodious structure. 
He has divided twenty acres of this purchase 
into lots, which have found a ready market. 
In 1860 he was married to Mrs. Eliza 
Coleman, a native of Kentucky. Three chil- 
dren were born of this union: Calvin died in 
infancy; Charles Addison married Laura 
Carlisle and died in 1888; Jefferson Davis 
married Koxie Hinson, and to them were born 
two children, Clyde and Winnie; he died in 
1890. Our subject has been a member of 
the Golden Cross Lodge for ten years. He 
and his wife are consistent members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically, he 
affiliates with the Democratic party and is an 
ardent advocate of its doctrines. He has been 
Alderman of East Dallas for six years and 
been faithful to the trust placed in him. 

-^^^/^^-^^/^^■ 

O. CONNOR, one of the leading 
business men and manaijer of the 
' wholesale department of the Sanger 
Bros, establishment, was born at Hamburg, 
Hardin county, Tenn., October 9, 1852. His 
parents were William J. and Julia C. (Hymes) 
Connor, both natives of South Carolina. The 
father died when our subject was quite young. 
He came from a noted family of the South. 
One uncle is a prominent banker in Charleston, 
South Carolina; another, W. G., is a Method- 
ist Episcopal minister at Waco, is president 
of the college at that city, and has 
been for years. The father was a successful 
merchant of Hamburg, Tennessee, Corinth, 
Mississippi, and Madison, Arkansas. He was 
a man of good business qualiticatioiis and was 
successful in the different enterprises in 




472 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



which he engaged. His life was an exemplary 
one, and he was noted for liis honesty and 
business integrity. He died in the year 
1860, at Memphis, Tennessee. The mother 
is still living, having retained her faculties to 
the advanced age of nearly seventy. She is a 
member of a very distinguished family of 
South Carolina, and some of her relatives now 
reside in New Orleans and are engaged in the 
sugar-refining business. From early girl- 
hood she had been identified with the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, South, in all its inter- 
ests. These parents had four children, 
namely: Ella Virginia, wife of John M. Vines, 
of Jefferson, Te.xas, who died when she was 
thirty-four, leaving two children, Murphey, 
the Marion County Attorney, the youngest 
man elected to that office in Texas; and Philip, 
a resident of Dallas; W. C, Mayor of Dallas; 
our subject and L. Meyers, whose wife was 
Miss Cornelius. He is in the drug business, 
havinggraduated in pharmacy, and, as a recog- 
nition of his efficiency and ability, has been 
appointed Chemist for the State of Texas. 

W. O. Connor, owing to the death of his 
father, was thrown at an early age upon his 
own resources. He came with the family to 
Texas, settling in Paris, in 1861, where, as a 
boy, he assisted on the farm until 1866, when, 
at tlie early age of fourteen, he began clerk- 
ing in the dry-goods store of Clark & Bryan. 
He remained with them about six years and 
then went into business for himself, in the 
dry-goods line, at Dallas, Texas, in which he 
remained five years, until 1872, wiien he con- 
nected himself with Connor & Walker, in the 
same business, and remained with them tiiree 
years. Since 1878 he has been connected in 
business relations with Sanger Brothers, first 
as traveling salesman in the wholesale dry- 
goods department, remaining in that capacity 
for three years; since that time he has been 



occupying his present position, having been 
in it for eleven years. Such continuous 
service speaks well for the employed and the 
employer. Only one who possessed a manly 
character and was duly informed could have 
inspired such contidence; a faithful service 
only could liave secured its continuance. He 
was thrown upon his own resources at 
the time that other boys were receiv- 
ing their education. But there is no 
teacher like experience, and our subject has 
educated liimself in that hardest of schools, 
adversity, having emerged from it able and 
ready to cope with whatever fate throws in 
his way. 

This gentleman was married the first time, 
to Miss Hattie Crowdus, daughter of J. W. 
Crowdus, and she bore him two children, one 
of whom died in infancy; the other, Eugene 
C, is a pupil in Fort Hope Trinity College, 
Ontario. Mrs. Connor died in 1878, aged 
twenty-two, having been a faithful member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 
His second marriage occurred in 1882, to Miss 
Lulu J. Mays, daughter of Enoch G. Mays, of 
Dallas, Texas, and she also bore him two chil- 
dren: Ottis Lee and Brevard Mays. Mrs. 
Connor is a worthy member of the Epis- 
copal Church Mr. Cannor takes little in- 
terest in politics, but votes the Democratic 
ticket. In all positions he has filled he has 
proved himself capable, faithful and honest. 



ATHAN A. YEARGAN, of Dallas 
county, was born in Williamson county, 
Tennessee, in 1821, the fifth of twelve 
children born to Bartlett and Mary Ann 
(Lawrence) Yeargan, natives of North Caro- 
lina and Virginia. When a young man the 
father went to Tennessee with his parents, 



HISTORi OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



473 



where lie died in 1853, and the mother also 
died in that State in about 1865. Grandfather 
Lawrence participated in the Creek war, and 
the Yeargan family are among the early 
pioneers of Tennessee. 

Nathan A. was reared to farm life and 
educated in the subscription schools of Ten- 
nessee. He moved to Texas in 1854. In 
1862 he enlisted in T. C. Hawpe's Regiment, 
later was in General Spate's Kegiment, and 
was in service nearly three years. He par- 
ticipated in the liattleof Newtonia, Missouri, 
and after being dismounted Mr. Yeargan 
drove a band wagon, being principally in 
Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri. At the 
close of the service he returned to Dallas 
county, purchased a farm in Precinct No. 1, 
which he afterward improved. In 1875 he 
came to the city of Dallas, and engaged in 
fruit gardening, which he followed many 
years. 

Mr. Yeargan was married in Tennessee, in 
1844, to Charlotte S. Davis, a native of Bed- 
ford county, Tennessee, and daughter of 
Henry and Naney(Sims) Davis, natives of Vir- 
ginia. At an early day they became pioneers 
of Bedford county, where they remained until 
their death. Mr. and Mrs. Yeargan have 
had ten children, namely: John, a real-estate 
agent of Dallas; Jennie, wife of William 
Rogers, of Dallas; Powell, also a resident of 
Dallas; Thomas, of Fairland, a suburb of 
Dallas; William Nathan, who died in 1881; 
Anna, wife of Rev. W. R. Manning of Louis- 
ville, Texas; Emma, wife of Thomas Eudes, 
of Weatherford; Edmund D., engaged in the 
grocery business on Ervay street; Frusanna 
and Fletcher, in stationery business in Dallas. 
Mr. Yeargan affiliates with the Democratic 
party, and religiously both he and his wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, of which he has been a member for 



over fifty years. He is active in chnrch and 
Sabbatli-school work, atid aided in establish- 
ing the Trinity Methodist P^piscopal Church, 
and is one of the charter members of the 
Loyal League. 

II. IIUVELLE, one of the represent- 
p* ative men of Dallas county, was born 
* in the northern part of France, in 1859, 
the youngest of two children born to E. and 
Elizabeth (Lenglet) Huvelle, also natives of 
France. The father died in his native country, 
in 1865, and in 1869 the mother came to 
Ottawa, La Salle county, Illinois, and in 1870 
to Christian county, same State, and in 1875 
to Dallas, where she died, in June of the 
same year. Our subject's only brother. Hec- 
tor, is married and resides in Weatherford, 
Texas. 

The subject of this sketch came to Dallas, 
Texas, at the age of fifteen years, but was 
educated in the schools of Ottawa and Pana, 
Illinois. He first engaged in the li(j[Uor busi- 
ness with L. Caj)eran, and later was a silent 
partner. In 1881 he engaged in the same 
business on Main street, and afterward in the 
wholesale and retail liquor business, which 
he continued until in January, 1890. Mr. 
IluveUe now resides at 577 Ervay street, 
Dallas. He has acquired considerable prop- 
erty in the city, and in 1890 erected the 
Times-Herald building, a three-story brick 
structure on Commerce street. He takes an 
active part in politics, and served two terms 
as Alderman of the Fifth Ward. He was a 
member of the Volunteer Fire Department 
in 1881, having been Foreman of Engine 
Company No. 1. Socially, he is a member 
of Tannehill Lodge, No. 42, A. F. &. A. M.; 
of Royal Chapter, No. 47; of Dallas Com- 



474 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNT Y. 



mandery, No. 6; of Hella Temple, and of the 
Eastern Star lodge. Mrs. Huvelle is also a 
member of the Eastern Star lodge. 

Mr. Huvelle was married in this city, in 
1881, to Amelia Antoitje, a native of Louisi- 
ana, and a daughter of Nicholas and Amelia 
(Huni) Antoine, natives of France and Switz- 
erland. The father came to America before 
u\arriage, and settled in Chicago, where lie 
was married, and shortly afterward removed 
to Galveston, Texas, thence to Corsicana, and 
in 1871 to Dallas, where he was engaged in 
the liquor business. The parents both died 
in this city, the father December 25, 1887, 
and the mother in 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Hu- 
velle have three children: Estelle, Leon and 
Renne. 

-^/^'^^¥'^^/^^ 

|m^ONROE BENBROOK, of Dallas, 
MVOTK Texas, was born in southern Illinois, 
*^^^^ and is a son of James M. and Martha 
Benbrook (Metcalf) Beniirook, the father a na- 
tive of Indiana and the mother of Illinois. The 
father served gallantly in the Federal army, 
and in 1869 he and family came to the Lone 
Star State. After a short residence here he 
returned to his iormer home, but in 1873 
again returned to Texas and resided one year 
in Johnson county. From there he went to 
Tarrant county, settling on a farm near which 
the town of Benbrook was laid out, the latter 
being in his honor. The mother is deceased, 
but the father is still living. Monroe Ben- 
brook finished his education in the Sam 
Houston Normal School, at Huntsville, Texas, 
from which institution he graduated, and 
then began teaching school, continuing this 
for three 3'ears, one year of which time he 
was in the Dallas High school. In 1885 he 
embarked in the school-furniture business 
and has been prosperous from the very first. 



In 1891 he organized the Benbrook School 
Furnishing Company, of which he is president. 
He now has one of the largest establishments 
of its kind in the South and is probably one 
of the best known business men amontr the 
educational people in the State. Careful, 
conscientious and industrious, his present 
prosperous business is the natural result. 
Mr. Benbrook is a member of the First Bap- 
tist Church, and in politics is independent, 
with Republican proclivities. He selected as 
his companion in life Miss Lily A. Draper, 
a native of Canada, who w^s educated at 
Sam Houston Normal School, and their 
nuptials were celebrated in September, 1886. 
The fruits of this union are two children, a 
son and daughter. Personally, Mr. Benbrook 
is held in the highest esteem, and is honored 
alike for his business qualifications and social 
standing. 



^ 



--~i.r 



^R. STEPHEN D. THRUSTON, phy- 
sician and surgeon, Dallas, Texas, was 
born in Gloucester county, Virginia, 
November 28, 1833. His parents were 
Emanuel J. and Catherine P. (Cook) Thrus- 
ton, natives of Gloucester county, Virginia. 
The father was a farmer by occupation. He 
was well and favorably known throughout 
the vicinity in which he lived, and for over 
twenty years was Chief Magistrate of his 
county. He was born and reared an Episco- 
palian. He was a Democrat, and in political 
affairs took a prominent part His death 
occurred in June, 1842, aged forty-three 
years. His wife, born in 1803, died in 1864. 
She was a devoted Christian woman and a 
member of the Baptist Church. They were 
the parents of five children, as follows: 
Frances Ann, wife of Robert C. Robins, died 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



470 



in 1869, aged tifty-six years; John M., who 
died ill 1882, age<l fifty-eight years, served 
for tour year:? during the war as a private in 
tiie Fifth Regiment of Virginia (!avalry; 
Stephen I), was the third born; Einauuel J., 
who died in 1882, served in the same com- 
pany with his brotlier Jolin M. ; and Sarah 
Catherine, wife of Benjaiiiiii F. Hey wood, re- 
sides in Gloucester county, Virginia. 

Dr. Steplien D. Thriiston received his liter- 
ary education at the King and Queen Acad- 
emy and the University of Virginia, and 
at the same time read medicine. Later, in 
1854, he graduated in medicine, at the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania. In the spring of 
1855 he settled in Wilmington, North Caro- 
lina. He practiced his profession there until 
April 13, 1861, when he enlisted as a private 
in the Wilmington Light Infantry. After 
serving one month he was made Captain of 
Company E, Third Regiment of North Caro- 
lina State troops, enlisted for the war, and 
was early made Colonel of the regiment. 
His regiment was in the Third Brigade, 
Stonewall Jackson's division, from the first 
till the close of the war. The Doctor was 
well acquainted with General Jackson and a 
great admirer of his military genius and 
Christian and gentlemanly qualities. He 
took part in all the battles and hardships of 
that division and corps through Virginia, 
Maryland and Pennsylvania. During the 
siege of Petersburg he was under General 
Early, operating in the Vallej' of Virginia. 
The Doctor was wounded and permanently 
disabled from field duty at Winchester, Vir- 
ginia. September 19, 1804, being shot through 
both hips. He came near being taken prisoner 
at that time, and would have suffered that 
fate had it not been for an ambulance which 
was conveniently near, and a few faithful 
friends as well. After that date he was on 



provost duty and detached service until the 
war closed. He surrendered at Chesterville, 
Soutli Carolina, after the surrender of General 
Johnston. He stood the service well. In- 
deed, nothing seemed to hurt him except the 
Yankee bullets. Many a time he made a 
narrow escape. At Antietam or Sharpsburg, 
September 17, 1862, while in front of the 
Danker Church, his jacket was punctured 
with forty-seven bullet holes, one of the balls 
entering his right lung, the others doing 
him no injury. At ('hancellorsville, May 3, 

1863, he was struck with a ballet throuo-h 
the left foot, and at Spot tsyl van ia. May 10, 

1864, was shot through the right lung. 
After the war closed Dr. Thruston returned 

to Wilmington and continued his practice in 
that city till 1872. That year he came to 
Texas and located in Dallas, where he has 
since had an extensive and lucrative practice, 
being classed with the leading physicians of 
this place. He is examiner for several in- 
surance companies, and is State referee for 
several. He is a member of the County and 
State Medical Associations, and occasionally 
writes for medical journals. He is not, how- 
ever, troubled with cacoethes scrihendi. 

The Doctor is a man of family. His first 
marriage occurred in Wilmington, North 
Carolina, with Annie Everitt, daughter of 
Dr. Sterling B. Everitt of that place. Mrs. 
Thruston died in 1887, aged forty-two years. 
Their union was blessed in the birth of two 
children. His second marriage was consum- 
mated in April, 1889, with Mrs. Ella V. 
Chappelj, daughter of John Wilson of Louisi- 
ana. Both ho and his wife are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, being 
active workers in First Church. He is a 
Steward of the church and she has charge of 
the infant class in the Sunday-.school. Mrs. 
Thruston is a graduate of the Female Institute, 



476 



HISTOBT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Louisiana. The Doctor is a member of the 
Masonic order, also of the Confederate Veter- 
ans' Association. He was chairman of the 
executive committee that phxnned the reunion 
of Veterans at Dallas, April, 1892, and the 
excursion to New Orleans. 

Dr. Tliruston is earnest, impulsive, kind- 
hearted and true. A large circle of valued 
acquaintances greatly admire him for his 
many manly qualities. In his profession his 
rating is first class. 

In concluding this brief sketch we refer to 
the Doctor's ancestoi'S. His great-great- 
grandfather, Edward Tliruston, was one of five 
brothers — the others being Charles, Richard, 
John and Robert — who came from England 
to America in 1732. They brought with 
them the brick from Liverpool with whicii 
they built a mansion, called the eld Tliruston 
mansion, in Virginia, where they settled. 
This mansion stood until it was torn down 
by the Fifth Rhode Island Artillery in the 
winter of 1862-'63, and was shipped across 
York river, where it was made into quarters 
for the Federal soldiei's. These brothers 
participated in the Revolutionary struggle. 
Charles was an Episcopalian clergyman, and 
a colonel of a regiment as well. He was 
deservedly called "The Fighting Parson." 



-^ 



^ 



jODERICK ALEXANDER RAW- 
% LINS, who is prominently identified 
with the growth and prosperity of Dal- 
las county, Texas, is a descendant of James 
Mason Rawliugs, who was of pure English 
descent, and who came with two brothers, 
Charles and Roderick, from England t<; Amer- 
ica some years prior to the Revolutionary 
war. James Mason Rawlins lived at the 
beginnino: of that war in Massachusett-s, near 



Bunker Hill, with his family. They moved 
from there to North Carolina, while the war 
was in progress. The wife of James Mason 
liav.'lins was Miss Priscilia Blount. They 
had five children, viz.: Charles, James, Rod- 
erick, Elizabeth and Nancy. He was an 
adherent of the King of England, and fought 
on that side, while his brother espoused the 
cause of the Colonies. He was captured and 
imprisoned at Raleigh, escaped and went back 
to England, leaving his family, they never 
hearing of him afterward. During this war 
his two brothers, Charles and Roderick, drop- 
ped the g from their name, spelling it after- 
ward, " Rawlins." Subsequently the de- 
scendants of James Mason also discarded the 
same letter. 

Roderick Rawlins, a son of James Mason 
Rawlins, and the father of our subject, was 
born near Bunker Hill, Massachusetts, March 
11, 1776, was reared by his mother until 
eight or nine years of age, when she died, 
and Roderick was thrown on his own resour- 
ces. He first engaged as a farm hand, and 
continued at this occupation until 1797, when 
he was married to Sarah King, a member of 
the Van Rensselaer family. This occurred in 
Bedford county, Tennessee, on Duck river, 
where they lived about ten years. Three 
children were born from this marriage in 
Bedford county: William, born March 19, 
1800; James S., born March 6, 1802; Angel- 
ina, born May 1, 1806, who became the wife 
of Valentine Wampler, one of the pioneers 
of Dallas county. They moved to Kentucky, 
where two children were born, viz.: Asa, 
born 1808, and Elizabeth, born September 8, 
1811. In 1811, Roderick Rawbns, with his 
family, moved to Indiana, settled on East 
fork of White river, in Lawrence county. 
Here his wife, whose name before marriage 
was Sarah King, died in 1814. All of their 



r' 




y^ /c^T: 




UISTORT OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



children are now dead (1892), but have left 
a large number of descendants. 

Shortly after Ilodei'ick llawlins reTnoved to 
Indiana, he enlisted witli a company of 
Rangers, for protection against the Indians, 
and was tlius engaged about two years; at 
the expiration of which time lie was elected 
to the Legislature, as representative of Law- 
rence and Monroe counties. At the end of 
liis term as representative, he was elected 
County Clerk of Monroe county, and helped 
to lay out the county town, and gave it the 
name it now bears: " Blooinington." He 
also took a (contract to build the first court- 
house in the county, at Bloomington. While 
serving as County Clerk of Monroe county, 
he donated a part of his salary for the pur- 
pose of putting a town clock on the court- 
house. Tiie county being then, and for some 
years afterward, out of funds, the matter 
was overlooked by the beneficiaries, and it 
was not until some fifty years later that the 
bequest was resurrected, and the provisions 
carried into effect, at which time tlie amount, 
including interest legally accrued, constituted 
quite a handsome sum. 

He was a natural mechanic, at which trade 
he afterward worked in connection with farm- 
ing. In 1823, he moved from Indiana to 
Illinois, and remained there until 1844, when 
he moved to Texas, and settled on Ten Mile 
creek, in the southern part of Dallas county. 
He sold part of his headright to A. Bledsoe, 
a native of Kentucky, who came to Dallas 
county in 1847, and who proceeded to lay out 
a town on the land, and named it Lancaster, 
after the place of his birth, in Kentucky. 

There came with itoderick Kawlins to Dal- 
las county, in 1844, his children with their 
families, as follows: Nancy P. Taylor, Elusia 
C. Hall, Lucinda A. Keller, Talitha Wise. In 
1846, his son William came with his family, 

32 



and in 1848 Pleasant King came with his 
family. Roderick Rawlins was an untiring 
worker in the Baptist Church, until the time 
of his second marriage, when he united with 
the Christian Church, with which he remained 
until his death, which occurred April 27, 
1848. In pjlitics, he was a Whig. In 1846 
on the v^uestion of annexation of the State 
to the Union, he opposed annexation and it 
is said that he and Alex. Harwood a .-e the 
only ones in Dallas county who voted against 
it. 

Mr. Rawlins' second marriage was to Miss 
Milly Parks, in 1816. She was born in 
North Carolina, Deccnber 6, 17'J3, and was 
the daughter of George I'arks, a resident of 
Monroe county, Indiana. To this union were 
born eight children, two sons and six daugli- 
ters, who are named in the order of the-.i 
births as follows: Pleasant King, born in 
Indiana, September 1, 1817, and died in Dal- 
las county, Texas, in 1889; Nancy P., born 
in Indiana, May 10, 1820, married Pleasant 
Taylor, a resident of Dallas, Texas, at the 
time of his death, which occurred Fel)ruary 
4, 1891; Mrs. Taylor died also in 1891; 
Elusia Catherine, born in Indiana, Septem- 
ber 5, 1882, is the widow of Lewis Hall, 
and now resides in Montague county, Texas; 
Lucinda Ann, born in Illinois, January 1, 
1825, and died in 1889. She was the 
wife of Samuel Keller (deceased), who was a 
resident of Dallas county: Polly Parks was 
born in Illinois, October 5, 1826, and became 
the wife of M. M. Miller, a resident of Dal- 
las county, both are now deceased; Talitha 
was born in Illinois, September 18, 1828, 
and died in 1876: she was the wife of Carlos 
Wise, of Dallas county, Texas; Hannah M., 
was born September 1, 1831, and died Sep- 
tember 18, 1831; and Roderick Alexander 
Rawlins, our subject, was born in Green 



478 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



county, Illinois, in 1833, where he re- 
mained with his parents until 1844. From 
there he moved with them to Dallas county, 
Texas, near the present town of Lancaster, 
which place is located on his father's head- 
right, and there he continuea to live with his 
mother, until 1850, when housekeeping was 
broken up. The mother went to livc; with her 
daughter, Mrs. Nancy Taylor, and Roderick 
worked on a farm, and engaged with his 
brother-in-law Samuel Keller, in running a 
sawmill. In 1853, Mr. 'JRawlins was mar- 
ried to Miss Virginia P>leHsoe, daughter of 
A. Bledsoe, who for se vend' years was Comp- 
troller of the State of Texas. Mrs. Rawlins 
was a school teacher, and taught the first 
school in the neighborhood, her husband 
being one of her pupils. In 1855, Mr. Raw- 
Tjins moved to his present home, where he has 
since resided with the exception of four years 
when he lived on his place near Hntchins. 
In September 1861, he enlisted in the Sixth 
Texas Cavalry, Company F, under Captain R. 
S. Guy, and went out as Orderly Sergeant. 
At the reorganization of the arinv in 1862, 
he was elected Captain, and held that posi- 
tion until the close of the war. At the time 
of Lee's surrender, he was at home on a fur- 
lough, but had gotten as far as Marshall, 
Texas, on his way to rejoin the army, when 
he heard the news of the surrender. He was 
in a number of the principal engagements, 
was dismounted and sent to Corinth, served 
in the Infantry, for six months, and was then 
remounted. He was with Price in his sec- 
ond unsuccessful attempt to capture Corinth, 
and was afterward with Van Dorn in the 
taking of Holly Springs. He was shot 
through the hip at the battle of Thompson 
Station. To Mr. and Mrs. Rawlins were born 
three cliildren, one son and two daughters: 
A. Bledsoe, born February 8,1855, was mar- 



ried in 1876 to Miss Virginia Fisher, a na- 
tive of Dallas county, Texas, and resides on 
a farm near Hntchins; Addie Blanche, born 
May 25, 1859, resides at home and is a 
teacher in the public schools of Lancaster; 
and Bettie Alexander, born November 3, 
1861, is now the wife of Dr. C. A. Shultz, of 
Alvarado, Johnson county, Texas. Mrs. Raw- 
lins was killed in 1890, being thrown from a 
buggy. Mr. Rawlins is identified with the 
Christian Church, and in politics is a Demo- 
crat. 



^. 



^ 



LDER JOHN M. MYERS was born in 
Grayson county, Kentucky, in 1823. 
He moved with his parents to Indiana 
at about the age of five years. Two years 
later they moved from that State to Illinois 
and settled in what was then Greene county. 
When it was divided, the part they were in 
was called Jersey county. There he grew to 
manhood, and in January, 1842, married his 
first wife. He remained there until 1845, 
when, in company with his father's family, 
he came to Texas. They had but little means 
and all was to gain and nothing to lose. In 
February, 1846, they settled in Dallas county. 
He located land under the Peters Colony, es- 
tablished a headright, improved a farm, and 
lived on it until 1857, when he sold out. 
About 1851, however, he had sold half of his 
headright. After selling out in 1867 he 
moved to Tarrant county and bought land, 
but soon became dissatisfied and sold again. 
Returning to Dallas county he bought a farm 
adjoining his old home, and here he has since 
remained. He has 225 acres, all under fence, 
and also owns land at other places. He has 
always been identified with farming interests 
and has devoted his life to fanning and 
preaching. To him belongs the distinction of 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



479 



having helped to organize the tirst church in 
Dallas county, the Union Baptist Church, 
located near the present village of Carrol Iton. 
In 1849 Mr. Myers was ordained to preach 
by the aaine church, being the first Baptist 
minister ordained in Dallas county. 

His inarriai^o in Illinois has already been 
referred to. lie was twenty years of age at 
that time and the lady he wedded was Miss 
Kizzie Wylie. Their union resulted in the 
birth of ten children anil forty grandchildren. 
All of their children grew to maturity except 
one, and the nine are yet living, viz.: Eliza- 
beth, born March 1, 1845; Mary and Martha 
(twins), born August 15, 1847; John S.,. July 
28, 1849; Delila, May 19, 1852, died at the 
age of one year; Latitia, April 1, 1854; 
George F., December 11, 1855; Lewis C, 
December 5, 1857; Stephen A. D., April 24, 
1859; and Nancy, May 29, 1861. His first 
wife died November 20, 1884. He was sub- 
sequently married to Mrs. M. E. Ricou, 
daughter of John Taylor. Her father was a 
native of Virginia, was a mechanic by trade, 
and died in Maryland, in 1850, when she was 
about eight years old. After his death she 
moved with her mother to Tennessee, where 
she grew up and was married to Mr. Charles 
Ricou. In 1877 they emigrated to Texas 
and located at Denton, siie coming to this 
State with her stepfather, Mr. James Daley. 
Mr. Ricou served in the Confederate army, 
was taken prisoner and carried to Chicago, 
and after being exchanged was sent to Port 
Hudson, Louisiana, and there died. In 
Denton Mr. Myers met and married Mrs. 
Ricou. By her first husband she had two 
children: one died in Tennessee, and the 
other, a son, Charles, is now living at Den- 
nison, Texas. Mrs. Myers is a devoted 
Christian and a lady of much refinement. 

Mr. Myers' father, Elder David Myers, 



was born in Montgomery county, Kentucky, 
October 15, 1797. At the age of twenty- 
five lie married Miss Lutitia Reddish, who 
bore him fourteen children, eleven of whom 
lived to be grown. Soon after his marriage 
he professed faith in Clirist, joined the 
church and was immersed by Elder Hugh Cole. 
His loving and devoted wife soon followed 
him, and thus they laid the foundation of 
a life that was devoted to the Christian 
faith. About 1829 he moved to Indiana, 
and two years later to Illinois. At the latter 
place he was tirst licensed to preach. He 
afterward changed his church membership, 
when, in 1841, he was regularly ordained 
to the sacred office of the ministry by Elders 
11. H. Witt and John Brown. In 1845 he 
emigrated to Texas and settled in Dallas 
county, where he remained till his death. 
He was the first Baptist preacher in Dallas. 
His first sermon here was a funeral dis- 
course and was delivered in June, 1846. 
On the 10th of May, 1846, he organized 
Union Chnrch, and soon afterward, Rowlctt's 
Creek, Bethel, Liberty and perhaps others. 
His last sermon was preached at Bethel 
Church, -Collin county, from Galatians 5: 
13. On the 9th of March, 1853, at the 
age of fifty-six, his redeemed spirit winged 
its flight to the blessed regions of eternal 
day. As a Texan pioneer preacher he suf- 
fered many privations and hardships. During 
his entire ministry it is believed he never re- 
ceived more than S500 for his services. His 
father and mother were Germans by birth and 
education. All their children, however, were 
educated in English. David Myers was the 
youngest of eight sons; was a little below 
the average height, and was a man of pleasing 
address. 

The subject of our sketch, while working 
on his farm for the support of his family, 



480 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



preached in Dallas, Denton, Kaufman and 
Tarrant counties, and, lilce his honored father, 
is an earnest worker in the cause of his Mas- 
ter. He has been instrumental in locatino- a 
nember of churches in Texas, and has been a 
pastor and missionary for more than thirty 
years. He, too, has endured many of the 
hardships incident to pioneer life. While 
improving his first farm he went to the tim- 
ber and made his 100 rails per day, on corn 
bread and plantain greens boiled in Elm 
creek water, with no seasoning except a little 
salt. He had no taste for hunting, and does 
not remember to have tired a gun since living 
in the State. Politically, he is a Democrat. 
His politics like his religion has been handed 
down from his ancestors. A more sincere gen- 
tleman in both is not to be found in Texas. 
He is now 68 years old, hale and hearty, and 
preaches often; is the only member of 
Union Church living who went into the or- 
ganization forty-six years ago. May 10, 1846. 

lEOKGE. H.HODGES was born in Ken- 
tucky in 1830. His parents^ Leonard 
Y. and Mary A. (HoUoway) Hodges, 
Datives of Virginia, went to Kentucky while 
both ifieve small. His father's people were 
of English descent. Grandfather Daniel 
Hodges was born in Virginia, and at an early 
day went to Kentucky, first settling in Fay- 
ette county, near Bryan Station, and after- 
ward near Frankfort. He died at the latter 
place, having attained a ripe old age. He 
was by trade a brick contractor and builder. 
His wife, nee Jane Young, was a sister of 
Major James Young, of Shelby county, Ken- 
tucky, the Youngs being a noted family in 
that State. Mary A. Hodges, the mother of 
peorge H., was a relative of the celebrated 



Blackburn family of Kentucky, her mother's 
maiden name having been Blackburn. Grand- 
father George Holloway served as a Minute- 
man in the Revolutionary war. 

George H Hodges is the oldest member of 
his father's family. The names of the others 
are as follows: Daniel, of Louisville, Ken- 
tucky; Mary J., deceased; Bettie, wife of B. 
W. Durrett, of Louisville; Henry C, Healds- 
burg, California; Laura V., wife of James 
Hughes of Frankfort, Kentucky; Mildred O., 
wife of Eb. Gains, died leaving a family in 
Kentucky; and James W., of Lexington, 
Kentucky. Leonard Y. Hedges was a gradu- 
ate of Transylvania Medical School, of Lex- 
ington, Kentucky, and was a prominent pliy- 
sician in that State. He was born in 1806 
and died in 1872. His wife, born in 1807, 
died in 1886. Both were members of the 
Baptist Church. 

George H. Hodges was educated in the 
common schools of Kentucky, and at the age 
of nineteen started out in life for himself. 
He made the overland trip to California in 
1849, and, after an unsuccessful experience in 
prospecting and mining, returned home via 
New Orleans. After his return he was en- 
gaged in farming one year. The following 
three years he served as Deputy Sheriff, and 
in his twenty-fifth year turned his attention 
to the mercantile business at North Benson, 
at the same time being railway agent on the 
L. & C. Railroad. That place is now called 
Hatton. He was also agent at Campbells- 
burg. In 1875 he came to Texas and lo- 
cated at Will's Point, where he was i-ailway 
agent on the T. & P. Railroad, occupying 
that position five years. In the meantime 
he was interested in farming operations. In 
1878 he purchased the farm on which he now 
resides. It consists of 240 acres, at the time 
of purchase 150 acres being fairly well im- 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



481 



proved. Mr. Hodges has fenced all the farm 
and new has 180 acres nnder a high state of 
cultivation, and of this forty acres are devoted 
to fruits of all kinds. He has 7,000 peach 
trees of different varieties; 1,000 plums, 
fifty apricots and fifty nectarines, and all are 
of the best assortments. A minute descrip- 
tion of this excellent fruit farm would require 
more space than can be given it on these 
pages. Mr. Hodges is also interested in rais- 
ing horses and mules. 

He has been twice married. He first 
wedded Corrilla Macey, daughter of Gustavus 
S. and Fannie (Noel) Macey, natives of Vir- 
ginia. Mrs. Macey was a sister of the dis- 
tinguished minister, Rev. Silas M. Noel, of 
Frankfort, Kentucky. By his first wife Mr. 
Hodges had five children, viz.: Mollie B., 
wife of Dr. L. T. Bohannon, of Scyene, Texas ; 
Henry L., who is engaged in the fruit busi- 
ness in Jacksonville, Texas, and also mana- 
ger of a fruit-canning establishment at that 
place; Gus. M., who was killed at Encinal, 
Texas, in 1885, by a Mexican; Leonard Y., 
deceased; Colie D., who married William C. 
Nicholas, resides at San Luis Potosi. Mrs. 
Hodges departed this life in 1887, aged fifty- 
five years and five months. She was a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. In 1889 Mr. 
Hodges married Miss Margaret Holloway, 
daughter of G. B. Holloway, of Woodford 
county, Kentucky. Both Mr. Hodges and 
his wife are members of the Christian Church. 

fILLIAM A. JONES, engaged in the 
real-estate business in Dallas, was 
born in Danville, Pittsylvania coun- 
ty, Virginia, in 1840, the youngest of four 
children born to Allen and Martha W. (Bur- 
ton) Jones, the former a native of Virginia, 




and the latter of Caswell county. North 
Carolina. The father died in his native 
State in 1841, and the mother survived him 
until 1857, dying at Martinsville, Henry 
county, Virginia. 

The subject of this sketch was reared and 
educated in his native State, and at the age 
of nineteen years he left home, going to 
Galveston, Texas, but on account of the yel- 
low fever he removed further north, to 
Cypress City. On account of the same dis- 
ease he remained there only one day, and 
then went to Montgomery, where he secured 
a position as clerk. Six months later Mr. 
Jones moved to Long Point, Texas, thence 
to Caddo Springs, where he had charge of a 
store. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C, 
Fourth Texas Infantry, and was in the battles 
of Fredericksburg, Antietam, Gettysburg and 
Chickamauga, and in all the engagements 
before Richmond and others in which his 
command fought. He held the otfice of 
Regimental Commissary Sergeant, but after 
the battle of Chickamauga he was placed on 
detached duty, in the Quartermaster's De- 
partment at Danville, Virginia, on account 
of ill health. After the close of the war Mr. 
Jones remained in Danville about six months, 
went thence to Memphis, Tennessee, a short 
time afterward to Montgomery, Alabama, in 
1868 to Galveston, where he engaged in the 
tobacco business, and thence, in 1871, to 
Dallas. He now owns considerable property 
on North Akard street, also property in 
North Dallas and Alabama. 

Mr. Jones was married in Galveston, 
Texas, in 1870, to Marie Antoinette Talley, 
a native of Alabama, and a daughter of Will- 
iam J. and Mary R. (Smith) Talley, na- 
tives of South Carolina. The father died in 
Loachapoka, Alabama, August 22, 1890, and 
the mother passed away many years before. 



482 



HISTOHY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Mr. and Mrs. Jones have had two children: 
Eugenia, born September 1, 1871, died 
August 26, 1890, at Loachapoka; Algernon 
1., born August 25, 1873, is at home. 
Politically, Mr. Jones is a Democrat; so- 
cially, a member of the Masonic order and 
the I. O. O. F., and religiously, his wife is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church. 

jLAYTON MILLER WHEAT, a retired 
merchant of Dallas City, Texas, was 
born in the Pennyroyal region of 
Kentucky', in 1829, and was a son of Milton 
P, Wheat, a native of Virginia. The father 
emigrated to Kentucky at an early day, and 
later on settled, in Adair county, where Clay- 
ton M. passed his youth. He received only 
an ordinary education, but he made the most 
of his limited opportunities, and by close 
application fitted himself for mercantile life. 
The first business in which he engaged was 
that of merchandising in Kentucky, but he 
was afterward obliged to disjjose of his inter 
ests there and removed to St. Paul, Min- 
nesota, on account of ill health. He era- 
barked in the same business there, and after 
a long and successful career came to Dallas, 
in 1873. He established himself in the same 
line. At the end of live years he retired 
from active pursuits, and is living in com- 
parative retirement. 

Mr. Wheat was married in 1850, to Miss 
Elizabeth E. Wheat, of Kentucky, and to 
them have been born seven children, six of 
whom are living, all residents of Texas; 
there are four sons and two daughters. Soon 
after coming to Dallas county Mr. Wheat 
purchased a small tract of land which was 
then far beyond the center of population, 
and he still retains the old homestead. As 



his children have grown to maturity and 
married, he has given them a home in sight 
of the paternal roof. He has been a member 
of the Christian Church since 1848, and no 
man has more nearly squared his life by the 
precepts of the New Testament. In his 
political, social and business relations he has 
employed the same high rules of conduct. 
He has always possessed the courage to carry 
out his convictions upon all subjects, and 
has won the lasting confidence of the en- 
tire community. 

AMUEL A. ALLEN, of the hardware 
firm of Allen & Halsell, and also a 
member of the firm of Halsell & Allen, 
lumber merchants, was born in Kentucky, 
August 9, 1859, the second child of John 
M. and Bettie (Shannon) Allen, natives of 
Kentucky. The father was a farmer and 
stock-raiser by occupation. He came to 
Texas in 1859, settling two miles west of 
where Richardson now stands, in the north- 
west corner of the county, on the Huffhines 
farm, which was the only settled place in that 
section of the county. He rented this place 
three years, and then bought 257 acres of 
land eight and a half miles northeast of this 
place, and moved his family into a small 
house on the farm, of which only twenty acres 
were under cultivation. Mr. Allen then 
joined Captain Stratton's company of cav- 
alry, of the Confederate army, and served 
west of the Mississippi river. He served in 
a number of battles and skirmishes, and at 
the close of the war he had nearly lost his 
eyesight from exposure, never having been 
able to see well until his death, which occur- 
red in June, 1871. After the war he im- 
mediately commenced to improve his farm 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



483 



and fortune, and again entered the arena of 
life as a farmer, supplementing it with trad- 
ing in and the rearing of live-stocii, in which 
he was quite successful. He added to his 
original purchase one mile west of where 
Richardson now stands, buying one and 
a half sections of fine land, for which he 
paid $1.50 per acre, but a short time after- 
ward sold one half of tins purchase for a 
slight advance in price. The remainder of 
this land he uses as a pasture for his stock, 
and has also 150 acres under a fine state of 
cultivation, also a handsome country resi 
dence, and all the necessary outbuildings for 
stock, etc. In 1870 he took his family to 
Kentucky on a visit, making the trip in a 
wagon drawn by horses, and returned to this 
county toward the latter part of the same 
year. He died in June, 1871, when com- 
paratively a young man. Mr. and Mrs. 
Allen were the parents of seven children, 
viz.: Finis E., a farmer of Precinct No. 3; 
Samuel A., our subject; Sallie, wife of E. A. 
Skiles, of Piano; James A., a farmer of Pre- 
cinct No. 2; Kattie and John M. One 
child died in infancy. Mr. Allen was a mem- 
ber of the A. F. & A. M., and also of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mrs. 
Allen resides near Richardson with her 
youngest son and daughter, and is now in 
her lifty-seventli year. She is also a member 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

Samuel A. Allen, the subject of this sketch, 
received his education in the common schools 
of this county, and at the age of tiyenty 
years commenced life for himself. The first 
year he put in a cotton crop on a portion of 
his father's old homestead, and later bought 
another small farm, on which he farmed until 
1886, when he came to Garland. Mr. Allen 
has one of the handsomest residences in the 
village, and is also the owner of the lumber 




yard. He has served the village of his 
adoption as Alderman, which office he still 
holds. He is doing a fine business in both 
his hardware and lumber interest, doing a 
lumber business of some $50,000, and his 
hardware is also in a prosperous condition. ' 
September 4, 1881, he was married to Miss 
Eachel Halsell. (See sketch of E. M. Hal- 
sell.) Both Mr. and Mrs. Allen are members 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 
and the former is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
Duck Creek Lodge, No. 440, and also of the 
K. of H., of this place. 

T. S T R A N G E, attorney at law 
North Texas bank building, Dallas, 
® Texas, was born in Charlottesville, 
Albemarle county, Virginia, September 6, 
1860. 

When a boy, Mr. Strange served as page in 
the State Senate of V^irginia, receiving his 
first appointment from Hon. John L. Mayre, 
the Lieutenant Governor and President of the 
Senate. His subsequent appointment was by 
Hon. R. E. Withers, Lieutenant Governor, 
and later a United States Senator, of the 
State. 

While serving his second term as page, the 
State of Virginia chartered a lottery com- 
pany, making a condition in said charter, that 
said company shouhl provide free board and 
tuition for a certain number of students, sons 
of Confederate officers who were killed in the 
Confederate service. The appointment was 
to be made by the Board of Directors of 
William and Mary College. Young Strange 
resigned his appointment to enter the college, 
being selected by the authorized board. In 
this institution he passed his academic studies, 



484 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



and graduated in the class of 1875, with 
credit to himself and the college. 

Alter leaving college he was at different 
springs and watering places in Virginia, re- 
cruiting his health, which had become im- 
paired. During this time he had special 
instruction from a graduate of the Univer- 
sity of Virginia, in the languages, Latin and 
Greek. The next year he matriculated as a 
student in the Richmond Law College, under 
tlie tuition of " Curry & Davis," and com- 
pleted his law course in 1877. In 1878 he 
entered the University of Virginia, and grad- 
uated at that institution in 1880. 

That same fall he came to Dallas, where 
he liad two brothers: H. B., cashier of the 
Fourth National Bank until recently, and 
John B. Strange, Jr. Our subject was taken 
into the law office of Crawford & Crawford, 
and, while not a partner, was associated with 
them three years. In 1884, he, with tliree 
others, ran for County Judge, and was beaten 
by a few votes only. He ran for City Attor- 
ney in 1886, and thirty-eight votes marked 
the difference between him and the successful 
candidate. Since that he has devoted his 
energies to the practice of his profession, and 
has been very successful. He is well known 
in Dallas as a lawyer of marked ability as 
well as a speaker of power and eloquence. 
His course as a member of the Dallas Bar 
for the past few years has gained for him a 
deserved reputation for industry, integrity 
and strict devotion to his professional work. 
A gentleman noted for his social qualities 
and inherent force of character, he is popular 
with all classes, and especially adapted for a 
leader among his fellows. 

Mr. Strange comes of a distinguished an- 
cestry. His fatlier. General John Bowie 
Strange, son of Colonel Gideon A. and Har- 
riet J. Strange, was born in Fluvanna county. 



Virginia, in 1823. Colonel Gideon A. 
Strange served as Captain in the war of 1812. 
He also represented his county for a number 
of years in the Virginia Legislature. 

On the 11th of November, 1839, John B. 
Strange was sent to the Virginia Military 
Institute. In the first graduating class of 
that school, 1842, he received his diploma as 
third distinguished graduate. In addition to 
this high standing in liis studies, he liad at- 
tained distinction in the military department, 
being the first adjutant in the corps of cadets. 

After graduation, Mr. Strange was for 
some years a professor of mathematics in the 
Norfolk Academy. Eventually becoming the 
principal of that school, he gained for it 
great reputation, placing it at the head of 
academies and high schools in the State. Be- 
tween 1854 and 1856, Professor Strange 
founded the Albemarle Military Institute, 
whicli he conducted with great success until 
the beginning of hostilities in 1861. 

Having been in 1859 appointed Brigade 
Inspector of the Third Brigade, Second Divi- 
sion Virginia Militia, composed of the regi- 
ments in the counties of Amherst, Nelson, 
Albemarle, Fluvanna, Louisa and Goochland, 
he was prepared to take up arms at the mo- 
ment Virginia assumed a hostile attitude. 
Appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Nine- 
teenth Virginia Infantry in April, 1861, 
immediately after the ordinance of secession, 
and soon afterward promoted to Colonel, he 
was stationed witli it at Culpeper Courthouse, 
and ^as occupied in drilling and preparing 
this regiment for service until ordered on to 
Manassas, just before the memorable battle 
of July 21, 1861. In tliis battle Colonel 
Strange fougiit gallantly, having already, in 
the words of the commanding general, Beau- 
regard, " gained the reputation of being 
l)rave, intelligent, and faithful in the dis- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



485 



charee of his duties." Stationed at Centre- 
villa, Fairfax Courthouse, and Munson's Hill, 
until the army fell back to the Peninsula, 
Colonel Strange was engaged in many skir- 
mishes, but received no hurt. At Williams- 
burg his regiment captured the Excelsior 
Battery, belonging to General Sickles' brig- 
ade. In all the battles around Richmond, 
extending from Seven Pines to Malvern Hill, 
C'Olonel Strange fought with distinguished 
gallantry. At the second battle of Manas- 
sas he commanded his brigade; passing over 
into Maryland then, he was for some time at 
Frederick City, Maryland, thence onward 
with the army to Hagerstown; and at South 
Mountain, September 14, 1862, he fell mor- 
tally wounded, having previously in the same 
battle received wounds in his right foot and 
side, which had disabled him from keeping 
his feet, and which did not prevent him from 
cheering on the noble troops of his command. 
Calling to them to advance, the fatal ball 
passed through his heart, closing instantly 
his career of usefulness and dauntless brav- 
ery, in the thirty-fourth year of his age, hav- 
ing passed unhurt through thirty-two pitched 
battles, besides numerous skirmishes. His 
body fell into the hands of the enemy, and its 
resting place was unknown to any of the 
family until several years after, when, through 
a lady who had cared for the grave, its lo- 
cality was made known, and the body was 
moved by the Masons of ISorfolk, Colonel 
Strange having been one of that order, to the 
cemetery at Charlottesville. Virginia. All 
who knew Colonel Strange speak of him in 
the highest terms. Colonel Edmund Pendle- 
ton, of Botetourt county, Virginia, in clos- 
ing his eulogy on the death of General John 
B. Strange, says: 

" It is gratifying to me to know of this 
friend and companion of my youth that when 



our State called for her defenders he was 
among the first to obey the summons, and 
that, though he fell, he fell at the post of duty 
and sleeps in the honored grave of the sol- 
dier who died in defending the liberties of 
his country." 

General Strange had tlie degree of A. M. 
conferred on him by William and Mary Col- 
lege. 

He was married in December, 1849, to 
Miss Agnes Gaines, daughter of Judge H. 
B. and Agnes (Gwathney) Gaines, the former 
of Petersburg, and the latter of King Will- 
iam couuty, Virginia. Mrs. Strange was a 
graduate of several colleges of Petersburg. 
She was a woman of rare literary attainments 
and social standing, having been one of the 
reigning belles of the " Old Dominion " for 
several years prior to the war. A short and 
interesting sketch of her life was written by 
Mr. Campbell in his History of Virginia. 
She was related to many of the largest and 
most influential families in Virginia. A life- 
long and consistent member of the Presby- 
terian Church, she died in that faith, Decem- 
ber 26, 1887, aged fifty-seven years. 



fGSEPII S. DUNCAN, a successful 
farmer of Dallas county, is a son of 
John R. and Elizabeth (Wilson) Dun- 
can. The father, who was born in Anson 
county. North Carolina, in 1806, moved to 
Mississippi in 1848, settling in De Soto 
county, where he lived until his death, in 
1863. He was a wealthy planter before the 
war, but lost everything during that great 
struggle. He had three sons in the Confederate 
army, one of whom, Thomas C, was wounded 
at Denmark, Tennessee, and the father hear- 
ing of it started on liorseback in the hot 



486 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



weather to see him, but the exposures of 
the journey proved fatal to him. Our sub- 
ject's inotlier was born in Anson county, 
North Carolina, in 1813, was married in 
that county, and accompanied her husband 
to De Soto county, Mississippi, and shared 
his fortunes until 1863, when she too passed 
away, her death beinjx hastened by the death 
of her husband under such distressing circum- 
stances. Mr. and Mrs. Duncan had the fol- 
lowing children: Thomas C, who is engaged 
in the mercantile business at Cockrum, 
Mississippi; Elizabeth J., who died in De 
Soto county; Andrew H., who died in the 
Confederate service in 1863, from the effects 
of becoming overheated while carrying his 
brother, Thomas C, off the battlefield; Annie 
E., deceased in De Soto county, was the wife 
of Frank Cummings; Lydia A., a resident of 
De Soto county; John T., a resident of West 
Dallas, and a sketch of whom will be found 
in this work; Joseph S., our subject; Robert 
F., of Dallas county; William Benjamin, of 
De Soto county; and Mickie, the widow of 
William Cockrum, of Cockrum, Mississippi. 
Of these children, three, Thomas C, Andrew 
H. and John T., served in the Confederate 
army, and the second, Andrew H., died in 
the service. 

The subject of this sketch was born in 
Anson county. North Carolina, September 
25, 1847, but was reared in De Soto county, 
Mississippi, where his parents had removed 
when he was small. He came to Texas in 
1867, and in 1870 to Dallas county, where 
he bought a farm of 320 acres in the north- 
west part of the county, on Grapevine 
prairie and Cottonwood creek. Only thirty 
acres of this place was broken, but he now 
has 135 acres under a tine state of cultiva- 
tion, and the remain<ler in pasture and hay 
land. Mr. Duncan has been engaged in 



farming since coming to this county, has his 
place under a good state of cultivation, and 
has bought and sold other laud in the county. 
He was married January 3, 1870, to Miss 
Elizabeth H. Hill, who was born in Iowa, 
but reared in this county, a daughter of 
Joshua Hill, who came fiom Iowa to Dallas 
county, Texas, in 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Dun- 
can have had six children: John li., Minnie 
E., Ella M. and Harry Grady are the living, 
and Cora Luena and Joseph W. are deceased. 



ra 



^m 



^ 



F. STALLINGS, surveyor and ap- 
praiser for all insurance companies 
® doing business in the city of Dallas, 
has been engaged in this business since April, 
1889, his work being principally confined to 
the city and suburbs. Mr. Stallings came 
from Albany, Indiana, to Dallas, in March, 
1884, and engaged in work at his trade, that 
of carpenter and joiner. He soon after- 
ward began to take contracts, and contracted 
for and erected some of the business houses 
and many of the residences of this city. He 
was thus engaged until the spring of 1889, 
when he took up his present business. 

Mr. Stallings is a native of New Albany, 
Indiana, born in 1857, and is the only one 
now living of the children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. William H. Stallings, both natives of 
Indiana. His mother died when he was 
quite young. His father is now a resident 
of Abilene, Texas, where he is engaged in 
contracting and building. Our subject was 
reared and educated in New Albany, and was 
there married, in 1878, to Miss Mollie C. 
Flood, a native of that place. Her parents 
were born in Ireland, came to this country 
and settled in New Albany at an early day. 
Her father, Joseph Flood, died in that State, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT Y. 



487 



and her motiier, Alice (Nary) Flood, is now 
a resident of Jefferson ville, Indiana. Mr. 
and Mrs. Stallings have four children: 
Thomas M., Ina N.,. Alice B., and Katie. 

In his political views Mr. Stallings is Dem- 
ocrat. He is a member of Dallas Lodge, 
No. 70, K. of P., and also of the Uniformed 
Rank, K. P. He has noted with interest the 
material progress of the city of Dallas, and 
is ranked with her public-spirited and en- 
thusiastic citizens. 

fAMES C. HEFFINGTON took up his 
abode in Texas in November, 1849, set- 
tling in Dallas county, and engaging in 
agricultural pursuits. In 1852 he joined the 
State troops and went to the Rio Grande 
country. Six months later we find him 
en route to California, where he was engaged 
in mining and various other kinds of employ- 
ment until 1856. That year he returned to 
Texas and resumed farming operations, which 
occupied his attention until 1861. April 
13, of that year, he went into camp with Cap- 
tain Hammer's company. Ford's regiment, 
and was in service in Texas and alone the 
coast until the war closed. From exposure 
incurred while in the service he contracted 
chronic diarrhcea, and for two years after his 
return home he was not engaged in any per- 
manent employment. 

Mr. Heffington was born in Simpson 
county, Kentucky, January 3, 1827. He 
was reared on a farm and received only a 
limited education. 

In 1867 he married and settled down to 
farming, in which occupation he has since 
been engaged, and in which he has been very 
successful. About 1882, he, with others, took 
stock in a grange store, located at Richard- 



son. The Grange and then the Alliance 
began losing influence, and it was necessary 
for some of the stockholders to shoulder the 
responsibilities or let all be lost; so Mr. 
Heffington and two others took the store and 
have since been successfully conducting it, 
it being the largest and best store in the 
town. 

Mr. Heffington's father, Stephen Heffington, 
was a native of Virginia. He went to Ken- 
tucky when a small boy, and was there reared 
on a farm. His wife, nee Fanny Gilliland, 
daughter of John and Charity Gilliland, died 
in Kentucky. Her parents moved from South 
Carolina to Kentucky, where they passed the 
rest of their days and died. After his wife's 
death Mr. Heffington came with his three 
sons to Dallas county, Texas, and settled on 
a farm. His death occurred in 1858. Of 
their nine children the subject of our sketch 
wab the sixth born and is the only one now 
living. 

James C. Heffington's first marriage has 
already l)een referred to. The lady he wed 
was Mrs. Mary Doughty, widow of Daniel 
Doughty, The latter was in the Confederate 
service, was a member of Morgan's command 
and was with him when they were captured 
in Ohio. He was kept in a Northern prison 
for many months, was finally sent to Rich- 
mond for exchange, and when he reached 
there was sick and was sent to a hospital- 
He was never afterward heard from. Mrs. 
Heffington was born in Simpson county, 
Kentucky, January 7, 1830, daughter of John 
and Elizabeth Huffhines of that State. Her 
parents came to Texas in 1853, and were 
among the prominent early settlers. Mention 
of them will be found on another page of 
this work. Mrs. Heffington departed this 
life in Texas, April 5, 1875. Their union 
was blessed with one child, MoUie B., born 



48» 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



in 1868. She married Edward Turner 'and 
now resides at Oak Cliff, her husband occupy- 
ing a position in the clerk's office at that 
place. 

October 7, 1875, Mr. Heffington married 
Miss Susan A. Drake, daughter of George 
and Mary (Carson) Drake. Her parents 
came to Texas in 1857, and passed the re- 
mainder of their lives here, her father dying 
in 1869 and her mother in 1887. Following 
are the names of the children born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Heffington: James C, born April 
30, 1881; John H., September 15, 1882; 
George E., March 19, 1885; Leonidas S., 
JSovember 22, 1886; and Mary F., August 
27, 1888. All are living except one. 

Mr. Heffington and his wife are members 
of the Baptist Church, and he is a member 
of the A. F. & A. M. 



(OLONEL P. B. HUNT, the efficient 
and popular United States Marshal for 
the Northern District of Texas, was 
born in Fayette county, Kentucky, October 
11, 1837. 

His parents were G. Drummond and Cath- 
erine A. (Burgess) Hunt. The former was 
born in New Jersey and in 1800, at the age 
of six, accompanied his parents to Kentucky, 
where he died March 1, 1889, aged ninety- 
five years. He was a farmer and stock-raiser 
by occupation, and imported some of the fin- 
est stallions to Kentucky, from which many 
of the best animals trace their pedigrees. Be- 
sides this, he was, in a general way, engaged 
in other stock-raising, in all of which he was 
eminently successful. He was a model Ken- 
tucky fanner, conducting Ids business on 
scientific principles, and adopting the most 
modern and approved methods and facilities. 



Of natural ability, good education, thorough 
integrity, and a kindly disposition, coupled 
with a pleasing presence, he was a general 
favorite with his fellow men, and was greatly 
lamented at his demise. His noble wife died 
in 1843, at the age of thirty- two years, leaving 
a bereaved family and many friends to mourn 
her untimely taking away. She was a native 
of Kentucky, her family being from Mary- 
land, where, on both maternal and paternal 
sides, they are connected with prominent and 
iiiHuential people, well known in the affairs 
of State and in society. She, herself, inher- 
ited many of the brilliant qualities for which 
her family were famous, possessing a ready 
wit, beauty, refinement and many accomplish- 
ments. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hunt had five children: 
George W., now a farmer in Young county, 
Texas; P. B., the subject of this sketch; Mary 
Dorsey, deceased in 1880, aged forty-five 
years, wife of Dr. Louis Craig, of Plainfield, 
New Jersey, also deceased, their children 
being William Drummond and George Hunt; 
Albert G., a resident of Lexington, Ken- 
tucky, who has served for sixteen years as 
Clerk of his county, being possessed of ex- 
cellent business qualifications; he married 
Miss Mollie A. Craig, and they have five 
children. Kittle, Henrietta, Mary C, Drum- 
mond and Albert G. G. Drummond, the 
youngest brother, enlisted in the summer of 
1861, in the late war, and was elected Adju- 
tant of the Third Kentucky Infantry, of Fed- 
erals. He served until November 23, 1863, 
when he was mortally wounded at the battle 
of Missionary Ridge, dying three days later. 
He was shot from his horse, while carrying 
the fiag and leading the charge of his regi- 
ment, at a distance of twenty yards from 
Bragg's headquarters. He was a young man 
of great promise, and was educated at Prince- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



48S 



ton, New Jersey, and at Georgetown Col- 
lege, Kentucky. Dr. Campbell, in his fu- 
neral sermon, said he was " very brilliant, had 
a good mind, was a line writer and would 
have made his mark as an author in the lit- 
erary worid." He died at at the nge of 
twenty-one years. Captain George W. Hunt, 
the eldest brother, was educated at George- 
town, Kentucky, studied law, and after ad- 
mission to the bar practiced at Lexington 
until after the late war. During that strug- 
gle he was one of John Morgan's brigade 
adjutant generals. He is a wonderful his- 
torian, almost a " walking encyclopedia," is an 
apt scholar and greatly devoted to books. 

The subject of our sketch was educated in 
the common and high school of Lexington, 
Kentucky, and was reared to farm life. Dur- 
ing the late war the family was equally 
divided on the national question, the father 
espousing the Union side, although not a sol- 
dier, while George W. and Albert joined the 
Confederate army, and the subject of this 
sketch and G. Driimmond fought on the 
Federal side. Albert, a Lieutenant in Col- 
onel Howard Smith's regiment, was captured 
and taken prisoner, while with Morgan on 
his raid through Ohio, but escaped from 
Camp Douglas, at Chicago, and returned to 
the Confederate service. 

Our subject was appointed Major of his 
regiment, in August, 1861, at Camp Dick 
Robinson, which was the first Union camp 
formed in Kentucky. This was organized 
by General Nelson, who had authority from 
the Government to enlist live regiments, the 
Fourth Kentucky Infantry being one of the 
live. Mr. Hunt's first service was at the 
battle of Mills Springs, on January 19, 1862, 
while marching to Nashville. Tennessee The 
Union forces, including the Fourth Ken- 
tucky Infantry, followed Morgan, and had a 



skirmish with him at Eolling Fork, Ken- 
tucky, December 29, 1862. Mr. Hunt par- 
ticipated in the battle of Chickamauga, Sep- 
tember 19, 1863, where he was seriously 
wounded by being shot through the knee. 
Of all the physicians, one only refused to con- 
sent to the limb's amputation, and his judg- 
ment prevailing, it was saved, to render Mr. 
Hunt long and good service. 

Mr. Hunt was then appointed Lieutenant- 
Colonel of his regiment, but in April, 1864, 
he resigned from the army on account of 
disability, and returned to his home, where 
he remained until the close of the war. He 
first engaged in the brokerage business; after 
which, in 1866, he conducted a cotton plant- 
ation in Mississippi. A year later he be- 
came cashier of the Internal Revenue office, 
at Lexington, Kentucky, and in 1874, was 
appointed, by President Grant, Supervisor of 
Internal Revenue for the States of Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisi- 
ana, which position he held until the office 
was abolished, in 1876. In 1878 Presi- 
dent Hayes appointed him Indian Agent for 
the Kiowas, Comanches, Wichitas and Cad- 
does, which position extended six months 
into President Cleveland's administration. In 
April, 1892, General Harrison appointed him 
United States Marshal, which position the 
Colonel now holds. After leaving the Indian 
Agency, he retired to private life on his farm 
in Miller Bend, Young county, Texas, where 
he was identified with the best interests of 
the people, in the upbuilding and improve- 
ment of that locality. He resigned the posi- 
tion of cashier of the First National Bank of 
Graham, in the same county, to accept his 
present position. 

Colonel Hunt was married October 23, 
1879, to Miss Margaret Scott Gallagher, a 
beautiful and accomplished lady of New Or- 



490 



HISTORY OP D ALLAH COUNTY. 



leans, a daughter of Charles and Winnie 
(Scott ) Gallagher, well known and highly es- 
teemed residents of the Crescent City. Her 
mother was a daughter of Matthew T. Scott, 
who was for many years the able president of 
the Northern Bank, of Lexington, Kentucky. 
Colonel and Mrs. Hunt have had two chil- 
dren: Winnie, deceased in infancy, and G. 
Drunimond, a youth of great promise. 

Both parents are members of the Church, 
to which they render much valued assistance. 
Colonel Hunt is an Episcopalian and Mrs. 
Hunt a Presbyterian. 

The Colonel is Past Commander of the 
Rosseau Post, 6. A. R., at Graham, Texas, 
and is a member of the Knights of Pythias. 

He cast his iirst vote for Bell and Everett, 
in 1860. Under president Lincoln he was 
appointed Major of the Fourth Kentucky In- 
fantry, and the Colonel has served in some 
Government position under every succeeding 
president. This was in part owing to the influ- 
ence of Senator Beck, of Kentucky, who was 
formerly overseer of the large estate of Col- 
onel Hunt's father, and who, after attaining to 
his high position, gave the subject of our 
sketch the benefit of an enduring friendship. 

The Colonel was the first to suggest to the 
Government the idea of settling the Indians 
on land in severalty, in its present form. 
This will be seen by his report of August 31, 
1885, to the Coinmissionerof Indian Afi'airs, 
at Washington, which was published and laid 
before Congress that fall. Senator Dawes, 
Chairman of the Indian Senatorial Commit- 
tee, acknowledged to Senator Beck, the Col- 
onel's friend, that the Colonel's report con- 
tained much merit, and he, two years later, 
embodied those suggestions in the •' Dawes 
Bill," which advocated, among other things, 
the settlement of Indians on land in severalty, 
and the purchase of surplus lands by tlie Gov- 



ernment for white settlers. In this way 
white people began settling up the Indian 
Territory in a legal and satisfactory manner. 

Another material service which he ren- 
dered to the Government was in 1875, when 
he was " Supervisor of Internal Revenue." 
As it has long since been a matter of history, 
there is no hesitation in mentioning the fact, 
as it is found in the report to the House of 
Representatives of the Forty-fourth Congress, 
which report was drawn up by a committee, 
consisting of R. L. Gibson, Jo. C. S. Black- 
burn; A. E. Stevenson (now Democratic 
candidate for Yice-President, who stands de- 
servedly high in the Colonel's estimation, on 
account of his probity and many sterling 
qualities of mind and heart); O. D. Conger; 
C. B. Darall and others. 

On receiving his appointment Colonel 
Hunt was approached and offered a very 
tempting bribe by the distillers of New Or- 
leans, to let them have their own way in 
evading the law. He, however, on his trip 
to Washington for instructions, asked and 
secured permission, carte blariche, from Pres- 
ident Grant and Secretary Bristow, to do as 
his judgment dictated in enforcing the law 
and bringing the guilty parties to justice, 
the result of which was that, in thirteen days 
he, with his picked men, took charge of and 
closed all the distilleries in that locality. This 
occurred at the same time that the Govern- 
ment made a raid on the distilleries in St. 
Louis. Since then no attempt ha3 been made 
to manufacture whisky in New Orleans, for 
the reason that, owing to the climate, it 
could not be manufactured profitably, without 
stealing about one half of it. 

Colonel Hunt was one of the four who had 
the honor of being in the entire confidence 
of General Bristow in that gentleman's fight 
against the great whisky ring, which ring 



niSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



491 



figured so conspicuously in 1875 and before. 
Tlie Colonel's share in these duties was 
highly commended by the President and Sec- 
retary Bristow, as being eminently thorough 
and complete 

These facts are some slight index to the 
exalted probity and delicate sense of honor 
of the man; and it is doubtful wliether any one 
could be found who could have received his 
appointments to the entire satisfaction of all 
parties, all party strife being lost sight of in 
the contemplation of his grandeur of charac- 



ter. 



-W/E/^^^-^^2/lxx- 



fOSEPH R. PENN.— This gentleman's 
father, John Penn, was born in Georgia, 
in 1804. He was married in Illinois, in 
1825, to Miss Nancy Anderson, who was 
born in Kentucky, in 1805. They subse- 
quently came to Dallas county, Texas, and 
located three miles north of Cedar Hill. 
They had a family of nine children, viz.: 
Joseph R., the subject of this sketch; Will- 
iam A., who was killed in the late war; 
James H., who died at the age of four years; 
John W., who died from the effects of a 
rattlesnake bite; Robert G., a farmer and 
stock-raiser, lives in Texas; Rebecca J., de- 
ceased; Mary Jane, wife of Napoleon B. 
Anderson, farmer and stock-raiser, Dallas 
county; Martha Ann, deceased; George W. 
The paternal grandfather of our subject was 
Joseph R. Penn, a native of Virginia. He 
was a Revolutionary soldier. The Penn 
family are Quakers. Mr. Penn's maternal 
grandfather was Robert Anderson. He was 
born in Kentucky, went from there to Illi- 
nois, then to Mississippi, and at an early 
date came to Texas, where he remained till 
his death. 

Joseph R. Penn was born in St. Clair 



county, Illinois, in 1826. From there he 
moved with his parents to Sangamon county, 
same State, when nine years old, remaining 
there till the fall of 1854, when he came to 
Texas and located in Dallas county, where 
he now resides. In 1849 he was married 
to Nancy Shoup, who was born in 1826, 
near Circleville, Ohio, daughter of Jacob and 
Sarah (Douning) Shoup. She departed this 
life in 1882, loved by those who knew her. 
She was a devoted Christian woman, a loving 
wife and a good mother. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Penn were born five children, namely: Sarah 
Jane, wife of J. P. Hordgrove; John S., of 
Dallas county, Texas; Deliah R., wife of 
Nathan Morris, Brown county, Texas; 
Robert Henry, Dallas county; and George 
A., atJiome. 

Mr. Penn began life for himself when 
quite young, with comparatively nothing, but 
by foresight and close attention to business 
he became one of the most progresive ands 
enterprising farmers of Dallas county. As 
he is now on the shady side of life, he is 
simply looking after what he succeeded in 
accumulating. He now has a nicely im- 
proved farm of 1,100 acres, and has it well 
stocked. Both he and his wife are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In pol- 
itics he is a Democrat. 

tA. CAPY has been a resident of Dal- 
las county ever since May, 1855, 
^ ® when he came here with the French 
colony. In 1860 he moved into the city and 
ever since then he has devoted his time to 
his present trade as builder. During this 
time he has built many nice residences, busi- 
ness houses and other structures in Dallas. 
He was born near Paris, France, in 1829, 



492 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



the elder of the two children of C. and Al- 
bertine (De Bratfles) Capy, natives also of 
France. His father, a painter and contractor, 
died in his native country, in 1879; his wife 
had died in 1876. Mr. Capy, oar subject, 
learned the trade of painter in France, and 
his work here in Dallas is evidence of his 
skill and faithfulness. He has served as 
Alderman for the First Ward. 

In 1861 he married Nativa Charpentier, a 
native of Paris, France, and a daughter of 
Joseph and Elizabeth (Mauger) Charpentier, 
natives of France who emigrated to America 
in 1856, leaving Paris January 3, and ar- 
riving at the site of tlie French colony here 
in April, after a forty-eight days' voyage. 
They came by way of Galveston to Parker's 
Bluff and thence to this county by ox team. 
The next year he moved into Dallas, and, 
being a shoemaker, he opened a shop. He 
died in 1864, and his wife in 1868. They 
had two sons, Joseph and Alfred, both born 
in France. When Mr. Capy was married he 
moved into his present residence, in April, 
1861. He has had seven chiklren, of whom 
five are living, namely: Alfred, who is mar- 
ried and is the chief engineer for the Dallas 
Brewing Company; Albertine, now Mrs. 
Segarri, of Pensacola, Florida; Elizabeth, 
now the wife of J. L. Hayes, engineer of the 
ice factory in Fort Worth; Michael Joseph, 
at home; and Julia Augustine. 



I^R. GUSTAVUS SCHIFF, one of the 
most successful practitioners of Dallas 
county, was born in Lippc-Detmold, 
Germany, August 20, 1833, and is the son of 
B. and Ethel (Berghaus) Schiff, also natives 
of Germany. The father was a merchant and 
lived all his life in the " Fatherland." He 



died in 1850, and the mother died eleven 
years before. The Doctor received an excel- 
lent literary and professional education in 
the famous universities of Germany, and in 
January, 1856, he was graduated with the 
degree of M. D., at the Julio-Maximilian 
University of Wuerzburg, Bavaria. He then 
entered the hospitals at Prague, and also 
studied in the hospitals of Vienna. Return- 
ing to his mother country he passed the 
State examination, but determined to emi- 
grate to America, where opportunities were 
certainly greater than in his own land. Ac- 
cordingly he set sail, and landed in the city 
of New York in May, 1857. He practiced 
tliere for a short time, and then went to Cook 
county, Illinois, practicing in and out of Chi- 
cago until 1859. In November of that year 
he went South to Memphis, Tennessee, in 
search of a milder climate. He soon went 
to Nashville, Tennessee, and practiced there 
from December, 1859, to January, 1878. 
During the Civil war he was Assistant Sur- 
geon in the hospitals of the United States 
Army, and did noble service in caring for the 
sick and wounded. He passed tiirough the 
cholera epidemics of 1866 and 1873 while in 
Nashville, where he stood heroically at his 
post, and with unflinching courage did his 
duty to his suffering fellow-men. 

Dr. Schiff began his residence in Dallas in 
1878, when there were but 10,000 people in 
the place. He witnessed the growth to the 
present flattering proportions, and has aided 
very materially in its development. Under 
President Arthur he was appointed a member 
of the Board of Pension Examiners, and held 
the ofHce until he was suspetided by Presi- 
dent Cleveland. He was re-appointed by 
President Harrison, and is now Secretary of 
the Board. Drs. Peters and Mackay are as- 
sociated with him on the Board. He is 




^-^'"-- " -^ 



f, ' 




& ! 



^Z- 




HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



493 



a member of the Dallas County Medical 
Society. 

Dr. Sehiff was united in marriage, in 1864, 
to Miss Henrietta Rosenherg, a native ot' 
Rheda, "Westphalia, Germany. Six children 
have been born to them: Emma, died at the 
age of sixteen; Georgia married B. D. Pike, 
Esq., and resides in San Francisco, Cali- 
fornia; Benno L. ; Edwin K. ; Max L. ; and 
Laura, the latter having died in infancy. 
The three sons — Benno, Edwin and Max — also 
reside San Francisco, California. The Doctor 
is an ardent believer in Republican prin- 
ciples, and votes his sentiments. In his pro- 
fessional work he has met with great success. 
In the beginning he was well fitted for the 
work by a tine education, and he has never 
lost the student attitude which is so neces- 
sary in these days of rapid progress, research 
and discovery. 



tAURA LIVELY, a resident of Dallas 
county, Texas, and the widow of the late 
Patrick Henry Lively, was born in Sliel- 
bjville, Tennessee. Her parents were James 
T. and Lucinda Turpiu, the latter born in 
Trolinger. Her father was a farmer in Ten- 
nessee. He came to Dallas county, Texas, in 
1868, settled in Precinct No. 1, and is still 
engaged in agricultural pursuits here. He 
has had seven children, four of whom are now 
living: Laura, the subject of this sketch; 
Fannie, who married K. Hall, of Dallas, and 
lias three children; R. A., who married Julia 
Law, of Dallas, and has one child; and Mittie, 
who married Stephen Law, also of Dallas. 

Patrick Henry Lively was born in Vir- 
ginia, July 20, 1824, son of Matthew Lively. 
"When he was six months old his parents 

33 



moved to Warren county, Kentucky, his 
mother dying on the journey. He grew up 
on his father's plantation, remained there, 
engaged in raising tobacco and other farm 
products until 1854, when he came to Texas. 
Here he settled in what is now called Pre- 
cinct No. 1, in the neighborhood of Cochran's 
Chapel, Dallas county, in 1855. Before com- 
ing to the State he had married Mary A. 
Smith, of Kentucky, by whom he had six 
children, viz.: Eugene M., who married Lizzie 
Jenkins, and lives in Denton county, Texas; 
Fayette R., who married and lives in Bowie, 
Montague county, Texas; Maggie B., who 
wedded J. M. Cochran, of Dallas county, 
died, leaving three children; George R., de- 
ceased; Nannie, who married S. S. Noel, of 
Dallas county, and has five children; and 
Hiram M., who married Minnie Pledger and 
lives in Dallas county. For his second wife 
Mr. Lively married, in 1867, Mary J. Strait, 
of Dallas county. From this union there was 
no issue. In 1875 he was married to the 
subject of this sketch, aud by her had two 
children, one of whom died in infancy; the 
other, John T., born in 1876, is now living on 
the home farm. 

During the late war Mr. Lively was en- 
gaged in the commissary department of the 
Confederate States, and also furnished stock 
to the army. Having been drafted to go to 
the front, he furnished a substitute, being 
obliged to do so as he was at that time a wid- 
ower with children needing his care. He 
was during his life in Dallas county a stock 
breeder and a dealer in line cattle, and a fre- 
quent exhibitor of such at the county fairs, 
and a successful competitor for prizes. He 
died September 25, 1888, on the homestead 
farm, leaving a large estate. The farm, then 
consisting of 500 acres, has since been di- 
vided among his heirs, his widow retaining 



4!)4 



HISTOBT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



the homestead, which she manages, assisted 
by her son John. 

When Mr. Lively came to Texas he owned 
100 aci'es of land in Kentucky, which 
he had purchased with his earninf^s. This 
gave him means for making a start here. At 
that time he found Dallas county almost a 
wilderness and but sparsely settled. There 
were but few houses in the city of Dallas and 
but two stores, one of which was kept by 
Captain Jack Smith. A hotel, the Crutch- 
iield House, was located on the northwest 
corner of what is now the courthouse square. 
Mr. Lively was a prominent man of his time 
in Dallas county. Although a man of quiet 
and reserved habits, lie took an eager interest 
in public affairs, and assisted every enterprise 
that was projected for the good of the county 
and State. In matters of religion he inclined 
to the Campbellite faith, his widow being an 
Episcopalian. He was a Democrat, but on 
local issues independent. 

fENJAMIN J. PRIGMORE.- Among 
the early arrivals in Texas was the Prig- 
more family, a representative of which 
is found in the subject of this sketch. This 
worthy citizen and his estimable wife are 
known far and wide, and are distinguished 
for their generous hospitality. 

Benjamin J. Prigmore landed in Texas 
with his parents, in 1844, at the age of four- 
teen years. He well remembers the hardships 
and privations of pioneer life. When they ar- 
rived here they were without money, their only 
possessions being six mules, a yoke of steers 
and two cows, and it was not long before the 
Indians stole their mules and killed one of 
the cows. The father took a headright of 640 
acres of land. The first year or so the family 



had difficulty to get breadstuff. The year 
previous to their coming here, a few families 
had settled in the country and had cultivated 
truck patches, and some help was obtained 
from them. The senior Mr. Prigmore was a 
good hunter and supplied his family with 
plenty of wild game, and after they had been 
there eight or ten montus he made a rude 
mill with which to grind their corn. In a 
few years the magnificent productiveness of 
Texas soil placed them all beyond want. 

In 1847, a few months before he was 
seventeen, Benjamin Prigmore joined the 
army and went to the Mexican war. After 
he came home, some of the citizens, inter- 
ested in his behalf, secured for him a head- 
v'whx, of 320 acres. Thus it was that he ob- 
tained a start in Texas. In 1849 he began 
improving his claim; fenced forty acres, 
built a log house and broke thirty acres of 
the soil. In 1853 he married and settled on 
his farm. He prospered in his undertakings 
and at the time the war broke out had eighty 
acres under cultivation, and owned thirty 
horses and as many cattle. In 1862 he en- 
listed in the Confederate army, and as a 
member of Company B, Nineteenth Texas 
Cavalry, was in a number of engagements in 
Arkansas, Missouri and Texas; was never 
wounded or captured. After the war he re- 
turned home and resumed his agricultural 
pursuits. 

Joseph Prigmore, his father, a native of 
Kentucky, moved from there to Missouri with 
his parents when he was fourteen years old. 
There he grew to manhood, and married Ma- 
hala Dixon. Her father, John Dixon, moved 
from Ohio to Missouri, where his death oc- 
curred. Joseph Prigmore, imbubed with a 
restless and adventurous spirit, started in 
1849 for California. After an absence of 
eighteen months, he returned with some 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COVNTY. 



495 



money, bouglit a Iierd of cattle, sold his head- 
right in Texas, and in 1855 went back to 
California, taking his family and cattle with 
hinn. In the winter cif 1859-'60 he moved 
back to this State. While in the far West 
he made money, returning with |20,000 in 
gold. He loaned a part of it and made 
other deals, and was paid off in Confederate 
money, thus losing much that he had made. 
He died November 19, 1862, leaving his 
widow in good circumstances. Her death 
occurred in January, 1886, in Colorado, 
while en route to Washington Territory with 
her son. Their union was blessed with nine 
children, namely: Mary, Benjamin P., Sarah, 
William, Jackson, Joseph, Elizabeth and 
Isaiah (twins), and Jane. Joseph died dur- 
ing the war in the Union prison at Spring- 
field, Illinois. Jackson accidentally shot and 
killed himself. Isaiah started for Washing- 
ton Territory in 1887, and has never been 
heard from. Sarah married a Mr. Whitelield 
and is now living in Lower California. The 
family are widely scattered and the where- 
abouts of some is not known. 

Benjamin J. Frigmore has met with more 
of the nps and downs of life than most men. 
He had made a good start when the war 
came on. After his return he began life 
anew, and was on a fair way toward pros 
perity, when, in 1867, a cyclone struck his 
place, destroyed all his buildings and killed 
his daughter, Eliza. This occurred on the 
26th of May. His neighbors built him a 
shanty, and in it he lived until 1876, when 
he built his present residence. Since then he 
has been prosperous, and has been enabled to 
provide farms and homes for his five children, 
all of whom are located within three miles of 
the old homestead. Mr. Prigmore's marriage 
occurred on the 8th of February, 1853, the 
ady of his choice being Miss Nancy Jackson, 



daughter of John and Eliza Jackson, promi- 
nent mention of whom will be found on an- 
other page of this work. Si.x children have 
been born to them: John W., February 24, 
1855; Eliza L., April 14, 1857; Mahala E., 
February 11, 1859; Joseph E., July 16, 
1861; Lucy E., September 2, 1864; and 
Texas Anna, December 26, 1866. 

At the home of this worthy couple, the 
stranger as well as tlie friend receives a cor- 
dial welcome, and is entertained in true 
Southern style. Mrs. Prigmore is an adept 
in the culinary arts, and knows full well how 
to spread before her guests a tempting board 
and preside thereat in a most graceful manner. 

[JGUST MUELLER, one of the early 
contractors of Dallas, was born in 
Switzerland, March 19, 1842, the young- 
est son of Gabriel and Ann (Strub) Mueller, 
also natives of Switzerland. The parents re- 
mained in their native country until death, 
the father dying in 1872, and the mother 
November 17, 1861. August, our subject, 
was reared and educated in his native country, 
also spent four years in France and four years 
in Italy. At the latter place he was encrao-ed 
as an organ builder, working in most of the 
principal cities of Italy. He left his native 
country and came to Elgin, Illinois, where 
he worked at his trade, and in 1868 he came 
to the city of Dallas. Mr. Mueller at once 
engaged in contracting and building, and has 
erected many of the early business houses of 
this city, and also the City Brewery. He be- 
came a stock holder and director in this in- 
stitution, and continued as such until it 
changed hands, since whicii time he has never 
engaged in active business. 

Mr. Mueller was married in Switzerland, 



4SG 



HISTORT OP DALLAS GOUNTr. 



ill 1873, to Miss Lena Schulthess, a native of 
Switzerland, and a daughter of Conrad and 
Caroline (Koliler) Schulthess, also natives of 
that country. Pie lost his excellent wife by 
death in Dallas, September 15, 1886. They 
had four children: August and Herman, at- 
tending college in Switzerland; and Edward 
and Emily, attending school in Dallas. Mr. 
Mueller was again married, in Dallas, No- 
vember 29, 1890, to Mrs. Margaret Schmidt, 
a native of Bavaria. Mr. Mueller was a 
member of Tannehill Lodge, No. 52, A. F. & 
A. M.; of Dallas Chapter, No. 47, R. A. M.; 
of Dallas Commandery, No. 6; has been a 
Mason for many years; was a member of the 
Volunteer Fire Department for eleven years; 
and is also a member of the Turn Verein of 
Dallas. 

fOHN R. FIGfl, manager and junior 
member of the tirm of J. M. Harry & 
Company, composed of J. M. and D. C. 
Harry and J. R. Figh, manufacturers of brick, 
Dallas, are the proprietors of works whose 
capacity is about 50,000 brick per day, who 
have in their employ about seventy men. 
They are in full operation about nine months 
each year, and to some extent the rest of the 
time. The lirm was organized in 1886. 

Mr. Figh was born in Alabama in 1858, 
the second eldest of the four children of 
George M. and Georgia (Clark) Figh, natives 
of Alabama. His father, a contractor, came 
in 1875 to Bryan, this State, to erect an ag- 
ricultural and mechanical college there, and 
engaged in contracting generally; in 1881 he 
came to Dallas, and his son John R. joined 
him, forming the firm of G. M. Figh & Son. 
They have put up some of the best churches, 
residences and business houses in Dallas. In 
1885 the partnersliip was dissolved, when 



George M., junior, succeeded his brother, 
continuing business under tirm name till the 
death of the father, November 16, 1889. The 
motiier is still living, residing at 427 North 
Harwood street. The present firm, J. M. 
Harry & Company, have erected the McLeod 
hotel and other buildings, and are manufact- 
urers of brick. Tiiey are just starting into 
the manufacture of fine front lirick, and vitri- 
fied brick for street pavement, purchasing for 
the purpose a tract of land three miles west 
of Dallas, where they are about to erect large 
works. 

Mr. Figh, our subject, is a Democrat, tak- 
ing some interest in the political welfare of 
the country. Both himself and wife are Bap- 
tists. He was married in AVaxaiiachie, in 
1883, to Minnie Moore, a native of Tennessee 
who came to Texas about 1876. Her father 
died in Atlanta, Georgia, and her mother is 
still living, in Waxahachie. Mr. and Mrs. 
Figh have one child, named Mary Jean. 



B. McCURDY, M. D., is the oldest 
practicing physician in the village of 
f^' " Lancaster, this county, having resided 
here for a period of thirty-one years. He 
was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, Janu- 
ary 23, 1829, and is of Scotch- Irish and 
English extraction. His father, John Mc- 
Curdy, a Pennsylvanian by birth, came 
originally of Scotch-Iiish ancestry, while his 
mother, 7iee Mary Briceland, a native also of 
Pennsylvania, was of English descent. The 
Doctor's parents moved from Pennsylvania 
to Ohio about 1820, settling at Washington, 
where they spent the closing years of their 
lives, the father passing away in 1860, at the 
age of ninety years, and the mother a few 
years later, aged seventy-five. They were the 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



497 



parents of three children, — the subject of this 
sketch, one that died in infancy, and a daugh- 
ter who died soon after reacliing maturity. 
John McCurdy was an architect by pro- 
fession, and followed his calling actively 
throughout the long life allotted to him. In 
this way he became a resident, at different 
tiuies, of many places in his adopted State, 
and by reason of this fact the subject of this 
notice passed his boyhood and youth in 
widely scattered localities. In 1852 he be- 
gan the study of medicine in the office of the 
late Prof. Abi-aliam Metz, graduated at 
Charity Hospital Medical College, took a 
post-graduate course at Jefferson Medical 
College, and received the degree of M. D. 
from the medical department of the Univer- 
sity of Woostef and also from the Western 
Reserve Medical College. 



;K. JOHN R. ERIG6S, a member of 
that great band of philanthropists whose 
effort has been to save man from the ills 
to which flesh is heir, was born in the State 
of Tennessee, in 1851, and is a son of James 
W. and Polly Briggs, who were also natives 
of Tennessee. The parents removed to Texas 
in 1877, and located in Fannin county, whence 
they moved to Gainesville, Cooke county, 
where they reside at the present time. The 
Doctor acquired an elementary education in 
the private schools of his native State, and 
made excellent use of his rather limited 
opportunities. The first medical lectures he 
attended were delivered in the college at 
Nashville, Tennessee, in 1873. He after- 
ward entered the Missouri Medical College 
at St. Louis, Missouri, and was graduated 
with the class of 1880. He began the prac- 
tice of his profession in Texas, at Savoy, 



and removed thence to Gainesville, and from 
thence to Fort Worth, finally coming to Dal- 
las. Here he has made a specialty of the 
treatment of the eye, ear and throat, and has 
met with very flattering success in this branch 
of the profession. Dr. Briggs is the founder 
of the Texas Health Journal, which has 
reached its fourth year. He is a writer of 
fine perceptions, with a polished style and 
finish worthy of one making greater literary 
claims. Aside from his professional duties 
he finds time for other interests. He is a 
member of the I. O. O. F. fraternity, and be- 
longs to the Baptist Church, and is at present 
a member of the Dallas City Council. Po- 
litically he adheres to the principles of the 
Democratic party, and is fearless and out- 
spoken in his convictions of right and wrong. 

Dr. Briggs was awarded the $100 in each 
of two gold prize essays for the best original 
paper on any medical subject presented to the 
Texas State Medical Association for the years 
1886 and 1888. 

He was married in 1887, to Miss Annie 
Carson Cooke, of Tennessee. Four children 
have been born of this union: Maudie Ade- 
laide, John Roy, Jr., Raymond and Stella. 



4= 



^ 



EORGE WILSON STEWART, one of 
the leading architects of Dallas, Texas, 
was born in the city of Glasgow, Scot- 
land, and is a son of George McKenzie Stew- 
art, also a native of Scotland. His father 
emicrrated to this country from Manila and 
Singapore, where he was engaged in the 
mercantile trade for over twenty years. He 
was a wide traveler and a successful business 
man. He died in Canada, where his wife 
also passed away. Her maiden name was 
Wilson, and she was from Scotland. Our 



498 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



subject spent his youth in Canada, and was 
educated at Hellmnth College, London, Can- 
ada, giving special attention to higher mathe- 
matics and Latin. He then turned his atten- 
tion to architecture, and spent one year in 
Europe, traveling over the continent in order 
to gain all the information possible upon this 
subject. On his return to this counti-y he 
located at Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1830. 
While there he was appointed by the Domin- 
ion Government to build military and mounted 
police buildings. When he came to Dallas 
in 1887 he formed a partnership with B. C- 
Fuller, and after Mr. Fuller's death he con- 
ducted the business alone. He has erected 
some of the most beautiful and elegant build- 
ings in Dallas, and stands high in the pro- 
fession. He is a member of the State Asso- 
ciation of Architects; he has served as 
Secretary, and was President of that body in 
1890. He is a retired Captain in the Can- 
adian militia, and served with distinction 
through the Kiel rebellion of 1885. He 
takes active interest in all manner of athletic 
and field sports and other manly exercises. 
He is an adherent of the Presbyterian Church. 
He takes little active interest in political 
questions, but devotes his time and attention 
to the study of his art. He is of a modest, 
retiring disposition, and is possessed of those 
sterling qualities which go to make a sub- 
stantial citizen. 

fOHN L. BOYD, one of the most enter- 
prising and successful business men of 
Dallas, Texas, was born in Franklin 
county, New York, in 1848, and is a son of 
Benjamin and Sophia (Guyette) Boyd. The 
parents were Canadians by birth, and were 



devoted to agricultural pursuits. They reared 
a family of eight children, six of whom sur- 
vive. John L. received his education in the 
common schools, and at the age of fifteen and 
a half years he enlisted in the service of his 
country. March 31, 1864, he joined Com- 
pany H, Ninety-eighth New York Volun- 
teer Infantry, Colonel Weed commanding. 
He met the regiment at City Point, Virginia, 
and from that time he led a life of active 
service. He participated in the fight at Cold 
Harbor, where Colonel Weed was killed. He 
wi.s in many other noted engagements, and 
after the surrender took part in the grand 
review at Washington, District of Columbia. 
At Petersburg he received a serious wound, 
from which he was a long time in recovering. 
He returned to his home in Franklin county, 
New York, and remained there one year, and 
then went to Springfield, Illinois, where he 
operated a sawmill until his removal to Dal- 
las in 1876. Since coming to this city he 
has been engaged in the manufacture of lum- 
ber, and has erected some of the finest build- 
ings in the place. He employs from forty to 
sixty-five men, and does a business of $80,- 
000 a year, and has assisted very largely in 
the development of the business interests 
here, being senior member of the firm of 
Boyd & Webster. 

Mr. Boyd was married to Marceline La 
Flech, a native of New York, in 1869. 
Seven children have been born to them: 
Louise was educated at the Ursuline Convent; 
Barbara Ann is a pupil in the Convent at the 
present time; Cora Alice, Cicely Ellen, John 
Edwards, Irene and Josephine. The family 
are all of the Roman Catholic faith, and be- 
long to the Church of the Sacred Heart. 
Mr. Boyd is a meml>er of Dix Post, G. A. R., 
of which he has been Commander. He at- 
tended the grand Encampment at Boston, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



499 



and is now Assistant Quartermaster-General 
of Texas. He has always voted the Republi- 
can ticket. He has not taken an active in- 
terest in political questions further than to 
exercise his right of suffrage. 

lAPTAlN WILLIAM H. HARRIS, 
an old settler and a prominent and 
much respected citizen of Dallas county, 
Texas, is eminently deserving of honorable 
mention in this work. Indeed, a history of 
Dallas county would be incomplete without 
a biography of him. A resume of his life 
will be read with interest by many, and is as 
follows: 

Captain William H. Harris was born in 
Simpson county, Kentucky, January 1, 1838. 
He was reared on a farm and received a com- 
mon-school education in his native State. In the 
fall of 1855, at the age of seventeen, he came 
to Texas and settled in the city of Dallas. 
At that place he and a stepbrother worked 
together at the blacksmith trade for two years. 
He then bought a half interest in a farm, on 
credit, and improved it and lived on it one 
year, selling out in December, 1860. From 
1858 until the war broke out he was engaged 
in teaming In the meantime he purchased 
another of tract land — 160 acres — and made 
some improvements on it. 

In February, 1862, he enlisted in the Con- 
federate army, as a member of the First 
Texas Squadron, Company B, and was made 
Third Lieutenant. The following April they 
reorganized at Grand Junction, Mississippi, 
and he was made First Lieutenant, and in Sep- 
tember he was promoted to the rank of Cap- 
tain by unanimous election. He went first 
to Corinth and was then transferred to Mor- 
gan's Command, being with Morgan in all his 



raids through the South and North. At the 
time of his noted raid through Indiatia and 
Ohio Captain Harris was in Tennessee, hav- 
ing been sent back from Kentucky in special 
service; and after Morgan's capture he gath- 
ered up the remnant of the command and 
was afterward with General Wheeler, through 
the Southern campaign. He continued with 
the Army of Tennessee through Georgia un- 
til the close of the war; was with Jefferson 
Davis a few hours before the latter's capture; 
made arrangements to accompany a squad 
that were going to Mexico with Davis, but 
the plan was foiled. Captain Harris sur- 
rendered at Columbus, Mississippi, after 
which he returned home, arriving June 21, 
1865. 

The Captain soon afterward entered into a 
cattle speculation and took a large herd to 
Mattoon, Illinois. In this enterprise he lost 
heavily. We next find him engaged in farm- 
ing, he having married, March 5, 1867, and 
settled down on a farm. Up to that time 
there had been little cotton raised in this 
country. He turned his attention to its pro- 
duction and after a time was enabled to pay 
off the debt he had incurred in his cattle 
speculation. He farmed three years, freighted 
four years and then settled back to farming 
again. He still owns the same farm, having 
added to his original purchase. 

Harvey Harris, the Capta'n's father, was 
born in Kentucky, son of the Rev. William 
Harris. The latter was Scotch- Irish, born 
in the north of Ireland, and, after his mar- 
riage to a lady of his own country, he emi- 
grated to America and settled in Virginia. 
From there they moved to Kentucky, being 
among the pioneers of that State. He was 
one of tiie first ministers in the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church there, and made circuits 
of 1,500 miles, preaching. He lived to see 



500 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



the church well organized throughout the 
State, and died in Kentucky about 1845. 
Har\ey Harris was one of a family of seven- 
teen children, five of whom were preachers of 
their father's faith. He, however, was a farmer 
all his life; was born March 25, 1807, and 
died August 18, 1842. By his first wife, 
nee Mary Neal, he had one child, James 
Monroe, who went to California and his 
whereabouts are now unknown. His wife 
died September 12, 1835. In 1836 he mar- 
ried Miss Sarah I. T. Skiles, daughter of 
Henry and Elizabeth (Hamilton) Skiles. Her 
parents, natives of Virginia, moved to Ken- 
tucky, where they died. She was born Jan- 
uary 19, 1818, is yet enjoying good health, 
and is living with her son, the subject of this 
sketch. Her other child, Nancy E., born 
August 23, 1839, died August 6, 1847. 

Captain Harris first married Miss Prudence 
E. Baird, daughter of Dr. J. B. Baird. Her 
father, a native of Kentucky, was a resident 
of Denton county, Texas, at the time of their 
marriage, but has since died. This happy 
union resulted in the birth of two children, 
both dying infancy. The wife departed this 
life on the 12tb of August, 1869. October 
7, 1874, the Captain wedded Miss liarriette 
L. Rodgers, daughter of Isaac and Sarah 
Rodgers. Her father was a farmer and trader 
in Tennessee. Both parents died in that 
State the same year, about 1840, leaving a 
family of seven children. By his second 
marriage. Captain Harris has one child, Will- 
iam H. v., born March 7, 1876. 

Captain Harris has had his full share of 
adversities in this life, but with heroic brav- 
ery he has met and overcome the many dif- 
ficulties as they presented themselves. The 
first house he built on his farm was destroyed 
by a cyclone, May 26, 1867, at 10 o'clock 
p. M., the second was burned down July 5, 



1875, and on the same foundation he erected 
a third house. He now rents a farm and re- 
sides in his pleasant home at Richardson. 
The Captain is in every respect a progressive 
man, keeping well posted on the general topics 
of the day. He is an enthusiastic and in- 
fluential Granger. AVhen the Grange was 
first organized in Texas, September, 1873, he 
was elected Master, and has been a leader of 
the institutiop in Dallas county; also an of- 
ficer of the Texas State Grange for eight years. 
On December 12, 1891, he was elected l>y 
the Board as Superintendent of the Texas 
State Grange Fair, an enterprise of much 
prominence, and is now managing this grand 
institution for the association. He has given 
four years of his life to its interests. Polit- 
ically, he is a Democrat. He is a member 
of the I. O. O. F., the Good Templars and 
the Knigiits of Honor, and he and bis entire 
family ai-e members of the Cumberland Pres- 
byterian Church. 



g^ENRY H. SMITH, a prominent busi- 
!iess man of Dallas, was born in Cov- 
ington, Kentucky, a son of Colby T. 
and Marium H. (Stevenson) Smith, natives 
of Clark county, Kentucky. His father was 
a cabinetmaker and builder, and came to 
Texas in 1860, settling at Dallas, when his 
son, our subject, was ten years of age. The 
latter grew up on a farm, engaged in teaching 
and farming for several years, and then was 
clerk for "Thompson Bros. " four years. In 
1884 he was called to the office of County 
Treasurer, which he tilled for six years, being 
re-elected twice; and with the due respect to 
many able officers we can safely state that 
that position was never more ably or more 
satisfactorily tilled. On the expiration of his 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



501 



last term be retired witli the confidence of 
the people. His majority was larger at each 
election. When he first came here there were 
no banks in the place, and the nearest rail- 
road depot was at Houston, Probablj no 
man in Dallas is more intimately connected 
with its growth. 

He is a member and Past Chancellor of Cceur 
de Lion Lodge of the Knights of Pythias here, 
and for years has also been one of the pillars of 
the Christian Church. In politics he is a 
Democrat of the strictest type. He was mar- 
ried in 1875, to Miss Ellen V. Bond, a native 
of Virginia, and they are the parents of two 
children: Loyd B., now fourteen years old, 
and Maud, eleven years of age. Mrs. Smith 
came to Texas in 1S59, when five years old, 
was educated in Bonham, this State, and for 
some years was a teacher. In this profession 
she closed a successful career at the time of 
her marriage. Her parents were Charles F. 
and Mary (Wilson) Bond, natives of Vir- 
ginia, where they were reared and married. 
They came to Texas in 1859. The father 
was a teacher, farmer and latterly a merchant. 
He and his wife are both deceased ; the latter 
in 1859. They were both devout members 
of tlie Baptist Church, were excellent people 
and left a good name. They had two chil- 
dren, — one. La Fayette W., a farm(!r and 
stock-raiser of Dallas county. His wife was 
Kate Fletcher, of Dallas county. 

Colby T. Smith, our subject's father, was a 
member (as well as his wife) of the Christian 
Church. He was a Deacon for many years. 
He was well and favorably known as an 
honest, worthy citizen. He served three years 
as private in the cavalry of the Confederate 
States, a member of Captain Welch's Com- 
pany. They were known as the Gano 
"Guards, an independent company named 
for General K. M. Gauo, under whom they 



served. He served with General Gano in 
the trans-Mississippi Department. He died at 
Bonham, Texas, August 7, 1877, and was 
fifty-two years of age. His wife died in No- 
vember, 1887, and was born July, 1827. She 
was the mother of five sons and two daugh- 
ters; one son, Joseph C, deceased September 
13, 1867, aged sixteen years; Edward C, 
married to Mattie A. Fletcher, resides in 
Dallas, and is an undertaker; Henry H., our 
subject; Garrett D., a partner of E. C, is 
married to Miss Sue Evans, a native of P"'an- 
nin county, Texas; Mary B., wife of Oliver 
Thomas, a prominent real-estate man, of Dal- 
las; Ellen, wife of John Hai'dy, residing in 
London the past two years; Willis R., a stu- 
dent in medical reading with Dr. Thompson, 
of Dallas. 

;CE()LA P. SCOTT.— This gentleman 
is one of the prominent and prosperous 
farmers of Dallas, Texas. He owns a 
section of land here which is well improved 
with substantial and commodious buildings. 

o 

Besides this property he also owns land in 
other counties in Texas. He has been iden- 
tified with the interests of this part of the 
country from his early manhood, and it is 
eminently fitting that a biography of him 
should appear in the history of Dallas county. 
Mr. Scott was born in Virginia, December 
27, 1841. In 1857 he emigrated with his 
father's family to Texas, arriving in Collin 
county in December. In January, 1858, 
they settled in Dallas county. Mr. Scott 
now owns the headright that was located 
by J. C. McCoy. Samuel Scott, father of 
the subject of our sketch, was born in Vir- 
ginia, July 26, 1799. He was married June 
3, 1819. Camilla W. Scott, his wife, was 
born March 26, 1803. Both were of Scotch- 



503 



BISTORT OF DALLAS OOUNTY. 



Irish descent, and the latter was a member of 
a distinguished and much respected Virginia 
family. The father enlisted for the war of 
1812, but before he reached the front the war 
had closed. They made the journey to Texas 
in wagons, brought with them about forty 
servants, purchased 800 acres of land, and 
were soon comfortably settled here, carrying 
on farming on a large scale. At the time of pur- 
chase 200 acres of this land were in cultivation. 
Here the venerable father passed the residue of 
his life, and died October 19, 1878. The mother 
departed this life December 12, 1883. Fol- 
lowing are the names of their ten children: 
Roy B., born June 17, 1822; Baldwin S., 
April 13, 1824; Julia, November 28, 1825; 
Emily E., May 4, 1828; Helen M., May 12, 
1880; Clara H., May 10, 1882; Henry C, 
February 8, 1884; Emmet B., November 5, 
1835; Walter M., December 14, 1839; and 
Oceola P., December 27, 1841. Baldwin S. 
died July 18, 1825; Julia, April 16, 1829; 
Helen, May 10, 1832. Henry C. died in 
the army, near McMinnville, Tennessee, from 
the effects of the wound accidentally received. 
Walter M. died March 6, 1863, at Camp 
Douglas, Chicago, Illinois, of pneumonia. 
Roy met his death accidentally October 8, 
1884, being thrown from a horse. 

Oceola P. Scott was married May 9, 1865, 
to Miss Laura A. Hatcher. Her parents, 
Branch and Manerva (Davis) Hatcher, were 
natives of North Carolina and Kentucky 
respectively. They were unarried in Ken- 
tucky and subsequently moved to Missouri, 
where her father died in September, 1858. 
In 1861 the family emigrated to Texas to 
join sisters who had already come in 1856. 
Six children have been born to Mr. Scott and 
his wife, viz.: Walter M., September 10, 
1866; Ann R., February 14, 1868; Emma 
P., September 7, 1870; Samuel B., Septem- 



ber 14, 1878; AdaL., November 4, 1883; 
Henry B., October 18, 1885. Ada died 
April 16, 1885. 

Mr. Scott enlisted in the Confederate army 
as a member of Company E, Eighteenth 
Texas Cavalry, Captain Allison Darnell in 
command. During his service he was twice 
captured, first, at Arkansas Post, from whence 
he was taken to Camp Douglas, Chicago; 
second, at Atlanta, July 22, 1864, just after 
General Hood was placed in command. The 
last time he was sent to Camp Chase, Colum- 
bus, Ohio, and from there to Richmond. Re- 
ceiving a furlough, he walked a great part of 
the way home, paid fifty dollars to be ferried 
across the Mississippi river in a skiff, and 
reached here April 9, 1865. Of the five 
brothers who entered the army, three returned 
and two are still living. Henry C, who died 
in Tennessee, was a practicing physician and 
surgeon in the army. 

Mr. Scott was an active member of the 
Farmers' Alliance, and a heavy stockholder 
in the Alliance Mill at Dallas, he being one 
of the directors of the enterprise and one of 
the eight that had to pay off the claims 
against the institution, amounting to $20,000. 
He is opposed to the introduction of politics 
into the . Alliance. He is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and his family belong to 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



-^-^uz/l/h- 



•"l/l/TM^^ 



REMOND, ex-brick manufacturer, has 
3L been identified with interests of Dal- 
'* las county, Texas, since 1856. He 
was born in the State of Nievre, France, 
August 2, 1840, to Jean Remond and Marie, 
nee Pouilliat, also natives of France, who 
lived and died on their native soil. E.' 
Remond, until fourteen years of age, was 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



503 



educated for a priest, but being disinclined 
to follow that life, he in 1856 set sail for 
the United States, embarking at Havre, and 
after a voyage of sixty-five days reached the 
city of New Orleans. From this city he 
went to Houston on a tug-boat, and from the 
latter place came to Dallas, Texas with an 
ox team, being joined in Houston by his 
brother Jean Priot, who had come to this 
country two years before. The latter resided 
in Dallas until 1887, accumulated a compe- 
tency, but in that year sold his property and 
returned to France, where he is living well 
out of his income. E. Keraond was unable 
to speak the English language or to under- 
stand it upon coming to this country, but it 
was not long before he could do both. When 
the Civil war opened he enlisted in Company 
B, Nineteenth Texas Cavalry, with which he 
remained one year, then volunteered in Pratt's 
Battery, serving as iiag-bearer until he was 
taken prisoner with General Marmaduke at 
Saline, Kansas. As rear-guard he was am- 
bushed by negro troops at Tansas bayou, 
Louisiana, in 1862, but he fought for life 
and succeeded in cutting his way through the 
lines, and regained his liberty before being 
taken to a place of confinement. The hard- 
ships and privations he endured were many, 
but he bore them well until the war closed. 
He was married soon after to Miss Cesarine 
Santerre, of France, who came to this county 
when a child, and after his marriage he lo- 
cated permanently in West Dallas. He be- 
gan manufacturing brick, which occupation 
he followed, except during the war, until 1880, 
since which time he has given his attention 
to studying practical geology of the country 
and in influencing capitalists to locate in this 
section. He introduced the first brick ma- 
chine. In 1880 he discovered an unlimited 
quantity of '-alumina lustra," shale, steatite 



and soapstone, — which discovery led to the 
investment of $50,000 in a scientific brick- 
manufacturing plant at the place. He resides 
on sixty acres of land in Dallas county and 
has a beautiful and comfortable home. He 
is a Democrat politically and a useful citizen 
of the county. He never ran for office, never 
had a lawsuit, never gave his note, never 
borrowed money, and never contracted any 
debt. Love, science, progress and the arts 
are his highest avocations, while he devotes 
his attention mainly to the industrial devel- 
opment of the natural resources of his 
country. He is a geologist and practical 
clay-worker. 

SREDERICK SCHUPBACK, who is en- 
gaged in gardening at Dallas, has been 
identified with the interests of Dallas 
county since 1877. He dates his birth in 
Berne, Switzerland, September 16, 1842, and 
is a son of Samuel and Elisa (Zong) Scliup- 
back, natives of that place. His parents both 
passed their lives and died in the old country. 
He was reared on a farm, and in 1866 emi- 
grated to the United States, sailing from 
Havre, and after a voyage of sixty-six days 
landed in New Orleans. During this time 
they were short of provisions for nearly two 
weeks. 

Arrived in this country, Mr. Schupback 
engaged in gardening in New Orleans, re- 
maining there eight months. He then went 
to Memphis, Tennessee, where he engaged 
in the same kind of work one year. From 
there he went to St. Louis for a short time; 
thence to Jefferson county, Missouri; eight 
months later to Lawrence, Kansas, following 
a like occupation there four years. Then he 
made a brief trip to California, remaining in 



504 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



the Golden State only two weeks. He went 
West on the second train over the Northern 
Pacific road and paid $150 for his fare. He 
returned to 8t. Louis, thence to New Orleans, 
and after two months came to Texas and lo- 
cated in Brenham, Washington county, wliere 
he raised one crop. We next find him at 
Shreveport, Louisiana, where he was stricken 
with yellow fever, and was at that place two 
years. In 1877 he came to Dallas and pur- 
chased his present property, twelve and a 
half acres, located three-quarters of a mile 
from Dallas, and here he has since been en- 
gaged in gardening. 

Mr. Schupback was married, June 16, 1876, 
to Miss Eliza Sivalin, a native of North Ger- 
many and a daughter of Jack and Martha 
Sivalin, natives of the same place. She came 
to America and located at Shreveport, Lou- 
isiana, 1873. They are the parents of four 
children: Annie, Frederick, Lancie and Hat- 
tie. He and his wife are members of the 
Presbyterian Church. 

S^HILLIAM E. PEARSON, a successful 
fflmu/t ^"''''"™®'' of Dallas county, is a son of 
l^=^feH John H. and Minerva Pearson. The 
father was born in Hawkins county, Ten- 
nessee, January 29, 1820, remained in his 
native State until 1870, when he removed to 
Missouri and thence to Texas, settling on 
Grapevine Prairie, this county, where he still 
resides. His father. Lawrence Pearson, was 
a native of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, but 
left his native place when a lad, and went to 
what is now Hawkins county, east Tennes- 
see, then a part of North Carolina. His peo- 
ple settled in that locality in the days of John 
Seiver, when this great leader attempted to 
found the new State of Franklin in what is 
now east Tennessee. Lawrence Pearson died 



in Hawkins county in 1872, at the age of 
eighty-five years. His wife, nee Elizabeth 
De Vault, was a daughter of Abraham De 
Vault, a native of North Carolina. She was 
born in east Tennessee and died in Hawkins 
county in 1878, at the age of eighty-eight 
years. Our subject's mother, whose maiden 
name was Minerva Green, is still living, and 
is a daughter of William Green, also a native 
of Hawkins county. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson 
were married August 19, 1842, in Hawkins 
county, and had the following children: 
Elizabeth Jane, the widow of Captain James 
W. Berry, of Dallas county; William E., our 
subject; Enoline, who became the wife of John 
Willmuth, and died in Dallas county some 
years ago; Ruthie, the wife of Thomas 
Swindle, a resident of Cherokee Nation, In- 
dian Territory; George A., of this county; 
Nicholas, who is still with his parents; Mary 
Catherine, the wife of William S. Sanders, of 
this county; and James M., a resident of 
Tarrant county. 

William E. Pearson, our subject, was born 
in Hawkins county, Tennessee, February 1, 
1845. In March, 1863, he enlisted in the 
Union army, in Company G, Eighth Ten- 
nessee Infantry, entering the company raised 
by his brother-in-law. Captain J. W. Berry, 
which was formed at Cauip Nelson, Kentucky, 
largely from refugees from east Tennessee. 
They served in Tennessee, Georgia and North 
Carolina, and the first active service was at 
Chattanooga in the fall of 1863. Mr. Pearson 
was in the Georgia campaign, and took part 
in all the engagements down to Atlanta; was 
then under Thomas on the return to Tennessee, 
taking part also in the liattles of Franklin 
and Nashville, when the Confederate army, 
under Hood, was dispersed. Mr. Pearson's 
command was then placed on a boat at Clifton, 
Tennessee, and transported to Cincinnati, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY 



505 



thence by rail to Alexandria, Virginia, next 
to Fort Fisher, North Carolina, and then 
joined Sherman's army at Goldsboro, same 
State. Mr. Pearson enlisted as a private 
and was mustered out as sergeant. After the 
close of the war he returned to Tennessee, 
and in 1870 moved to Missouri, settling in 
Christian county, where he resided until com- 
ing to Texas in 1872. He settled in Dallas 
county, and in November of that year he 
rented a place on Grapevine Prairie, but a 
year later he purchased forty acres. He has 
since added to this farm until he now owns 
215 acres, seventy acres of which is under a 
fine state of cultivation, and the remainder in 
pasture, timber and hay land. 

Mr. Pearson was married in April, 1868, 
to Miss Minda Sanders, a daughter of Wiley 
Sanders, a native of Cleveland county, Ten- 
nessee. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson have had the 
following living children: John J., Dora, 
Cordia T., William, Eddie, Miney and Charlie. 
In politics, Mr. Pearson is a Republican; 
socially, a member of the Farmers' Alliance, 
and religiously, the family are members of 
the Baptist Cliurch. 

^AEK ELLISON, a merchant of Gar- 
land and a farmer of Precinct No. 2, 
Dallas county, Texas, dates his birth 
in Kentucky in 1844. He was the third born 
in the family of John W. and Elizabeth 
(Johnson) Ellison, natives of Kentucky. His 
ancestors were Scotch- Irish, and came to this 
country and settled in Kentucky at an early 
day. John W. Ellison was a blacksmith. He 
came to Texas in 1848, resided in Dallas 
county one year, and in 1849 moved to Tar- 
rant county, settling near where Birdvilie is 
now located, and following his trade there 
until 1857. He took up a section of land, 




improving the same, and lived on it. A 
portion of the family still make their home 
on the old farm. The fatlier was a prominent 
man in his day. For some years he was 
Justice of the Peace of Tarrant county. He 
was a devoted Christian man — a member of 
the Christian Church — and could repeat from 
memory the whole of the New Testament. 
He and his wife were the parents of five chil- 
dren, namely: Frank, who resides on the old 
homestead; Zarilda, who was the wife of 
Thomas James, is deceased; Mark, whose 
name heads this sketch; Mary, wife of H. S. 
Holman, Tarrant county; John W., who died 
while the family were en route to this State. 
In 1868 Mrs. Ellison married A. Bledsaw, a 
prominent and highly-esteemed citizen of this 
county, known as "Honest A." He served as 
Judge of this county during and afcer the 
war, and was subsequently elected to the office 
of Comptroller of the State of Texas. His 
death occurred in 1884. The mother now 
lives on on the homestead place in Tarrant 
county, with her son-in-law, H. Holman. She 
lias been a member of the Christian Church 
for many years. 

Mark Ellison received his education in the 
common schools of Tarrant county, and at the 
early age of sixteen entered the Southern 
army as a member of (Company A, Ninth 
Texas Cavalry. In the earlier part of the war 
he was in a number of engagements east of 
the Mississippi river, and later was transferred 
to the forces that operated west of the Mis- 
sissippi. Twice he was wounded; first at 
Corinth, in the arm, and in a skirmish in 
Louisiana was shot through the left shoulder. 
He never was captured nor sent to hospital. 

After the war he returned to his home in 
Tarrant county and immediately engaged in 
farming. The following year, 1867, he moved 
to Dallas county and settled on a headright 



506 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



that liad been secured by his father-in-law, 
H. C. Marsh, and fanned on it until 1889. 
He then moved his family to Garland and he 
engaged in the mercantile business, still, how- 
ever, having his farming operations carried 
on. In his agricultural pursuits he has been 
very successful. For twenty years his crib 
has never been empty of corn. He has re- 
fused $45 an acre for his farmincr land, and 
besides this also owns seventy-tive acres of 
timber land. He began the mercantile busi- 
ness with a stock worth $2,300. Since open- 
ing up his business has averaged from 125,000 
to $30,000, and at this time he carries a stock 
worth some |11,000 or $12,000. He has the 
only strictly dry-good house in the town and 
does a larger business than any other estab- 
ment here. 

Mr. Ellison was married January 1, 1866, 
to Miss Martha A. Marsh, daughter of H. C. 
and Mary (Raymond) Marsh, natives of Har- 
rison county, Kentucky. Their union has been 
blessed with four children, viz.: Hardy, a 
farmer of Tarrant county; Zeluma, wife of O 
P. Thomas; and John W. and Harrison M.,' 
at home. They also have one daughter de- 
ceased, Elizabeth. 

Mr. Ellison is a member of the A., F. & 
A.M., James A. Smith Lodge, No. 395; is 
also a member of Dallas Chapter, No. 52, and 
has tilled all the chairs in the order. He and 
his wife have been members of the Christian 
Church for a number of years. 




M. HALSELL, County Commissioner 
of Dallas county, was born in Ken- 
tucky, in 1832, the fourth child of 
William and Mary (Garland) Halsell, natives 
of "Warren county, Kentucky. The father 
was a blacksmith and farmer by occupation, 
and also served as Justice of the Peace for a 



number of years. The paternal grandfather 
was a native of Ireland, who came to Amer- 
ica for a short time and afterward re 
turned to Ireland, where he died, at the age of 
104 years. The maternal grandfather moved 
from Kentucky to Missouri, where he died, 
at the age of 100 years. He was a farmer 
by occupation, and also taught school. Will- 
iam H. Halsell lived in the same house in 
Kentucky for fifty-live years, and died in 
1887, at the age of eighty-two years. He 
had been a member of the Cumberland Pres- 
byterian Church for fifty years, and during 
most of his married life he never failed to 
have family prayer. He was twice married, 
first to the mother of our subject, who died 
in 1847. Of their nine children, seven lived 
to years of maturity: John E. resides in 
Kansas, and is an attorney of Wellington. 
He has served his Congressional district in 
Congress for two terms, and prior to this was 
also Circuit Judge of a judicial district in 
Kentucky. He is known as one of the lead- 
ing attorneys and noted politicians in the 
Democratic party. Alvira, deceased, was the 
wife of the Feldin Robinson, and the family 
now reside in various States, two in Texas 
and two in Kentucky; William J., a mer- 
chant of Richardson, Dallas county, has 
served as Justice of the Peace of this county 
for several years. He came to this State in 
1852; our subject is the ne.xt in order of 
birth; Mary, is the widow of S. Y. Garrison, 
of Gainesville, Texas; James M., of Waco, 
Texas. The latter is a minister of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church, and also col- 
lecting agent for the Cumberland Presby- 
terian College of this State. After the death 
of his Urst wife, Mr. Halsell married Sarah, 
daughter of Henry Skiles. Mrs. Halsell had 
one child, W. H., by a former husband, Mr. 
Harris, who is now a prominent member of 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



507 



the Granger party, and one of the main speak- 
ers for his section of Texas. 

E. M. Halsell, our subject, received his 
early education in this county, and at the 
age of twenty-one years coininonced life for 
himself. He came to this State in 1852, and 
first settled in Dallas, which was then a small 
village, and here he assisted in the organiza- 
ation of the tirst city laws, and was elected 
one of the first Trustees of the place. He 
was at one time owner of the most of the prop- 
erty on Ross avenue, and erected for him- 
self the home now occupied by Mr. Ross. 
While there he was engaged in blacksmith- 
ing, and his shop was located on the north- 
east corner of the public square. In 1859 he 
returned to Kentucky, where he resided until 
1879. He served in the late war as recruit- 
ing ofiicer under General John H. Morgan, 
with the rank of Captain. After the war, and 
while still in Kentucky, he engaged at his 
trade of blacksmithing, and also served as 
Justice of the Peace ten years. After com- 
ing to Texas in 1879, he engaged in farming 
on land he had bought in Young county, 
where he remained until 1887, when he 
moved to this county. He now owns a farm 
of 400 acres in Young county, of wliich about 
fifty acres is improved. After coming to 
tliis county he located in Garland, where he 
was employed by his brother and son-in-law, 
S. A. Allen, lumber merchants. He now 
has a nice village residence. In 1890 
was elected County Commissioner for two 
years. 

Mr. Halsell was married in 1855, to Miss 
Mary Cook, a native of Kentucky and daugh- 
ter of William and Dincan Cook, natives of 
Kentucky. She was a granddaughter of Cap- 
tain Isaac Cook, a Captain of tiie war of 
1812. Mr. and Mrs. Halsell are the parents 
of six children: V. B., of the firm of Alien 



& Halsell, hardware merchants of this place' 
Julius D., deceased; Rachel, wife of S. A. 
Allen, of the firm of Allen & Halsell, of 
Garland; Maggie, wife of L. C. Simpson, a 
farmer of this county; Millie, wife of A. E. 
Kyan, a druggist of Garland; Thomas and 
Edgar, ages fourteen and sixteen. Mr. 
Halsell is a member of the Christian Church, 
and since 1855 has been a member of the A. 
F. & A. M. Mrs. Halsell is a member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 



^ 



4®^ 



^ 



OAH S. EWALT, a young and success- 
ful business man of Dallas county, is a 
son of Noah S. Ewalt, Sr., who was 
born in Bourbon count}', Kentucky. He 
was reared there to the age of twelve years, 
at which time his parents moved to Missouri, 
settling in Greene county. In 1856 Mr. 
Ewalt came to Dallas county, Texas, where 
he purchased a certificate for 160 acres of 
land on Grapevine Prairie, with which he be- 
gan his career as a farmer and stock-raiser. 
As his means allowed he added to this tract 
until at the time of his death he owned 858 
acres, all of which lay on the prairie except 
sixty acres in the timber, and nearly all of 
which was in pasture. Mr. Ewalt was a 
good manager, economical and inlustrious, 
and at his death left his family a good es- 
tate. He was married in Texas, May 19, 
1863, to Mary J. Johnson, a native of this 
State. Mr. Ewalt died at his home in this 
county October 18, 1878, at about the age of 
forty-five years, and his wife survived him 
some years, dying October 15, 1890, aged 
forty -four years. They were both buried at the 
old family burying-ground on the farm of 
William Haley, near the old Ewalt homestead. 
They were members of the Christian Church, 



508 



HT8T0BY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



and led lives consistent with their profession. 
Noah S. and Mary J. Ewalt had a family of 
nine children, viz.: Noah S., born June 11, 
1864; Henry, October 24, 1865; Frances, 
October 3, 1866; Kitturah, July 23, 1870; 
Lela, August 18, 1872; Thomas Richard, 
January 2, 1875; Lucinda 0. and Jane, 
twins, February 17, 1877; and Samuel Wai- 
ter, July 31, 1879. Of these, Henry died 
November 1, 1865; Thomas Richard, in 
November, 1890; Frances is now the wife 
of James Graham, of this county; Kitturah, 
the wife of Frank Crouch, also of Dallas 
county; and Lela is now Mrs. George Slater, 
of this county. The Ewalt estate has never 
been divided, and the unmarried children 
still reside on the old homestead, the manage- 
ment of the farm as well as the providing 
for the family, devolving on tlie eldest son, 
Noah S. 

This young man has assumed the respons- 
ibilities which have come to him by the death 
of his parents with a manly spirit, looking 
diligently not only after the financial interests 
committed to his care as administrator, but 
is attending to the wants of every nature of 
his younger brothers and sisters. 



fHOMAS F. NASH, an attorney of Gar- 
MVf land, Dallas county, Texas, was born 
in Marion county, Kentucky, October 
11, 1850. He was the eleventh born in the 
family of fifteen children of Thomas J. and 
Eliza (Flood) Nash, natives of Virginia and 
of Scotch and Irish descent. Thomas J. 
Nash was born in 1808; went to Kentucky 
in 1815, being one of the pioneers of that 
State. He was a farmer by occupation, as 
was also his father, Thomas Nash. His 
maternal grandfather was a Virginia farmer. 



and was a first cousin to the celebrated Peter 
Cartwright. Thomas J. Nash received a 
superior education for his day, and started 
out in life with fair prospects in Marion 
county, Kentucky. He was elected to vari- 
ous offices of minor importance, and when 
in his fortieth year he was chosen Represent- 
ative of his county to the State Legislature. 
Previous to this he raised a regiment of men 
and offered his services to the United States 
for the war with Mexico; he was not accepted, 
however, there being more men offered than 
needed. He came to Texas m 1854, first set- 
tling five or six miles north of Dallas. In 
1857 he permanently located in the vicinity of 
Garland. Here he bought 320 acres of wild 
land and developed a fine farm, his land cost- 
ing him $3.00 per acre. By the time the 
war came on he had a nice farm and plenty 
of stock. In 1858 he was elected County 
Commissioner. In 1861 he was chosen as 
a member of the Secession Convention, and 
was a recognized authority on most subjects 
in regard to State rights. Being well ad- 
vanced in years, he took no part in the late 
unpleasantness, except as a civilian, but in 
that capacity aided and encouraged the Con- 
federate cause all he could. In 1876 he was 
again elected County Commissioner, and 
filled the office two years. This was the last 
of his political life. He died March 3, 1886, 
in his seventy-eighth year. For many jears 
he was a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
and nearly all his life was a prominent and 
devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. His wife died July 7, 1873, aged 
fifty-six years. She was a member of the 
same church, possessed many amiable traits 
of character, and, like her honored husband, 
was held in high esteem by all who knew her. 
Of their fifteen children eleven lived to be 
grown and eight still survive. Names of 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



509 



the eleven are as follows: Lucy J., widow of 
Jerry Brown, resides in Los Angeles, Cali- 
fornia; Marietta, deceased; Isabella, wife of 
J. W. Jones; George W., of Urayson county, 
Texas; C. L., of this county; J. J., deceased; 
Adelia, deceased; Mary E., wife of T. J. 
Jackson; Thomas F.; Albert R., a Methodist 
minister of Kaufman county, Texas; Anna 
E., wife of John Jackson, of this county; 
Emma E., deceased. 

Thomas F. Nash received his early educa- 
tion in the common schools of this county, 
as he grew older attended some of the more 
advanced schools, and subsequently engaged 
in teaching in Dallas county. After teach- 
ing five years, he located on a farm and en- 
gaged in agricultutal pursuits until he was 
thirty-three. In 1883 he became editor of a 
paper in Mesquite, called The Mesquiter, 
and was thus employed three years. Previous 
to this, in 1880, he was elected to the State 
Legislature, tilling that honored position most 
acceptably four years. He had also served 
the public two years as Justice of the Peace 
previous to his election to the Legislature; 
was a member of the School Board when he 
was only twenty-three; has also served in 
other minor offices. Duriu;* the time he was 
in the Legislature he was Chairmari of the 
Committee on State Affairs, and was one of 
the leading young members of the House. 
In 1878 he began the study of law. It was 
not, however, until 1888 that he decided to 
make law his profession. He consulted with 
Charles F. Clint, of Dallas, but did not study 
under him; passed an excellent examination 
in May, 1889, and was admitted to the bar 
by Judge R. E. Burke. His practice is 
already assuming large proportions, and he 
starts out with flattering prospects for a 
brilliant career as a lawyer. He has been a 
resident of Garland since 1887. 



31 



Mr. Nash was married, December 25, 
1873, to Miss Mary F. Hobbs. Her father 
was killed while in the Confederate army 
when she was quite small, and her mother 
died when she was nine years old. Her 
paternal great-grandmother was a first cousin 
of George Washington. She was reared by 
her grandfather, James M. Ware, a promi- 
nent man in this section of the country. Mr. 
and Mrs. Nash are the parents of eight chil- 
dren: Eliza Adelia, Mary Leola, Lillian, Olin 
Welborn, Albert AVare, Flora Estelle, Ettie 
Lee and Lorena Inge. 

Mr. Nash is a member of the A. F. & A. 
M., Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441, of which 
he is Master; is also a Knight of Honor. 
He and his wife are members of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church. 

fAMES M. KENNEDY, a prominent and 
highly respected citizen of Dallas county, 
Texas, was born in Fairfield district, 
South Carolina, March 14, 1830. When he 
was eight years old he moved with his parents 
to Alabama and settled in Tallapoosa county, 
and two years later his father died at that 
place, leaving a wife and eight children in 
fair circumstances. The settling up of the 
estate, however, consumed all the means, and 
the widow found herself almost penniless. In 
the meantime some of her children had mar- 
ried and settled in life. Not content to re- 
main where she had lost her fortune, she 
with three of the youngest children moved to 
Arkansas. This was in 1843. In 1845 they 
again changed their location, settling in Dal- 
las county in May of that year, James M. 
being then fifteen years of age. There were 
few settlers here at that time. Mrs. Ken- 
nedy's capital consisted of only |55, and it 



510 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COO NTT. 



was with difficulty that she managed to sup- 
port her family and get a start on the fron- 
tier. The year following her arrival she took 
a homestead claim of 320 acres under the 
Peters colony, and James M. secured 160 
acres. He was a good hunter and kept the 
family well supplied with meat, and as time 
rolled on the prospect brightened. Oppor- 
tunities for schooling were beyond his reach 
and his education was limited, but he picked 
up enough learning to enable him to transact 
business and to carry him successfully through 
life. 

Mr. Kennedy remained with his mother 
and assisted her until 1853, when he married 
and began life for himself. He progressed 
rapidly, and in 1860 was a full partner with 
a Mr. Witt in the Trinity mills and had a 
good store in connection with tliem. In the 
meantime he had had some misfortunes, 
namely, sickness in his family and the death 
of his wife. In 1858 he married again. 
When the war came on he was the possessor 
of a snug little fortune. He out loose from 
everything, sold out, took slaves and Con- 
federate money as payment, and when the 
war was over he found his hard-oarned for- 
tune swept away. 

In 1861 he joined the Confederate army, 
Witt's Company, Darnell's Regiment, and 
soon after entering the field his company was 
transferred to Scantlan's squadron, in which 
he remained until tiie war closed. After the 
exemption law William Jackson was made 
Captain of their company and Mr. Kennedy 
was promoted to First Lieutenant. He par- 
ticipated in many skirmishes and a number 
of battles; was mustered out at Hempstead, 
Texas. 

Returning home, he found himself without 
anything save the 160 acres of land which he 
had kept. He rented it and turned his atten- 



tion to trading, which he followed success- 
fully three years. He then settled down to 
farming and stock-raising, and has since met 
with prosperity. He now has an estate con- 
sisting of 800 acres of tine land, well stocked 
with horses, cattle, hogs, etc., and improved 
with substantial buildings. 

Mr. Kennedy first married Miss Prudence 
Rowe, daughter of W. B. Rowe. Her father, 
an Englishman by !)irth, and a farmer, came 
to Texas in 1848 and settled in Dallas county, 
where he died in June, 1871. He was a man 
of high standing, his family being otie of the 
leading ones in the count}'. By this happy 
union one child was born, October 29, 1854, 
and was named William. 

The young wife and mother departed this 
life September 29, 1855. October 3, 1858, 
Mr. Kennedy wedded Miss Charlotte Drake, 
daughter of George D. and Rachel (Tomp- 
kins) Drake. Her parents went from New 
York to Ohio and from there to Illinois, 
where, in Marshall county, she was born, Sep- 
tember 17, 1839, and in 1855 they emigrated 
to Texas. Her father was a brick mason by 
trade, but after coming to Texas was engaged 
in farming. He died at Fort Scott, Kansas, 
in 1883. By his second marriage Mr. Ken- 
nedy has had nine children, two dying in in- 
fancy. Six are still living, viz.; George, 
born September 14, 1868; James M. and 
Samuel M. (twins), July 19, 1871; Emma, 
September 29, 1873; Mattie, September 10, 
1875; and Marsh, March 27, 1877. Ella 
Prudence, the oldest, born March 3, 1866, 
married George F. Myers, August 20, 1885^ 
and died February 4, 1890, leaving three chil- 
dren, — Amy, Willie and Jay. George F. Myers 
is the son of Rev. J. M. Myers and grandson of 
Rev. David Myers, an old pioneer who or- 
ganized the First Baptist Church in Dallas 
county. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS VOUNTY. 



511 



Politically, Mr. Kennedy is a Democrat; 
socially, a member of the Masonic fraternity; 
and religiously, lie and his family are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, he having been a leader in church 
work for many years. 

It should be further stated in connection 
with the family history of Mr. Kennedy that 
his father, Samuel Kennedy, was born in 
South Carolina, and that his grandfather, 
William Kennedy, a native of Ireland, came 
to America with five brothers, served through 
the Revolutionary war, and afterward settled 
in South Carolina. Samuel Kennedy married 
Miss Mary Murf, daughter of Samuel Murf, 
who was of German extraction, and of their 
four sons and four daughters the subject of 
tiiis sketch was the seventh born. Mrs. Ken- 
nedy died in Te.xas, April 8, 1861. 

Such is an epitome of the life of one of 
Dallas county's best citizens and Christian 
men. 

^^^^^^"^^/^^ 

W. GILBERT, M. D., of Dallas 
county, was born in Oktibbeha county, 
Mississippi, January 31, 1854, a son 
of John W. and Sail ie (Brough ton) Gilbert. 
The father was born near DeKalb, Georgia, 
and when a young man he went to Missis- 
sippi and settled in Oktibbeha county, where 
he accumulated considerable property. He 
lost heavily by the war, and always made his 
home in Mississippi, where he died, in 1881, 
at the age of eighty-one years. Our subject's 
mother also died in Oktibl)eha county, in 
1877, at the age of sixty-seven years. Mr. 
and Mrs. Gilbert were the parents of eleven 
children, as follows: Jackson Marion is a 
physician residing in LewisvillC; Denton 
county, Texas; Franklin Monroe, also a phy- 
sician, resides in Hood county; the two daugh- 



ters, twins, died in infancy; John Wesley 
died in 1883, after reaching maturity; Allen 
Broughton was killed at Canton, Mississippi, 
in tiie Confederate army; Laurania Ann, the 
widow of D. W. Price, resides in Dallas 
county; Thomas B., a farmer by occupation, 
resides in Comanche county, Texas; Zacha- 
riah Taylor died in Louisiana, in 1882, leaving 
a family ; Henry Clay io a physician of Smith- 
field, Tarrant county, and D. W. our subject. 

The latter was reared in his native county 
to the age of twenty years, after which he 
came to Texas, in company with a friend, and 
located in Grapevine, Tarrant county, in 
January, 1874. He began reading medicine 
under his brother. Dr. F. M. Gilbeit, in that 
city, in 1876, and took a course of lectures in 
1879-'80-'81 at the Missouri Medical Col- 
lege, St. Louis, graduating in March, 1881. 
Mr. Gilbert located and began practice near 
Grapevine, Tarrant county, where he con- 
tinued until 1884, and in that year he moved 
to where he now lives, near Sowers, Dallas 
county. He formed a partnership for one 
year with Dr. T. B. Dorris, and one year later 
with Dr. A. B. Greg, but has practiced mostly 
alone. The Doctor is devoted exclusively to 
his profession, following it assiduously and 
successfully. His practice embraces all 
branches of the profession, and extends over 
a coqsiderable scope of country. On locating 
where he now lives he purchased a small 
farm, which he has in a good state of cultiva- 
tion, and on which he has a neat residence. 

The Doctor was married in April, 1882, to 
Miss Marietta Board man, a native of Dallas 
county, and a daughter of J. R. Boardman, 
an early settler of (xrapevine Prairie. She 
died in 1885, leaving one child, Taylor Clyde. 
Mr. Gilbert was married a second time, in 
September, 1886, to Mrs. Fannie Willis 
Roberts, a daughter of John W. Trigg, of 



512 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




Tarrant county. The Doctor takes consider- 
able interest in matters relating to liis lo- 
cality, and lends a helping hand to everything 
for its advancement. He is a member of the 
Farmers' Alliance, and is actively identified 
with the affairs of that order. 



;ILLIAM O.HARRISON, a well- 
known resident of Dallas county, is 
a son of Jonathan Tyler and Jemima 
Delina (Osborne) Harrison, of English an- 
cestry. The first ancestor of that name who 
first came to America, was Terrell Harrison, 
a Presbyterian minister, who settled in Vir- 
ginia. His son, Jonathan, was born in tiiat 
State, and afterward settled in Fairfield dis- 
trict, South Carolina, where he was a planter, 
and at one time was Sheriff of that district. 
His son, Burr Harrison, was the father of 
Jonathan Tyler, the father of the subject of 
this sketch. Jonathan Tyler Harrison was 
born and reared in Fairfield district, and in 
early life was engaged as an overseer. He 
worked four years as such for Governor 
Means, and was also overseer for h's estate 
after the Governor's death. Mr. Harrison 
then moved to Anderson district, same State, 
where he was engaged for some years in the 
mercantile business, and still later was a con- 
tractor for railroad work, having assisted in 
building the Blue Ridge railroad, in 1860. 
He was engaged in that occupation when the 
war came on, and he then enlisted in the 
Confederate army, in the Second Rifies, which 
was raised in Anderson county. He entered 
as Third Lieutenant, and was afterward pro- 
moted Second Lieutenant, and was in Lone- 
street's Corps, Jenkins' Brigade, and took 
part in all the battles which were fought by 
his command. He served until the fall of 



1864, when he resigned, on account of riieu- 
matisin, and also received a flesh wound in 
the battle of the Wilderness. After the close 
of the war Mr. Harrison returned to his farm 
in Anderson district, where he was engaged 
in agricultural pursuits until his death, March 
14, 1870. He was a member of the Mission- 
ary Baptist Churcli throughout life, and was 
twice married, first to Jemima Delina Os- 
borne, a daughter of W. M. Osborne, of 
Fairfield district, South Carolina, where Mrs. 
Harrison was born and reared. They had 
the following children: William O., our sub- 
ject; Sallie, who died when young; Jonathan 
B., of Dallas county, a sketch of whom ap- 
pears in this work; James W., of Denton 
county, this State; Thomas Jefferson, of Dal- 
las county; and Fannie, the wife of Sanford 
Wilburne, of Union district. South Carolina. 
The wife and mother died in Anderson dis- 
trict, June 8, 1858, and Mr. Harrison was 
afterward married to Eliza McDaniel, also of 
Anderson district, and tiiey had four children : 
Jefferson Davis, of this county; Carrie, who 
became the wife of W. N. Sanders, of Dallas 
county, and is now deceased; Susan, the wife 
of P. F. Sanders, of Dallas county; Mamie, 
the wife of J. B. Hammel, of Tarrant county, 
Texas. 

William O. Harrison, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Fairfield district. South 
Carolina, November 3, 1847, and was reared 
in that and Anderson district. He emigrated 
to Rusk county, Texas, in the winter of 1870, 
where he remained one year, and then went 
to Marion county, and two years later to Dal- 
las county, settling on Grapevine Prairie, 
near where he now lives. He bought hig 
present farm of ninety acres in 1875, all of 
which was open prairie, and he has since 
added to this place until he now owns 166 
acres, most of which is under cultivation. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



513 



Mr. Harrison began the mercantile business 
at G-ibbs about three years ago, under the 
lirm name of Harrison & Co., his partners 
being his brothers, Jonathan B. Harrison and 
T. J. Harrison, and he is also engaged 
in the gin business. Mr. Harrison secured 
the post office at Gibbs in 1887, and soon 
afterward became the Postmaster, which posi- 
tion he has since held, and is also Notary 
Tublic and general counsel for the neigh- 
borhood. He was married in Elbert county, 
Georgia, June 20, 1865, to Laura McDaniel, 
a daughter of Edward and Frances (White) 
McDaniel. of that county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Harrison have had the following children; 
Minnie, the wife of Byron L. Nix, of this 
county, Lena, wife of W. N. Sanders; Emma, 
now Mrs. C. ^. Corbin; Fannie, Laura, Ed- 
ward T. and Birdie. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison 
are members of the Baptist Church. Politi- 
cally, Mr. Harrison is a Democrat. 



4^ 

TO 



fW. HUFFHINES, a farmer near Rich- 
ardson, Dallas county, was born in this 
® county, in 1853, the eldest of five chil- 
dren born to Christopher and Martha (Smith) 
Huffhines, natives of Kentucky. In 1852 
the parents emigrated with horse teams to 
Dallas county, having been forty-eight days 
on the road. They settled on White Rock, 
near Richardson, where the father bought a 
section of partly improved land. In 1863 
he enlisted in Colonel Stone's regiment, 
Captain Stratton's company, and died in 
July of the same year, near Mansfield, Louisi- 
ana, of disease contracted in the service. 
The mother was married, in 1868, to Thomas 
J. Stratton, and now resides in Armstrong 
county, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Iluft'hines had 
the following children: J. W., our subject; 



J. F., engaged in farming and in the stock 
business near Amarillo, Texas; Mary, wife of 
W. B. Alkire, of North Dallas; Elizabeth, 
wife of T. J. Gillock, of Fort Scott, Kansas; 
Ophelia, now Mrs. Charles Chick, of Wash- 
burn, this State. 

The subject of this sketch was reared to 
farm life and educated in the schools of Dal- 
las county. After reaching maturity he re- 
ceived from his father's estate ninety acres of 
land, which he improved, and to which he 
has since added until he now owns 250 acres. 
In 1887 he moved to the city of Dallas, and 
bought and improved liis residence, having 
been one of the first to build in this portion 
of East Dallas. Mr. Huffhines is identified 
with the Democratic party. He is a member 
of one of the early pioneer families of this 
county, where he was born and reared, and 
has always taken an active part in everything 
for the good of the city or county. He was 
married in Dallas county, in 1875, to M. A. 
Wright, a native of Kentucky, and a daugh- 
ter of Merrick and Elizabeth (Pope) Wright, 
also natives of Kentucky. They came to 
Dallas county, in 1871, settling near Richard- 
son, but later moved near the city, where the 
mother died in 1889, and the father is still 
living. Mr. and Mrs. Huffhines have one 
child, Elmo. Mrs. Huffhines is a member 
of the Baptist Church. 



'^^OJTJl/l,- 



-^mrui^ 



fRANClS M. WHITE, an old and highly 
respected citizen of Lancaster, Dallas 
county, was born in White county, Ten- 
nessee, a son of Woodson P. and Nancy 
(Mitchell) White, natives of Virginia. The 
father accompanied his parents to middle 
Tennessee at an early day, settling in White 
county, where he lived and died, in 1840. 



514 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



He was a successful farmer and merchant 
aud a mau of public note, having served his 
county in the State Legislature a number of 
terms. His father, John White, vpas a Revo- 
lutionary soldier, and an early settler of 
middle Tennessee. Our subject's mother, 
7iee Nancy Mitchell, was born in Tennessee, 
near Knoxville, a daughter of David Mitchell, 
where she lived until her death. She was 
married to Woodson F. White, in that county, 
in 1810, and died there in 1871. Mr. and 
Mrs. White had the following children: 
Dyer P., who died in White county, Tennes- 
see, leaving a family; Elizabeth, deceased, 
was the wife of Martin Young; Byrd, who 
went to Alabama after reaching his maturity, 
where he died before marriage; Louisa, living 
at Tulula, Menard county, Hlinois, was the 
wife of William G. Green; Martha, who 
died at Sparta, White county, Tennessee, was 
the wife of Edward Murray; William L., 
deceased, a sketch of whom will be found in 
this work; Mary, the wife of Joel B. Cool- 
idge, of Lancaster, this county; Francis 
Marion, our subject; Maria, wife of S. D. 
Mitchell, living two miles west of Lancaster; 
and John Rufus, a farmer near Lancaster. 

The subject of this sketch, Francis M. 
White, was born October 18, 1828, and was 
reared in his native county to the age of 
nineteen years, after which he went to Me- 
nard county Hlinois. Two years later, in 
1851, he came to Texas, and made his first 
permanent stop about five miles east of the 
present village of Lancaster, where he had 
friends and acquaintances. After prospecting 
for a time he purchased 580 acres of land of 
Robert Sloan, which he improved. Mr, 
White remained on this purchase until about 
1869, when, having reduced a large part of it 
to cultivation, and having accumulated some 
means, he sold out and came to Lancaster, 



and began the mercantile business. He 
bought out his brother's interest in an estab- 
lishment in the village, and the new firm 
became Ellis & White. In 1879, he sold out, 
since which time he has been engaged mainly 
in farming, and he now owns one of the best 
improved places in the vicinity of Lancaster. 
Mr. AVhite was married in May, 1853, to 
Martha J. Gray, a native of Montgomery 
county, Hlinois, and a daughter of A. K. 
Gray, a pioneer settler of this county. The 
wife and mother died in June, 1867, leaving 
four children: Louisa, wife of M. M. Miller, 
of Lancaster; Florence, the wife of R. M. 
Clark, of Oak Cliff; Emma, now Mrs. J. A. 
Boyd, of Lancaster; and Wayne L., at home. 
Mr. White was again married, in November, 
1870, to Miss Mattie T. Trigg, a native of 
Alabama, and a daughter of Mrs. M. B. Trigg, 
a resident of Aniarillo, this State. Mr. and 
Mrs. White have four living children, viz.: 
Maud, Forest, Lester and Stella. Mr. White 
has held the usual number of small offices in 
the community where he has resided, aud is 
a member of the Methodist Church, as was 
also his former wife; the present Mrs. White 
is a member of the Baptist Church. 



fOHN BRYAN.— To this person belongs 
the distinction of being the first male 
child born in Dallas. He was born 
January 9, 1846, and was reared as a farmer 
in and near Dallas, receiving his education 
here. In the fall of 1864, when nineteen 
years of age, he enlisted in the Confederate 
service, and remained until the close of the 
war. He was with the forces that operated 
in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas, and was 
in an almost continuous skirmish and many 
battles. He received no wounds, however, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



515 



and was never captured; was mustered out 
in Milam county, Texas, and returned home. 
Here he was engaged in farming and stock- 
raising until 1872. That year he went into 
Uvalde and Llano counties, bought cattle 
and engaged in ranching, remaining there 
fifteen years. He then returned to Dallas 
county, and in 1889 purchased a farm and 
settled here; and here he expects to remain. 

October 10, 1867, he was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Sallie Thompson, a daughter 
of Moses and Martha Thompson, of Tennes- 
see. They came to Texas in 1865 and 
settled on a farm in Dallas county. Here 
her father, Moses Thompson, died, in Erath 
county, Texas, January 25, 1890. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Bryan live children have been born, 
namely: William W., November 12, 1870; 
Robert Lee, July 21, 1873; James B., March 
21, 1877; Luella, October 12, 1882; and 
Burta M., May 5, 1886. 

Mr. Bryan's father, John Neely Bryan, 
was born at Fayetteville, Lincoln county, 
Tennessee, December 24, 1810. He was 
reared in his native town, received a liberal 
education, and in his jounger days was en- 
gaged in teaching. After leaving Tennes- 
see and while in Arkansas he studied law, 
and after coming to Texas he practiced that 
profession. He landed in this State when it 
was yet a Republic, in 1839. He traveled 
over it considerably and finally decided on 
the location of Dallas. Returning to Red 
river, he got a man to accompany him to 
help guard against the Indians; came 
back, planted his stakes, obtained a hcad- 
rieht of 640 acres, built a block-house and 
called the place Dallas. His first work was 
to get some land under cultivation. He 
broke soil where the courthouse now stands, 
planted corn and raised a crop. That year 
a heard of buffaloes ran thi'ough his corn and 



did it great damage. In 1841 or '42 he laid 
out a portion of the town, and soon afterward 
a few cabins sprang up. February 26, 1843, 
he married. July 26, 1846, the county of 
Dallas was organized. He gave to the county 
ninety-eight lots, besides donating the public 
square, the same on which the new court- 
house is now being built. He gave bond for 
deeds of these gifts, and in 1855 received his 
title from the Government and made deeds 
for same. The town grew slowly, and in 
1861, when the war broke out, it was only a 
little trading post. Previous to the war Mr. 
Bryan sold his claim and relinquished all 
right to the town. Soon after hostilities 
began he joined the army, but as he was too 
old was mustered out of tiie service. Finally 
he went in as a substitute, remaining until 
the war ended. He then served one terra as 
Justice, after which he settled on a farm and 
was engaged in agricultural pursuits until the 
time of his death. He departed this life 
September 14, 1877. He was a bold and 
fearless man, and during his early travels on 
the frontier met with some narrow escapes 
from the Indians. He made the trip to Cali- 
fornia, was all through New Mexico and 
Arizona, and after an absence of about four 
years decided to come home, and made the 
journey alone. 

The mother of John Bryan was, before her 
marriage. Miss Margaret Beeman. Her 
father, John Beeman, was a native of North 
Carolina, and her mother, Emily Beeman, of 
South Carolina. They met and were married 
in Illinois, and in Illinois Mrs. Bryan was 
born, September 29, 1825. In 1840, at the 
age of fourteen, she came to Texas with her 
parents and located at Dallas, where she was 
subsequently married to John Neely Bryan. 
Six children blessed their union, four of 
whom grew to maturity, viz.: John Bryan, 



516 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



wliose name heads this sketch; Elizabetli F., 
born December 4, 1847; Edward T., June 2, 
1849; and Alexander L., October 3, 1854. 
Edward died January 30, 1879, at the age of 
twenty-nine years and eight months. 

John Neely Bryan was a member of the 
Presbyterian Church from early manhood up 
to the time of his death. His widow is a 
member of the Baptist Church. She is still 
hale and hearty, and has many pleasing rem- 
iniscences of her early pioneer life, which 
she relates in a vivid and charming manner. 



^>SE5 



im^ 



|OAII GOOD, a resident of Farmers' 
Branch, Dallas county, Texas, was born 
in Page county, Virginia. He was 
reared on a farm and received an ordinary 
English education. Being of a mechanical 
turn, he took up the carpenter's trade and 
worked at it in Virginia, and also to some 
extent after he canie to Texas. In 1839 he 
moved to Kentucky, and from there, the fol- 
lowing year, to Tennessee. In the latter 
State he was employed in overseeing negroes. 
While in Tennessee he was married, and 
when he arrived in Texas, in 1846, his fam- 
ily consisted of a wife and three children. 
He took a headright in Dallas county, under 
the Peters Colony, thus acquiring 640 acres 
of land. He subsequently bought an acre 
and a half adjoining the town site of Farmers' 
Branch. He also has twenty-four and one- 
half acres within a mile of the town, a part of 
his headright. He worked at his trade in 
the summer and made rails for his farm in 
the winter. 

In 1863 Mr. Good was conscripted into 
the Confederate army, and served eight 
months, his services being confined to this 
State. He was a member of Captain Mc- 



Cain sy's company, Colonel Smith's regi- 
ment; received his discharge near Bonham. 

Mrs. Good's parents, Elisha and Sarah 
Fyke, natives of Alabama, came to Texas in 
1846. Her father was a mechanic by trade, 
but after coming to Texas was engaged in 
farming. He was in the Florida war, and 
received wounds there that finally ended his 
days, his death occurring in July, 1860. 
His wife died the winter after their arrival 
in Texas. 

Mr. Good is of German extraction, but 
of his ancestors he knows little. To him and 
his wife eleven children have been born, 
namely: George W., Sarah A., William L., 
Mary E., Martha A., Virginia, Helena, 
Francis M., Kuth E., and James A. and John 
A. (twins). 

Mr. Good has a nice residence in Farmers' 
Branch, where he is comfortably situated. 
Of late years he has sold some of his land 
and divided some among his children, re- 
taining a farm of 176 acres and 102 acres of 
timber laud. For four years he served as 
Justice of the Peace. He is a member of 
the Masonic fraternity and of the Mission- 
ary Baptist Church. 

f HO MAS F. KING, a contractor for 
gravel and composition roofing, was 
born in the West of Ireland in 1847, 
the fourth of ten cliildren born to Martin and 
Mary (Gibbons) King, natives of Ireland. 
The parents left their native country in 1854 
and came to Kentucky, where the father was 
a brick and stone contractor. Thomas F. was 
was about seven years of age when he came 
to this country, where he first worked a few 
years on the Mississippi river, commencing 
as deck sweeper, and later was promoted to 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



517 



mate. In 1861 he enlisted in the Rodney 
Guards, and served in what was known as 
Bonham's regiment and later numbered the 
Twenty-second Mississippi Infantry. He was 
taken a prisoner at the battle of Cliampion 
Hill, but afterward escaped and returned to 
steamboating on the Mississippi river, where 
he again worked on the river some years; 
then went to Montana Territory, where he 
served as a Government scout until 1871. 

Mr. Kin2 came to Dallas in 1887, where 
bought a lot and built his present tine resi- 
dence. He contracts in all the towns of 
northern Texas, and has also done a great 
amount of rooting in the city of Dallas. 

He was married in Kentucky, in 1874, to 
Mary Cone, a native ot Ireland, and daughter 
of Peter Cone, a resident of Kentucky. Mr. 
King takes an active interest in politics, 
voting with the Democratic party. Socially, 
he is a member of the Coeur de Lion Lodge, 
No. 8, K. of P., and religiously, both he and 
his wife are members of the Catholic Church. 
Mr. King has witnessed the complete growth 
of Dallas from a small hamlet, is the second 
oldest roofer in the State, and has made all he 
possesses by his own industry. 



-^'^mi 



w^^^- 




R. COLE, a farmer and stock-raiser 
of Dallas county, was born in Lucas 
I' county, Ohio, in 1837, the second 
of seven children born to A. H. and Lydia 
(Rappleye) Cole, natives of New York. The 
parents were married in the latter State, and 
in 1835 emigrated to Lucas county, Ohio, 
where they bought Government land. The 
father was a Baptist minister and also fol- 
lowed the occupation of farming. He re- 
mained in Ohio until near his death, which 



occurred in 1888; the mother survived him 
some years, dying in Texas in 1890. 

W. R. Cole, our subject, was reared and 
educated in his native State, and also attended 
the academy at Kalamazoo, Michigan, a few 
terms. He then engaged in farming, and in 
connection withjit followed surveying and had 
chargeof laying and planningcounty roads and 
ditches. He came to Dallas county, Texas, 
in 1875, and bought a partly improved farm, 
which he afterward sold. He now owns a 
good farm of over 200 acres, which is in a 
good state of cultivation, about three miles 
from the city of Dallas, and where he is also en- 
gaged in raising a good grade of stock. Mr. 
Cole was married in Lucas county, Ohio, in 
1861, to Eliza Taylor, a native of that county 
and daughter of William and Mary (Corson) 
Taylor, natives of Pennsylvania. The parents 
moved to Lucas county in an early day, where 
the father became an extensive farmer and 
lumberman. His death occurred in 1884, 
and his wife died some years previous. Mr, 
Cole lost his wife by death in 1873, and by 
that union there was one child, Addie, now 
married to G. T. Godsy, of Dallas. He was 
agam married, in 1875, to Eva Balderson, a 
native of Lorain county, Ohio, and daughter 
of Robert and Jane (York) Balderson, natives 
of England. The latter emigrated to Loraiu 
county in 1849. Mr. Balderson still resides 
in that State. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have seven 
children: Mary, Willie, Robert, Thomas, 
Hattie, Clara and Bertha. The parents are 
both members of the First Baptist Church, 
and Mr. Cole is President of the Pleasant 
Yiew Alliance, a member of the Farmers' 
Alliance, and was the first President of the 
Central Texas Horticultural Association, 
which has since merged into the State Asso- 
ciation. As lecturer of the Dallas County 
Alliance, in 1891, he earnestly advocated the 



518 



HI STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Alliance "sub-treasury" plan, on account of 
which he was required to resign his place on 
the Democratic Executive Committee of that 
county, a matter which caused no little stir 
in the political circles of the State of Texas. 



-«fe 



^*~ 




sOSES M. CLARK, of the firm of 
Curfman & Clark, Garland, was 
born in Cocke county, Tennessee, in 
1843, the tenth child of Moses and Hannah 
(Robison) Clark, natives of North Carolina. 
The father was a farmer by occupation, and 
came to Tennessee prior to the birth of our 
subject, in 1841, and settled in Cocke county, 
where he engaged in farming. The paternal 
grandfather of Moses Clark died at tiie age of 
104 years, and his son, the father of our sub- 
ject, was eighty-eight years of age at his 
death. He was twice married, and of his 
eleven children nine grew to years of ma- 
turity, viz: Mary P., the widow of Alex. 
Block, of Arkansas; George, deceased; Rachel, 
widow of Louis Coats, of Tennessee; Betsie, 
wife of D. Lillard; Nancy, wife of Monroe 
Lillard; Sarah, widow of James Clark; Eliza 
J., wife of Royal Black; Isaac, deceased, 
formerly a minister of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church of North Carolina, and for 
some time a Presiding Elder of the church. 
Mrs. Clark died in 1865, and Mr. Clark was 
afterward married to Mrs. Varina Lillard. 
Mr. Clark died in 1875, at the age of eighty- 
six years, and his last wife died about the 
same time. 

M. M. Clark, our subject, receiv^ed his 
education in the common school of Ten- 
nessee, and at the age of twenty-one years 
commenced life for himself. He entered the 
Confederate army at the age of seventeen 
years, joining Comj)any C, Twenty-sixth 



Tennessee Regiment, commanded by Colonel 
John M. Lillard, of Meigs county, and Cap- 
tain Ed Allen. Mr. Clark participated in 
the battles of Fort Donelson, where he was 
captured and taken to Camp Morton, and 
after eight months was exchanged at Yicks- 
burg, Mississippi; his next battle was Mur- 
freesboro, Tullahoma, Chickamauga, and 
other engagements. His company was one 
of the five who captured the artillery and 
wagon trains of the late General Gillam, at 
Russellvilie, routing the opposing forces and 
running the fire over thirty miles. Mr. 
Clark was captured at Asheville, North Car- 
olina, but succeeded in making his escape. 
His captain was captured at the same time, 
and the two were confined in a house, and 
while the guards had their back turned they 
jumped through the door, and those suc- 
ceeded in making their escape. Mr. Clark 
was paroled at Kingston, Georgia, after 
which he went to Tennessee, but again re- 
turned to Georgia for four or five months. 
His first farming was done in 1866, in Mar- 
shall county, as a hired hand, but after one 
year he returned to Giles county, Tennessee, 
and remained until 1870. In that year he 
came to this State, locating a quarter of a 
mile from Garland, where he worked for two 
years on shares; next he rented land until 
1883, when he bought seventy-five acres of 
partly improved land, paying $11 per acre, 
to which he afterward added seventy-seven 
acres and twenty acres of timber land. The 
152 acres are now worth from $40 to $50 per 
acre. 

The firm of which Mr. Clark is a member 
was organized under the name of Williams, 
Curfman & Clark, but the latter has since 
bought Mr. Williams' interest in the busi- 
ness. For three years the firm has been Curf- 
man & Clark, dealers in dry goods, groceries 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



519 




and hardware, carrying a stock of from 
$5,000 to $10,000, and doing an annual 
business of about 140,000. 

Mr. Clark was married in Giles county, 
Tennessee, August 8, 1867, to Miss Louisa 
Mull, a daughter of John Mull. She died 
July 4, 1875, and in 1878 Mr. Clark married 
Miss Adeline D. McDonald. Mrs. Clark is 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and Mr. Clark is Past Master of tlie A. F. & 
A. M., Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441, and also 
a member of the L O. O. F., Garland Lodge, 
No. 304. 



mijr R. LAGOW, one of the prominent 
young farmers of Precinct No. 3 
[* Dallas county, Te.xas, was born in 
Houston county, this State, in 1862. He 
was the second-born in the family of Richard 
and Ann (Murchison) Lagow, natives of 
Texas and Tennessee respectively. Richard 
Lagow was born in Houston county, Decem- 
16, 1841. He was there engaged in farming 
and sawmilling, and was ranked among the 
leading citizens of the community. He took 
part in the late war as a private in the Confed- 
erate service four years, being with the forces 
that operated in Arkansas and Louisiana, 
The maternal grandfather of our subject was 
a native of Illinois, and was a farmer by occu- 
pation. Following are the names of the liv- 
ing children of Richard Lagow, and his wife 
(two having died): W. R. ; Lucia M., wife of 
Jack Witt; Liadie V., wife of I. D. Killing- 
worth; M. L.; Mary C; Samuel M.; Louella 
A.; Charles E. ; Minnie E. Mr. Lagow came 
to this county in 1879, and moved to a place 
adjoining the fair grounds of Dallas, a large 
tract of laud his father had located when 
Texas was a Republic. The fair grounds 
occupy a portion of the original tract, 4,444 
acres. Besides this he also had other lands' 



in the county. The estate was divided among 
four sons, all settling on it and subsequently 
selling out, some of them going West. 
While he was one of the leading men in this 
county, Richard Lagow took no particular 
interest in political matters, voting with the 
Democratic party. He was an Elder in the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and was 
a prominent member of the Grange. His 
death occurred in 1885. His wife died in 
1887. She was also a member of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church. 

W. R. Lagow was educated in the common 
schools of Houston county. He remained at 
home until after the death of his father, and 
at the age of twenty-two commenced life for 
himself. In 1887 he bought eighty acres of 
the Reiman survey, on which he now resides, 
paying for it $50 per acre, and in 1889 he 
purchased 127 acres adjoining it, for which 
he paid $37.50 an acre. Then, in Novem- 
ber, 1890, he bought 100 acres that joined 
on the southeast, the cost per acre for this 
being $40. Of this land he has 215 acres 
under cultivation. He also owns about 
twenty-six acres, adjoining the fair grounds, 
that is valued at $200 an acre. 

Mr. Lagow was married in 1886, to Miss 
Margaret A. Beeman, daughter of Scott 
Beeman. Three children have been born 
to them, viz: Lizzie; Eugene, who is dead, 
and an infant, who died August 1, 1891. 

Mrs. Lagow is a member of the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church, aud Mr. Laglow, ot 
the Farmers' Alliance. 



-^-^tnA/l/' 



-^ 



l/lfUXy^ 



tEWIS JACOBY, who for the past few 
years has been a conspicuous figure in 
local politics, is the subject of the fol- 
lowing brief biographical sketch: He was 
born in the State of Kentucky, Bourbon 



530 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



county, in 1853. aud is a son of John Jacoby, 
deceased, lie passed an uneventful youth in 
bis native State, and enjoyed only the limited 
educational advantages afforded by the com- 
mon schools of that day. The public school 
system had not, at that time, reached a point 
worthy of the name of system, but he made 
the most of his opjwrtunities and acquired a 
fair practical education. After leaving the 
school-n>om, until 18S2, he was employed in 
various occupations; in that ^-tar he l>ecame 
Deputy Sheriff tg Benjamin Jones, and served 
in that capacity four years. In 1886 he was 
elected Constable of Precinct No. 1, and 
served with such tidelity that he was re- 
elected in 1888. In 1890 the people still 
further indicated their confidence in him by 
electing him Tax Collector for Dallas county. 
In a vigorous campaign he was chosen out of 
four candidates by the handsome plurality of 
800 votes, lie entered upon the discharge of 
the duties of this otfice in Xoveml>er, 1890. 
On a total valuation of ^40.000.000 tlie bond 
of this office is ^350,000. The business of 
this official is to collect the State, county and 
occupation taxes, and the enormous aggregate 
renders it a very resjwusible position. 

Mr. Jacoby wa* married to Miss Villa 
Rock, a native of Iowa, and two sons have 
been born of the union. They own a beauti- 
ful home in Cak Clilf, where they enjoy many 
of the material and social pleasures of life. 
Politically, Mr. Jacoby affiliates with the 
Democratic party, and stanchly supports all 
all the issues of that botiy. 



C. SLAUGHTER. Dallas. Texas, is 
ranked with the wealthiest and most 
\'* successful stock men of the State, and 
also has large banking interests. His whole 
life has l^een passed in Texas, and devoted to 



the business in which he has made such signal 
success. 

C. C. Slaughter was born in Sabine county, 
Texas, February 9, 1837, son of George W. 
and Sarah (Mason) Slaughter, who are now 
honored residents of Palo Pinto county, 
Texas, the former seventy-eight and the hitter 
sixty-six years of age. Mrs. Slaughter is a 
daughter of John Mason and a relative of 
John y. Mason, of the Mason and Dixon 
Line. George W. Slaughter was born in 
Mississippi, and came to Texas with his 
parents in 1835, and for some time was en- 
gaged in farmiuff and stock-raisincf. The 
greater part of his life, however, has been 
spent as an itinerant Baptist minister, and as 
such he has been the means of accomplishing 
untold good. He graduated at Brush College, 
has been pastor of many a frontier charge, 
and still has regular work, preaching every 
Sabbath. He took part in the Indian and 
Texan wars, and was well and favorably 
known to General Houston, frequently com- 
manding that General's scouts. He is indeed 
a pioneer of the pioneers. 

The subject of our sketch is the oldest of 
a family of ten children. One was acci- 
dentally killed by a mule. The others are all 
living. 

AViien he was eighteen or twenty years of 
age. young Slaughter engaged in the stock 
business in company with his father, under 
the tirm name of G. W. & C C. Slaughter, 
raising, buying, driving and shipping stock. 
This partnership continued some ten years. 
They were also connected with the firm of 
McLearan & Slaughter, under which name 
they bought goods in New York and sold them 
in Texas for two years, doing an extensive 
mercantile business and ranking with the 
most prominent firms of that day. The' next 
business association with which Mr. Slangh- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



521 



ter was connected was that of banking in 
Dallas, with Colonel Hughes, J. R. Couts and T. 
C. Jorden stockholders. After a few years 
C. C. Slaughter & Go. bought out the other 
stockholders and continued the banking busi- 
ness. Dallas at that time being the seal of his 
operations, he moved here, and here he has 
since resided. 

The firm of C. C. Slaughter & Co. opened 
and conducted the City Bank, the banking 
firm being authorized by the State in 1871. 
Colonel Hughes and G. W. Slaughter bought 
out the other partners, excepting Mr. C. C. 
Slaughter, and the two continued business 
under the same name. Colonel Hughes tak- 
ing charcre of the banking interests, and Mr. 
Slaughter the buying, selling and shipping 
of stock, etc. In 1879 they dissolved partner- 
ship, and since that year our subject has been 
doing business alone. The City Bank was 
subsequently merged into the City National 
Bank of Dallas. Mr. Slaughter remained 
with it until 1884, when he resigned and ob- 
tained a charter and had stock taken for the 
American National Bank and United States 
Depository, and of this institution he is vice- 
president. 

Mr. Slaughter was first married in 1860 to 
Miss Cynthia A. Jowell, daughter of James 
Jowell, of Palo Pinto county, Texas. Mrs. 
Slaughter was a devoted Christian woman 
and a member of the Baptist Church. She 
died in 1876, leaving a family of five children, 
as follows: George M., a prominent farmer 
and stock-raiser of Hale county, Texas, man- 
aging the Running Water ranch; Minnie, who 
is a graduate of the old Virginia Institute at 
Staunton, and who in 1886 spent six months 
in visiting various points of interest in 
Europe, is now the accomplished wife of Dr. 
G. T. Veal; Dela, wife of G. G. Wright, a 
prominent attorney of Dallas, has two chil- 



dren: Gilbert Long and Florence; Robert E. 
Lee, a stock-raiser and manager of the Long 
ranch in Dawson county, Texas, married and 
has one child, — Robert E. Lee, Jr.; and Ed- 
gar Dick, now attending the University of 
Texas, preparing for the law. In 1877 Mr. 
Slaughter was united in marriage to Mis. 
Carrie Averill, daughter of Rev. A. M. Aves 
rill, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, her father 
being a noted divine in the Baptist Church. 
They have four children: C. C, Alexander 
Averill, Carrie R. and an infant. The two 
sons, C. C. and A. A. are on the ranches 
with their brothers, learning the business 
with them. 

Mr. Slaughter and his wife are members of 
the Baptist Church. They have given their 
children good educational advantages and 
take solid comfort in their welfare. 

Mr. Slaughter is an unassuming business 
man, has a mind of broad gauge, is very de- 
cided in his views on church and State, but 
is willing that everybody should be entitled 
to his views — thinking nothing less of any 
one for his opinions — provided they are con- 
scientious. He is a liberal contributor to all 
charitable purposes and trusts the world will 
be none the worse by his being in it. 



fAMES SWEARINGEN THATCHER, 
who has been a resident of the State of 
Texas since 1872, was born in Chilli- 
cothe, Ohio, in 1848, and is a son of N. W. 
and Sarah B. (Swearingen) Thatcher. The 
father was a native of New London, Con- 
necticut, and was a druggist. He lived in 
Chillicothe, Ohio, until his death. The 
mother, who was from one of the oldest 
families of Virginia, died in 1886. James 
is the oldest son in a family of seven children. 



523 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY- 



LFntil he was fourteen years of age he at- 
tended the common schools of his own State, 
and then entered the Naval Academy at 
Newport, Rhode Island, by appointment of 
President Lincoln. He was admitted Octo- 
ber 1, 1862, and resigned February 23, 1865, 
to enter the merchant service, sailing to 
Japan and China. This was a novel and de- 
lightful experience, but he finally resigned 
the position to enter Kenyon College, Ohio, 
from which he was graduated in 1871 with 
the degree of A. B. He was then employed 
by the Atlantic & Pacific railroad, but 
later took a position in the machine-shops at 
Springfield, Missouri. Leaving this work he 
was employed on the preliminary survey up 
the Arkansas and Canadian rivers for a 
branch of some road. After this was finished 
he came to Te.xas, in January, 1872. With 
the experience he had had in surveying he 
was not lon^ in finding work on the Houston 
& Texas Central and Texas & Pacific rail- 
roads surveys. In 1874 he came to Dallas 
city, and May 1, 1880, he was elected City 
Civil Engineer. He was elected a second 
time to the ofiice, and then had a private of- 
fice. From 1886 to 1888 he again filled the 
otfice, an then retired from official life. He 
has been busy in getting out plans and ex- 
ecuting work on his own account, and has 
met with great success. It was under his 
direction that the Ennis reservoir was con- 
structed, and he has recently been engaged 
in putting in the water works at Cisco, Eagle 
Pass, Gatesville and Beaumont, Texas. All 
the local engineering of the cable road in 
Dallas has been under his charge, and has 
been executed with great skill and prompti- 
tude. 

Mr. Thatcher was married in January, 
1887, at St. Louis, Missouri, to Miss Ger- 
trude J. Adams, a native of Ohio, and a lady 



of high mental attainments. They have one 
son, Edwin A. H., born October 28, 1887. 
Politically, Mr. Thatcher adheres to the 
principles of the Republican party, but he is 
conservative in his opinions, and casts his 
vote according to his impressions of the fit- 
ness of the candidates. He is one of the 
deepest and most logical reasoners on politi- 
cal questions, and carries conviction with his 
arguments. He is a member of the I. O. O. 
F., of the I. O. R. M., and the Knights of 
Pythias. He also belongs to the Theta Delta 
Chi fraternity, and is a member of the 
Episcopal Church. 



^. 



^ 



ff B. H A R K I S O N, a farmer residing 
near Gibbs, in the northwest part of 
® the county, is a son of Jonathan Tyler 
and Jemima (Osborn) Harrison, and a brother 
of William O. Harrison, a sketch of whom 
will be found in this work. Jonathan B., 
our subject, was born in Fairfield district. 
South Carolina, April 6, 1852, and was 
reared in Anderson district, to which place 
his parents had moved when he was two 
years old. He received an ordinary English 
education, and at the age of nineteen years, 
in 1870, became to Texas, making his first 
stop in Panola county, where he remained 
one year. Mr. Harrison next went to 
Marion county, and two years later, in the 
winter of 1878, came to Dallas county, first 
settling eight miles north of Dallas. One 
year later he moved to Grapevine Prairie, 
settling in the vicinity of Grapevine Springs, 
near where he now lives, and after the ex- 
piration of three years, during which time 
he rented land, he purchased fifty acres which 
lie improved, and afterward traded for his 
present farm. He has bought other land, and 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



523 



now has a farm of 162| acres, 100 acres 
of which is under a fine state of cultivation. 
He raises an abundance of cotton and corn, 
also small grain, and is interested with his 
brother, William O., in the mercantile busi- 
ness at Gibbs, doing business under the firm 
name of W. O. Harrison Co. 

Mr. Harrison was married in Cass county, 
this State, December 3, 1873, to Nannie L. 
Gruhlis, a native of Anderson district, South 
Carolina, and a daughter of W. L. and Jane 
Grubbs, natives of South Carolina. The 
parents came from Anderson district, South 
Carolina, to Texas when Mrs. Harrison was 
thirteen years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Harri- 
son's fathers were comrades during the war. 
Mr. and Mrs. Grul)bs came to Texas in 1870, 
settling first in Rusk county, next in (^ass 
county, and afterward in Dallas county, and 
then in Young county, where they now re- 
side. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison have had the 
following children: Nannie J., Jonathan 
Tyler, William G., one deceased, Sallie E., 
James W., Mary J., Fannie L. and Gracie. 
Both he and his wife are members of the 
Baptist Church, and the former is a Dem- 
ocrat in his political views. 

IHARLES D. KANADY is one of the 
pioneers of Dallas county, and the 
following space will be devoted to a 
brief sketch of his career. He is a native of 
the State of New York, born in 1836, and is 
a son of R. E. Kanady, a native of New York 
State and a tinner by trade. His mother's 
maiden name was Manley, and she, too, was 
born in New York. Charles D. grew to be 
a lad of thirteen years, when he quietly took 
leave of his home, and wandered all over 
New England. He stopped in Maine long 



enough to master his father's trade, and in 
1853 he took passage at Thomaston, Maiue> 
for the South. It was the trial trip of a new 
vessel, and landed at New Orleans. Thence 
he journeyed into Alabama and Mississippi, 
working at his trade. In 1858 he came to 
Galveston, Texas, and in 1859 he embarked 
in business at Waxahachie, Texas. When tlie 
war broke out between the North and South, 
he espoused the cause of the Confederacy 
and enlisted in Company C, Nineteenth Texas 
Cavalry. After a brief service in the field he 
was transferred, on account of his special fit- 
ness for the work, to the Quartermaster's de- 
partment, and remained there until near the 
close of the war, under Captain Alexander 
Howard. After the surrender he came to 
Dallas county and located in Lancaster, en- 
gaging in the hardware trade until 1868. In 
that year he came to Dallas city, which was 
then a village struggling for an existence. 
He opened a stock of hardware, and soou was 
encouraged to erect a large store-building on 
Jefferson street. He carried on his business 
in these quarters until 1872, and then dis- 
posed of his interests, and retired to a plant- 
ation. He tried fanning for eight years, but 
the life was not congenial to him, so he re- 
turned to his old occupation in 1880, which 
he has since continued. There are few men 
more widely and favorably known in Dallas 
county than Mr. Kanady. He is of a genial 
disposition, generous to a fault, and irre- 
proachable in his principles. 

In 1861, before he went to war, Mr. 
Kanady was united in marriage to Miss 
Jennie Miller, a daughter of W. B. Miller, 
who emigrated to the State of Texas in 1844. 
Mrs. Kanady was then a child of four years, 
and has passed all her life here. She is a con- 
sistent member of the Christian Church, and 
is a woman greatly admired for her many 



524 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



excellent traits of character. Three sous have 
been born to onr subject and his wife, and 
all reside in Dallas. They are young men of 
good business qualifications and an honor to 
their parents. Tiie father is a member of 
the Knights of Pythias, and is a stalwart 
Democrat. 

EORGE MELLERSH has led a some- 
what adventurous life and has experi- 
enced the ups and downs of an active 
career. He was born in Surrey 



business 
county, E 



iiglaiid. 



in 1836, to Francis and 
Margaret (Brooker) Mellersh, the former of 
whom was a carriage maker by trade. He 
came to America in 1850 and settled in 
Memphis, Tennessee, where he was called 
from life tliree years later. Tlie mother also 
died in Memphis, her demise taking place in 
1863. They were the parents of two children: 
Francis who is engaged in stock raising near 
Memphis, and George. 

The literary education of the latter was 
obtained in the land of his birth, and 
although he was anxious to secure a collegiate 
education, he was prevented from so doing 
by the immigration of his parents to Amer- 
ica. Upon the death of the father the family 
was left in poor circumstances and George at 
once began to make his own way in the 
■world as a farmer on his mother's property, 
which calling he followed until 1853, when 
ho went to steamboating on the Mississippi 
and White rivers, continuing until 1855, 
when he volunteered in the JNintli Tennessee 
Infantry to go to Washington Territory to 
light the Indians, and in time became Or- 
derly Sergeant of Company K. In 1859 he 
was ottered a commission if he would stay in 
the service, but he declined and came back to 
Memphis via the Isthmus of Panama, reach- 



ing his old home in the month of August of 
the same year. The following November he 
was married to Miss Elizabeth D. James, a 
sister of Thomas James, the coal merchant of 
Memphis, soon after which event he began 
merchandising, but his business operations 
were greatly interrupted by the stirring 
scenes of the great Civil war. After hostili- 
ties had ceased he dealt in coal at Memphis 
until 1873, when lie came to Dallas via Ful- 
ton and Texarkana by stage, and first em- 
barked in the tannery business on Ross 
avenue, near the present business site of 
Jules Schneider. Succeeding this he 
traveled for a grocery house of St. Louis, 
his territory being in the Southern States, 
and during this time he introduced the first 
Texas-made flour, manufactured by Scott's 
Mills. One year later he took charge of 
Tompkins' coal interests, following which he 
sold agricultural implements for Tompkins 
Implement Company, making overland trips 
into the interior of the State. For a short 
time he was with Schneider & Davis but 
when Uliman & Co. moved to Houston 
and then to Galveston he re-entered their 
employ. Succeeding this he was with the 
clothing firm of Hochstadarch Bros., of New 
York, and three years later entered the ser- 
vice of C. Schepflin & Co., in New 
Jersey, his territory being the "Lone Star 
State." Such, in brief, is the business ex- 
perience of one of the most stirring and 
successful men of Texas. He is an ideal 
drummer, for besides being shrewd and alive 
to the interests of those he serves, he is 
genial, whole-souled and generous, and 
possesses a heart that has not become hardened 
by contact with the world. He is well ac- 
quainted with many of the most prominent 
business men of the State, by whom he is 
admired and respected for his many com- 



^fd^/^.ii^'^ 



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\ 






WJ 

7 




j% 





HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



535 



mendable qualities of heart and bead. He is 
a Master Mason, a member of the I. O. O. F., 
and in the former organization has become a 
Knit(ht Templar. He is Past Grand Com- 
mander of Tennessee. He was Grand Pa- 
triarch of tlie I. O. O. F. in 1871, and is 
Junior Grand Warden of tlie Grand Lodge 
of Tennessee. He was, in April, 1891, made 
a member of the Grand Lodge of Texas. He 
has always been a stanch Democrat, and for 
a number of years was an active member of 
the Central Baptist Church, of Memphis. In 
1889 he built him a beautiful home in Dal- 
las, which has become well known for its 
generous hospitality and for the elegance 
and good taste of its appointments. Mr. 
and Mrs. Mellersh became the parents of 
eleven children, but only four are living: 
Fannie (Mrs. E. K. Martyn); Georgie, 
Cyrene, and Bessie. 

,,^i|lLLIAM M. LUCK, of the firm of 

7 \T, Luck & Coverton, of the Eagle Ford 
I'^ci;^ Mills, Dallas county, Texas, forms 
the subject of this biography. He has been 
identified with the interests of the county 
since 1860, and merits representation iq its 
history. 

Mr. Luck is a native of North Carolina, 
born in Rockingham county, September 14, 
1830, son of John and Lucy (Gains) Luck. 
The father was born in Germany and came to 
this country at the age of twenty-six yeai-s, 
and the mother was a native of Virginia, 
daughter of Thomas Gains, who was reared 
in Halifax county, that State. Grandfather 
Gain§ was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. 
After the birth of William M., his father 
moved to Henry county, Virginia. 

Mr. Luck was reared in the Old Dominion, 

36 



with the exception of a few years spent with 
his parents in North Carolina. At the age 
of eighteen he became an apprentice to the 
trade of millwright, and after serving two 
years was made foreman, building mills 
through Virginia and North Carolina and 
doing an extensive business. He was mar- 
ried, in 1855, to Miss Ruth Dean, also a 
native of Henry county, Virginia, daughter 
of Edmund Dean and descended from an old 
Virginia family. Mr. Dean still resides in 
that State, having reached the advanced ao-e 
of eighty-eight years. 

October 18, 1859, Mr. Luck and his wife 
and two children, in company with his father's 
family and a party of neighbors, — over forty 
in number, — started with horse teams for the 
frontier of Texas, and after a journey of 
seventy-two days reached Waxahachie, Ellis 
county, where all but two of the company 
located. The following year Mr. Luck came 
to his present location and built the mill of 
which he is now proprietor. He built a 
mill at Pleasant Run for Hop & Miller, and 
afterward another for Miller. He subse- 
quently built one at Pater's Bluff and one at 
Cleveland. In 1867 he engaged in milling 
in Ellis county, conducting a successful busi- 
ness there for ten years. After that he came 
to Dallas county and located permanently. 
To him and his wife three children were 
born: John E., of Seymour, Texas; Emma, 
wife of J. H. Nichols, Haskell, Texas; and 
William, who died at the age of seven years. 
Mrs. Luck died in 1878. She was a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was an 
earnest Christian and a devoted wife and 
mother, and her loss was deeply felt by her 
family and many friends. Mr. Luck is 
associated with the A. F. & A. M., and in 
politics is a Democrat. He is a self-made 
man, the success in life to which he has at- 



526 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



tained being the result of his own industry 
and foresight. He has accumulated con- 
siderable property, and by his honorable 
business dealings and upright life has won 
the confidence and esteem of his fellow 
citizens. 

' t>=c ©: ::t' 

fOHN SPELLMAN, another one of the 
early residents of Dallas, Texas, came to 
this city in May, 1875, and engaged in 
work at his trade, that of machinist. Dallas 
at that time contained only about 4,000 in- 
habitants, and the business was confined 
chiefly to the public square, all business be- 
ing west of Lamar street. For some time 
Mr. Spellman was employed in the Trinity 
Iron Works. He has noted with interest the 
rapid development of the city and has been 
an important factor in advancing its best in- 
terests. 

Mr. Spellman was born in Memphis, Ten- 
nessee, in 1849, son of Michael and Catherine 
(Dougherty) Spellman. His father died in 
that city in 1873, and his mother still resides 
there. He was reared and educated in Mem- 
phis, served an apprenticeship to his trade, 
and worked at it in that city until 1875, when 
he came to Dallas. In August of the year 
following his arrival here he was married to 
Miss Florence Belle Patterson, a native of 
Dallas. Her parents, Judge J. M. Patterson 
and his wife were among the early settlers of 
the town and she was one of the first children 
born here. Prominent mention of Judjje 
Patterson will be found elsewhere in this 
work. 

After his marriage Mr. Spellman located 
on Ross avenue, and since that time has 
erected five residences on Ross avenue, all 
two-story houses except one, which is a fine 
cottage. Politically, he is a Democrat, and 



has taken quite an active interest in local 
politics; has served as Alderman from the 
Second Ward from 1882 to 1886; acted as 
Mayor pro tern, of the city one year; while 
in the City Council, served as a member of the 
School Committee; and was instrumental in 
pushing forward the vvork of paving many of 
the principal streets; was Chairman of the 
Street and Bridge committee when the first 
block was laid on the streets of Dallas; in 
1886 he served an unexpired term as Super- 
intendent of Water Works, and in 1888 was 
Assistant Chief of the Fire Department. At 
an early day Mr. Spellman was a member of 
the Volunteer Fire Department. Socially, he 
is a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 44, I. O. 
O. F. He is Grand High Priest of the 
Grand Encampment and has been to the 
Grand Lodge a number of times. He is now 
Grand Lecturer and Instructor for the Juris- 
diction of Texas I. O. O. F. He is what may 
be termed a self-made man, having by his 
own industry and frugality risen to his pres- 
ent position of wealth and influence. 

Mr. and Mrs. Spellman have had two chil- 
dren, namely: John M., who is now fourteen 
years of age and is attending St. Edward's 
College, at Austin, Texas, and Francis who 
died at the age of three years and six months. 

Mrs. Spellman is a member of the Episco- 
pal Church. 

fOHN R. WEST, Dallas, Texas.— Robert 
J. West was born in Washington county, 
Tennessee, in 1812, and there married 
Mary Ann Ryland, a native of Washington 
county, Tennessee, and a daughter of John 
Ryland, who was Clerk and Sheriff of Wash- 
ington county for a period of thirty-three 
years, making during that time a most re- 
markable record for himself. The father of 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



527 



our subject was a fanner by occupation, and 
in 18-45 lie removed to Dallas county, Texas^ 
locatiug at Farmers' Jiranch. This was before 
the State was admitted to the Union. For 
some service rendered lie received a grant 
from tin Government of 640 acres of land, 
which he improved and converted into a fertile 
plantation. He resided on this place until 
his death, which occurred in 1879. A part of 
the land is still in possession of the family. 
He was Treasurer of the county in early 
days, and was one of the first County Com- 
missioners. He was a consistent member of 
the old school Presbyterian Church. Mr. 
West was twice married: first, to Miss Couch 
liy whom he had one daughter, Juliet. His 
second marriage was to Mary Ann Ryland. 
Six children were born of this union: Helena, 
who first married T. J. Winn, and after his 
death Dr. C. C. Gillespie; John R., the 
subject of this notice; Annie R. ; Martha 
Alice, now Mrs. Floyd; Robert H.; and 
Mary Catherine, who died in infancy. 

John R. grew to manhood in this county, 
and received his early education in the pioneer 
schools. The first school he attended was 
taught by his mother in their own house, and 
later a house was erected for this purpose. 
He was afterward under the instruction of 
Prof. Hudson, and studied under some of 
the best-known educators of the time. AVhen 
he started out in life for himself he chose the 
occupation of farming, which he had followed 
for two years before the beginning of the 
Civil war. In 1861 he enlisted in Company 
C, Sixth Texas Cavalry, and served faithfully 
and gallantly until the surrender. He was 
promoted to the office of Lieutenant in rec- 
ognition of his courage. He participated 
in some of the most noted battles of the war, 
and was once wounded. When hostilities 
ceased he resumed his agricultural pursuits 



on the old homestead and remained there un- 
til 1874; he then cultivated a portion of the 
plantation independently, and in 1889 he re- 
moved to Dallas, and enofaged in the real- 
estate business. 

Mr. West was married in 1865, Septem- 
ber 3, to Miss E. W. Winn, a native of Ten- 
nessee, who came with her parents to Guada- 
loupe county, Texas, in 1853, removing thence 
to Dallas county in 1858. Mr. and Mrs. 
West are the parents of eight children: Cora, 
deceased; Ula; Gussie; Swift, deceased; Ann 
R., deceased; John R.; Retta; and one child 
who died in infancy. Politically, our sub- 
ject adheres stanchly to the principles of 
the Democratic party. Too much cannot be 
said in praise of those hardy pioneers who 
prepared the way for the great strides civil- 
ization has made in the past few years. 
Hearts less brave would have quailed before 
the undertaking, and hands less willing would 
have grown weary long before the struggle 
was ended. 

fTEPHEN C. ATTEBERY, an early set- 
tler of Dallas county, is a native of 
Hart county, Kentucky, and a son of 
Thomas Attebery, a native of South Carolina. 
The latter moved to Kentucky in an early 
day, and in April, 1834, he removed to 
Greene county, Hlinois, thence to Macoupin 
county, same State, where he lived most of 
his life, dying, however, in Macon county, in 
September, 1875, at the age of seventy-two 
years. Our subject's mother, nee Elizabeth 
Clement, was born and reared in North Car- 
olina, and also died in Macoupin county, Illi- 
nois, in 1838, aged fifty years. Mr. and Mrs. 
Attebery had eleven children, two of whom 
died young, and nine became grown, married 
and had families. 



528 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Stephen C, our subject, was born in Hart 
county, Kentucky, March 24, 1820, and was 
reared to the age of fourteen years in Gray- 
son county, that State. He accompanied his 
parents to Illinois in 1834. where he remained 
until June, 1846, and then entered the United 
States army, as a member of Company C, 
Captain Frye's First Illinois Regiment, under 
Colonel John J. Hardin. His company met 
at Alton, Illinois, where it entered the l*'irst 
Illinois, moved to New Orleans, where it took 
ship and landed at Port Lavaca, and moved 
overland to San Antonio. After five weeks 
stop there, it went to Presidio, on the Rio 
Grande, and there entered the Mexican ter- 
ritory. After a march of 140 miles, i« three 
days, it passed Monte Clover, Santa Rosa 
and Paris, reaching Saltillo, and was in the 
engagement at that place February 22, 1847. 
Mr. Attebery's regiment remained at Saltillo 
until ordered to Comargo, on the Rio Grande, 
and there, July 19, 1847, he was discharged. 
The men had their choice, either to return 
home by way of the Gulf of Mexico, trans- 
portation free, or to accept an amount equiv- 
alent to mileage and ship passage, and make 
their way home as they pleased. Mr. Atte- 
bery chose the latter and with three comrades, 
Alanson Doddy, Richard Bandy and James 
Brock, they obtained an outfit, crossed the 
Rio Grande at Comargo, traveled 200 miles 
through a wild country to San Patricio, 
twenty-seven miles above Corpus Christi, on 
to Nueces, tiience to Goliad, where they 
crossed the San Antonio river, thence to 
Chesholn's ferry, on the Guadaloupe, thence 
to La Grange, on the Colorado, thence to 
Washington, on the Brazos, and next along 
the old Comanche trail to the northeast un- 
til they reached the settlements in the vicin- 
ity of where Lancaster now stands. They 
reached the settlement July 12, 1847, and 



Mr. Attebery spent the first night with Sam- 
uel Keller. He had acquaintances in the vil- 
lage, and, in fact was engaged to l)e married 
to a young lady, a daughter of one of the 
settlers, to carry out which engagement was 
the object of this visit. He then took a 
headright of 320 acres of land in the south- 
ern part of the county, near where Hv»tch- 
ings now stands, and also 320 acres seven 
miles northwest of the present village of 
Lancaster. He settled on the former tract, 
and resided there from January, 1848, until 
some time in 1850, wheTi, his father-in-law 
having died, he moved to a part of his farm, 
about three miles west of Lancaster, where 
he has since resided. Mr. Attebery has owned 
considerable land in this county, having at 
one time as much as 1,500 acres, but which he 
has since divided with his children. He has 
been engaged in farming and stock-raising 
all his life, and, although past his seventieth 
3'ear he still gives his attention to his busi- 
ness. 

He was married ten days after his arrival 
in this county, July 22, 1847, to Isabella 
Rawlins, a daughter of William Rawlins, orig- 
inally from Greene county, Illinois, where his 
daughter was born. Mr. and Mrs. Attebery 
had eleven children, viz.: Sarah Ann, who 
died in infancy; William Thomas, also de- 
ceased in infancy; William, who died when 
young; Annie, John J., Stephen H. and 
Lucy, who died young; Benjamin K., de- 
ceased; Mary E., deceased; Mattie J., and 
Millie, who died in infancy. Only four of 
these children are now living: Annie, the wife 
of Mr. Martin, of Hood county, Texas; John 
J., a resident of this county; Stephen H., of 
Lancaster, Dallas county; and Mattie, wifp 
of Alexander Mills, of Lancaster. The wife 
and mother died February 11, 1877, and Mr. 
Attebery was afterward married to Mis. 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



589 



Susan Wallace, widow of A. Wallace, of Dal- 
las county. Mrs. Attebery was born and 
reared in Wasliington county, Missouri, and 
was married first in Franklin county, that 
State, and came with her husband to Texas 
in 1874, settling in Dallas county. Mr. and 
Mrs. Attebery have one child, Joseph R. 
Mrs. Attebery's mother was a daughter of 
Thomas P. Stovall, a native of Kentucky. He 
subsequently moved to Missouri, where he 
married Judith Bass, a daughter of Tliomas 
Bass, of Washington county, Missouri. 
Mr. and Mrs. Attebery are members of the 
Christian Church. Mr. Attebery refused 
to enter the Confederate army during 
the late war, and is proud of the fact. 
Having fought under the old flag he loved it 
too well to raise his liand against it, and says 
he is uneducated and has never traveled, but 
knows enough and has seen enough to con- 
vince him that he lives under the best gov^ 
ernment that ever existed. 



JALTER CARUTH, a pioneer mer- 
chant of Dallas, was born in Allen 
*^^§^ county, Kentucky, February 1, 1826, 
the eldest child of John and Catharine (Hen- 
derson) Carutli, natives of Virginia. They 
settled in Kentucky in an earlj' day, where 
the father was engaged as a merchant and 
farmer. He came to Dallas county, Texas, 
in 1858, where he died in 1868; his wife 
died some years later. Walter Caruth was 
reared aud educated in his native county, 
and early in life began the mercantile busi- 
ness, which he followed for many years. He 
came to this county in 1852, and after con- 
tinuing the mercantile business until 1881 
he purchased a farm of 900 acres, partly im- 
proved land, formerly owned by Judo-e Pat- 




terson. Mr. Caruth commenced the improve- 
ment of this land at once, and has also one 
of the finest residences in the city. In 1861 
he entered the army, in Colonel N. H. Dar- 
nell's Regiment, and held the office of Com- 
missary of that regiment one year, after which 
he served as Quartermaster of Colonel Stone's 
Regiment. After the close of the war Mr. 
Caruth was appointed Quartermaster at Ty- 
ler, Texas, during the year of 1865. 

He was married in Dallas, in 1865, to 
Anna Worthington, a native of Mississippi, 
and daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (Hart) 
Worthington, natives of Kentucky. They 
settled in Mississippi in an early day, and 
later in Texas, where Mr. Worthington 
owned many slaves. He died in Mississippi, 
and the mother afterward came to Dallas 
county, wliere she subsequently died. Mr. 
and Mrs. Caruth have four children living, 
viz. : Mattie, wife of JV. A. McMillan, cashier 
of the National Exchange Bank at Dallas; 
Walter, William, and Ray. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Caruth are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and politically, the former 
votes with the Democratic party, although not 
active in politics. 



f[OHN T. BEAVER, of precinct No. 3, 
[ Dallas county, was born in Lawrence 
county. South Carolina, February 18, 
1835, a son of Thomas Nancy Beaver. The 
father was born in North Carolina, August 
1, 1792, and lived in that State until his ma- 
turity, when he moved to South Carolina, 
and was there married to Miss Nancy H. 
Night, about 1809. The mother was born 
in that State, August 14, 1794, and was but 
fourteen years old at the time of her mar- 
riage. Mr. Beaver was a farmer, and fol- 



530 



HISTOliY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



lowed that occupation until the war of 1812, 
when he moved to Gwinnett county, Georj^ia, 
and remained there until his death, which 
occurred January 15, 1849; his wife died 
May 17, 1872. They were the parents of 
fourteen children, and the mother lived to 
witness the marriage of all. The names of 
the children are as follows: Charlotte F., 
wife of Hiram Thoniison, of Walton county, 
Georgia; William, deceased, married Ma- 
lenda Martin; James R. was married to Mar- 
garet Ellison, and died in Georgia, in 1890; 
Mary, wife of Abraham Jackson, who, after 
his death, married Edwin Johnson, and is 
still living in Georgia; Susan, wife of Will- 
iam Brooks, resides in Milton connty, 
Georgia; Nettie, is the widow of Richard 
Mayo, and lives in Clayton county, same 
State; Margaret, deceased, was the wife of 
James Johnson; J. T., the subject of this 
sketch; Thomas, who died in Gwinnett 
county, in 1862; Washington, who died in 
South Carolina, in 1865; Andrew, died in 
Arkansas, in 1878; Frances M., a resident 
of Dallas county; and Nancy, wife of J. R. 
Langley, resides in Clayton county, Georgia. 
John T., our subject, remained in Georgia 
until the war, when he enlisted in Company 
A, Second Georgia State Line, and served 
three years in that regiment, after which he 
was detailed as Scout by Captain Brice, and 
served in that capacity until the close of the 
war. After the close of the war Mr. Beaver 
returned to his family and farm, but during 
his absence had lost everything in the way of 
stock, and had to commence anew in life. He 
farmed until 1869, when he moved his family 
to Texas, coming by rail and water, and 
landing in Dallas without money. After 
renting land three years he bought 100 acres, 
December 25, 1872, to which he afterward 
added 170 acres and now owns 270 acres, under 



the best of cultivation, and worth about S40 
per acre. This place is now cultivated by ten- 
ants, which affords him a comfortable income 
without work. 

Mr. Beaver was married December 3, 
1845, to Miss Irene P. Brown, of Gwinnett 
county, Georgia, and they have had fourteen 
children, only twelve of whom reached ma- 
turity, viz. : William; Elizabeth, wife of J. 
W. Gannaway; James S., who died suddenly 
of heart trouble; Andrew J.; John H., who 
died in college; Ellen, now deceased, was the 
wife of D. W. Miles, and left one child; 
Margaret, wife of J. W. Gannaway; George; 
Sarah, wife of Joseph Castle. Mr. and Mrs. 
Beaver are both members of the Baptist 
Churcii, of which the former has been a 
member for eighteen years. 



■^ 



<H> 



'^ 



lOLONEL JOHN M. STEMMONS, 
deceased, was born in Logan county, 
Kentucky, August 21, 1830. His 
parents were well-to-do in their possession of 
this world's goods, but they appreciated tlie 
importance of labor in all the successes of 
life, and consequently trained their children 
to work with their hands as well as with their 
minds. At the proper age Colonel Stem- 
mons was placed in the Cumberland College, 
in Princeton, Kentucky, where he received a 
collegiate education, and at once began the 
study of law, under the tutorship of the Hon. 
F. M. Bristow, father of the gentleman who 
served in President Grant's cabinet, as Secre- 
tary of the Treasui-y. Having acquainted 
himself with the elementary principles, and 
with the great authors in legal literature, he 
at once entered the law department at Leb- 
anon, Tennessee, where he graduated, and at 
once set out to build for himself the honor- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



531 



able name and enviable reputation he after- 
ward enjoyed. He located at Greenfield, 
Missouri, September 10, 1855, and was not 
long in forming acquaintances and in estab- 
lishing himself in the paying practice of his 
profession. In politics Colonel Stemmons 
was devoted to the principles and teachings 
of the old-time Whig party, and as a mem- 
ber of the same he supported Bell and 
Everett in the great campaign of 1860. With 
the defeat that followed that canvass, and the 
victory that perched upon the banners of the 
Republican party, he saw the signs of war, 
and began to prepare for the struggle that 
followed. 

He was in sympathy with the South and 
when Colonel Clarkson's Fifth Regiment of 
Missouri State Guards was organized, the 
name of John M. Stemmons appeared in the 
list of its privates. This command was one 
of the first to gather round the standard 
that was raised by that fearless chieftain. 
General Sterling Price, when he drew from 
its scabbard his trusty sword and rushed to 
the South. Thirteen days after his enlist- 
ment Colonel Stemmons was promoted to the 
rank of Captain, and assigned to duty as a 
staff officer, in which capacity he witnessed 
the overthrow of General Lyon, at Wilson's 
creek, where Generals Price and McCulloch 
gained one of the most signal victories of the 
late war. Colonel M. W. Buster, then Ad- 
jutant of Clarkson's regiment, having been 
disabled by a bayonet wound in this engage- 
ment. Colonel Stemmons was ordered to take 
his place, and as such he bore himself gal- 
lantly in the engagement at Dry Woods, 
which soon followed. It was Clarkson's reg- 
ment that brought on this battle, and for 
over thirty minutes, in the open prairie, it 
withstood the onslaught of the entire Federal 
force with its line unbroken. Colonel Stem- 



mons had his horse wounded under him in 
this enaacrement. In all the marches and 
counter-marches made by General Price in 
1861, and in all the battles and skirmishes 
he fought with the enemy. Colonel Stemmons 
bore his part, and when the enlistment of the 
regiment expired, he declined to lay down 
his arms, and again enlisted as a private in a 
battalion of State troops. While serving as 
a picket, with no notice or knowledge of the 
cotnplimeat he was receiving, he was elected 
Lieutenant Colonel of the command, and as 
its leader he rode at its head at the battle of 
Elk Horn, in Arkansas, where he was slightly 
wounded. 

The terra of enlistment of this regiment 
e.xpiring in a short time, Colonel Stemmons 
volunteered for the third time as a private 
soldier, but this time he went into the Con- 
federate army, determined that whatever des- 
tiny might fall upon the South the same 
should be his fate. He did not long remain 
a private, for just as the battle of Lone Jack 
was coming on, he was elected to the Cap- 
taincy of a splendid company, whicli he led 
in this engagement. The Colonel was 
severely, and by his surgeon pronounced 
fatally, wounded in this battle, and before his 
recovery the country fell into the hands of 
the enemy, and he became a prisoner of war 
while endeavoring to pass their lines. He 
was sent to the military prison on Gratiot 
street, St. Louis, which place he reached dur- 
ing the Christmas week of 1862. There 
were ninety-one Confederate prisoners sent 
into St. Louis, none of them more than half- 
clothed, and all forced to march through deep 
snow, to wade all the streams that appeared 
along their route, without even being per- 
mitted to take of their shoes, and at night 
they were forbidden to secure a sufficiency of 
wood to keep them warm against a terrible 



533 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



winter. After reaching Springfield, in the 
face of a tierce snow storm, those ninety-one 
heroes were run into St. Louis on liat cars, ex- 
posed to every torture tliat could be inflicted 
by winds that pierced like icicles theii- ema- 
ciated forms; and when tiie prison was at last 
reached one of their party fell dead at the 
door, while their persons were being searched 
for arms. Major Campbell, of the Eighteenth 
Iowa Regiment, commanded the escort, and 
to his credit be it said that he denounced in 
unmeasured terms the brutality of the prison 
commanders iu not providing some sort of 
shelter and protection for the prisoners. In 
less than two months thirty-five of these men 
were called to their final rest, but they 
breathed their last as Confederates, preferring 
death rather than disgrace. 

Colonel Stemmons made his escape from 
this prison with two others, and in finding 
his way back to the Southern Army experi- 
enced some of the rarest evidences of patri- 
otic devotion at the hands of the women of 
Missouri, and one of her most gifted sons. 
He was clad in good clothes, mounted upon a 
reliable buggy horse, and, having received 
all the information and directions necessary, 
he set out for Little Rock, where he rejoined 
his command. He was again wounded, 
shortly afterward, in the battle of Helena, 
and was one of the few who escaped death or 
capture iu the terrible slaughter that followed 
in the charge upon Fort Curtis. When Gen- 
eral Banks undertook his Red River expedi- 
tion, Colonel Stemmons was in the number 
of those who opposed him. He served in all 
the campaigns conducted by Kirby Smith, 
and surrendered at Shreveport, where he 
was Lieutenant Colonel of the Sixteenth Reg- 
iment of Missouri Infantry, and as such 
brought the command to St. Louis, where it 
was disbanded. The Colonel went to Rich- 



mond, where he joined his wife and children, 
but was permitted to enjoy only a few days of 
peace, surrounded by his family. He was 
arrested by militiamen, commanded by 
Fletcher, under some pretext, and, not fancy- 
ing the company that was thus unceremo- 
niously thrust upon him, effected his escape 
and went to Illinois. Having no money he 
engaged with a Mr. French, who resided 
eight miles west of Springfleld, and was put 
by him to cutting corn, at the rate of fifty 
cents per shock, at which he was able to earn 
from $1.40 to $1.65 per day. He was not 
long in finding out that Mr. French was a 
Southern sympathizer, and he told him his 
true story, and gratefully accepted the posi- 
tion of schoolmaster, which his new-made 
friend was able to secure for him, at a point 
some eighteen miles east of Springfield. He 
taught this school under, an assumed name, 
until he was able to defray his expenses to 
Oxford, Mississippi, wliere he again obtained 
employment as a teacher, and in the mean- 
time sent for his family to join him in his 
new home and new sphere of action. Being 
unable to see any remuneration from the 
practice of his profession, and being desirous 
of returning to it, he determined to emigrate 
to Texas, which he accordingly did. May 16, 
1868, he reached Dallas, and at once estab- 
lished his home in this city, with less than 
$80 in his pocket. His subsequent success 
teaches its own lesson. Colonel Stemmons 
liecame one of the leading men in this com- 
munity, capable as a lawyer, true as a friend, 
and enterprising as a citizen. In testimony 
of his great personal worth, the following 
episode of the war, in which he bore a prom- 
inent part, is here committed for the first 
time in ])rint: 

During his captivity the army was reor- 
ganized under General Hindman, who issued 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



533 



orders that no one seould be elected to office 
unless present and ready for duty. In the 
face of this order his old company unani- 
mously re-elected him to be its Captain. Gen. 
Hindman disapproved of the election and or- 
dered another, but his men without a dissent- 
ing voice again named hiui as their leader, 
and this time the General approved of their 
action. For this expression of their regard 
Colonel Stemmons declined the Lieutenant- 
colonelcy of a cavalry regiment, preferring to 
remain a Captain with men who had proved 
themselves so sincere in their friendship for 
him. 

In 1857 Colonel Stemmons married Re- 
becca Serena, a daughter of Judge Matthias 
W. and Mary A. Allison, of Greenfield, 
Dade county, Missouri. To this union 
were born ten children, as follows: Walter 
E., born in 1858; Beverly L., born in 1860, 
married Miss Addie Ballard, and was acci- 
dentally killed in 1890; Harriet Ann, born in 
1863, married William L. McDonald, who 
died in 1888; Mary Belle, born in 1867, 
died when young; Lillia Belsterling, born 
in 1869, died in childhood; Cora Lucille, 
born in 1872; Leslie A., born in 1874; John 
J., born in 1878, died in infancy; Sidney A., 
born in 1879; Robert L., in 1882. Judge 
Allison died in Missouri in 1877, and his 
widow, who was born in 1803, now resides 
with her daughter, Mrs. Stemmons. Colonel 
Stemmons died of consumption May 4, 1890, 
and was buried with distinguished honors. 



ill. EDWARD J. HALLUM, a physician 
I and surgeon of Oak Cliff, Texas, was born 
in Fairfield district, South Carolina, April 
22, 1849, a son of Colonel Richard A. R. and 
Margaret (Martin) Hallum, natives of South 
Carolina. The mother's parents were mar- 



ried in Scotland, and afterward came to this 
country. The father's parents were from 
England, and two brothers, William and 
Henry Hallum, came from that country and 
settled in Virginia before the Revolutionary 
war, both participating in that struggle. 
William was an officer of his regiment, and 
on one occasion, having been captured, the 
British officer became enraged, drew his 
sword, and was about to split his head. Mr. 
Hallum drew his revolver and shot the officer 
dead, and then made his escape into South 
Carolina. The family afterward changed 
their name from Hallam to Hallum. Will- 
iam had a family, but its members are 
unknown. John, one of his sons, reared a 
family of nine children, six of wlioin were 
boys, and his son Bazzil was the grandfather 
of our subject. Colonel Richard was an ex- 
tensive and practical farmer, owning a large 
plantation in South Carolina. His residence, 
which cost 110,000 in gold, is still standing, 
near Winsboro, South Carolina, and is the 
only one in that neighborhood which was not 
burned during the late war. He was the 
father of nine children, and about 1856 he 
settled with his family in Anderson county, 
Texas, where he owned a plantation of about 
1,200 acres. He was Colonel of the militia 
many years, and was solicited by friends to 
represent his county in the Legislature, but 
declined the position. He weighed 200 
pounds, and was a fine specimen of physical, 
intellectual and moral manhood. Socially, 
he stood high among a large circle of ac- 
quaintances, and his name was almost a syn- 
onym for honesty, integrity and golden-rule 
dealings. Three of his sons, Robert G., 
Bazzil and Richard, took part in the late war 
as privates. Robert and Richard returned, 
but Bazzil was shot in the battle of Sharps- 
burg. He was in Captain Gaston's com- 



534 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



pany, and was serving as an officer in a most 
closely contested engagement. The color 
bearers were shot down one after another, 
and when others would not raise the colors 
he carried them for a time, but in the hot 
engagement he, too, fell to rise no more. His 
two messmates, William and Clarence Wren, 
returned and told the sad news. The names 
of the four living children are: Dr. Richard, 
of Brownwood, Texas; Margaret, wife of D. 
Y. Milling, of Anderson county, this State; 
Edward J., our subject; and John M., a far- 
mer of Anderson county. 

The subject of this sketch was educated in 
the Dallas and Woodland College, graduating 
at the latter in 1864. He then read medi- 
cine under his brother, Richard Hallum, and 
afterward graduated in the Medical Depart- 
ment of the University of Pennsylvania, in 
the class of 1874. After graduating he im- 
mediately began practice at Kickapoo, An- 
derson county, Texas; four years later went 
to Tehuacana, this State; next was at Brown- 
wood eight years; resided near the coast one 
year, and in 1892 moved to Oak Cliff. He 
was engaged in the drug business in connec- 
tion with his practice while in Brownwood, 
and also served as County Physician during 
his entire stay there. He has been an ex- 
aminer for a number of insurance companies. 

Dr. Hallum was married February 14, 
1875, to Miss Floretta E. Erwin, a daughter 
of Colonel S. A. Erwin, of Oak Cliff. To 
this union have been born seven children, 
viz.: Edna L., Vasca F., Forrest R., Nina L., 
Eppa B., Dixie O. and Queen. The parents 
are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, and the father also affiliates with the 
A. O. U. W., the K. of P., and is a mem- 
ber of the blue lodge, chapter and cotn- 
niandery, F. & A. M. Dr. Hallum has 
performed many surgical operations, having 



amputated several limbs, arms, a number of 
tumors of different kinds, — on one occasion 
removed an eye, — and has made an ex-sec- 
tion of the tibia and fibula. He trephined the 
skull when another noted physician said " it 
was the only thing that would save his life, 
but he would die on the table, and he did not 
care to attempt it." The patient is still liv- 
ing and doing well. The Doctor has a good 
reputation as a physician and surgeon, is a 
late but valued accession to Oak Cliff, is 
public-spirited and progressive in his views, 
and is such as gives character to a community. 

AMPSON K. LEWIS was born in Wil- 
son county, Tennessee, September 1, 
1846, son of Carroll and Hannah 
(Adams) Lewis. His father was also a native of 
Wilson county, Tennessee, born in 1815. He 
was killed by robbers at Lavergne, in April, 
1865. Sampson K. was present, saw them 
shoot him and saw him fall, but was power- 
less to give him any assistance. The mother 
died in Tennessee, in December, 1878, at the 
age of sixty-four years. They had eleven 
children, whose names areas follows: William 
R.; George W.; Elizabeth J., wife of William 
Bogle; Nancy A., wife of Richard B. Chum- 
bley; Mary F., wife of John W. Roberts; 
Peggy P., wife of Elijah F. Robinson; Samp- 
son K. ; Cynthia, wife of William D. Allen, 
is now deceased; Susan H., wife of Samuel 
Cooper; Frankie, wife of Benjamin Sutton; 
Peter F. Of this large family all are living 
except one. 

Sampson K. Lewis was married, March 4, 
1868, to Miss Clara McMillen, who was born 
June 29, 1849. Her parents, Ptolemy and 
Jane(Marler) McMillen, were born in the year 
1827 and were married in 1847. The names 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



535 



of their seven children are Clara, wife of the 
subject of this sketch ; Rebecca, who was first 
married to W. T. Dodd and afterward to T. 
P. Somers; Mary J., wife of Thomas Ruyle; 
Harriet, wife of John Keene, is deceased; 
Martha, wife of Isaac Eaton, is deceased; 
James; Tennessee, wife of Beed Erwin, is 
deceased. After his marriage Mr. Lewis 
came to Texas and settled in Dallas county 
near Housley. After renting land for seven 
years he bought an improved farm of ninety- 
two acres, the place on which he now lives. 
To his original purchase he has since added 
other lands and is now the owner of 325 
acres, 136 of this being under cultivation 
and 250 acres fenced. To Mr. and Mrs. Lewis 
eleven children have been born, viz.: Josie, 
Samuel M., James C, Wilson, George W., 
Roxie, William, Peter, Rosie B., Grover 
Cleveland and Goldie May, all living. Josie 
was first married to John Cox. Her present 
husband is John Orr. 

Politically, Mr. Lewis is a Democrat. He 
and his wife are members of the Missionary 
Baptist Church, and two of their children are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Mr. Lewis is eminently a self made man. 
When he landed in Texas he had only $16 in 
money, and that he invested in a cow. By 
honest, earnest work, economy and good 
judgment he has secured a competency, and 
is regarded as one of the wealthy and influ- 
ential citizens of his community. 

fE. GROVES, a Dallas county farmer, 
residing near Garland, dates his birth 
* in Rutherford county, North Carolina, 
May 18, 1833. 

Jesse Groves, his father, a farmer by occu- 
pation, was born and reared in North Caro- 



lina, in the above named county, his birth 
occurring February 18, 1800. In 1838 he 
moved his family to Tennessee, where he died, 
on the 14th of February, 1857, aged fifty- 
seven years. His wife, who before her mar- 
riage was Miss Margaret Long, was born in 
1811 and was a native of the same county in 
which her husband was born. They reared a 
family of ten children, whose names are as 
follows: Nancy, Andrew, William, John, J. 
E., Sarah, George, Jane, Daniel and Sophro- 
nia. Nancy married Richard Proctor and 
Sarah became the wife of Samuel Shiply. 
Jane is deceased. 

J. E. Groves was the fifth- born of the 
family and was twenty-five years old when 
his father died. In May, 1857, he enlisted 
in the Twenty-ninth Tenuessee Regiment, 
Confederate States of America, and served 
until 1865. He participated in a number of 
important engagements and was with the 
forces that followed Sherman on his memor- 
able march, being forty- two days constantly 
under fire, and during that time never had 
his accouterments off. In all his service he 
was never wounded or captured. On the 
25th of April, 1865, he was surrendered in 
North Carolina, after which he returned to 
his home. 

December 24, 1868, Mr. Groves was united 
in marriage to Miss Ruth Ballanger, who was 
born in Tennessee in 1844, February 19. 
Her father, Elijah Ballanger, was born in 
1805 and died in 1872, aged sixty-seven years. 
His first wife was nee Ruth Edwards, and 
by her he had seven children. After her 
death he wedded Mrs. Nancy (Hedelston) 
who died at the age of sixty years. By his 
last companion he had a family of six chil- 
dren, Mrs. Groves being one of these. The 
names of the others are: J. E. Parlea, Mary 
Ann (who died when small); Thomas, Frances 



536 



HISTOBT OF DALLAS GOUNTY. 



and Sam. To Mr. and Mrs. Groves have been 
born seven children: John F., Elijah, Sophro- 
nia, William, Samuel, Nancy and Thomas. 
John F. died at the age of eighteen years. 

Mr. Groves dates his arrival in Texas in 
November, 1872, he and his brother, William 
Q., having made the journey from Tennessee 
in wagons. When they landed here they 
only had $5 between them. But tliey went 
to work in earnest and soon had money 
enough to buy the farm they had rented. 
They purchased 155 acres at |20 per acre. 
They still farm together. By making im- 
provements of various kinds they have greatly 
enhanced the value of their land, it now be- 
ing worth twice the price they paid for it. 

Mr. and Mrs. Groves are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

fRANCIS MARION MILLICAN, a 
prospei'ous farmer of Dallas county, is 
.jf a son of Benjamin F. and Rebecca (How- 
ell) Millican. The father, a native of Ten- 
nessee, removed to Alabama when a young 
man, settling in Jackson county, where he 
died in 1840, at the age of thirty years. He 
was a blacksmith and gunsmith by trade, and 
followed the same all through life. The 
paternal grandfather, Solomon E. Millican, 
was a native of Ireland, and came to Amer- 
ica when a young man, settling first in In- 
diana and afterward in Tennessee, where he 
subsequently died. Our subject's mother, 
Rebecca Howell, was a native of East Ten- 
nessee and a daughter of Caleb Howell, an 
early settler of that State. She died in Jack- 
son county, Alabama, in 1856, at the age of 
forty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Millican's 
children arc: Solomon E., a resident of Tar- 
rant county, Texas; Caleb, who died in in- 



fancy; Susan, also deceased in infancy; 
Francis Marion, our subject; Nancy, de- 
ceased in infancy; Benjamin F., whose sketch 
appears in this work; George, who died a 
few years ago in the Creek nation; and 
Mary, the wife of Joseph Milam, of Sebas- 
tian county, Arkansas. 

The subject of this sketch was born in 
Grainger county, Tennessee, October 6, 1832, 
but was reared in Jackson county, Alabama- 
In the fall of 1858 he emigrated to Missouri' 
settling in Newton county, wliere he enlisted, 
in 1861, in the Confederate army, in Com- 
pany E, Missouri State Troops, under Captain 
Ed.McCulloch. He served in the Trans-Missis- 
sippi department, and was with Price on his 
raids in Missouri, taking part in the battle 
of Oak Hill, Missouri, Elk Horn, Arkansas, 
Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, and Saline River, Ar- 
kansas. Mr. Millican served in the ordnance 
department, and received a gunshot wound 
in the left thigh at Saline River, Arkansas. 
He was twice captured, first in Newton 
county, Missouri, at the opening of the war, 
and next in the Indian Territory, while try- 
ing to make his way to the Confederate lines. 
He was mustered out at Shreveport, Louis- 
iana, June 1, 1865, after which he came to 
Dallas county, Texas, and later went to Tar- 
rant county, where he was engaged in a mill 
one year. He then bought a small farm, of the 
George Burgoon survey, from R. B. Mirrell 
survey, which he improved and sold in 1883, 
to Ben Croley. The same year Mr. Millican 
bought the place where he now lives, in Grape- 
vine prairie, near the Tarrant county line, 
where he has 141 acres of black land, nearly 
all of which is under cultivation. 

He was married June 9, 1870, to Martha 
D. Fergusson, a native of Mississippi, and a 
daughter of William Elkanah Ferguson. 
Mr. and Mrs. Millican have had eight chil- 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



537 



dren, viz.: Joseph E., Walter Lee, Dewitt 
Clinton, Charles Marion, Addie, Martha 
Lilly, Sallie Frank and Thomas Jefferson. 
Mr. Millican is a Mason, havinsj become a 
member of the Grapevine Lodge in 1871-'72, 
and is also a member of Estelle Lodge, No. 
570, of this county. 



-*5^ 



(EOKGE S. FUQUA, a prominent citi- 
zen of Dallas county, is a son of Joseph 
and Anne (Mosby) Fuqua. The father, 
a lawyer l)y profession, was born and reared in 
Henrico county, Virginia, and afterward 
practiced his profession in Cumberland and 
Eiickingham counties, same State. He was a 
Biiccesssul criminal and civil lawyer, enjoying 
a large practice; owned a large plantation on 
on the James river, known as Bear Garden; 
was prominent in politics, being a life-long 
Democrat; held a number of responsible 
public positions, and accumulated a large 
fortune. He was born December 9, 1800, 
and died at his plantation in Buckingham 
county, in 1870. Our subject's mother, nee 
Anne Mosby, was born in Buckingham county, 
Virginia, a daughter of Hezekiah and Mary 
Lipscomb. She died in her native county in 
1860, at the age of lifty-eight years. Mr. 
and Mrs. Fucjua's children were: William, a 
physician of Cumberland county, Virginia; 
George S., our subject; Joseph, a teacher of 
Osyka, Mississippi; Samuel, a farmer of 
Buckingham county, Virginia; and three 
daughters. 

George S. Fuqua, our subject, was born in 
Cumberland county, Virginia, in June, 1825, 
and was reared to farm life in that and 
Buckingham counties. He followed that 
occupation a short time in the latter county, 
and then, in 1852, came to Texas, settliug in 



San Augustine county, where he served 
as Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court a num- 
ber of years, under Ben F. Benton, a nephew 
of Thomas H. Benton. In 1862 Mr. Fuqua 
enlisted in the Confederate army, in Com- 
pany A, Nineteenth Texas Infantry, Walk- 
er's Division, and served in the Trans-Missis- 
sippi Department. After the close of the 
war he returned to San Augustine and 
remained about four years; then he moved 
to Jefferson, Texas, and engaged in buying 
cotton until the fall of 1878, when he canie 
to Dallas, and carried on the same business. 
Mr. Fuqua was married at Appomattox 
Courthouse, Virginia, in February, 1849, to 
Anna E. Jones, who was born in that county, 
and a daughter of Dr. Davis C. Jones, also a 
native of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Fuqua 
have a pleasant home in West Dallas, where 
they have reared a family of four children, 
viz.: George C, a farmer of this county; 
Davana, the wife of J. A. Bishop, of Dallas 
county; Joseph, who is engaged in the lum- 
ber business of Texarkana, Arkansas; and 
Willie, the wife of F. M. Clower, who re- 
sides in West Dallas. 



[ALVIN TAYLOR, deceased. Nature, 
||LK,, no doubt, intended Mr. Taylor for a 
long and more than ordinarily useful 
life, but, alas, for human hopes and expecta- 
tions, he was cut down in tiie very zenitli of 
his manhood and at a time when his nature 
was bright with promise. He was born in 
Greene county, Illinois, December 2, 1831, 
and came to Dallas county, Texas, in the lat- 
ter part of the '50s, and was married on the 
14th of August, 1856, to Harriet Emeline, 
daughter of Thomas M. Ellis, a sketch of 
whom appears in this volume. They first 



538 



BISTORT OP DALLAS OOUNTY. 



settled in Lancaster, this county, where they 
resided until December, 1859, when Mr. 
Taylor purchased a farm one mile from the 
village of Lancaster, consisting of 350 acres 
on which he settled and where he resided 
until his death, which occurred November 1, 
1862, at Forest, Mississippi. He was a farmer 
all his life, and a fairly successful one. The 
place which he purchased in 1859 has en- 
hanced in value, and now affords a comfort- 
able home to his widow and children. They 
had two children, a son and daughter: Will- 
iam, who married Ida, daughter of Irvin Lav- 
ender, and Eda, who was married to Charles 
T. Orr. 

Mr. Taylor entered tlie Confederate service 
at the opening of the Civil war, fenlisting in 
Captain Rawlins' company, which was re- 
cruited from the vicinity of Lancaster. After 
remaining in the service for a year he was 
taken sick and compelled to return home, and 
his brother Perry took his place. It was 
while absent at Forest, Mississippi, to take 
his brother's horse to him, that he was taken 
sick and died. He was a man who possessed 
many estimable traits of character, and his 
untimely death was mourned, not only by his 
immediate and sorrowing family but also 
by all who knew him. 

fOHN C. STOREY, D. D. S. and M. D., 
was born in Greene county, Alabama, 
May 12, 1836, and is a son of Dr. Jolm 
and Jane C. (Holland) Storey, natives of South 
Carolina. The father was one of the pioneer 
physicians of Alabama, and purchased liis 
lands from the (Tovernment before it was a 
State. He was greatly respected for his 
high, moral character, and was sincerely 
mourned at his death, which occurred in 



September, 1862. The mother of John C. 
survived until April 16, 1890, when she 
passed away at the old homestead in Greene 
county, Alabama. They reared a family of 
ten children, nine sons and one daughter; 
six are still living, and reside in Alabama, 
with the e.xception of the Doctor. He passed 
liis youth in Alabama, and received his 
literary education in the high school. At 
the age of nineteen years he began the study 
of medicine with Dr. Charles P. Sanders, of 
Clinton, Alabama, as preceptor. He read 
under his direction for a year and a half, and 
then entered the Atlanta Medical College. 
He was graduated in 1857, with the degree 
of M. D., and immediately began the prac- 
tice of his profession. From 1857 to 1860 
he was located in Greene county, Alabama, 
and then removed to Louisiana. At the be- 
ginning of the war he enlisted in the Nine- 
teenth Louisiana Infantry, Company C, as a 
private, and was soon appointed hospital 
steward. He saw some active service, bnt 
in July, 1862, he was discharged on account 
of ill health. He returned to his home in 
Alabama and resumed the practice of medi- 
cine until October of the satne year, when he 
re-enlisted as Assistant Surgeon. He was 
not present at the battle of Chickamauga, but 
did field service thereafter the battle. From 
this time to the close of the war he was 
busily engaged in caring for the sick and 
wounded. 

After the war was ended he was married 
to a daughter of the Rev. Dr. E. E. Wiley, 
of Emery, Virginia, a lady (if rare mental at- 
tainments. Four children were born of this 
union: John E., Clarence L., Virginia E. 
and Medora Jane. Dr. Storey engaged in 
the practice ot his profession at his old home 
in Alabama for two years after the war, 
when he determined to take up the study of 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



539 



dentistry. In order to carry out tins pur- 
pose he entered the Baltimore College of 
Dental Surgery, and was graduated in 1869 
with the degi-ee of D. D. S. He then spent 
one year in Virginia, going at the end of 
that time to Eutaw, Greene county, Alabama. 
He formed a partnership with Dr. R. E. 
Watkins, which existed until 1874. For one 
year he practiced there alone, and then came 
to Dallas, Texas. He is one of the first 
members of the profession to settle here, 
but the discouragements that meet the 
pioneer were bravely faced by him, and he 
is now well established in a fine practice. 
He is a member of the Southern Dental As- 
sociation, of the Texas Dental Association, 
and is ex-president of each. He is the 
originator of the move organizing a grand 
dental congress in Chicago in 1893. 

Dr. Storey has been a member of tne Pres- 
byterian Church for almost half a century. 
His wife was reared in the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, but later in life united with her 
husband's church. She died June 27, 1891, 
and her remains were interred in Trinity 
Cemetery. She was a pious woman, and 
her life was given to deeds of charity. 
Politically the Doctor atiiliates with the 
Democratic party, and is an ardent supporter 
of the issues of that body. 

IHARLES F. ALTERMANN has re- 
sided in Dallas county since 1874, and 
on account of the eminent position he 
occupied for many years in the profession of 
journalism, is fully entitled to a space in 
this record of the leading men. He is an 
American citizen by adoption, having first 
seen the light of day in the city of Leipsic, 
Germany. When he was a lad of eleven 



years his parents emigrated from the Father- 
land to the United States, and located in 
New Orleans. The parents soon after died 
in that city, and by force of circumstances 
Charles F. was thrown upon his own re- 
sources. He was apprenticed to learn the 
printer's trade at Mobile, Alabama, and 
when he had served out his time he went 
to New Orleans and worked on the Gazette 
for a while. In 1874 he came to Texas, and 
had not been in the State long before he 
located in Dallas, and estalilished the Texas 
Volksblatt. He edited this sheet from 1877 
to 1889, when he sold out to the Texas Post. 
The Volksblatt had a daily and weekly 
edition, and was the best representative of 
German sentiment in the South. Clear, 
forcible, and fearless it uttered no uncertain 
sound, a safe and thoroughly reliable guide 
on all questions pertaining to the public 
welfare. 

On retiring from the field of journalism, 
Mr. Altermann engaged in the real-estate 
business, but still retains his interest in pub- 
lic aifairs. He was president of the Maifest, 
a German May-day festival, and under hie 
energetic management it was a brilliant suc- 
cess. Politically he affiliates with the Re- 
publican party, which sent him to their 
national convention at Chicago, in 1888, and 
he is candid and open in the expression of 
his sentiments without being intensely 
partisan. He is a member of the Turn- 
verein, the singing society (Frohsinn), Sons 
of Hermann, and the Knights of Honor. He 
has all the social traits characteristic of the 
Teuton, and is an acknowledged leader in 
German society. At present he is connected 
with the Nord Texas Presse, a new German 
paper started by the German citizens of Dal- 
las, upon the withdrawal of the Texas Post 
to Galveston, whence they came in 1888. 



540 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



In 1880 he was uuited in raarnage to Miss 
Louise Schultz, of Houston, Texas, and six 
children were born to tliem, live of whom 
are living. 

JHARLES A. FLOYD, a prominent 
farmer and stock-raiser, of Hutchins, 
Dallas county, Texas, has been identified 
with the best interests of this county since 
1848. 

Mr. Floyd is a native of Illinois, born in 
Greene county, June 28, 1840, a son of 
George and Nancy (Finley) Floyd. His father 
was born in Vermont in 1811, and when a 
lad of eight years was bound out. At the 
age of eighteen he left liis home and went to 
New York, and after remaining there for a 
time went, in company witli the noted Joseph 
Call,to niinois. That was about 1829. There 
he engaged in various occupation?, and in 
that State was married to Nancy Finley, a 
native of Illinois, and daughter of John Fin- 
ley. John Finley had moved from South 
Carolina to Illinois at an early day. The 
grandmother of our subject was captured by 
the Indians, was held in captivity for several 
years, and was rescued, at a great expense, 
by her father. After his marriage Mr. Floyd 
purchased a farm in Greene county, improved 
it, and continued to reside there until 1848, 
when he came to Texas, making the jouimey 
with horse teams and being four weeks en 
route, landing in Dallas county just before 
Christmas. Previous to this the father had 
come Soutii, had taken a headright in 
Peters' Colony, and had built a cabin, and 
when he returned with his family moved to 
this place. He was accompanied by John 
Conoway, Anthony Fisher, George Martin 
and William Spencer and their familes. Mr. 
Floyd at once began the improvement of his 



new home, and remained there farming and 
stock-raising as long as he lived. He and his 
wife were the parents of five sons, viz.: David 
H., who died in 1863, at the age of thirty- 
four years; Charles A., tlie subject of this 
sketch; Oscar, who died in Illinois during 
the war, aged nineteen; Caswell B., a minister 
in the Christian Church, died in November, 
1890; and Alfred B., a resident of Dallas 
county, Texas. Mrs. Floyd was a member 
of the Baptist Church. The father died in 
March, 1884, and the mother is also de- 
ceased. 

Charles A. Floyd was eight years old when 
he came to Texas, and on his father's frontier 
farm he was reared, receiving his education in 
the common schools. He remained with his 
parents until the breaking out of the late war, 
and in July, 1861, he enlisted in Company F, 
Sixth Texas Cavalry, and served in the west- 
ern army until the battle of Corinth. He 
participated in the battle of Pea Ridge, luka 
and Corinth, and was taken prisoner. He then 
took the oath of allegiance and returned to his 
home, after being absent four years. He at 
once engaged in farming, and that occupation 
has since claimed his attention. 

January 13, 1867, Mr. Floyd was united 
in marriage with Miss Angelina E. Metlock, 
a native of Kentucky and a daughter of Ab- 
salom and Nancy Malvina (Harris) Metlock, 
of that State. The Metlock family came to 
Texas in 1852 and settled near where Mr. 
Floyd now lives. They had a family of five 
children, Mrs. Floyd being the oldest. The 
others are Amanda, Joseph, Eliza and Thomas 
A. Mrs. Metlock died in 1862, at the age of 
thirty-five years, and Mr. Metlock in 1865, at 
the age of thirty-eight. 

After his marriage Mr. Floyd settled on his 
present farm, which he first rented and sub- 
sequently purchased. He now owns 200 acres 



'^J^ 




\ 




HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



541 



of land, including a partof the Metlock and his 
father's homesteads. He and his wife have 
eleven children, as follows: Oscar M., of 
Greer county, Oklahoma; Lora E., wife of 
Joseph Boyd, also of Greer county, Okla- 
homa; Finley E., Augusta M., Absalom, 
Lannie, King David, Elvia, Eula, Donia and 
George. 

Mr. Floyd is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
Trinity Lodge, of Dallas, No. 198, and of the 
Caddo Tribe of I. O. R. M., Dallas, Lodge 
No. 8. He is a member of the Farmers' 
Alliance and is vice-president of the organ- 
ization at Hutcliins. 



fAMES P. GOODNIGHT, deceased, set- 
tled in Dallas county, Texas, November 
19, 1854, and for many years was a 
prominent citizen of the county and an im- 
portant factor in promoting its best interests. 
Briefly given a sketch of his life is as follows: 

James P. Goodnight was born in Allen 
county, Kentucky, November 21, 1831, a 
son of Henry and Jane (Billingsly) Good- 
night. His father was a native of Kentucky. 
His great-grandfather came to this country 
from Germany on account of religious per- 
secutions, settling in Virginia before the 
Eevolutionary war and subsequently going 
to Kentucky. Two of his brothers went to 
the latter State at a very early period to pre- 
pare a home for the family, and one of them 
was killed by the Indians and the other was 
wounded but made his escape. The mother 
of our subject was a native of Allen county, 
Kentucky. 

Mr. Goodnight was reared on a farm and 
received an academical education. He re- 
mained with his parents until his marriage, 
which event occurred September 21, 1854. to 

30 



Miss Mary A. Hill, a daughter of Isaac and 
Pelina (Carter) Hill. Her father was a 
native of Virginia and a son of Jesse Hill, 
a descendant of an old Virginia family that 
moved to Tennessee when he was a child. 
He was reared in Wilson county, that State, 
and there married to the above named lady, 
a native of Davidson county, Tennessee. 
Her grandfather emigrated to Tennessee from 
North Carolina, and was among the very first 
pioneers of that part of the country. 

In two weeks after their marriage, Mr. 
Goodnight and his wife with several other 
families started for Dallas county. They 
made the journey with horse teams; the roads 
were poor and bridges few, and they were six 
weeks en route. Arriving here, he purchased 
220 acres of land, on which was a small 
field fenced in and a little log cabin. The cabin 
served them as a home for five years, after 
which they built a small frame house, and 
from time to time added to it until they had 
a commodious and well appointed residence. 
Here Mr. Goodnight followed farming the 
rest of his days. For many years he was 
prominent in local affairs. He was elected 
the first Constable of precinct No. 7, and 
served one year. Some years later he was 
elected Assessor and Collector of Dallas county, 
and served two terms of two years each. At 
the breaking out of the late Civil war, he 
entered the service and was connected with 
the commissary department in Mississippi, 
Texas and at other points. After the war he 
was again elected Assessor of the county and 
served several years. During the war and 
previous to his entering the army, he served 
one term in the Legislature. His death oc- 
curred February 11, 1885. He was a mem- 
ber of Wheatland Lodge, Dallas Chapter and 
the Royal Arch degree of the A. F. & A. M., 
Dallas. In politics he was a Democrat. He 



Ml 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



and his wife were both members of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Cliurch. of which he 
was a ruling Elder. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Good- 
night were thirteen in number, nine of whom 
lived to be grown, namely: Jane P., wife of 
A. H. Nash, of Dallas; Isaac Henry, of this 
county; Amanda Ellen, wife of W. T. Gracey, 
of Stephens county, Texas; Thomas M., of 
Dallas; John B., of this county; Fanny L. ; 
Frank H.; Allie M., wife of B. F. Johnson; 
James P. William B. died at the age of ten 
years, and the others died in infancy. 



;R. JAMES THOMAS BAKER, a phy- 
sician of Dallas, was born in Talobusha 
county, Mississippi, February 14, 1844, 
the third of eight children born to Milton 
and Minerva C. (Hodge) Baker, also natives of 
Mississippi. The parents were married in 
that State, and at an early day emigrated to 
Tennessee, settling on a farm, where the 
father died in 1852, and the mother in 1857. 
After the death of his parents, Mr. Baker, 
our subject, was taken to Shelby county, 
Hlinois, where he was reared by John M. 
Friedley to the age of twenty-three years. He 
attended the district schools of that county, 
and after reaching maturity he first engaged 
in gardening at Cobden, Union county, Hli- 
nois, and a few years later he took a two 
years' course at the Southern Illinois College 
at Carbondale, and afterward commenced 
reading medicine at home. In 1878 he en- 
tered the American Medical College at St. 
Louis, Missouri, graduating from the class of 
1879. He continued the practice of medi- 
cine at Fairfield, Illinois, for a few years, 
and in 1890 he came to Dallas, Texas, where 
he gives his attention strictly to chronic dis- 



eases. After leaving Fairfield he went first 
to Clay city, thence to St. Louis, and next 
to Texas, where he built up an extended 
practice. 

The Doctor was married at Fairfield, Illi- 
nois, in 1880, to Laura C. Hanks, a native of 
Scott county, Missouri, and a daughter of 
Green and Catherine B. (Stanley) Hanks, the 
father a native of Murray county, Tennessee, 
and the mother of McNairy county, same 
State. The parents were married in Tennes- 
see, and at an early day removed to Scott 
county, Missouri, thence to Pulaski county, 
where the father was a merchant. His death 
occurred in that State in July, 1860, and his 
widow now resides at Tioga, Grayson county, 
Texas. Mr. and Mrs Baker have one child, 
Miltun H. Socially, the Doctor is a mem- 
ber of Decatur Lodge, No. 142, I. O. O. F., 
at Decatur, Texas, and both he and his wife 
are members of the Christian Church at 
Dallas. 

fONES GKEEN, deceased, was promin- 
ently identified with tiie early settle- 
ment of the south part of Dallas county, 
and was one of the representative citizens of 
the same. He was a son of Hon. John 
Green, a native of Kentucky, borti in 1776, 
who remained in his native State until 1819 
and then moved to Greene county, Illinois, 
where he passed the remainder of his days, 
his death occurring in 1840. He represented 
Greene county in the State Legislature three 
successive terms and vvas a member of that 
honorable body when his death occurred. 
He was a Democrat in polities and quite a 
prominent and influential man. He was a 
soldier in the war of 1812. His occupation 
through life was farming and stock-raising 
and in this he was successful, accumulating 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



543 



considerable property. In 1814 he married 
Miss Nancy Means, a native of Georgia, 
born in 1796. She was reared partly in this 
State and partly in Kentucky, whither her 
parents moved when she was a child. They 
remained in the Bine Grass State until 1812, 
when they moved to Greene county, Illinois, 
where their daughter, Nancy, married Mr. 
Green. Mrs. Green was a worthy and con- 
sistent member of the Baptist Church and 
died in Greene county, Illinois, in 1854, when 
tifty-eight years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Green were born fifteen children, who are 
named in the order of their births as follows: 
Jones; Malinda, now the widow of Mr. Goar, 
who resides in Dallas county; Singleton F., 
resides in Greene county, Illinois; James R., 
deceased, was a resident of Greene county, 
Illinois; William R., resides in the last 
named county; Elias, in the same county: 
John, deceased; Thomas E. and Evans E. 
(twins); Allison P., deceased; Wade H., de- 
ceased; Lucy, deceased; Mary, deceased; 
Lorana, deceased, was the wife of Hampton 
AVitt, deceased; and Joseph B., deceased. 

The subject of this sketch, Jones Green, 
was born in Greene county, Illinois, August 
29, 1817, and was reared on a farm in that 
county. He was married there on the 11th 
of July, 1844, to Miss Mary Ellis, a native 
of Greene county, Illinois, born January 29, 
1826, and the daughter of Thomas M. Ellis 
(see sketch). The fall succeeding his mar- 
riage Mr. Green and wife moved to Dallas 
county, Texas, and took np 320 acres of land 
two miles southeast of the present town of 
Lancaster, in the south part of the county. 
Later he and Captain Perry bought 640 acres 
of land in the county, each having 320 acres, 
and later he took up 320 acres more. He 
erected a cabin, began making improvements, 
and here his death occurred, November 12, 



1864. He was a plain, unpretentious man, 
honest, industrious and just in all his deal- 
ings. He is mentioned with special gratitude 
by many of the old soldiers whose wives and 
children he provided for during the Civil 
war, by being disqualified for military ser- 
vice on account of trouble with his eyes, and 
rendered the Lost Cause none the less 
efficient service by caring for the families of 
tliose who were at the front. Mr. and Mrs. 
Green have had the following named chil- 
dren: John Thomas, born January 17, 1846, 
who died in this county recently; William 
Russell, born August 17, 1849; Lonzo 
Worth, born March 24, 1852; Calvin Atlas, 
March 15, 1854, and died February 17, 1875; 
Jackson Witt, born July 11, 1856, and died 
January 29, 1884; Lucy Angeline, born 
December 17, 1858, is now the wife of Will- 
iam Curry, of Dallas county; and Carry Lee, 
born Februarj 7, 1863, and is now the wife 
of Evans Curry, of Lancaster. Mrs. Green 
has resided on the old homestead since her 
husband's death and manages it with much 
success. She is a lady possessed of more than 
ordinary executive ability, and is highly es- 
teemed in her community. Those of her 
children now living are married and have 
homes of their own. 



ILLIAM Q. GROVES was born in 
Rutherford county, North Carolina, 
October 7, 1828. His early life was 
spent in Tennessee. In 1856 he was there 
married to Miss Jane Ballanjjer, whose un- 
timely death occurred February 14, 1858, 
after a happy married life of two years. She 
died without issue. (For history of Mr. 
Groves' parents and also of the Ballanger 
family, see the biography of J. E. Groves in 
this work.) 




544 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



William Q. was engaged in farming on 
rented land in Tennessee nntil the outbreak 
of the war. In May, 1861, he enlisted in 
the Twenty-ninth Tennessee Regiinent, and 
served in the Confederate army until 1865. 
For three years he was with the Twenty- 
uintli, after which he joined Morgan's cav- 
alry, remaining with him until the close of 
the war, taking part in many of the hatly 
contested battles. During all his service he 
was only once sent to hospital, and that time 
from an injury received from a horse kick. 

Mr. Groves came to Texas with his brother, 
J. E., and has since been engaged in farming 
with him. He is a member of the Duck 
Creek Masonic Lodge, No. 441, at Garland; 
is also a member of the Presbyterian Church. 

jANIEL BECHTOL, of Garland, was 
born in Frederick county, Maryland, 
^ January 13, 1824, a son of Lewis Bech- 
tol, a native of Berkeley county, yirginia. 
The latter moved to Maryland when a young 
man, where he was married to Miss Cathe- 
rine Williams, and they were the parents of 
twelve children, of whom Daniel was the 
eleventh child. The father died in 1852, at 
the age of sixty-eight years, and the mother 
lived to the age of ninety-three years and 
six months. Only seven of the twelve chil- 
ren lived to be grown, viz.: Elizabeth, wife 
of Thomas Ringor; Catharine, the wife of 
Daniel Keafauver; Hannah; Mary M., wife of 
Teter Culler; M. M., wife of George Ney- 
kirk ; John, who died in Ellis connty, Texas; 
and Daniel, the only surviving son of his 
father's family. 

Daniel Bechtol was married to Miss Ma- 
hala Biser, in 1846, and they had seven chil- 
dren, namely: Lucinda F., wife of Edward 



L. Coblent; Mary C, wife of L. M. T. Flook; 
William H., who died at the age of nineteen 
years; John L., a resident of Ohio; Daniel 
W., Edward C. and Charles E., who live in 
Texas. After his marriage Mr. Bechtol lived 
and farmed on the old homestead until 1874, 
when he moved to Texas and bought 310 acres 
where he now lives. He had the misfortune 
to lose his wife the same year he came to this 
State, she having died October 25, 1875. 
November 22, 1877, he was married to Miss 
Elizabeth Babington, and they were both 
members of the Lutheran Church. His first 
wife was a member of the German Reformed 
Church. 




ILLIAM B. NELSON.— This gentle- 
man is another one of the pioneer 
farmers of Dallas county, and is just- 
ly entitled to appropriate mention in this 
volume. He came here from Kentucky in 
the fall of 1854, making the journey by 
wagons, coining via Memphis and Little 
Rock, and being forty-five days en route. 

Jesse Nelson, his father, was a native of 
Virginia, moving from there to Kentucky at 
an early day. He was a cabinetmaker by 
trade, and was employed as overseer after 
moving to Kentucky. His wife was before 
her marriage Miss Nancy Barland. William 
B. is the youngest of his father's family. He 
was born in Monroe county, Kentucky, Octo- 
ber 5, 1822. The names of his brother and 
sisters are Anna J., who married John Kirby 
and is deceased; John; and Jesse, who is 
deceased. Mrs. Nelson came to Texas with 
her son, and died at his house in 1878, at the 
age of eighty-two years. 

William B. Nelson was married, January 
16, 1862, to Miss D. F. Armstrong. For 
history of the Armstrong family see the 
biography of W. P. Armstrong. In part- 



EI STOUT OP DALLAS GOV NT Y. 



545 



nership with his brother-in-law, John Kirby, 
Mr. Nelson purchased 505 acres of land. 
They afterward divided it equally between 
them and Mr. Nelson subsequently sold 
seventy-three acres of his portion. Still later 
they bought 213 acres more, which they also 
divided in equal parts. Mr. Nelson now 
owns 286 acres of fine black soil that will 
grow anything indigenous to the State. He 
has 110 acres under cultivation, and the 
whole farm fenced. He has built a good 
house and made various other improvements. 
Like many of the pioneers of Dallas county, 
Mr. Nelson endured hardships and priva- 
tions; but with bravery he overcame the 
ditiiculties as they presented themselves, and 
is now in well-to-do circumstances, his land 
being worth at least $40 per acre. 

During the war Mr. Nelson enlisted in 
the Confederate army in 1863, and took an 
active part in a number of important en- 
gagements. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have been born 
fifteen children, nine of whom are living, 
namely: Margaret J., wife of Burrell Poun- 
der; William J., who married Rosie B. Har- 
ris; Andrew; Sarah E., wife of John Pel ton; 
Robert; Nancy E., wife of Thomas Webb; 
John and Frances, twins; and Martha. The 
parents and five daughters are members of 
the Christian Church. 

|DMUND D. SOWEPtS, a merchant and 
farmer, residing twelve miles west and 
a little north of the city of Dallas, was 
was born in Davidson county. North Caro- 
lina, a son of Henry and Mary (Walker) Sow- 
ers, the former a native of North Carolina 
and the latter of South Carolina. The pater- 
nal grandfather, Philip Sowers, was born in 



Germany and came to America when a young 
man, settling first in North Carolina and later 
in Pulaski county, Illinois, where he died at 
an advanced age. Mr. Sowers' mother's 
people were comparatively old settlers of 
South Carolina, and originally of English ex- 
traction. Henry Sowers was reared in David- 
son county. North Carolina, where he re- 
mained until moving to Pulaski county, Illi- 
nois, in 1827. He was a farmer by occupa- 
tion, a plain and unpretentious citizen, and a 
successful business man. He died in Pulaski 
county, in 1855, at the age of sixty-three 
years. After the death of the father the 
mother came to Texas, where she made Jier 
home with her son, the subject of this sketch, 
the remainder of her life, dying at his resi- 
dence in July, 1871, at the age of seventy 
years, five months and fourteen days. Henry 
Sowers was twice married, and by the first 
union there were six children, three girls and 
three boys, all of whom are now deceased. 
By the second marriage there were eight 
children, six boys and two girls, six of whom 
reached maturity, viz.: Edmund D., our 
subject; Sandy, deceased; Lydia, who died 
at the age of four or five years; Alfred, who 
died in the Union army, leaving a wife and 
two children; Levi, who left home when a 
young man, went to Mississippi, married there, 
entered the Confederate army from that 
State, was married a second time, and died at 
Memphis, Tennessee, leaving one child, five 
years old, who was raised and is now hap- 
pily married and has five children; Noah, who 
died in this county some years ago. 

Edmund D. Sowers, our subject, was born 
October 4, 1826, and when one year old his 
parents removed to Pulaski county, Illinois. 
In 1827 he came to Texas, making his way 
overland with one yoke of cattle, and settled 
in Dallas county in 1856, in the vicinity of 



546 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



where lie now lives. He soon afterward 
bought 320 acres of laud of the George Par- 
sons headright survey, on the edge of Grape 
vine prairie, on which he settled July 22, 
1857, and where he has since resided. At 
that time there were only four or five families 
settled in the western part of Dallas county, 
and the county was new and unimproved. 
The place on which Mr. Sowers settled had 
about four acres broken, and a rail pen for a 
house, but he began at once to make improve- 
ments, and made the rails and carried them 
on his shoulder with which to build his fence. 
He fenced all of the 320 acres, cultivated 100 
acres, built a comfortable two-story frame 
house, also barns and outbuildings. Mr. 
Sowers has owned a great deal of land since 
settling in the county, buying and selling as 
occasion offered, but has disposed of all his 
landed interests except the old home place 
and twenty-five acres of timber land. He 
still owns a house and lot in West Dallas, 
valued at $1,200, and three vacant lots. Hav- 
ing considerable mechanical genius, he began 
the blacksmith's trade when a young man 
and followed it many years in early life, and 
also after coming to Texas. In 1877 he 
erected a store near his house, and be- 
gan the mercantile business, which he has 
followed successfully ever since. In 1883 
he obtained the establishment of a mail route 
between Dallas and Grapevine, in Tarrant 
county, and has also secured a postoffice at 
his place, which was called Sowers, and where, 
with the exception of three years, he has 
been Postmaster up to July, 1890. 

Mr. Sowers was married in Pulaski county, 
Illinois, October 11, 1853, to Freelove Thomp- 
son, who was born in Riclhand county, Ohio, 
December 10, 1824. They have never had 
any children of their own, but have reared six 
orphans, by all of whom they have done well, 



not only in the matter of rearing but have 
provided for them when they started out in 
life for themselves. Mr. and Mrs. Sowers 
are both members of the German Reform 
Church, and are pious, exemplary Christians. 
Mrs. Sowers was first married to William 
Bryant, October 29, 1846, and had three 
children, two of whom died in infanc}'. The 
other, Ellen, married Martin Wilson, an 
ex Confederate soldier, and has two children 
iving. 

ff D. McCORMICK, a prosperous farmer 
I of Dallas county, was born in Ouachita 
* county, Arkansas, February 5, 1849, a 
son of John Caswell and Mary Elizabeth (Da- 
vis) McCormick. The father, a native of Ma- 
rion district. South Carolina, moved to 
Washington county, Arkansas, in 1847, later 
to Ashley county, satne State, and in 1868 to 
Texas. After coming to this State he resided 
for three years in this county, one year at 
Farmers' Branch and two on Grapevine prairie, 
and then moved to Denton county, where he 
died February 22, 1872, at the age of hfty-one 
years. In early life he was a school teacher, 
having followed that occupation about 
eighteen years, but after coming to Texas he 
engaged in farm work. He enlisted in Ash- 
ley county, Arkansas, in the Confederate ser- 
vice, and served eighteen months, or until 
the close of the war. Mr. McCormick was a 
member of the Methodist Church, and was an 
upright and respected citizen. Our subject's 
mother, nee Mary Elizabeth Davis, was a 
daughter of Ben Davis. She was a native of 
Alabama, and moved to Arkansas with her 
parents when ten years of age, and is 
living in Denton county, this State, 
children of Mr. and Mrs. McCormick 
Randle; James Davis, our subject; Joseph 



now 
The 
are: 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



547 



Addison, who resides in Red River county, 
this State; John Thomas, a resident of Den- 
ton county; Daniel Webster, who died at the 
age of seventeen years; Tliaddeus Sebastian, 
of Denton county, William Willis, a resident 
of Crockett, Texas; Catherine Priscilla; 
Henry and an infant daughter at home. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in 
Ashley county, Arkansas, and came to Texas 
in 1868, settling in Dallas county. He set- 
tled where he now lives in 1875, his father- 
in-law having given him a small place to 
which he has since added until he now owns 
198^ acres, 115 acres of which are under 
cultivation. Mr. McCormick also owns 120 
acres of timber land, and property in Fort 
Worth. He was married in this county, 
June 20, 1872, to Miss Mary Ellen Crowley, 
a daughter of Benjamin F. and Edna Crow- 
ley, natives of Tarrant county. Mr. and Mrs. 
McCormick have one son and a daughter, 
John Caswell and Mary Edna. Both he and 
his wife are members of the Missionary Bap- 
tist Church. 

^ANIEL ALBERT STUART, who is 
classed among the prosperous and pro- 
gressive men of Dallas, Texas, was 
born in Vermont in 1846, and is a sou of M. 
S. and Mary (Markham) Stuart; the father is 
employed by the Government at Burlington. 
Our subject is of Scotch descent and is re- 
lated to the Stuarts of that country. He 
passed his boyhood and youth in his native 
State, receiving his education in the public 
schools, and then began business for himself. 
He was first in the Empire saloon in Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, was afterward in business in Ken- 
tucky, and in 1872 came to Texas. He 
passed some time in traveling over tlie State 



and then located at Waco, where he remained 
for some time. He has been enoaged in the 
cattle business and has also dealt largely in 
Dallas real estate. He founded Coney Is- 
land Jockey saloon in 1885, and is a man who 
thoroughly understands his business. He is 
one of the wide-awake, thorough going busi- 
ness men, and his success is assured. He is 
a member of the B. P. 0. E. lodge and was 
Treasurer of the same for some time. In 
politics he advocates the principles of the 
Democratic party. He takes a deep interest 
iu all worthy enterprises and is one of the 
most progressive men in North Texas. He 
is not married. 



|PPS G. KNIGHT has been a life-long 
citizen of Dallas county, Texas, born in 
1858, a son of O. W. Knight, one of 
noblest and most excellent of the early pio- 
neers, a full notice of whom appears in con- 
nection with an older son, G. A. Knight. 
Our subject inherited many of those traits of 
character which placed his father in the front 
ranks of the county's honored citizens. He 
received a thorough education in English 
branches at Rock Seminary, and early mani- 
fested that clear perception and keen judg- 
ment which have marked all his transactions 
in the business world. After a brief course 
at Marvin College, and a more extended one 
at the business college at his own home he 
started out to seek the fortune which exists 
in the mind of every ambitious youth. His 
health was not rugged, so he went to Eureka 
Springs, Arkansas, and for a time was em- 
ployed as a clerk in a dry-goods store. When 
he was stronger he took up the occupation of 
his father, and began the management of his 
father's estate which comprised 1,000 acres. 



548 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



He was very successful in this undertaking 
and through his skill and industry the earth 
yielded to hiui her richest stores. Fine 
horses and cattle were bred, abundant har- 
vests were gathered, and Mr. Knight soon 
took rank among the leading agriculturists 
of the State. 

The marvelous growth of Dallas brought 
the plantation within reach of the city. He 
purchased the property for $40,000, organized 
a syndicate, and sold it for $125,000. He 
then turned his attention to real estate, and 
built some of the most substantial and capa- 
cious blocks in the place. He is one of the 
directors of the North Texas National Bank, 
and is closely connected with its manage- 
ment. 

In 1887 Mr. Knight was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Fannie L. Fatton, of Alabama, 
a lady of much refinement and culture. 
Three children have been born to them: 
Mattie Lee died at the age of eleven months; 
Epps Browning and William H. The par- 
ents are worthy members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and few laudable enter- 
prises have failed to receive their support 
and a generous contribution of their means. 
Mr. Knight is a member of the Knights of 
Pythias. He is one of the rising men of the 
New South, a citizen whom Dallas will al- 
way, be proud to claim. 

K. LUCAS, a farmer and dairyman of 
Dallas county, was horn in Meigs 
''* county, Tennessee, on January 30, 
1848, the youngest of five children born to 
Thomas and Narcissa (Wanimock) Lucas, 
natives of Georgia and Virginia respectively. 
The father was a soldier of the war of 1812, 
and in an early day moved to Tennessee, 



where he pre-empted and improved a farm. 
In 1851 he emigrated to Ozark, Arkansas, 
and in 1853 to Dallas county, where he 
bought and improved a farm of 280 acres, 
paying §1.50 per acre. His death occurred 
in this county December 15, 1877, and the 
mother still survives, residing with our sub- 
ject. 

The subject of this sketch was reared to 
farm life and educated in the public schools 
of Dallas county, and also aided in opening 
up the home farm. On his seventeenth birth- 
day he eiilisted in Colonel Warren B. Stone's 
regiment, and served until the close of the 
war. Politically, Mr. Lucas is a member of 
the Democratic party, but is not active in 
politics, and religiously both he and his wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church at Oak Lawn. He was married in 
this county, in 1873, to Alice Cole, a native 
of Texas, and daughter of James M. and 
Sarah (Bennett) Cole, natives of Tennessee. 
The parents came to Texas in 1843, settling 
in Dallas county, where the father died in 
1883; the mother is still living in Dallas. 
Mr. and Mrs. Lucas have five children, 
namely: Thomas M., James C, Narcissa 
Etta, Laui'a, and Alfred Warren. 



^.ENDEPtSON B. CO YLE, a farmer of 
Garland, Dallas county, was born in 
this county, September 13, 1858, a son 
of Henderson Coyle, a native of Carroll 
county, Arkansas. The father remained in 
his native State until 1854, when he came to 
Texas, settling with Peter Colony in Dallas 
county, where he had previously taken a 
claim of 320 acres. He improved part of 
his land, which he afterward sold and then 
improved the remainder, where he subse- 
quently died. He was born February 10, 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



549 



1833, and married forty -three years ago Miss 
Eboline Parker, who still resides on the old 
homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Coyle reared a 
family of four children, viz.: Clemuel C, 
born December 23, 1848; Emily J., wife of 
R. J. Richards, was born February 18, 1852; 
Marion C, born November 10, 1855; and 
Henderson B., born September 13, 1858. 
The father was called out several times in de- 
fense of his country, but owing to the weak- 
ness of his eyes he returned to his home. The 
last time he was called to Shreveport, where 
he died, at the close of the war. 

Henderson B., was only seven years old at 
his father's death, after which he lived with 
hifc mother and worked on the farm until the 
age of twenty-one. After his marriage he 
settled on his present farm of eighty-two acres, 
which was given to his wife by her father. 
Here he has built a fine residence, has the 
farm cleared and fenced, and in a fine state 
of cultivation. He was married December 1, 
1878, to Miss Nancy M. Mills, who was born 
September 17, 1863, and daughter of Edward 
Mills. Mr. and Mrs. Coyle have had three 
children: Luvillia, born September 14, 1879; 
Norah Ebline, January 21, 1882, and Letha 
Matilda, July 6, 1884. The parents are botli 
members of the Christian Church, and the 
father is also a member of the Masonic order, 
Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441. 



I^ENRY NOETZLl, deceased.— This 

gentleman was a native of Switzerland 
became thoroughly Americanized, and 
one of the most prosperous and useful citizens 
of Dallas county, Texas. Briefly given, a 
review of his life is as follows; 

Henry Noetzli was born in Zurich, Swit- 
zerland, April 20, 1831. He remained there 



engaged in farming, until he was thirty-five 
years old. In the fall of 1856 he was united 
in marriage with Miss Anna Schmid, who 
was born there the same year he was. He 
emigrated to America in 1867, came to 
Texas and located in Dallas, and the follow- 
ing year he was joined by his wife and daugh- 
ter. For ten years he was engaged in teaming 
in Dallas. Then he purchased a farm of 110 
acres, which he conducted and on which he 
lived ten years. During all this time he had 
been successful, had made money, and, what 
was more, had saved it. Finding himself 
advanced in life and in easy circumstances, 
he bought a choice location in Garland and 
built a house. His wife died on the 25th of 
January, 1890, at the age of fifty-nine years, 
leaving an only child, Anna, who, with her 
little son, Henry Noetzli, resides at the home- 
stead. 

Politically, Mr. Noetzli was an ardent Re- 
publican. He voted with that party when 
there were but few Republicans in the county. 
At the last election there were fifty Republi- 
can votes cast here. Mr. Noetzli was ap- 
pointed Postmaster of Garland by President 
Harrison, and was filling that office most 
acceptably when he met with a fatal accident, 
his horse running away and upsetting the 
buggy. He died three days afterward, March 
3, 1892. 

In connection with this sketch, it should be 
further stated that Mr. Noeizli's father, 
Henry Noetzli, lived and died in Switzerland, 
passing away in 1890, at the age of eighty- 
seven ypars. His mother's maiden name was 
Margaret Shebley. She, too, died in her 
native land, her death occurring in 1876. 
They were the parents of five children, viz.: 
Barbara, wife of Henry Frick of Dallas; 
Anna, wife of John Lienberger; Henry; 
Jacob, and Regula, wife of Felix Albright. 



550 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




In company with his daughter and grand- 
son, Mr. Noetzli expected to spend the sum- 
mer of 1892 on a visit to his native land. He 
had already made one trip to Switzerland 
since locating in America. Although the old 
country and the seeues of his childhood pos- 
sessed charms for him, he preferred the land 
of his adoption for a home. 

ILLIAM J. BORAH, of Dallas 
county, is a son of Lee and Catherine 
[(Render) Borah, and is of German ex- 
traction. His paternal great-grandfather was 
a native of that country, and came to Amer- 
ica in Colonial times, settling in the Susque- 
hanna valley of Pennsylvania, where his son, 
our subject's grandfather, was born. The 
latter at an early day came by way of Pitts- 
burg, and down the Ohio river on flat-boats, 
and settled in Butler county, Kentucky, when 
that country was almost a wilderness. For 
many years he was engaged in rafting and 
flat-boating between points on the Ohio river 
and New Orleans, and died at an advanced 
age in the county of his adoption. Our sub- 
ject's father, Lee Borah, was born in Butler 
county, Kentucky, February 10, 1808, and 
passed his early years in flat-boating on the 
Ohio and Mississippi rivers. He married 
Catherine Render, of Ohio county, Kentucky, 
a daughter of Joshua Render, a pioneer of 
western Kentucky. On account of his wife's 
health, Mr. Borah came to Texas in 1856, 
settling in Dallas county, where he purchased 
320 acres of land lying on Grapevine prairie, 
whicii was then unimproved. He spent the 
remainder of his life on that farm, dying in 
1877, at the age of sixty-nine years. His 
wife died at the same place, in 1851, and she 
and her husband are buried at the Bear creek 
cemetery, near by. They were both mem- 



bers of the Baptist Church, and were the 
parents of six children, all but one of whom 
reached maturity, viz.: Christopher C, who 
enlisted in the Confederate army at the open- 
ing of the war, and died from cold contracted 
on a forced march at Arkansas Post, during 
his term of service; the next child, a daugh- 
ter, died in infancy; William J., the subject 
of this sketch; Jane, the wife of A. H. Boyd, 
Tax Collector of Tarrant county; Martha A., 
wife of Thomas Powell, of Grapevine' prairie; 
Rosie A., wife of J. P. Terrill, of Eliz.-tbeth- 
town, Denton county, Texas. 

William J. Borah, our subject, was born 
in Butler county, Kentucky, August 27, 1842, 
and was fourteen years of age when his par- 
ents came to Texas. His youth was passed 
on a farm, and in February, 1862, lie enlisted 
in the Confederate army, in the First Texas 
Squadron, and saw his first service at Chatta- 
nooga, Tennessee. After that battle he was 
in Gano's command, and was with General 
John Morgan in his celebrated raid in Ken- 
tucky and Ohio, and participated in all the 
fights, marches, thrilling adventures and wild 
orgies which characterized that most wonder- 
ful military expedition. He was with Mor- 
gan at the time of his capture, and was near 
him when he was taken. He was captured 
with the remainder of the command, and 
after spending a short time at Indianapolis, 
Indiana, was taken to Camp Chase, Colum- 
bus, Ohio, shortly afterwai'd to Camp Doug- 
las, Chicago, after the expiration of twenty- 
one months was taken to City Point to be 
exchanged. They were then paroled under 
instructions not to go south of the north line 
of South Carolina, but Mr. Borah went over 
the line, and, being in the vicinity of his 
regiment, rejoined it, secured a furlough, and 
was on his way home at the time of the sur- 
render. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS G0UNT7. 



551 



Mr. Borah tells some interesting recollec- 
tions of the days when he served under Mor- 
gan, as well as of the days when he attempted 
to make his way back home to Texas without 
transportation or money. He reached home 
at the close of the war, wearing one shoe and 
with one foot tied up in a shirt, from the 
effects of a frost bite. He paid his last cent, 
$16 in Confederate money, to get across the 
river at Shreveport, Louisiana. Again at 
home and the war over, he settled down to 
farming on the old homestead, where he has 
since resided. Mr. Borah has one of the 
richest and best improved farms on Grapevine 
prairie, and it is the same his father bought in 
1856, and has been in the family since. Al- 
though it was divided at the death of the 
father Mr. Borah bought his sisters' interests, 
and he now owns 292 acres of the original 
320 acres, all of which is cultivated. He 
also owns other land m Tarrant county, ad- 
joining, and is one of the most snccessful 
farmers in the community where he resides. 
It is a notable fact that there has never been 
a failure on the Borah homestead since it 
was first settled in 1856. Mr. Borah has the 
reputation of being one of the most energetic 
men iu the western part of Dallas county, 
and everything on his place shows that this 
reputation is well deserved. He is liberal- 
minded and a public- spirited citizen, and 
lends a helping hand to all deserving pur- 
poses. 

December 12, 1868, he married Miss Lou 
Terrill, a daughter of John Terrill, then re- 
siding at Gi-apevine, Tarrant county, but 
originally from Randolph county, Missouri, 
where Mrs. Borah was born, having come 
with her parents to Texas when a girl. The 
wife died August 6, 18 — , leaving three chil- 
dren: Lee; May, now Mrs. C. L. Dillon, of 
this county, and Susie. Mr. Borah afterward 



married Miss Mary T. Bradley, a native also 
of Randolph county, Missouri, and a daughter 
of George W. Bradley, a resident of Taylor 
county, this State. To this union has been 
born live children, three of whom still sur- 
vive, viz.: Jessie, Maud and De Graff. Mr. 
and Mrs. Borah are members of the Baptist 
Church, as were his parents before him, and 
he also takes an active interest in the moral 
and educational needs of his neighborhood. 




ARION M. FARMER was born in 
Graves county, Kentucky, Septem- 
'^m^ ber 20, 1840. His father. Berry 
Farmer, was a native of Virginia, born in 
1811; came to Texas in 1875, and died here 
in the year 1878, at the age of sixty- 
nine years. His mother, who before 
her marriage was Arsena Paschall, died in 
1875, aged sixty-five years. Following are 
their children, four of whom are living: 
Elizaljeth, deceased; William; Marion M.; 
Forby, wife of William Williams; Myra, 
wife of Perry Mitchell, is deceased ; Frona, 
deceased, was the wife of James Buck; Lu; 
and Nancy, wife of James Cruse. 

Marion M. came to Texas when a young 
man, in 1860, landing here with only fifty 
cents in money, but with what is more than 
money, a determination to succeed in life 
He says he gave what little he had to a child, 
and began square with the world. He soon 
found employment on a farm at $8 per 
month, and worked in that way at different 
places until the war broke out. In April, 
1862, he enlisted in the army, and served 
during the war, being in a number of im- 
portant engagements. He had the misfor- 
tune to have his foot broken, and, being thus 



553 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



disabled, lie was detailed to the commissary 
department, under John H. Hunter. 

At the close of the war Mr. Farmer re- 
turned home no richer, as a matter of coui-se, 
than when he entered the service. With 
renewed energy he went to work, and in due 
time saved money enough to buy 220 acres 
of wild land. On the 8th of February, 
1866, he was married to Miss Emma Haught, 
and after his marriage moved to the land he 
had bouglit in Kaufman county. In improv- 
ing his place and making a home he met 
with many diificulties and endured liardships 
untold, but finally success crowned his earn- 
est efforts. His wife, born June 7, 1850, 
departed this life in 1868, and her untimely 
death was a source of much bereavement to 
him. Slie left one child, Emma, who be- 
came the wife of John Mason, and after his 
death married Frank Henryshot. After his 
wife died Mr. Farmer grew somewhat dis- 
couraged, and went to Kentucky and remained 
there a short time. Coming back to Texas, 
he again gave his attention to agricultural 
pursuits on his farm. He now owns one of 
the prettiest farms in Dallas county, consist- 
ing of 409 acres of fine land, all well im- 
proved. He has a beautiful home and is sur- 
rounded with all the comforts of life. Two 
hundred acres of his land are under cultiva- 
tion, all is fenced, and the rest is in pasture, 
with the exception of eighty acres of timber 
laud. 

For his second wife Mr. Farmer married 
Miss Golden M. Haught, a sister of his first 
wife. She was born in Dallas county, April 
27, 1846, a daughter of Samuel and Isabella 
J. (DeVall) Haught. Her father was born 
November 20, 1814; was married in Pike 
county, Illinois, in 1844, and in 1845 moved 
to Texas, becoming one of the pioneers of 
this State. He and his wife are now resi- 



dents of Arizona. Of their family of nine 
children, Mrs. Farmer is the oldest and is one 
of two who are still living. 

Mr. Farmer has had six children by his 
present wife, namely: Emma Ermin, Eva, 
Ethel, Hattie J., Valta and Alfa O.; all liv- 
ing except Eva and Alfa O. 




ILLIAM L. CAMPBELL dates his 
arrival in Texas in 1851, having 
come to this State with his parents 
and settled in Dallas county. He was born 
in Jefferson county. East Tennessee, April 
23, 1832. being nineteen years old at the 
time the family emigrated to Texas. After 
remaining on the farm with his fatlier for 
some years, he took up the carpenter's trade 
and worked at it. At the breaking out of the 
Civil war he was in the Indian Nation work- 
ing on a Government sawmill. The camp 
broke up on account of the war, and the mill 
was never finished. He came home and soon 
afterward enlisted in the Eighteenth Texas 
Cavalry, Colonel Darnell. Reaching the 
command, he found his brother sick and was 
detailed to wait on him. The command left 
and was captured before he and his brother 
could join them. In the spring they re- 
ported at Little Rock and were sent to Pine 
Bluff, remaining at the latter place until 
June. There he was taken with typhoid 
fever and was moved to the country. In 
August he came home, reported at Dallas, 
and was ordered to Shreveport. There he 
was put on guard duty; was subsequently 
detailed as carpenter in tlie ordnance depart- 
ment and was sent to Tyler, where he re- 
mained until the close of the war. Return- 
ing liome, he worked on the farm for awhile 
and afterward turned his attention to the 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



553 



carpenter's trade again. In 1872 he com- 
menced surveying, and at that, as in other 
lines of work, he has been successful. He 
has done private surveying and has been 
deputized by the court to do work, but never 
ran or served as county surveyor. Although 
of late years he has given his attention chiefly 
to farming, he still does some surveying. 
Mr. Campbell has three farms, having two 
rented and living on the other. He has 
eighty acres of his home farm under cultiva- 
tion, and everything about the premises indi- 
cates the owner to be a man of thrift and en- 
terprise. Mr. Campbell has given some 
attention to fruit culture, with partial suc- 
cess. He has the largest peach orchard in 
this part of the county, and also has some 
apples. The black land he thinks is not 
suited to fruit culture. 

Robert F. Campbell, father of the subject 
of our sketch, was a native of Tennessee, and 
while a resident of that State served as Jus- 
tice of the Peace. He was engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits all his life, his death occur- 
ring in this State November 18, 1881. By 
his first wife, nee Jane C. David, of Tennes- 
see, he had six children, William L. being 
the oldest. The names of the others are 
Lodemia A., Sarepta A., James W., and Mar- 
garet E. The mother departed this life about 
1842. In March, 1850, the father wedded 
Miss Mary Hotfer. Her paternal ancestors 
were Swiss, and from her mother's people she 
inherited some Choctaw blood. By his sec- 
ond marriage Robert F. Campbell had ten 
children, all having died except three. His 
widow is now a resident of Piano. 

December 11, 1881, William L. Campbell 
was united in marriage with Miss Catherine 
R. Rankin, daughter of Patrick M. Rankin, 
of East Tennessee. To them have been born 
five children, viz. : Robert E., born Septem- 



ber 10, 1882; Emily J., May 14, 1884; Car- 
rie M., October 7, 1885; LaFayette R., June 
26, 1887; Lucy E., July 28, 1889, and Archi- 
bald Ray, born November 17, 1891. Lafay- 
ette R. died July 3, 1888. 

Politically, Mr. Campbell is a Democrat, 
and believes in prohibition. He was a member 
of the Grange before that organization broke 
up here. The Campbell family are members 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

fOHN W. HOPKINS, deceased, came to 
Dallas county, Texas, with his parents, 
when he was about eight years old and 
for many years he was an honored resident of 
this county. 

Mr. Hopkins was born in Polk county, 
Missouri, November 16, 1839, son of John 
Hopkins. He was reared on a farm and re- 
sided with his mother until he reached his 
majority. October 28, 1869, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Mary E. Hight. She 
was born in Rutherford county, Tennessee, 
daughter of Robert A. and Martha (Jordon) 
Hight, natives of Tennessee, of French and 
Scotch-Irish ancestry. She came to this 
county in 1860. After their marriage they 
settled on a farm previously purchased by 
by Mr. Hopkins, or, rather, it was a part of 
the headright his mother had bought. He 
improved this place and was engaged in farm- 
ing and stock-raising until the time of his 
death. He left an estate consisting of 1,000 
acres of improved land. Mrs. Hopkins now 
manages the property. 

To our subject and his wife were born nine 
children, of wliom six are still living, namely: 
Elvira, Lillie, David, Josie, Maggie and 
John. Robert died at the age of four years, 
William at the age of two years, and James 



654 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




at the age of eighteen months. Mr. Hopkins 
departed this life on the 7th of June, 1887. 
He was a member of the A., F. & A. M., and 
was held in high esteem by all who knew 
him. 

Mrs. Hopkins is a member of the Baptist 
Church. 

A. GARY, brick contractor and 
builder, of Dallas, came to this city 
I® in 1886, engaging at his trade, and 
afterward formed a partnership with Mr. 
Abbott, under the firm name of Abbott & 
Gary. Among the principal buildings tiiey 
erected are the Leacliman building on Live 
Oak street, Central National Bank, police 
headquarters on Commerce street, a wholesale 
building on Main street, etc. The partner- 
ship was dissolved in July, 1890, and since 
then Mr. Gary has put up a three-story and 
basement building on the corner of Ervay and 
Marillo streets, a three-story building opposite 
the city park, a three-story building at the 
crossing of Ervay street and the Santa Fe rail- 
road, etc. Oil an average he employs seven 
skilled masons, besides the attendants. 

Mr. Gary was born in West Virginia in 
1856, the sixth of the thirteen children of D. 
R. and C. O. (Everhart) Gary, natives of the 
Old Dominion. His father was born in 
Richmond and mother at Harper's B^erry. 
Mr. D. R. Gary moved to West Virginia, 
commencing in life as a carpenter. For thirty 
years he was superintendent of construction 
of bridges and tunnels on the Baltimore & 
Ohio railroad from Wheeling to Cun^ber- 
land and from Grafton to Parkersburg, hav- 
ing 300 miles under his supervision. At 
length he retired from active business life, 
and he now lives in Columbus, Ohio; his wife 
also is still living. The subject of this sketch 



was reared in West Virginia, learned his 
trade in Bloomington, Illinois, and St. Louis, 
Missouri, serving an apprenticeship of four 
years. Next he followed his trade awhile at 
St. Paul and subsequently returned to Colum- 
bus, whence he came to Dallas. 

He was first married in Wheeling, West 

P o 

Virginia, March 19, 1882, to Amelia Hankey, 
a native of Virginia and a daughter of Charles 
and Amelia (Crumbacker) Hankey. Her 
father was born in Germany and her mother 
in Virginia, and they reside in Wheeling, 
where Mr. Hankey is a cigar manufacturer. 
Mrs. Gary died in "Wheeling, in 1883, and 
Mr. Gary was again married, in Dallas, in 
1889, to Clara Hilliard, a native of London, 
England, and a daughter of Edward Hilliard, 
now of Shreveport, Louisiana, and by this 
marriage there is one child, by name Nelie 
May. 

Mr. Hilliard married Mrs. C. M. Packin- 
ham, who was born in England in 1841 and 
died in Dallas December 23, 1886, leaving 
ten children — seven sons and three daughters. 

Mr. Gary is zealously interested in the 
welfare of his country, voting the Democratic 
ticket. As to the societies, he is a member 
of Joseph Dowdell Lodge, No. 144, K. of P., 
at Columbus, Ohio, and of Cceur de Lion 
Lodge, Uniformed Rank, K. of P., of Dallas. 



^ENNETH FOREE, Judge of the City 
^ Court of Dallas, was born in Henry 
county, Kentucky, in 1859, and is a 
son of Silas H. and Elizabeth (Kyle) Force, 
honored citizens of Dallas county, whose his- 
tory will be found on another page of this 
volume. He received his literary education 
in Waco University, and having chosen the 
profession of law for his life work, he began 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



555 



its study under the direction of Judge Burke. 
He was admitted to tiie bar in 1887, and at 
once entered upon a successful practice. He 
has been a close student, and has evinced such 
an aptitude for legal work that he was the 
choice of the Democratic Convention in 1890 
for City Judge. He was elected by a large 
plurality, and is the youngest man iu north- 
ern Texas serving in this capacity. He has 
entered upon the discharge of his duties 
witli an honesty of purpose and a strict im- 
partiality which thoroughly justify his selec- 
tion. He is quick to discern a legal point, 
prompt in ruling, and fearless in his adminis- 
tration of justice. He is one of the most 
promising young lawyers of Dallas, and his 
friends anticipate for him a bright and suc- 
cessful future. He is a member of the 
Knights Templar, and belongs to the Baptist 
Church. 

A. WOODS, a farmer of Grapevine 
prairie, Dallas county, was born in 
' ® Cole county, Missouri, April 17, 1839. 
a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Witten) 
Woods, the former a native of North Caro- 
lina and the latter of Virginia. The paternal 
grandfather, Archibald Woods, was born in 
Ireland, and came to America when a young 
man, settling first in North Carolina, where 
he married, and moved thence to Wayne 
county, Kentucky, where he subsequently 
died. Andrew Woods was reared mainly in 
Kentucky, and after his marriage he moved 
to Fayette county, Missouri, in 1830, settling 
where the town of Lexington now stands. 
He was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by 
trade, and erected the first house ever built 
in Lexington. He died in Cole county, Mis- 
souri, iu 1841, at the age of forty-three years. 
Our subject's mother, nee Elizabeth Witten, 



was born in Tazewell county, Virginia, a 
daughter of Samuel Witten. Her parents 
moved to Kentucky when she was twelve 
years of age, settling in Wayne county, where 
she grew to womanhood. She was married 
in that State, and accompanied her husband 
to Missouri, in pioneer days, where she died, 
in Cole county, in 1853, at the age of fifty- 
two years. Her people were originally from 
Maryland, her parents, however, being Vir- 
ginians by birth, and were pioneers of Ken- 
tucky and Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Woods 
had five children: Mary, the wife of C. A. 
McCarty, of Tarrant county; Emeline, who 
became the wife of Thomas Greenup and lived 
several years in Wise county, where she after- 
ward died, leaving a family; Margaret, for- 
merly Mrs. James A. Jenkins, died in Cole 
county, Missouri, several years ago; Archi- 
bald, our subject; and Andrew Macky Lu- 
cetta, the wife of Bryant Harrington, a sketch 
of whom appears in this volume. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in 
his native county, and when a young man, in 
October, 1857, he came to Texas, first stop- 
ping in Denton county. One year later he 
moved to Wise county, where he enlisted in 
the Confederate service, in February, 1862, 
in Company B, Fifteenth Texas Cavalry. He 
was actively engaged in the service until 
in January, 1863, when he was tal^en pris- 
oner at Arkansas Post, and after his exchange 
he went to New Mexico, where he entered 
the employ of the old Santa Fe Stage Line 
Company. Mr. Woods was in the employ of 
that company in New Mexico and the western 
plains of Texas until the close of the war, 
and after the surrender he returned to Wise 
county, where he gathered together what was 
left of hi.s horses and cattle and traded them for 
a piece of land in that county. He subsequently 
traded this land for another tract iu Tarrant 



556 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



county, which he afterward sold, and, mc)V- 
ing to Dallas county, purchased the place 
where he now lives, on Grapevine prairie, 
near the Tarrant county line. He lirst pur- 
chased 135 acres of prairie land, but he has 
since added to this tract until he now owns 
520 acres, also eighty acres of timber land in 
the same vicinity, and a farm of 120 acres in 
Denton county. In addition to his farming 
Mr. Woods buys considerable stock, which 
he fattens, keeping from ninety-five to 100 
head on hand at all times, and sells when the 
market is favorable. 

He was married December 17, 1884, to 
Mrs. Mary Gatewood, a daughter of J. F. 
Morris, of Denton county, Texas, and born 
in Moniteau county, Missouri. To this union 
has been born three children: Alexander, 
Isabella and Mary. Mrs. Woods had one 
child by her former marriage. Mr. and Mrs. 
Woods are members of tiie Christian Church, 
and the former has been a Mason since 1864 
and is now a member of Estelle Lodge, No. 
570. 

lABRIEL A. KNIGHT was born in the 
county of Bedford, State of Tennessee, 
in 1842, and is a son of Obadiah and 
Martha Ann (Knight) Knight. The mother 
was not related to her husband's family. 
Obadiah Knight was a native of Virginia, 
and when a young man removed to Tennessee, 
where he engaged inagi'icnlture, which he pur- 
sued until 1846. In that year he came to 
Dallas county, Texas, and settled in Precinct 
No. 1, within four miles of the village. He 
purchased 1,000 acres of land, which he placed 
under cultivation, and was the owner of slaves, 
although he was opposed to the principle of 
bartering in flesh and blood. He died April 
1, 1868, at the age of sixty years. Mr. 



Knight was twice married; there were live 
children of the first marriage, two of whom 
are living: Mrs. J. J. Millard, and Gabriel 
A., the subject of this notice; those deceased 
are, William A., Dr. John W., and Mrs. 
Judge Burford. The second marriage was to 
Miss Hughes, and the children of this union 
are: Laura, who died in 1870; Mattie A., 
deceased; Sarah Catherine; Margaret B.; 
William H.; Epps G., whose full history 
will be found on another page of this volume, 
R. E. L., a lawyer by profession; and Arche- 
laus J.; Monroe and Josephine died in child- 
hood. From this father sprang a large and 
influential family. He was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church for years, and 
was identified with the Democratic party. 
He was one of the most honored and re- 
spected of the early pioneers, and left behind 
him a name that will be revered while mem- 
ory lasts. 

Gabriel acquired a practical education in 
the common schools, and in 1861 enlisted in 
the First Texas Artillery, serving four years, 
and participating in some of the most noted 
battles of the conflict. After the surrender 
he returned to Dallas county. 

September 8, 1869, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Hannah E. Jenkins, a native of 
Dallas county, and a daughter of William 
Jenkins, who was the first Sheriff of Dallas 
county. Nine children were born to them, two 
of whom died in infancy: those living are 
Alma L., William Burford, Andi-ew G., Mat- 
tie, John J., Adaline, and Lucile. After 
coming from the war, Mr. Knight engaged 
in farming, and remained on the farm until 
1889, and then located in the city. He was 
elected public weigher for Dallas county, in 
1884, he is a member of the city council, 
having been elected to the latter oflice in 
1891 without opposition; he represents the 












1 



HISTORT OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



657 



Third Ward, and is a progressive and efiicient 
officer. He is a member of the Knights of 
Honor, and he and Mrs. Knight belong to 
the Methodist Episcopal Clnirch South. 



*^. 



^ 



lOLONEL JOHN C. McCOY.— Among 
the early settlers ol' northern Texas, 
and the first lawyer to locate in the city 
of Dallas, was Colonel John C. McCoy, a 
gentleman commanding in appearance and 
venerable in the magnificent character he 
built up for himself as a true man and effi- 
cient citizen. 

He was born in Clark county, Indiana, 
September 28, 1819, the youngest son of 
John and Jane (Collins) McCoy, natives of 
Pennsylvania. His grandfather, liev. Will- 
iam McCoy, moved from Pennsylvania to 
Kentucky, in 1790, coming down the Ohio 
river in a flat-boat, and settled in Shelby 
county. He was a Baptist preacher and 
made many hazardous journeys in Kentucky, 
and also in southern Indiana, crossing the 
Ohio river, and penetrating the then im- 
mense forests of Clark county. A bold 
brave man, he proclaimed the gospel beneath 
the great trees, to the sparse settlers with his 
gun at his side. 

Colonel McCoy's father was married in 
Kentucky, in 1803, and afterward moved to 
Clark county, Indiana, entered land and im- 
proved it. After tliat he moved to Jefierson- 
ville, Indiana, and made that his home most 
of the time, until his death, which occurred 
September 3, 1859. His excellent wife died 
September 1, 1835, in Clark county, Indiana, 
This worthy couple had ten children, — four 
daughters and six sons, — all of whom grew to 
full man and womanhood, except one daugh- 
ter; and all are now dead. The eldest son, 

37 



Lewis was a farmer in Indiana, and the father 
of John M. McCoy, Esq., of Dallas, Texas, 
who was the law partner of Colonel McCoy 
in Dallas for over ten years. 

Isaac, the third son, received a classical 
education at Hanover College, Indiana, and 
made teaching his profession, and for forty 
years was a prominent educator in southern 
Illinois. 

George R. studied medicine under the 
celebrated Dr. Yandell of Louisville, Ken- 
tucky, and for many years was a prominent 
physician in southern Illinois. Another son, 
William, became a noted Baptist minister in 
Indiana. No man stood hicrher than he in 
his denomination, and no man was more loyal 
or devoted to his people. He was the con- 
tinuous pastor of two churches forty-seven 
years, besides traveling and preaching more 
or less all the time throughout southern In- 
diana. He died at his home in New Phila- 
delphia, May 22, 1891. He left surviving 
him, his son. Rev. John E. McCoy, a prom- 
inent Baptist minister, who died July 24, 
1891, at North Vernon, Indiana. 

The youngest daughter, Eliza, was a mis- 
sionary to the North American Indians for 
nine years, beginning in 1844. She was the 
principal legatee of Colonel McCoy, to the 
magnificent estate he accumulated as a law- 
yer in Dallas, Texas. She survived him only 
about five years, but during that time she 
donated fully $75,000 of her estate to be- 
nevolent and religious institutions; and by 
her will, she bequeathed almost all of 
the balance of her estate, valued at about 
§50,000, to the cause of missions. She 
died November 8, 1891, at Dallas, Texas, 
greatly loved, honored and lamented, as one 
of the most exemplary of Christian women. 

Colonel McCoy was reared on a farm to 
the age of fifteen years, when, in 1834, he 



5r)8 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOONTT. 



entered as a student in the Clark County 
Seminary, continuing liis studies one year. 
In 1835, he entered Wihnincrton Seminary, 
and was a student there a year, and in 1836, 
returned to Clark County Seminary, for an- 
other year. Thus closed his school days. Af- 
ter this, his first employment was as Deputy 
Circuit Clerk of Clark county, Indiana, two 
years, during which time he prosecuted the 
study of law during all his spare time. 

In 1839, he was engaged in the re-survey 
of tlie western boundary line of the State of 
Missouri, from the Missouri river south to 
the Osage river. He was next employed as 
an enrolling agent, and assisted in making 
the payments for the Government to the va- 
rious tribes of Indians in western Missouri. 
In 1840, he assisted iii drafting the treaty 
between the Shawnee and Delaware Indians 
and tlie Government, for a portion of their 
lands on which to locate the Wyandotte tribe. 
Within the territory thus acquired Wyandotte 
City has been built, and there the remains of 
that tribe are still to be found. In the spring 
of 1840, lie returned to Indiana, and resum- 
ed the study of law in the city of Jefferson - 
ville, under Hon. A. Lovering, and in May, 
1841, was licensed to practice in the State and 
Federal courts of Indiana and Kentucky. He 
soon secured a large and lucrative practice, 
which continued until his departure to Texas, 
J n 1844. Having accepted the position of agent 
and surveyor for the Peters colony in Texas, 
he embarked December 12, 1844, on the 
steamer Kate Aubrey, for New Orleans, 
en route to the wild scenes of the great Em- 
pire State, in company with E. F. Springer, 
M. J. Owen, William Keigwin, late propri- 
etor of Breinond, Texas, and Captain Charles 
Hensley. 

On New Year's day, 1845, the party dis- 
embarked from the steamship New York, 



at Galveston, and began preparations to pro- 
ceed to the interior. The party took a Buf- 
falo bayon steamer to Houston, and from 
there weiit with teams to Cincinnati, on the 
Trinity river. In a few days they constructed 
a raft or Hat- boat, 6^x36 feet in dimensions, 
and, placing tlieir wares of 7,000 pounds on 
this frail craft, proceeded up the river to Fort 
Alabama, making such progress as their 
strength would permit, in pushing and pull- 
ing their vessel along. At Fort Alabama, 
the boat was abandoned, and having secured 
two ox teams at Mustang prairie a much 
easier progress of the journey was made to 
Fort Houston, where a part of their supplies 
were left; and, having purchased two ponies 
at this point. Colonel McCoy and his friend 
Captain Hensley, pushed on in advance of 
their party, following the Caddo trail as far 
as Gassett, in Henderson county. Riding up 
to the present site of Dallas, they found Col- 
onel John Neely Bryan, established in a log 
cabin 10 x 12 feet in extent. The travelers 
were very cordially received by Colonel Bryan, 
whom they found dressed in buckskin leg- 
gings, his feet encased in moccasins, and his 
body protected from chilling wirids by a 
red and black plaid blanket coat. 

In March, 1845, the party of engineers of 
which he was a member, started for the col- 
ony to prosecute their survey, arrived without 
serious accident and began the work. 

Captain Hensley being called to Kentucky, 
Colonel McCoy fell heir to the absolute con- 
trol of Peters' colony until the winter follow- 
ing, when his old friend returned with a full 
party of young men. This company was met 
by Colonel McCoy at Bonham, and he es- 
corted it to Dallas, and after seeing the com- 
pany comfortably established in their pioneer 
quarters, he severed his connection with the 
colony authorities, and in June, 1846, he be- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



559 



gan his career as an independent but active 
and zealous citizen. 

In this year Dallas county was organized, 
by Colonel John Neely Bryan, in which en- 
terprise Colonel McCoy contributed his full 
share of brain-work and physical labor. As 
a slight expression of the appreciation in 
which his services were held by those whom 
he had most faithfully served, he was elected 
the first District Clerk of Dallas county; and, 
notwithstanding the fact that he had no office 
room gorgeously fitted up with those conven- 
iences and elegances characterizing large mod- 
ern offices, it is said that he discharged all 
the duties of his position in a manner that 
elicited the highest encomiums from those 
that understood the difficulties he had to en- 
counter, as well as to the entire satisfaction 
of those whom he served. 

The Mexican war breaking out about this 
time, Colonel McCoy took an active part in 
forwarding troops to the front, and in Na- 
varro county was the prime mover in organ- 
izing the company commanded by Captain 
W. B. Dagley, with his old friend, Charles 
Ilensley as First Lieutenant. 

In December, 1846, after the District 
Court had been successfully organized, and 
during its first session, and at the earnest re- 
quest of Judge Ochiltree, he resigned his of- 
fice as District Clerk, and entered regularly 
and largely into the practice of his profession, 
which he followed for nearly thirty-nine 
years, with unvarying and remarkable success. 

In 1848, Colonel McCoy was made a Ma- 
son, at Bonham, Texas, in Constantine Lodge, 
and during the same year assisted in the or- 
ganization of Taunehill Lodge, in Dallas. He 
was duly consecrated High Priest by the 
Council Order of Houston, June 13, 1861. 
At various times he was D. D. G. Master of 
Masons in Texas, Grand Visitor of the Grand 



Chapter for the Eastern District of Texas, 
Deputy Thrice Illustrious Grand Master of 
the Grand Council of Royal and Select Mas- 
ters of Texas, Grand Generalissimo of the 
Grand Commandry of Texas. He was also 
Past Grand Commander of the Grand Cora- 
mandery Knights Templar of Texas, and at 
his death was District Commander of the 
Scottish Rites, and King of the Royal Arch 
Chapter of Texas. 

In his personal appearance. Colonel McCoy 
was exceedingly neat and even fastidious, and 
delighted in nothing so much as the simple 
elegance of life that minister to the comfort 
of all. 

He was the first to erect a frame house in 
the city of Dallas, and this he did with the 
laudable desire to improve the hamlet by in- 
troducino; a style of architecture superior to 
that of the pioneer log cabin. He cultivated 
and beautified not only his own home, but 
also extended his ideas into the public inter- 
ests of the county. And to him Dallas 
county is indebted for the magnificent trees 
that adorned Court Square, and that gave to 
that place so much of the attractions that ex- 
cite the admiration for its inviting appear- 
ance during the sultry suns of the summer 
months. 

In 1851, Colonel McCoy was married to 
Miss Cora M. McDermett, daughter of J. B. 
McDermett,of Pennsylvania, and a brother- 
in-law of David R. Porter, Governor of Penn- 
sylvania. All the surroundings of that event 
were of the simplest character, but the con- 
stancy that followed the vows there made is 
the highest proof that can be afforded to the 
sincere devotion given to the blushing bride 
who began with him the voyage of his mar- 
ried life. 

In August, 1852, his residence on the cor- 
ner of Commerce and Lamar streets was 



560 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTT- 



completed, and his yoiincr wife duly and 
formally installed into the administration of 
its affairs. His was the home of gayety, and 
frequented by all who delighted to steal away 
from the cares of a busy life, and for an hour 
to realize that the world is still beautiful, not- 
withstanding the troubles that sometimes 
overtake the unfortunate toilers in its active 
scenes. In the happiness of his married 
life, and the successful practice of his profes- 
sion that was then yielding him handsome 
profits, Colonel McCoy was feasting on pleas- 
ures that were destined, alas! to be of short 
duration. The young wife, that had given 
to him so much love and was so efficient in 
rendering home a paradise, was snatched from 
his side by the relentless jaws of death, ere 
the baby lips that had blessed their marriage 
had been trained to lisp the holy name of 
mother. For over a quarter of a century, 
Colonel McCoy walked alone in the shadow 
of his ever present sorrow, but, like the 
needle to the pole, the deep-rooted affections 
of his soul were ever true to the impressions 
made by the idol of his heart, who won and 
wore his devotions long before the frost of 
years had mellowed his life. 

In 1854, ten years after his departure from 
the scenes of his early life, for the wild and 
untried experiences of this distant land. Col- 
onel McCoy visited for the first time his 
friends and relatives then living near the 
Falls of the Ohio River, as Louisville was 
then known. 

In February, 1856, Colonel McCoy was 
elected District Attorney of the Sixteenth 
Judicial Circuit of this State, then composed 
of sixteen counties and extending from Gray- 
son, Ellis and Dallas counties on the east, to 
to the distant boundaries of Young county 
on the west. This position he tilled for 
nearly three years, discharging all its duties 



faithfully, effectively and to the entire satis- 
faction of those who had entrusted the labor 
and responsibilities of this important office 
to him. 

In 1861, when the Civil war, ominous of 
the worst, broke forth upon the country, Gov- 
ernor Clark, recognizing administrative abil- 
ities of the highest order in the systematic 
and determined character and will of Colonel 
McCoy, appointed him to be Quartermaster 
of the regiments commanded by Colonels 
Young, Simms, Lock and Parsons. When 
these commands were mustered into the Con- 
federate service. Colonel McCoy was retained 
by Governor Clark in the military service of 
the State, and assigned to duty as mustering 
officer for the regiments that were subse- 
quently carried into the Confederate Army by 
Colonels Nat. M. Burford and T. C. Hawpe. 
His further service as a military man was de- 
voted to the enrollment of soldiers from Dal- 
las county, and as Provost-Marshal of the 
same. 

He was elected to the Legislature in 1862, 
and re-elected in 1864, and at the close of 
the war was an accredited Representative of 
Dallas county in that body, and as such as- 
sisted in the inauguration of the district offi- 
cers appointed by Governor Hamilton, under 
the provisional measures of reconstruction 
adopted by President Andrew Johnson. 

In politics, Colonel McCoy was always un- 
swervingly devoted to the "old-line" Whig 
party; but when its days were numbered and 
its organization disbanded, he co-operated 
with the Democracy; and in all the political 
campaigns since the war, he was a recognized 
leader in the Democratic ranks. 

As an orator. Colonel McCoy was richly 
endowed. Being exceedingly graceful in his 
style of expression and delivery, he never 
failed to entrance by his cultivated thought, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



561 



his flowing sentences and classical allusions, 
all who chanced to be his hearers. 

Being richly endowed with musical talents, 
and a cultivated musician as well, liis whole 
nature seemed to be attuned to rhythmical 
measures, and hence his love and great famil- 
iarity with all the poets may be easily ac- 
counted for. But few men in this country 
were as well acquainted with the realm of 
song as he. He had his favorites, his likes 
and dislikes, just as every thinking, reason- 
ing and studious scholar must have, but as a 
literateur he was not only fair, but impar- 
tial in his criticisms, and respects most 
highly that commendable motive that excites 
merit to labor, and to contribute something 
to the development of our own literature. He 
may have been justly regarded as the best 
posted scholar in the classical as well as the 
general literature of the day, to be found in 
this part of the State. This fact, considered 
in connection with the further fact that he 
passed his palmiest days amid the dangers, 
hardships and demands incident to frontier 
life, must reflect additional credit upon his 
taste, his natural endowments and his attain- 
ments. In his own words, he " had experi- 
enced his greatest pleasures in communing 
with the stars as he lay stretched upon his 
single blanket on the prairies; and in all his 
travels he had never heard anything so grand 
as the soft winds of the whispei-ing forests, 
or seen anything so pure as the distilled dews 
that tremble upon the grasses of the bound- 
less plains." 

Colonol McCoy showed his strongest char- 
acteristics in his love for little children, and 
they in turn reciprocated all his regard in 
signs of affection for him. In this commu- 
nity no man enjoyed so much esteem among 
the juvenile element as he; and even the 
humblest approached him with confidence. 



knowing that he would not allow them to 
sustain any want that he could either gratify 
or supply. Christmas day never failed to 
find him prepared for the visits of his little 
friends, and Uncle Mac's Christmas tree, 
from the force of custom had grown into one 
of the established institutions of the city. 
His invitations were given through the news- 
papers. No better nor higher eulogium can 
ever be pronounced upon his character than 
the simple, single sentence, " He was the 
children's friend." 

Colonel McCoy united with the First Bap- 
tist Church of Dallas, in October, 1880, and 
was ever afterward an active and efiicient 
member, aiding liberally in all church work. 

His final summons came the 30th of April, 
1887, when he departed this life, mourned by 
his many friends. 

The following quotation is from the Dallas 
Morning News, of May 5, 1887. 

" The funeral of Colonel John C. McCoy 
occurred yesterday afternoon at two o'clock. 
He was an old landmark of Dallas, having 
come to this city when it had but a log house 
or two in it, some forty-two years ago, and 
with its growth he had grown. On its ex- 
pansion, its progress and its development 
generally, he left the impress of his energy, 
his wisdom, his enterprise and his conserva- 
tism. He was not only respected and hon- 
ored by all who knew him, but he was loved 
by all, deeply loved by the very many, for 
during the four days his body lay in his late 
residence, hundreds and hundreds of his old 
neighbors, of his newer friends, the rich and 
the poor, the white and the black, and es- 
pecially the poor, visited it to look for the 
last time upon the pale, placid face so peace- 
ful in death, and few went away who were 
not weeping. At one o'clock the Masonic 
orders, the Dallas Commanderv, escort for 



563 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COCTNTT. 



tlie Grand Commandery and Tanneliill Lodge 
of Masons formed at Masonic Temple, corner 
of Main and Murphy streets. From there 
thej marched np Main street preceded by a 
brass band, to the late residence of the de- 
ceased, corner of Main and Ilarvvood streets. 
Already at the house, tilling it and the spa- 
cious grounds, and gathered in throngs on 
the adjacent side-walks were hundreds of 
people — ladies and gentlemen — with knots of 
colored people too, all came to do honor to the 
loved dead. Up and down Main and Har- 
wood streets for a block each way were car- 
riages, buggies and wagons from the country, 
tilled with peoj^le. 

When the procession of Masons arrived 
they formed a line along Main street to the 
west, the Knights Templar in front, Tanne- 
liill Lodge next, the firemen coming next. 
Then the grand officers of the Grand Com- 
mandery and the pall-bearers filed into the 
dwelling; forming about the bier, the pall- 
bearers on either side, Grand Commander 
John O. Johnson at the head and Grand 
Prelate J. C. Carpenter at the foot, with 
cross elevated, the Grand Commandery with 
crossed swords over the casket; the Grand 
Commander exclaimed "Alas, our brother 1." 
The Grand Conjmandery then sheathed their 
swords, the jjall-bearers lifted the casket from 
the catafalque and bore it to the hearse in 
waiting, the Grand Commandery following, 
and in the rear came the Sunday-school class 
of young ladies of the deceased from the First 
Baptist Church, bearing floral emblems. The 
funeral cortege took up its line of march in 
the order above named, to the First I3aptist 
Church. There the religious and Masonic 
services were most solemn. The remains of 
the deceased were taken to the Masonic cem- 
etery, for interment in the family lot. Al- 
ready hundreds and hundreds of people were 



in the cemetery awaiting the procession, so 
that when the vast throna; of that corteire 
arrived there were thousands present. The 
ceremonies first performed at the grave were 
from the beautiful and solemn burial services 
of the Knights Templar, sad, impressive and 
imposing. Then came the ritual of the Ma- 
sonic Lodge, and then the casket was lowered 
to its last resting place and the mound was 
watered with the tears of hundreds of those 
who loved the distinguished dead in his life- 
time and who most sincerely mourned him. 

" The law Association of the city at a bar 
meeting, after a preamble, adopted the reso- 
lutions of respect for the deceased, who, for 
forty-two years, had been an honored and dis- 
tinguished member of the Dallas bar." 

They denominoted him the " Nestor " of 
the bar. 

The Public Library of Dallas, of which 
Colonel McCoy was the president and strong 
supporter at the time of his death, adopted 
some very appropriate resolutions and draped 
its rooms for thirty days. 

The following selection is from a tablet of 
thanks presented to Miss Eliza McCoy in re- 
turn for a portrait of Colonel McCoy, pre- 
sented by her to the Dallas Commandery 
No. 6, Knights Templar. 

" No Mason in Texas can ever forget his 
zeal for Masonry when wars and dissensions 
occurred between the North and South, when 
nearly every Christian, social and benevolent 
organization in this State was disrupted, and 
in many instances abandoned, your honored 
brother. Sir Knight, John C. McCoy, at his 
own individual expense paid chapter, per- 
sonal, lodge and commandery dues for mem- 
bers and kept the lights burning on the 
altars of Free Masonry in Dallas. No Mason 
ever knew John C. McCoy who did not love 
him, and his grand character and his kind 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



563 



consideration of the wants of every destitute 
Mason or liis widow and orphans have so en- 
endeared hira to Masons that his noble coun- 
tenance, his commanding person and his be- 
nevolent kindness have photoc^raphed his 
memory on the hearts of every member of the 
order." 

IN MEMORY OP COLONEL J. C. McCOY. 

BY BARAH LYKINS RUSSELL. 



When like some gorgeous eastern queen, 

The earth with autumn hues was bright, 
Among us moved, with kingly mien, 

A friend whose presence brought delight. 
With eager, earnest heart, he sought 

Each haunt he liked in early years; 
The varied scenes, from memory wrought, 

Awoke, alike, fond smiles and tears, 

So full of kindly sympathy 

For hearts that thrilled with joy or pain, 
O ! friend beloved, we shall not see 

Thy like on this dull earth again. 
For, on a longer journey now, 

Far and forever, thou hast gone ; 
O'er kingly form and noble brow. 

In silence rests the burial stone. 

But THOU dost live ; the kindly deeds — 

The good thy faithful hands have done, 
The fruitage of love's precious seeds — 

Were golden in life's setting suu, 
In saddened hearts, whose weary ache 

Thy healing touch hath comforted, 
Thy name shall sweetest music wake, 

And love its holy incense shed. 

Truth's royal signet on thy brow 

A grandeur to thy being gave; 
Ev'n when in meekness thou didst bow 

Beneath the cool baptismal wave, 
And rise to walk with tireless feet. 

Where'er the Master's footsteps led. 
Love's consecrating spirit sweet 

Its beauty o'er thy spirit shed. 

And when with tender, magic art. 

Each toiler's burden thou didst share, 
A wound was bleeding in thy heart 

Love's early pain had planted there. 
O, faithful heart! through weary years, 

To ONE fond memory so true. 
Still watered by thy secret tears. 

One lonely sorrow deeper grew. 



But now where sundered spirits meet, 

Thy heart has found its own again ; 
And in communions, fond and sweet. 

Forgotten all the earthly pain. 
O! roses, shed your sweetest breath. 

And on his grave, bright sunbeams, fall! 
For Life shall triumph over Death, 

And Love make full amends for all! 

Kansas City, ifo., August 11, 1887. 



fOUN F. CALDWELL, Auditor of the 
city of Dallas, was born in Washington, 
District of Columbia, and is a son of 
Josiah Caldwell, of New Jersey. The father 
was employed in one of the departments at 
Washington for more than fifty years, serv- 
ing from 1816 to 1858. He was one of the 
oldest clerks in the service of the Govern- 
ment, and was very competent and faithful 
in the discharge of his duties. One of his 
brothers was Clerk of the Supreme Court for 
many years. The family is descended from 
the Magruders of Virginia. Our subject was 
born in the city of Washington in 1827, and 
received his education in that city. After 
leaving school he was employed as a clerk in 
a dry-goods store in Baltimore, Maryland, 
and remained there five years. He then 
spent several years in travel, and visited 
every portion of the United States. At last 
he settled in New Orleans, and embarked in 
the cotton business, an enterprise that was 
soon to be paralyzed by the ravages of war. 
Mr. Caldwell enlisted in the Staff Depart- 
ment, and for five years witnessed and ex- 
perienced all the terrors and hardships of 
warfare. From the day the first gun was 
fired upon Fort Sumpter to the day of the 
surrender he did not flinch from the cause he 
had espoused, but did his duty valiantly as 
became a son of the South. 

In 1873 he removed from New Orleans, 



564 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



where he had settled after the war, to Dallas, 
Texas, and for several years engaged in the 
grocery business. Becoming well-known as 
a man of the highest honor and of excellent 
business qualifications, he was chosen by the 
City Council to till the position of City 
Auditor of Dallas. It is a very responsible 
position, but one for which Mr. Caldwell is 
admirably fitted by his previous experience. 
His management of the office has been 
systematic and entirely satisfactory to the 
public, who regard hini as one of the most 
courteous and obliging ofiicials. He is an 
ardent Democrat, and zealously supports all 
the measures of that body. He belongs to 
the Presbyterian Church, and has been a 
liberal contributor to those movements which 
liave tended to the elevation of public 
sentiment. 

Mr. Caldwell was married in the city of 
New Orleans, in 1861, to Miss McNairy, of 
of Nashville, Tennessee. 



L. DeFRESE, a contractor and builder 
of Dallas, Texas, was born in Ger- 
l* many, in 1863, the fourth child born 
to L. G. and C. E. (Schon) De Frese, also 
natives of Germany. The parents still reside 
in their native country. G. L., our subject, 
came to America in 1880, first settling in 
Indiana, where he worked at the cabinet- 
maker's, carpenter and joiner's trades, which 
he had learned in Germany. He i-emained 
in Indiana but a few months, after which he 
worked in Michigan and Colorado and other 
places. He came to Texas in 1881, where 
he worked at the cabinetmaker's trade, and 
finally, in 1885, he settled in Dallas, where 
he has since remained. Mr. De Frese erected 
the Bowser building and residence, and also 
many other good and substantial residences. 



During the busy season he employes an 
average of twenty men. He owns a good 
farm of 184 acres in Ellis county, near 
Ennis, a residence at Oak Lawn, six frame 
residences for sale or rent, and one acre of 
land in this county. 

Mr. De Frese was married in Brennans, 
Texas, in 1884, to Minnie Gerlolf, a native 
of Germany, and a daughter of Frederick and 
and Elizabeth (Schoanbeck) Gerlolf, also na- 
tives of Germany. The parents came to 
Texas about 1869, and now reside at Ennis, 
Ellis county. Mr. and Mrs. De Frese have 
one ahild, Annie. Mr. De Frese takes an 
active interest in politics, voting with the 
Democratic party, and both he and his wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

O. GARDEN, contractor and builder 
of Dallas, was born in Roan county, 
* Tennessee, September 3, 1845, the 
eighth in order of birth of the fifteen chil- 
dren of George W. and Teinpy W. (Howard) 
Garden. His father was a native of North 
Carolina and mother of Tennessee. His 
father was taken to that State by his parents 
in 1817, when he was a boy of only five 
years of age; he grew up and married there, 
and learned the trade of wheelwright. He is 
still living in that State, at the advanced age 
of eighty years. He was born February 2, 
1812, was private in the Indian war of 1836, 
and was Lieutenant in the late Confederate 
war, serving about three years. He received 
a land warrant for the Indian war service. 
He has been a Methodist Episcopal minister 
(local) for many years, and is a devout 
Methodist to this day. He was a man most 
highly prized. His wife died April 20, 
1867. His first wife, nee Betsey White, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



565 



died in 1843. He had seven children by her. 
During the war the subject of this sketch 
was a member of the Home Guards of Roan 
county, and did duty on the skirmish line. 
Shortly after his marriage in the fall of 1876, 
he moved to Dallas, from Knoxville, and en- 
gaged in building and contracting, mostly in 
Dallas; has erected many good residences 
here and some other buildings. He gener- 
ally employs ten to fifteen carpenters. 

In 1867 George W. married Mrs. Sophia 
(Johnston) Ladd, by whom there is no issue, 
though she is the mother of nine children. 
Our subject is the eldest of a family of 
eight children of the second marriage. 

He was married in Koan county, Tennes- 
see, in 1875, to Miss Delia M. Cox, a native 
of Anderson county, that State, and a daugh- 
ter of Cyrus and Elizabeth (Moore) Cox, na- 
tives also of Tennessee. Her grandparents 
were natives of North Carolina. Her parents 
came to Dallas in the fall of 1878 and engaged 
in gardening; they are both now living in Dal- 
las. Mr. and Mrs. Garden have had four 
children, namely: Daisy M., Pearl, who died 
at the age of six years and a half, in June, 
1887; two are deceased, J. W., who died in 
infancy, in 1877; and Asa O., Jr. 

In politics, while he is not active in the 
councils of the party, Mr. Garden is a Demo- 
crat, and in religion he and his family are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



"-o/i/i/Z/- 



q/inyx^^ 



»HOMAS G. CHERRY was born in 
■mm Todd county, Kentucky, November 13, 
1834, son of Gerard Y. Cherry. His 
father, a native of Montgomery county, Ten- 
nessee, went to Kentucky when a young man 
and was there married to Miss Mary A. Ed- 
wards. Her father was a native of Peters- 



burg, Virginia, and moved to Kentucky when 
Mrs. Cherry was an infant. Mr. Cherry 
lived in that State till 1853, when he tnoved 
to Montgomery county, Tennessee. January 
1, 1856, he came to Texas and settled in Red 
River county. There he purchased a farm 
and on it spent the residue of his days, dying in 
1862, on the day of the surrender of Fort 
Donelson, aged fifty-five years. His wife 
died in 1870, at the age of sixty. 

Thomas G. was twenty-one years of age 
when his father moved to Texas. He re- 
mained under the parental roof until he was 
twenty-two, when he began life for himself. 
He chose for a wife Miss Mary Farmer, their 
marriage occurring on September 20, 1860. 
She was born January 19, 1843, daughter of 
Enoch and Elizabeth (Rector) Farmei-. Her 
father was a native of North Carolina and 
moved from there to Texas in 1848, Mrs. 
Cherry being at that time only five years of 
age. She was the sixth-born of seven chil- 
dren, whose names are as follows: Robert F., 
deceased; Sarah A., wife of George Murry; 
Alfred W., deceased; Frances, wife of Joseph 
Dixon; Thomas, who died in prison at Chi- 
cago; and James, deceased. Mr. Cherry's 
parents had eleven children, viz. : Charles B.; 
Thomas G.; William, deceased; Martha, wife 
of George Dixon; Mary, wife of Samuel 
Swim; George W.; Gillie, wife of Joseph 
Dixon; James K. Polk, who died in the 
army; Eliza F., wife of F. M. Giddings; 
Garrard; and Richard, who died when young. 
Following are the children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Cherry; Gerard P.; Thomas; Lulie, 
deceased; Alma; Robert and Clara. 

During the war Mr. Cherry was not one to 
shrink from what he believed to be his duty. 
He joined Forest's command in Tennessee 
and remained with him till after the battle of 
Fort Donelson. He participated in that 



566 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



battle and also in the battles of Red Eiver, 
Manstield and Pleasant Hill, besides other 
engagements of less note. He was under 
fire for forty-nine days as they marched to 
to the sea. At the battle of Crutchfield he 
received a slight wound from a spent ball. 

Mr. Cherry received his discharge at Hous- 
ton, Texas, after which he returned home and 
engaged in the mercantile business at Charles- 
ville, Texas, which he followed fourteen years. 
He then sold out and moved to Dallas county. 
He rented a farm one year and afterward 
purchased land near Pleasant valley. This 
he subsequently sold, and bought the 118 
acres on which he now lives. It was then 
unimproved and was all covered with brush, 
but his well-directed efforts have, during the 
four years of his residence here, transformed 
a wilderness into a fine farm. It is all well 
fenced and eighty acres are under cultivation. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cherry and three of their 
children are members of the Baptist Church. 
Mr. Cherry is a member of the Dutch Creek 
Masonic Lodge, No. 441, and also of the 
Knights of Honor, Pleasant Valley Lodge, 
No. 2756. He was a delegate to the Grand 
Lodge of the last named order which met at 
Galveston August 4, 1891. Mr. Cherry is 
also a member of the Grange, Duck Creek 
Lodge, No. 444, of wliich he is Overseer. 



^ 



^ 




M. HUMPHEYS was born in 
Henry county, Tennessee, April 1, 
[' 1842, and was reared in his native 
State. When the Civil war came on he en- 
listed, in May, 1861, in the First Tennessee 
Infantry, and served two years and nine 
months; he then got a transfer to Forest's 
Cavalry, Seventh Tennessee. He partici- 
pated in the battles of Shiloh, Fayetteville, 



Perryville, Murfreesboro, Athens (Alabama), 
Fort Pillow, West Point and many others. 
He was in Mississippi at the time of the 
surrender, after which he returned home and 
remained one year. 

In 1866 Mr. Hurapheys came to Texas 
and located in Dallas county. After renting 
a farm one year he bought a piece of unim- 
proved land near Mesquite. On tiie 29th of 
January, 1867, he wedded Miss Sarah Chap- 
man, who was born in August, 1847. Men- 
tion of her father's family will be found in a 
sketch of J. C. Chapman in this work. Mr. 
Hurapheys lived on his farm for sixteen 
years. At the end of that time he sold out 
and bought land about fifteen miles east and 
south of Dallas. Here he has 200 acres of 
fine soil, 140 acres under cultivation, and all 
fenced. Since he purchased this property he 
has made many improvements on it, among 
which is his fine residence. He has also 
built a cotton gin, which he runs in connec- 
tion with his farming operations. 

Mr. Humpheys' father, Henry Ilum- 
pheys, was born in Rockingham county, 
North Carolina. He was there married to 
Susan Paschall, and after his marriage he 
moved to west Tennessee, where he was prom- 
inent among the early settlers of that part of 
the State. He died in Tennessee, in 1868, at 
the age of seventy-six years, and his wife 
died in 1889, at the age of eighty-five. 

Like many other young men Mr. Hum- 
pheys came to Texas without means, but he 
went earnestly to work and his efforts have 
been crowned with success. He saved his 
money, used good judgment in investing it, 
and now has a delightful home and is sur- 
rounded with all the comforts of life. He 
and his wife are the parents of ten children, 
namely: Henry; James C; Brittle, who died 
young; Ada; Maud; Forest; Lester; Olley, 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



567 



Kobert and Leotes. Mr. Humphejs holds 
the "Primitive Baptist" faith; has always 
voted the Democratic ticket and says he 
always expects to. 



tW. COLEMAN, one of the influen- 
tial citizens of Dallas, has been identi- 
* fied with the educational interests of 
Texas since 1876. He is now the principal 
of the city high school, fifteen teachers being 
employed in this institution. In the years 
1876, '77 and '78 he was engaged in teach- 
ing at Richardson, Dallas county; then at 
Meridian, Bosque county, having charge of 
the schools in the latter place two years. He 
was elected president of Paluxy College at 
Glen Rose, remaining there two years. In 
1884 he organized the public schools at 
Uvalde, Texas, and resided at that place until 
he came to Dallas in 1888. 

Mr. Coleman was born in Dallas county, 
Arkansas, in 1845, the son of Rev. R. J. and 
Martha (Tanner) Coleman. His parents, na- 
tives of Virginia, moved to Tennessee at an 
early day, and in 1844 located in Dallas 
county, Arkansas, and have since made their 
home in that State. His father is a Baptist 
minister and still has regular work. Mr. 
Coleman spent his early life in his native 
State, and received his education in the Mis- 
sissippi College, Clinton, Mississippi, gradu- 
ating iu 1872. He was educated for the 
ministry, but on account of throat disease has 
been deterred from what he considered his 
life work. In 1875 he came to Dallas, Texas, 
and was engaged as office editor on the Texas 
Bajptist. Dallas at that time contained only 
about 7,000 or 8,000 inhabitants, and since 
then its growth has been marvelous. In the 
fall of 1875 Mr. Coleman was united in mar- 



riage with Miss Mary B. Buckner, native of 
Kentucky, and a daughter of Rev. R. C. and 
V. (Long) Buckner, also natives of Ken- 
tucky. About 1857 the Buckner family emi- 
grated to Paris, Texas, coming from there to 
Dallas in January, 1865. Dr. Buckner is 
the founder of the Buckner Orphans' Home, 
which he organized and put in operation in 
1879. He still devotes his time and atten- 
tion to this institution and it is now in a 
flourishing condition. 

Mr. and Mrs. Coleman are members of the 
First Baptist Church of Dallas. They are 
the parents of Ave childi-en, viz.: Vibelle, 
Dora Maggie, Roberta, Mabel and Robert 
Buckner. 



^ 



^ 



AMUEL CARRUTHERS, contractor 
and builder, Dallas, arrived here in 1873, 

and immediately engaged in contracting 
for building. He obtained permission of 
Ben Long, the Mayor, to erect a shop on Main 
street, in front of the present Knepley stand, 
and commenced in a small way. His flrst 
job was a small building on Elm street, where 
he cut away the cornstalks to make room. 
He has since erected the principal buildings 
on Main and Elm streets, Knepley's Apollo 
Hall, and other buildings on Commerce 
street; also the Hill Block, the City Water 
Works, County Recorder's office, the Warren 
and Kemp blocks on Elm street, the Terry 
Block, the Ervay Block on Commerce street, 
Mrs. Kemp's brick blocks on the square, and 
many others. The flrst brick building in 
Dallas was erected for the present Mayor, 
where Mr. Carruthers worked by the day, on 
on Commerce and Walker streets- Mr. Car- 
ruthers is next oldest as a contractor in the 
city of Dallas, having been here continuously 
for eighteen years. 



568 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



lie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 
1845, the fourth in order of birtli of a family 
of live cliildreu, whose parents were G. W. 
and Mary Elizabeth (Dinsbe) Carruthers, na- 
tives also of that country. The mother is 
still living there, now aged eighty-five years. 
The father died in 1883, in Scotland. Mr. 
Carruthers emigrated to this country in 1869, 
first stopping at Chicago for a year, where he 
worked by the day, and thence he came to 
Dallas, as before mentioned. 

He was married at Galveston, this State, iu 
1872, to Miss G. G. Green, a native of Scot- 
land, in which country he had previously 
made her acquaintance. After his marriage 
he was in Chicago. Here in Dallas he has a 
fine residence at 436 Wood street, built in 
1874. He is interested in national questions, 
voting with the Democratic party. He be- 
longs to Dallas Lodge, No. 70, K. of P., and 
also to the Uniformed Rank, same order; of 
Lodge No. 961, K. of H., and of the O. C. F. 
He and his wife are members of the Presby- 
terian Church. Of the seven children, only 
one is living, Samuel by name. 



F. COTTMAN, contractor and 
builder, Dallas, came to this city in 
l^^jJ^Ti" in the fall of 1875, and the first 
three or four years engaged in the grocery 
business. About 1878 or '79 he opened out 
in general contracting, and among the prin- 
cipal buildings he has erected may be men- 
tioned the Central National Bank, the two- 
story brick building of Huey & Phillips, 
on Griffith and Elm streets; a $10,000 resi- 
dence for J. S. Moss, on Ross avenue and 
Annex street, a $6,000 residence for J. W. 
Townsend, etc. Mr. Cottman has now been 
engaged in this business for seventeen years. 




He was born in Winchester, Kentucky, in 
1836, the eldest of the five children of James 
and Mahala (AVatts) Cottman. His father, a 
United Brethren minister, was born in Havre 
de Grace, Maryland, and his mother in Ken- 
tucky. The family moved to Terre Haute, 
Indiana, when our subject was very young, 
and in 1854 to Paris, Illinois, in 1863 to 
Vermillion, Edgar county, same State, where 
the Rev. Cottman died in 1876; his wife had 
died in the latter part of 1874. Up to the 
age of seventeen years Mr. Cottman, whose 
name introduces this sketch, was reared near 
Terre Haute, completing his school education 
at the Methodist seminary, at Paris, Illinois, 
in which town he afterward learned and fol- 
lowed his trade. 

During the war he enlisted, in Paris, iu 
1861, iu Company E, Sixty-sixth Illinois Vol- 
unteer Infantry, as First Sergeant, was at- 
tached to the Array of the Tennessee and after- 
ward to that of the Cumberland. He was en- 
gaged in the battles of Mount Zion (Missouri), 
Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, and siege 
of Corinth, soon after which, on account of 
sickness, he was honorably discharged, in 
1862. 

About this time he settled in Ten-e Haute, 
where he was a merchant for two years. In 
1875 he came to Dallas, where, besides the 
business already mentioned, he is intei-ested in 
a store. On national questions he is a Repub- 
lican, but takes no active part in the political 
machinery. As to the fraternal organiza- 
tions, he is a member of George H. Thomas 
Post, No. 6, G. A. R., being the present Com- 
mander. In 1899 he was Junior Vice Com- 
mander of the Department of Texas. 

In 1857, at Charleston, Illinois, Mr. Cott- 
man was first married to Mary Bails, a native 
of Coles county, same state, and a daughter of 
Levi Bails, a native of Tennessee, who settled 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



5G9 



in that county in 1834:, and died there some 
years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Cottman have four 
cliildren, namely: Minnie, widow of Charles 
Parker and residing on Cable and Pearl 
streets, Dallas; Wilbur, Laura, wife of Paul 
Hoppe, in Dallas, on Elm street, and Lena. 

tENRY EXA.LL, of Dallas, was born at 
Richmond, Virginia, August 30, 1848. 
lie is son of Rev. George G. Exall, a 
Baptist minister well known in Virginia and 
the South, who moved from England when 
but a child. His paternal gandfather was 
an English astonomer and divine of consid- 
eralde renown. His mother is Angy E. 
(Pierce) Exall, a daughter of Joseph Pierce, 
who was a ship-builder of Philadelphia, and 
the representative of a family long prominent 
in naval construction in this country. Both 
branches of his family have an ancient and 
honorable lineage that extends to a very early 
pciod in American and English history. 

Mr. Exall's early education, interrupted 
when he was thirteen years of age by the 
Civil war, was acquired at his father's acad- 
emy. Two years later his strong Southern 
sympathies made liim a soldier in the cause. 
He was the boy of his brigade, but hia brave 
and brilliant soldiership marked him even then 
as the child of destined success. At the battle 
of Ream's Station his brigade commander 
presented him with a sword in recognition 
of his gallant services. At the close of tlie 
war he studied law, but very soon abandoned 
it for the wider and more active field of com- 
mercial life. In 1867 he moved from Vir- 
ginia to Kentucky, where he engaged in mer- 
cliandising and the manufacture of woolen 
goods. In 1869 he was married to Miss Em- 
ma Warner, of Owensboro, Kentucky. Three 



children were born to them, all of whom 
died when quite young, and in 1875 his wife 
also died. In 1877 business affairs brought 
Mr. Exall on a visit to Texas, and, when he 
surveyed the great possibilities of the grand 
State, for whose industrial development he 
was to do so much, he determined to sever 
his ties of residence with old Kentucky and 
become a. Texan. He has represented the 
State of Texas at conventions of cattle-men, 
banker's associations, commercial congresses, 
expositions and political conventions at 
many and various times. In 1884 he was one 
of the representatives of the State in the con- 
vention that nominated Mr. Cleveland for the 
Presidency, and the same year he was a delegate 
to the National Cattle-men's Convention which 
metat St. Louis. He was appointed vice-presi- 
dent for Texas of the Cotton Centennial held 
at New Orleans in 1885, and the same year 
was also appointed Colonel and Quartermas- 
ter-General of the Texas Volunteer Troops. 
In 1887 Mr. Exall was elected vice-president 
for Texas of the American Bankers' Associa- 
tion held at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and dur- 
ing that year he also assisted in the organi- 
zation of the North Texas National Bank of 
Dallas, of which lie is vice-president ; was 
chairman of the Stace Democratic Com- 
mittee during the stormy time that pro- 
hibition promised to split the Democratic 
party in twain ; and in 1889 was president 
of the Texas State Fair and Dallas Exposi- 
tion, one of the most successful institutions 
of its character in the country. In all these 
places he has i-eflected credit on himself and 
on his State, and whether in a State or Na- 
tional Convention his conspicuous superiority 
as a man of force, fearlessness and character, 
has made him a figure of attraction, and 
given him a place as the equal of the best of 
his fellows. In the discharge of his duties 



570 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



as a representative he displays the enthusi- 
astic interest of a personal champion of a 
personal friend, and always, whether acting 
for himself or for others, his task commands 
his best ability. He is a faithful believer in 
the future of his State, and has told the 
story of her undeveloped greatness to the 
moneyed men of the East, and to the traveler 
from all sections, and has been the means of 
developing this greatness above and beyond 
any other. In that development his personal 
accumulations have approximated $1,000,- 
000, a purse that is touched with no sparing 
hand when the enterprises of his State need 
enconragement. It may be said with truth, 
that every dollar of all that fortune he has 
made for himself is represented by $10 made 
for the people among whom he lives. 

Mr. Exall has just finished the construc- 
tion of one of the most majestic and costly 
buildings in the South. During its con- 
struction he might have been seen on any 
day in light conversation with men who 
drove the nails, laid the brick, and attending 
to the details of the work. His mind is so 
comprehensive that even the smallest partic- 
ulars do not escape his notice ; this mental 
scope has made Mr. Exall a successful ex- 
ponent of all the industrial enterprises that 
he has originated and promoted. In the city 
of Dallas, where he lives, everybody is his 
friend. Here, in 1887, he married his second 
wife, nee Miss May Dickson, a most attract- 
ive and accomplished lady, who makes their 
home a haven of rest from the many cares of 
his busy life. Mr. Exall's public expressions 
are always the embodiment of earnest con- 
sideration for the betterment of all alike, and 
when they contain advice as to a line of ac- 
tion, every word is tinged with a heart's sin- 
cerity. 

Omission of the mention of the tenderness 



that characterizes the domestic relations of 
the subject of this sketch, and the tilial re- 
gard shown his aged parents would render it 
incomplete. Incidents in illustration, with- 
out number, might be given l)y the writer, 
but it is sufficient to say that it has been, and 
still is, one of chief pleasures to minister to 
the every want of the venerable couple who 
nurtured him in infancy, and inspired his 
youthful heart with high principles and as- 
pirations, which have been realized by the 
force of his own efforts. He is not known 
as the donor of any conspicuous gift in char- 
ity, but he is the quiet distributor of more 
alms to worthy objects than the average man 
of twice his wealth. And while in his mod- 
esty he prefers to remain the sole repository 
of the secrets of his own benevolence, it is 
known to all that no man ever disclosed to 
hiin a worthy cause with a request for help 
that he did not receive a prompt and liberal 
response. He has beeu repeatedly urged by 
both press and people to allow himself to be- 
come a candidate for Governor, but has al- 
ways declined to become a candidate. As a 
Democratic Commissioner-at-large for the 
United States (appointed by President Har- 
rison) to the World's Columbian Exposition, 
he will bring to bear upon its organization 
and development rare business abilities, and, 
such as cannot fail to be of great value and 
assistance to his fellow-commissioners, the 
peophe of the United States at large and to 
the people of Texas in particular. 



^1^ T. HOLLAND, one of the representa- 
WM\ tive farmers and stock-raisers of Dal- 
TSAg * las county, was born March 1, 1846, a 
son of James Holland. When but two years 
of aee he came with his father from Illinois 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



571 



to Texas, and settled on the place where he 
now lives. He has followed farming and 
stock-raising from his youth, and received 
his edncation in the common schools of this 
county. By hard lahor and close attention 
to his business he has " managed to live," and 
is now the possessor of 1,000 acres of fine 
land, all of which is fenced, and 200 acres is 
under a fine state of cultivation. His land 
lies about twenty miles southwest of Dallas, 
in what is known as the Mountain creek 
valley. He is a firm believer and a member 
of the Christian Church. 

Mr. Holland was married December 21, 
1876, to Miss Elizabeth Jones, a daughter of 
Isaac Jones, a native of Tennessee. They are 
the parents of five children, viz.: Claudia, 
Walter, James, Annie and Gillie. 

I^ENRY K. BROTHERTON, a retired 
I m farmer living near Wheatland, has been 
^sM identified with the interests of Dallas 
county, Texas, since 1850. He is a native of 
Ohio, born in Franklin county, September 12, 
1824, a son of Robert and Mary (Kooken) 
Brotherton, natives of Pennsylvania, the father 
born in Erie county and of Scotch-Irish 
descent. His maternal grandfather, James 
Kooken, came from Germany and settled in 
Pennsylvania. Robert Brotherton and his 
wife went to Ohio at an early day and settled 
in Franklin county. In 1812, at the time 
Columbus was laid out, they moved to that 
city, where they spent the residue of their 
lives. They were the parents of seven chil- 
dren, six of whom, three sons and three 
daughters, lived to maturity. The subject of 
our sketch was the oldest son and second-born, 
and when he was about eleven years old his 
father died, the mother surviving him several 



years. During his youth he was employed 
as clerk in his uncle's general merchan- 
dise store at Groveport, near Columbus, and 
was thus occupied up to the time of his com- 
ing to Texas. The maintenance of his mother 
and her family devolved largely on him. 

Mr. Brotherton was married in the fall of 
1849, to Miss Rachel Melvina Minor, a native 
of Ohio and a daughter of Irving Minor. 
Her father moved from New England to 
Ohio at an early period and was there a promi- 
nent physician and pioneer. In the fall of 
1850 Mr. Brotherton and his wife, in com- 
pany with James H. Swindells and wife, 
started with horse teams for Texas, then the 
frontier of civilization, the journey consum- 
ing several weeks and the party arriving here 
just before Christmas. He first located on 
what is known as the Tommy Churchfield 
farm, buying 640 acres of land and subse- 
quently 320 acres more. After living there 
three years he sold out and bought the Dan- 
iels place, consisting of two sections of land, 
and lived on it two years. Selling out again, 
he purchased his present farm which at that 
time had very few improvements on it. His 
estate at one time consisted of 1,200 acres in 
his home place besides various other tracts of 
land. He has, however, divided his holdings 
among his children, retaining for himself 
400 acres of highly improved land. 

In 1869 Mr. Brotherton had the misfor- 
tune to lose his wife, who died, leaving him 
with six children, whose names are as follows: 
Charles R.; Mollie, wife of E. Wilmot, of 
Dallas county; Robert Minor; Ellen, wife of 
Samuel J. Shultz, who lives near Seymour, 
Baylor county, Texas; Lucy, wife of Dr. G. 
V. Hale, Grayson county, Texas, and L. S. 
of this county. 

Mr. Brotherton is eminently a self-made 
man. In connection with his farming pur- 



572 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



suits, he has been interested in the Kilburn 
mill for several years. He has also been 
somewhat of a trader. At one time he pur- 
chased a store and stock of goods at Lancas- 
ter, sellincr out a few weeks later. In 1863 
and 1864 he was a member of the Board of 
County Commissioners. 



^. 



^ 



Wa B. WEIALEY, fanner, was born Feb- 
TtL'fi ruary 12, 1836, in De Kalb county, 
^^' Tennessee, the son of Elijah and Re- 
becca (Dougherty) Whaley, the former a na- 
tive of Maryland and the latter of Virginia. 
Of their seven children five are still living, 
L. B. being the youngest. Two of the broth- 
ers and a sister still remain in Tennessee, 
while one brother resides in Lawrence county, 
Missouri. Elijah Whaley was the son of 
Thomas and Margaret (Bratten) Whaley, na- 
tives of Maryland, who moved to Tennessee 
in 1800, locating in what was known as the 
" waters of the Cumberland river," near where 
the town of Liberty now stands. Elijah was 
brought up on the farm until of age, a few 
years after which he married and entered the 
mercantile business on his farm near Liberty; 
afterward he moved into town, where he con- 
tinued merchandising, in connection with 
farming. He was a merchant in both Lib- 
erty and Sraithville most of the time until 
his death, in 1859. 

Mr. L. B. Whaley was reared in the mer- 
cantile business. When eighteen years of 
age, in 1854, he went to Missouri, and in 
Mt. Vernon worked for wages for different 
firms until 1856, when he and his brother, 
T. K. Whaley, began business for themselves. 
December 5, 1861, he married Miss Mattie 
Hash. During the next year the dangers of 
the war became so great that he brought his 



family to Te.xas. Returning to Missouri he 
enlisted in the Eleventh Missouri Infantry, 
under Greneral Parsons. He was in Company 
G, commanded by Captain Howard, in Colo- 
nel Burns' Regiment, previously Hunter's, 
in the Trans-Mississippi Department. He 
was paroled at Shreveport, Louisiana, with 
the brigade, in May, 1865, when he returned 
to Texas to look after his family. 

Here he was first employed by Dr. Kilburn 
for some time, and then rented a farm for 
several years. In 1874 he bought eighty 
acres of wild land, which he at once began to 
improve, and he has added to this until he 
now has 165 acres of fine land, well improved; 
115 acres are in a fine state of cultivation. 
Mrs. Whaley is the daughter of John and 
Millie (Elkins) Hash. She was born in Mis- 
souri, but her father was a native of Ken- 
tucky. Mr. and Mrs. Whaley have five chil- 
dren, namely: Millie H., the wife of R. M. 
Brotherton; Charles S., Alfred L., Anna R. 
and Mattie M. 



^ 



^<Q)^ 



^ 



LTGITST CORNEHLS, of the firm of 
P. J. Butler & Company, brick manu- 
facturers in Dallas, since the spring of 
1881, was born in Hanover, Germany, Jan- 
uary 23, 1850, the son of W. and Mattie 
(Sebilda) Cornehls, natives of Germany. His 
fathei' died in that country, and his mother 
is still living there. Mr. Cornehls learned 
his trade in his native land, and at the age 
of nineteen years emigrated to the United 
States, locating in Texas. He was married 
in Fredericksburg, Gillespie county, Texas, 
about 1878, to Mary Cranich, a native of 
that county and a daughter of Charlie Cran- 
ich, who was born in Germany. Mr. Cran- 
ich came to Dallas and resided with the sub- 
ject of this sketch until his death, in 1889. 




lyjiLA^ *-ryi-u.j^<^ C7^>-<^^>y^^ 




HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



573 



By this marriage there are two children, — 
Gussie A. and Charlie. In political matters 
is a Democrat. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of the German Lutheran Church. 

Mr. Cornehls is the superintendent of 
P. J. Butler & Company's brick yard. The 
firm employs on an average about twenty-five 
men, some nine months in the year. The 
daily capacity of their mill is about 30,000 
brick. They have furnished the brick for 
many of the important buildings of Dallas. 



^ENRY L. OBENCHAIN.— The history 
of hnman intellect will confirm the 
statement that the power in which 
strong natures culminate, which fuses force 
and insight into executive intelligence, ma- 
tures between the ages of twenty-five and 
fifty. Subsequent achievements organize 
themselves around the younger conception. 
Stepping from the line of the earlier lite, the 
subject of this sketch was elevated to the As- 
sistant County Attorneyship of one of the 
largest and most important counties in the 
State, and has borne himself in his responsible 
position with such grace and dignity and 
discharged his duties with such marked effi- 
ciency that he won the admiration and favor- 
able comment of all who have attended the 
sittings of the court where he practiced. Mr. 
Obenchain is yet a young man, and has but 
fairly entered upon a career which is destined 
to reflect honor upon his name and result in 
much good to his adopted county. The peo- 
ple of Dallas county are justly proud of him, 
and it is with pleasure that we give space to 
his biography in this history of her repre- 
sentative citizens. Virginia blood has often 
flowed in the veins of many of America's 
patriots and most gifted sons; it need, there- 

38 



fore, be a source of no astonishment to find 
that the subject of this notice traces his birth 
to the State known as the "Mother of Presi- 
dents." 

He was born in Buchanan county, Vir- 
ginia, in 1863, and is a son of A. T. Oben- 
chain. His maternal ancestors were pioneer 
settlers in Georgia. While yet a child, his 
parents removed to Tennessee, and thence to 
Dallas, Te.xas, in 1874. He attended the 
public schools, and afterward took a thor- 
ough college course at one of the leading 
educational institutions of Virginia. Here 
he gave special attention to German, Latin 
and the higher mathematics, thus receivino; a 
mental dicipline that will be of lasting bene- 
fit to him in his professional career. Upon 
leaving college, he took up the study of law, 
reading under the supervision of the Hon. 
John Bookout, and, almost immediately after 
his admission to the bar, was appointed Assis- 
ant City Attorney. He evinced so decided - 
an aptitude for this line of work, that in due 
course of time he was solicited by the county 
attorney to accept the posision of assistant to 
him, first in the Justice's Court, and later in 
the District Court. In this office he has risen 
to the highest rank as a prosecutor, and has 
made a reputation for prompt, just and hon- 
orable dealing that is not confined within the 
borders of his own county. Among the im- 
portanc cases he has been connected with, 
was the defense of J. W. Monk and W. C. 
Jump, charged with murder and acquitted. 
In prosecution, S. E. Lane, murder, con- 
victed; Carter Roberts, murder, life sentence; 
George Martin, murder, life sentence; John 
Surrell, murder, sentence twenty years; A. 
L. Rodgers, rape, death sentence. 

Since his admission to the bar, he has won 
a just and envial>le reputation for his devo- 
tion to the interests of his clients, for his 



574 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



skill ill the conduct of cases on trial, and for 
a certain earnestness of advocacy which rises 
at times to the dignity of eloquence. His 
knowledge is comprehensive, and in the de- 
tails of the law as critical. A tireless search- 
er, he has improved his opportunities at 
every step in his career, so that his reputa- 
tion has not suffered any by the change in 
the sphere of his activities, incident to his ele- 
vation to the Assistant County Attorneyship. 
It has rather served to give him increased 
opportunities, which he has turned to good 
account with zeal and ready adaptability to 
circumstances. 

He was united in marriage, in 1885, to 
Miss Josephine Stevenson, of Paris, Ken- 
tucky, who is a lady of unusual merit and 
rare accomplishments. They have one son, 
Roy A., now four years of age. 

He afhliates socially with the Knights of 
Pythias, of which society he is a respected 
member. He is devoted to his home and 
family, between which and his books he 
divides his time. He enjoys the esteem of 
the community at large, and his honorable 
dealing and courteous bearing have endeared 
him to a large circle of personal friends. In 
politics he is a stanch believer in the doc- 
trines of the Democratic party, and is their 
champion on the public platform. 

xRTEMAS BAKER, a prominent pioneer 
of Dallas county, Texas, dates his birth 
in Belmont county, Ohio, April 14, 
1821. His parents were Artemas and Mahe- 
tible (Conant) Baker, natives of Massachu- 
setts. The father when young moved with 
his parents to New Hampshire. The mother 
was reared near Cape Cod, the place of her 
birth. When sixteen years of age, she in 



company with her fatlier's family went West 
and located in Portage county, Ohio, in Wind- 
ham township. About the same time, in 1806 
or 1807, Mr. Baker landed in the same neigh- 
borhood, having made the trip from New 
Hampshire on foot. He settled in Ravenna, 
the county seat of Portage county, and took 
up the practice of law, he having previously 
prepared himself for this profession. It was 
there he met and married Miss Mahetible 
Conant, daughter of Thatcher and Elizabeth 
(Manley) Conant, natives of Massachusetts. 
Soon after his marriage Mr. Baker moved to 
Wheeling, Virginia, where he remained for 
two or three years, following his profession 
and working at odd times at the carpenter's 
trade. He built the first bridge across Wheel- 
ing creek. From there he moved to Bridge- 
port, Belmont county, Ohio, where he con- 
tinued the practice of his profession for a 
number of years. About 1825 he took a con- 
tract on what was then known as the national 
military pike. On this he was engaged five 
years. He also interested himself in agri- 
cultural pursuits, having bought a farm west 
pf Zanesville, Ohio. From that place he 
moved to the Narrows of Licking creek, 
where he was extensively engaged in quarry- 
ing rock, boating on the Ohio canal, and raft- 
ing logs for a number of years. He was also 
engaged in building canal boats. In the fall 
of 1849 he, with several others, boarded a 
canal boat and floated to New Orleans, from 
there by steamer to Shreveport, Louisiana, 
and thence by ox teams to the locality where 
Ilutchins now stands, reaching their destina- 
tion in April, 1850. Mr. Baker was the father 
of seventeen children, several dying in in- 
fancy. Nine came to Texas and four are 
still living in this State. He bought land on 
Bear creek, near where Lancaster is now lo- 
cated, and lived there until his death, which 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



575 



occurred October 11, 1853. Mrs. Baker sur- 
vived her husband some years, her death 
occurring May 22, 1873. 

Arteinas Baker, Jr., preceded his father to 
this State, landiiicr here in April, 1848. He 
took a headright of lialf a section of land on 
the Trinity river, about fourteen miles south- 
east of where Dallas now is. Dallas then 
consisted of only a few log cabins. The first 
year Mr. Baker spent in Texas was a memor- 
able one to him. He had the varioloid and 
afterward the yellow jaundice. His com- 
panion, William Welsh, took smallpox from 
him, and Mr. Baker nursed him through his 
sickness. Previous to his coming to Texas 
he had been working on a large steamer, ply- 
ing between New Orleans and Cincinnati, 
and it was on his trip from Shreveport to 
Dallas that he was attacked with varioloid. 

In the fall of 1848 he returned to Ohio, 
and remained one year. November 8, 1849, 
lie was married to Miss Laviiia Bordner, a 
native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
and a daughter of Peter and Christina (Losh) 
Bordner, natives of the same place. She is 
one of a family of thirteen children, twelve 
of whom lived to marry and have large fami- 
lies. Mrs. Baker's mother is still living in 
Fulton county, Illinois, with her son, Wash- 
ington Bordner, at the advanced age of 102, 
having been born October 26, 1789. She 
and Mr. Bordner were married in 1810 and 
lived together seventy one years. At his 
death he lacked less than ten months of be- 
ing 100 years old. Mother Bordner's de- 
scendants two years ago, living and dead, were 
as follows: children, 13; grandchildren, 99; 
great-grandchildren, 217; great great-grand- 
children, 24. Total, 353. And this number 
has since been increased. During the past 
eight years she has made three trips to Texas 
to visit her children. 



Soon after his marriage Mr. Baker returned 
to Texas, locating near where lie had taken a 
headright on his previous trip. The follow- 
ing fail he moved to Corsicana and worked at 
the trade of shoemaker there two years. 
Then he formed a partnership with Cornelius 
Vernoy and turned his attention to farming 
on the head waters of Chambers creek, near 
Alvarado. In the winter of 1854-'55 he left 
this place and went to Jack county, settling 
on the west fork of Keatchie creek. While 
he was there the Indians became hostile and 
the settlers had to build forts for protection. 
At one time Mrs. Baker was summoned to 
attend a neighbor, Mrs. Cameron, during con- 
finement. On account of the strange actions 
of the Indians she was afraid to venture from 
home and pursuaded Mr. Cameron to bring 
his wife to her house. He returned for that 
purpose, but never came back, he and his 
wife and three children having been murdered 
by the red men. In 1861 Mr. Baker moved 
to Dallas county to his present location. His 
farm at that time was in its wild state; now 
it is one of the best improved places in the 
county. 

Mr. and Mrs. Baker are the parents of 
seven children: Ilellen Brundage, wife of 
Andrew Brundage, who is Mayor of Midlo- 
thian, Ellis county, Texas; Cornelius, who 
married Miss Lizzie Lawhon and resides in 
Coke county, Texas; Kate, wife of William 
Fitzpatrick, lives on the farm witli Mr. 
Baker; Sallie, wife of James Brundage; Bay- 
lor, who married Miss Mattie Hinkle, and 
lives in Wichita county, Texas; May, who 
wedded J. T. Cates, died in 1890, leaving 
three children; Bell, wife of Samuel Waldron, 
resides in North Bend, Nebraska. 

During the war Mr. Baker was in the Con- 
federate service two years. He was com- 
missioned to make shoes and harness, work- 



576 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ing in Dallas. He is now comfortably situ- 
ated, suiTounded with all the comforts of life. 
He is an active and earnest temperance 
worker, and is regarded as one of the repre- 
sentative citizens of the county. 

IflMOLEON EDWIN EAKIN, Dallas, 
Texas. — John J. Eakin, the father of 
^ the subject of this notice, was born in 
Henderson county, Kentucky, in 1822, and 
was descended from the early colonists of 
North Carolina. He was a man of fine liter- 
ary attainments, and was educated for the 
law. This profession, however, was not at- 
tractive to him, and he abandoned it for the 
free, open life of a farmer. He emigrated to 
Texas in 1849, and settled in Dallas county, 
near the spot on which he resided at the time 
of his death, in 1886. He was a man of 
great integrity of character, and was liberal 
and progressive in his views. None of the 
pioneers who faced the privations and hard- 
ships incident to frontier life, had warmer and 
truer friends than John J. Eakin. His wife's 
name was (Jrutchfield, and her parents set- 
tled in Texas, in 1847. Her father was pro- 
prietor of the Crutchfield House, a noted old 
hostelry of pioneer days; it stood on the pub- 
lic square of Dallas, and although it was 
long ago pulled to the ground, its memory is 
green among the surviving pioneers. 

The eldest living son, Timoleon Edwin 
Eakin, was three months old when his parents 
removed to Texas, and he is now among the 
oldest among the " young pioneers " of the 
county of Dallas. He was well educated in 
the Texas Military Institute at Austin, and 
stood high in his classes. Since attaining 
mature years, he has been identified with the 
real-estate interests of Dallas, and at the 



death of his father, succeeded to the control 
of the business. He does a general real- 
estate business, and has largely aided in the 
development and prosperity of Dallas city. 

Mr. Eakin was married in June, 1879, to 
Miss Mamie Hughes of St. Marcus, Texas, a 
lady of unusual accomplishments. Three 
children have been born of this union; Erla, 
a daughter, Allen Gano and John J. Polit- 
ically. Mr. Eakin affiliates with the Demo- 
cratic party, and is a member of the Knights 
of Pythias. 

PjENRY a. DENNETT, cashier of the 
Waters- Pierce Oil Company, Dallas? 
Texas, was born in New Orleans, Louis- 
iana, in 1863, the third of four children 
born to James and Marie (Dufilho) Den- 
nett, natives of Alabama and Louisiana, 
and of French descent. The father enlisted 
in New Orleans, in the Confederate service, 
and at the close of the war he returned to 
that city, and was engaged in the wholesale 
grocery business. In 1873, he came to Mar- 
shall, Texas, where he remained but a short 
time, and his death occurred in Aberdeen, 
Mississippi, in 1888; the mother is still liv- 
ing, residing in Belton. 

Henry A., our subject, was reared in the 
city of New Orleans, until his removal to 
Marshall, Texas, where he received his edu- 
cation. His first work was with the Texas 
Pacific Railroad Company, as expense bill 
clerk, at Fort Worth, and he remained with 
that company from 1879 to 1883, after which 
he went to Waco, in the employ of Missouri, 
Kansas & Texas Railroad, as bill clerk. 
He was thus engaged until after coming 
to Dallas, when he engaged with the 
Waters- Pierce Oil Company. He has 
full charge of the business during the 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



577 



absence of Mr. William Grice, 
of the company, having thirteen men under 
his supervision. Mr. Dennett is an earnest 
advocate of the Democratic party, and so- 
cially is Deputy Grand Chancellor of Dallas 
Lodge, No. 70, K. of P., and also Major of 
Texas regiment. Uniformed Rank, is Grand 
Prophet in the oi'der of the Orient Sinbad, 
and is an active worker in both orders. 

He was married in Dallas, Texas, in May, 
1886, to Jettie Williamson, a native of this 
State, and a daughter of James D. and Delia 
(Canard) Williamson, natives of Tennessee. 
The parents came by wagon to Dallas, where 
they both still reside. Mr. and Mrs. Den- 
nett have two children, — Wilson J. and 
Henry A. 

fUDGE JAMES W. CROWN is one of 
the prominent attorneys of Dallas, Texas. 
He comes of a stock and was raised 
among people who have a high opinion of 
education. Therefore he was carefully reared 
but was thrown upon his own resources when 
but yet a boy. In his profession he has won 
his way to the front by indomitable courage, 
energy and unflinching integrity. He and his 
generation have seen much of the world, have 
endured many hardships, have found no fur- 
lough in this campaign called life, but no one 
among them all has withstood the battles of 
this mortal life as has the gentleman whose 
history it is our pleasure to present to our 
readers. 

This gentleman was born in South Caro- 
lina, Beaufort district, St. Luke parisli, July 
18, 1840. His parents were James W. and 
Mary (Monroe) Brown, both natives of South 
Carolina, the father of Ciiarleston. He was 
a soldier in the Florida war and his father 



was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and 
bore the name of James C. He died in the 
early part of the war. His son, the father of 
our subject, died in 1842. He had lost his 
wife the preceding year, she dying when quite 
young. 

Our subject is the only child of these 
parents and was reared by his uncle, by mar- 
riage, Isaac Farrell. At an early age he com- 
pleted a course at Erskine college. He spent 
a winter in Florida, then made a tour of 
Texas, and was in Waxahachie when the late 
war opened. He returned to South Carolina 
and enlisted, in 1861, in Company C, Third 
South Carolina Cavalry, and served in that 
company until the close of the war, under 
Beauregard. His command was engaged in 
the defense of Charleston, did much at skir- 
mishing, and he was in the battle of Benton- 
ville, the last in the war. They covered the 
retreat of the infantry before Sherman's march 
through the Carolinas. He was never taken 
prisoner or wounded, and stood the strain of 
the war very well, being in better health at 
the close of the war than at the beginning. 
His company, Beaufort District Troops, was 
the oldest company in South Carolina, or- 
ganized in 1796, and Mr. Brown was Sergeant 
of that company. 

He came to Greenboro, North Carolina, 
from Salisbury, by train; a colored boy took 
his horse and saddlebags, containing his 
clothes, by the overland route, but neither 
the boy, horse, saddlebags or wardrobe was 
ever heard of since. The boy probably utilized 
the horse and other articles and forgot to re- 
port to their owner. At Greenboro he asked 
the commander for a horse to get liack home 
with, and he was given a mule, on which he 
proceeded to the Pee Dee river, where he met 
a friend, who had 200 bales of cotton hidden 
away in the bottom, which he afterward sold. 



578 



HI STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



He was a planter and hired Mr. Brown to 
finish the preparation of his two sons for 
college, wliich he did, receiviiicr f200 for his 
work. He came to Johnson county, Texas, in 
1866, and began the practice of law, having 
read the same in Charleston, South Carolina, 
and remained there until 1886, when he came 
to Dallas, where he has been a practitioner 
ever since, and has been very successful. 

The Judge was married to Miss Mary 
Williamson, daughter of Samuel Williamson, 
of Florence, South Carolina. She died in 1874, 
aged twenty-five years. She was a member 
of the Baptist Church, and was a good and 
devoted Christian woman. The Judge was 
married for the second time in 1875, to Miss 
Kate E. Simonds, daughter of Dr. J. Calhoun 
Simonds, of New Orleans, a distinguished 
physician of that place and chairman of the 
Medical Board of New Orleans for many years 
before the war. 

The Judge and his wife have five children, 
namely: Hattie W., aged fifteen; Milton, 
aged eight; Percy Simonds, aged six; Koena, 
aged five, and Monroe, aged two. They are 
members of the Episcopal Church, in which 
they take an active part. The Judge is an 
active and thorough Democrat, though he has 
never sought or held office, and was a delegate 
to the State Convention of August 16, 1892, 
held at Austin, Texas, to nominate State 
officers. 

The Judge had a celebrated grandmother, 
on his father's side, in the person of a lady 
whose maiden name was Miss Wilkes. She 
had the honor of conversing with Washing- 
ton, Marion, La Fayette and all the celebri- 
ties of that day. She lived to an advanced 
age, dying in the early fifties, when nearly a 
centui'y old. She lived in the past during 
the latter part of her life, and loved to relate 
stories of those thrilling days when all her 



relatives and friends were in the Colonial 
war. 

Mrs. Brown, the accomplished wife of the 
Judge, has two brothers, Dr. Itichard Har- 
rison Simonds and Percy Simonds. The 
former is a practicing physician in Johnson 
county, Texas, at Alvarado; is in good stand- 
ing in his profession, and is a very intellectual 
man. Percy is the owner of a paper, the 
Pecos News, at Pecos city, Texas. The 
parents of Mrs. Brown are still living and 
make their home with Mr. and Mrs. Brown, 
and arc over seventy years of age. They are 
Presbyterians in faith. 

This is a distinguished family on both sides 
and Mr. and Mrs. Brown transmit to their 
children a lineage that they well be proud of; 
l)ut better than all is the unstained name that 
the Judge hands down to his sons, who, if 
they follow in the footsteps of their father, 
will do nothing to soil or mar its spotless 
purity. 

UHOMAS BE ANSON.— Prominent 
among the early pioneers of Dallas 
W' county was the gentleman whose name 
heads the article. A sketch of his life will 
l^e found of interest to many, and is as fol- 
lows: 

Thomas Branson was born near Charleston, 
South Carolina, in February, 1798. He was 
the son of John Branson, whow as a native of 
North Carolina, having been born January 
12, 1764. John Branson, when a young 
man, emigrated to South Carolina and settled 
near Charleston, where he was subsequently 
married to Miss Sarah Jones. He afterward 
moved to Koss county, Ohio, and from there 
several years later to Xenia, same State, and 
while at the latter place some of his older 
children married and settled in life. He, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



579 



with the other members of his family, moved 
to Sangamon county, Illinois, landing in 
what is now Fancy creek township, in 1822, 
He was the father of eleven children, namely: 

Eli, born in South Carolina, was married 
three times, and died, leaving a family in 
Fulton county, Illinois. 

Andrew, born in South Carolina, married 
Susanah Wilkinson, and both died near 
Athens, Illinois, leaving several children. 

William, born in North Carolina, January 
9, 1791, was taken by his parents to South 
Carolina. In 1811 the family moved North 
and located in Chillicothe, Ohio, where, in 
1815, he was married to Miss Sally M. 
Graves. From Ohio he moved to Indiana, 
then to Sangamon county, Illinois, and from 
there to DeWitt county, Illinois. He had 
seven children by his first wife, she having 
died May 10, 1840. In December, 1840, he 
was married to Martha Cooper, of Sangamon 
county, Illinois. In 1847 he returned to 
Sangamon county, and the following year 
started overland to Oregon, landing in Folk 
county, September 15, 1848. By his second 
wife he had eight children. His family are 
nearly all residents of Polk county, Oregon. 

Catherine, who was born in South Caro- 
lina, was married in Greene county, Ohio, to 
Fred Stipp. They, too, moved to Sangamon 
county, Illinois. Two of their daughters, 
Mrs. Wood and Mrs. Moody, are both de- 
ceased. 

Keziah, born in South Carolina, married 
Jesse Sutton, in Greene county, Ohio. They 
moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, and 
thence to Iowa, where they both died, leaving 
several children in Van Bureu county, that 
State. 

Joiui, horn in South Carolina, October 15, 
1795, was a teamster from Ohio during the 
war of 1812. While on duty he was wounded 



in the hand, which was forever afterward 
crippled. He was married September 12, 
1817, to Ann Cantrall, of Clarke county, Ohio, 
and by her liad one child. 

Thomas was the next born, and of him 
mention is made further on in this sketch. 

Mary, born in Greene county, Ohio, wed- 
ded, in Sangamon county, Illinois, Septem- 
ber 23, 1824, Abraliam Onstott, and died in 
June, 1815. She had five children, but only 
one, Mrs. O'Donald, of Clinton, DeWitt 
•county, Illinois, is living. 

Rebecca, born in Ohio, married Elijah 
Harper. She died in Clarke county, Ohio, 
leaving several children. 

Nancy, born in Ohio, June 4, 1806, was 
married in Sangamon county, Illinois, to Dr. 
Charles Winn, who was born in Virginia, 
August 13, 1800. They were the parents of 
Seven children, only one living, who resides 
at Lanesville, Illinois. 

Benjamin B., born in Ross county, Ohio, 
in February, 1810, was married in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, in May, 1837, to Miss Mary 
Thompson. They were the parents of two 
children. 

Mri Thomas Branson was reared on his 
father's farm, and followed agricultural pur- 
suits all through life. He went with the 
family to Illinois in 1822, and thereafter 
made several trips to and from Ohio. He 
was married August 12, 1829, to Miss Elea- 
nor Thomas, by whom he had three children, 
Adaline, Alida and Rebecca. Of these only 
Miss Alida survives. She was born Septem- 
ber 21, 1837, has never been married, and at 
present resides near Lancaster, Dallas county, 
Texas. Mrs. Branson died January 24, 1840. 
Mr. Branson's second wife was before lier 
marriage Miss Louisa Cole. In 1853 lie 
moved with his family to Texas, and bought 
land eleven miles southwest of Dallas. Here 



580 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



he continued his agricultural pursuits the 
rest of his life, and at his death, October 21, 
1 864, he left a large estate. His home place 
consisted of 1,500 acres of line, well improved 
and, a large portion of which was under cul- 
ti vation. He brought the first Durham cattle 
and Morgan horses to Dallas county, and in- 
troduced greyhounds and rabbit-chasing. 

By his last wife he had live children, viz.: 
Eleanor, wife of Samuel Uhl, who lives on 
the old homestead; Emily wife of Thomas 
Uhl, resides near Wheatland on a part of the 
Uranson farm; Thomas C. married Virginia 
Hill, and lives in Dallas county: Benjamin 
L., who married Miss Kate Davis of Mans- 
field, Tarrant county, Texas; and Augusta, 
who married F. Fox and lives in West Boint, 
Mississippi. 

Mr. Bi'anson was a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, in which he at times 
officiated. He was an earnest Christian man 
and in every respect a most worthy citizen. 

:T*T.T: P. STEPHENS, M. D., of Cedar 
wimm Hill, was born in Shelby county, 
l^=^j« Texas, February 18. 1859, a son of 
G. H. and C. A. Stephens, natives of Ten- 
nessee and North Carolina. They were the 
parents of eight children, viz.: James A., 
John M., William, Preston, Samuel H., Cyn- 
thia J., LaFayette, Joshua H. and Harrison. 
All are still living but Cynthia J., and four 
of the children are married and live in 
Texas. 

Our subject's home was in the county of 
ills birth until he completed his education, 
which he received at Keatchie, Louisiana, 
and in Mansfield, Texas. He also graduated 
at the University of LouisvillC; Kentucky, 
and at the University of New York, receiv- 



ing a diploma for the practice of medicine in 
both colleges. He was married December 
17, 1885, to Mrs. Mellie Welder, the daughter 
of Joseph H. and L. C. Pittman, both na- 
tives of Georgia. They came to Texas about 
18G!J, settling in Goliad county, where he 
has since resided, and where he has held the 
office of District Clerk for the past twenty 
years. Dr. Stephens settled in Cedar Hill 
after hisgraduation, where he began the prac- 
tice of his profession, which he has success- 
fully followed to the present time. 



4^ 



^ 



fG. BO YDSTUN, one of the pioneer set- 
tlers of Dallas county, was born in War- 
® ren count}', Kentucky, January 24, 
1812, a son of Benjamin and Mary (Gardner) 
Boydstun, natives of Virginia. The parents 
spent about thirty years of their life in Ken- 
tucky, moving thence to Illinois in 1833, 
where they spent the remainder of their 
days. August 27, 1833, our subject accom- 
panied his father to Knox County, Hlinois, 
where he lived and worked on a farm forfifteen 
years, and then, in company with his wife 
and five children, he started for Texas. Ue 
came by river to Shrevcport, Louisiana, and 
then in wagons to this county, landing in 
Dallas May 8, 1848. After looking over 
the country for some time, he located on the 
place where he now lives, in what is known 
as Mountain creek valley. 

Mr. Boydstun was married August 27, 
1833, to Miss Druzilla, daughter of Eobert 
Grounds, and they have five living children, 
and four deceased. The mother died Decem- 
ber 27, 1859, and October 4, 1862, Mr. 
Boydstun married Mrs. Louisa Vaught, a 
daughter of George Wilson. By this union 
there are two children, both of whom are 



niSTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



581 



married and have families. Mr. Boydstun 
is still living at his old homestead, has lived 
to see all of his children married and settled 
in life, and is now spending his remaining 
days in peace and quietude. He is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church, which is lo- 
cated near his home. 

fAMES HARVEY TAYLOR, a farmer 
and stock-raiser, residing near Lancas- 
ter, is one of the well known and promi- 
nent pioneers of Dallas county, having set- 
tled here in November, 1852. 

Mr. Taylor is a native of Kentucky, born 
in Warren county, February 11, 1823, the 
youngest of a family of three children. His 
father, James Barton Taylor, was born in 
Fauquier county, Virginia, son of Raleigh 
Taylor, who was also a native of Virginia, 
the latter's father having moved from the 
north of Ireland to Virginia at an early 
period in the history of this country. Ra- 
leigh Taylor was a soldier in the Revolution- 
ary war. He reached the advanced age of 
eighty-three years, and died in Virginia. 
James Barton Taylor was reared on a farm 
in the Old Dominion, received his education 
in the common schools of that State, and 
about the year 1816 was married to Miss 
Mary Dews, a native of Fauquier county, 
Virginia, and a daughter of Samuel Dews, 
also a native of Vii'ginia. Her grandfather 
Dews was Scotch-L'ish, and came to this 
country from Ireland, settling in Virginia. 
Samuel Dews was a Revolutionary soldier, 
and stood within ten feet of CTenerai Wash- 
ington when Cornwallis surrendered. About 
1820 he moved to Kentucky and settled in 
Warren county, where he passed the rest of 
his days, and died at the age of eighty-five 



years. After the marriage of the parents of 
our subject, they emigrated to Kentucky 
and settled on a farm. There, September 
12, 1823, when James H. was seven months 
and one day old, the father died from the 
effects of over-heating himself. He left a 
widow and three small children. The oldest, 
Samuel D., is now a resident of Missouri, 
and John Hamilton Taylor is deceased. The 
mother subsequently married David Kirbey, 
a Kentuckian. Mr. Kirbey's father was a 
Revolutionary soldier and died in Kentucky 
at the age of ninety-six. After her second 
marriage the family settled about two miles 
from where Mr. Taylor had first located, and 
there Mrs. Kirbey spent the rest of her life. 
She died April 24, 1844, at the age of fifty- 
six years. Hy her second marriage she had 
four children, all still living, viz.: Mary 
Frances, wife of J. B. Higgerman, is a resi- 
dent of Warren county, Kentucky; Nancy, 
wife of Leander Harris, is also a resident of 
Kentucky; David; Elizabeth, wife of Dr. 
Robb, Kentucky. Mr. Kirbey died in that 
State. 

James H. Taylor was reared on a farm and 
received a limited education in the subscrip- 
tion schools, and continued to reside with his 
mother until she died. He was married. 
May 20, 1847, to Miss Sarah Alcena Harris, 
a native of Warren county and a daughter 
of Thomas H. and Martha (Skiles) Harris. 
Her father was a son of the Rev. William 
Harris, who removed from Virginia to Ken- 
tucky at an early day, and was among the 
first Cumberland Presbyterian ministers of 
Warren county. The mother was a daughter 
of Henry Skiles, who went from Pennsyl- 
vania to Kentucky. The grandparents of 
Mrs. Taylor died at an advanced age. 

In 1850 Mr. Taylor crossed the plains to 
California. The company with which he 



583 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



traveled started with mules and wagons. 
The journey was a tedious one, and, as tlieir 
provisions ran short, they cut their wagons 
to pieces and made ])ack-saddles while on the 
Rocky mountains, and were thus enabled to 
make greater speed the rest of the way. 
After ninety-one days he reached his destina- 
tion, and engaged in mining at Deer creek, 
crossing on Newby river, remaining thus 
employed fourteen months. He then re- 
turned to Kentucky, making the journey by 
water, being two months and seven days 
en route and arriving June 1, 1852. 

The following September he started with 
horse teams, in company with his father-in- 
law's family, for Texas, and arrived in Dallas 
on the 2d of November. He purchased 
240 acres of partially improved land south- 
west of Dallas, where he lived one year. 
Then he bought a half section of land, 
one mile west of that place, which, however, 
he sold three weeks later. He then pur- 
chased 200 acres of wild land that he im- 
proved and on it has since made his home. 
He has added to this property and now owns 
500 acres here and has another farm of 100 
acres. Mrs. Taylor's parents have both 
passed away, Mrs. Harris dying July 4, 1861, 
at the age of fifty- six years, and Mr. Harris, 
June 10, 1874, aged seventy-two. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Taylor twelve children 
have been born, namely: Charles Thomas, 
now of Lisbon, Dallas county; Mary Jose- 
phine, wife of Charles Brotherton, of this 
conntv; William Hamilton; James Henry, 
of Oak Cliff; Mattie Bell, wife of E. D. 
Langley, this county; Rumsey Eugene, a 
physician of Lancaster, Dallas county; Em- 
ory Alvas, of Clay county; Harvey Dews, of 
Clay county, Texas; Bettie Ann, Nancy 
Cordelia, Amanda Dora and Dick Harris. 
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are members of the 



Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which 
he is an Elder. He is eminently a self-made 
man. By his strict integrity, his honorable 
business methods and his genial manner, he 
has won the confidence and esteem of all who 
know him. 

VI. DAVID KING, one of the pioneer 
physicians of Dallas county, was born 
W^ in Bedford county, Tennessee in 1818, 
the second of seven children born to Needliam 
and Rebecca (Hicks) King, natives of North 
Carolina. The parents were married in the 
latter State, and in 1814 emigrated to Bed- 
ford county, Tennessee, where he w as engaged 
as a farmer and carpenter, and later in life 
practiced medicine. He lived in many differ- 
ent places in Mississippi, Missouri and Illi- 
nois, and hisdeath occurred in Conway county, 
Arkansas, in 1858; the mother died several 
years before, in McNairy county, Tennessee. 
Dr. David King, the subject of this sketch, 
was reared to farm life and received a limited 
education in the schools of Bedford county, 
Tennessee, and at the age of twenty-one years 
he left home and earned money with which to 
educate himself. He studied medicine at 
Fairfield, Tennessee, attended lectures at Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, and afterward graduated at that 
institution. He returned to Fairfield and 
practiced medicine some two years, and in 
1851 removed to Dallas county, settling near 
where Oak Cliff now stands. He bought a 
farm of prairie and timber land, which he 
improved, and at the same time was engaged 
in the practice of medicine. Pie frequently 
had to go a distance of thirty or forty miles, 
having a practice over a large extent of ter- 
ritory. Dr. King remained on his farm 
until 1870, when he retired from practice 
and came to the city of Dallas, and the next 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



583 



year was elected City Assessor and Collector, 
and filled that position until 1874, since 
which time he has lived a retired life. 

Dr. King was married in Bedford county, 
Tennessee, in 1850, to Miss Ann C. Smith, a 
native of that county, and a daughter of 
Thomas and Mary (Medearis) Smith, natives 
of Virginia and North Carolina respectively. 
In an early day they settled in Tennessee, but 
in 1851 removed to Dallas county, settling 
on a farm south of this city. They tnade 
this State their home until death, the father 
dying in 1866, and the 7nother in 1876. 
Dr. and Mrs. King have had three children, 
Mary R., wife of W. D. Trump, of western 
Texas; Mattie L., wife of E. C. Turley, of 
Mississippi; and Jeff S., Clerk of the Courts, 
of Emma, Crosby county, Texas. Dr. King 
takes active part in politics, voting with the 
Democratic party. He is a member of the 
First Baptist Church, of Dallas, while Mrs. 
King belongs to the First Christian Church, 



of Dallas. 



-^^^/^^^-^^/^/^ 



fAMES M. COCHRAN, a farmer and 
stock raiser of precinct No. 1, Dallas 
county, was born in this county, in 1846, 
a son of William M. and Nancy J. (Hughes) 
Cochran, natives of North and South Caro- 
lina, respectively. James was reared to farm 
life, and educated at McKenzie College, Red 
River county, and after completing his edu- 
cation he engaged in the drug business three 
years. In 1863, in Dallas county, he 
enlisted in Company I, Gurley's regiment, 
Gano's brigade, and served during the war. 
He was in many skirmishes, and was wounded 
at Roseville, Arkansas, in 1863, after which 
he returned home. Three months later he 
again entered the army, and was with his reg- 
iment until the war closed, when he returned 



to Dallas county and entered McKenzie Col- 
lege. He has opened up and improved his 
farm, and now owns about 400 acres, all of 
which is under a good state of cultivation. 
He was the second male child born in Dallas 
county, and has always taken an active inter- 
est in everything pertaining to its good, is a 
Democrat politically, and socially a member 
of James A. Smith Lodge, No. 395, A. F. & 
A. M., and also of the Farmers' Alliance. 

Mr. Cochran was married in this county 
in 1869, to Maggie B. Lively, a native of 
Kentucky, the daughter of H. P. and Mary 
N. (Smith) Lively, also natives of Kentucky, 
but now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Cochran 
had three children; Alice E., wife of W. F. 
Aldridge, of Collin county, Texas; J. Hugh- 
sie, and George H. The mother died in 1878, 
and in 1880 Mr. Cochran married Nannie 
M. Clark, a native of Tennessee, who died 
in this county in 1881. He was again mar- 
ried, in 1884, to Hattie M. Bowlin, a native 
of Virginia, and daughter of James and 
Mary (Richmond) Bowlin, natives of North 
Carolina and Alabama respectively. The 
mother settled in Dallas county, Texas, about 
1881, and the father died in Tarrant county, 
this State, in 1871, and the mother still 
resides in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Coch- 
ran have three children; Amrie A.; Katie 
Lee, and James R. 



■^-^xy\n/ly~ 



■'in/i/^^-^ 



;UINCY A. SWEATT, deceased, was 
the son of Edward Sweatt, who was 
born in the Old North State but af- 
terward moved to Wilson county, Tennes- 
see, thence to Collin county, Texas, in 1851. 
He was finely educated and was in tlie minis- 
try of the Christian Church for many years, 
but died in 1854. In early manhood he was 



584 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



married to Miss Mary Rash, and they had 
nine children, of whom the subject of this 
sketch was tlie eighth. He was born in Ten- 
nessee, in 1825, but came to the Lone Star 
State with liis parents and for some time 
was a resident of Collin county, where he 
taught school for two years. He afterward 
came to Dallas county and entered the em- 
ploy of Madison Miller as salesman in his 
&tore, remaining in his employ until 1860, 
when be enlisted in Terrill's Regiment and 
Captain Payne's Company, with which he 
served until the close of the war. He then 
returned to this county and followed mer- 
chandising and farming, and next he went to 
Ferris, Ellis county, where he opened a mer- 
cantile establishment with a partner in 1875 
and continued it until his death in 1884. He 
was married in 1854, to Miss Mary C. Miller, 
a daughter of Madison M. and Isabel Miller, 
a sketch of whom is given in this volume. 
She was born in Alabama in 1838, but in 
1846 came to this State with her parents. 
Mr. Sweatt was for many years an Elder in the 
Christian Church, of which he was an earnest 
member, with which church his widow is 
also connected. He was a man of even tem- 
per, with a high sense of honor and was of a 
charitable and kindly disposition. 

D. MITCHELL was born in White 
county, Tennessee, March 23, 1837, 
son of W. L. and Sarah A. (Moore) 
Mitchell, natives of Tennessee and South 
Carolina, respectively. W. L. Mitchell was 
born in Overton county, Tennessee, in 1806, 
was reared on a farm and all through life fol- 
lowed agricultural pursuits. He was a babe 
when his father moved to White county, where 
he, W. L., remained till death, February 27, 




1878. He was the father of sixteen children, 
having been married three times. His second 
wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of William 
B. Warren, and his third companion was, be- 
fore her marriage, Sarah A. Cornelius, a na- 
tive of Georgia. By his first marriage he 
had thirteen children, of whom only four 
survive, namely: Slacy A., wife of J. A. 
Brogdon, resides in Dallas county, Texas; 
Minerva, widow of W. B. Brogdon, now 
residing in Dallas county, S. D., the subject 
of this sketch; and Amanda, wife of Fletcher 
Keathley, who lives at Irene, Hill county, 
Texas. The others died in infancy. 

S. D. Mitchell was reared on his father's 
farm and was educated in Burritt's College, 
Spencer, Yan Buren county, Tennessee. He 
enlisted in the Confederate service April 21, 
1861, and entered the Sixteenth Tennessee 
Infantry, Company I, this regiment being 
commanded by Colonel Savage. He was in 
seventeen general engagements; was with 
General Robert E. Lee all through Virginia, 
and also fought under Lieutenant-Generai 
Longstreet and General " Stonewall " Jack- 
son. In all his service he received seven 
wounds, two of which were of a severe nature, 
one through the hip and the other slightly in 
the jaw. He was captured at the battle of 
Chickamauga, Tennessee, but made his escape 
a few minutes later. He was with General 
Johnston through Georgia, and surrendered at 
Nashville, Tennessee, after Johnston's sur- 
render. All through the war he held the 
office of Second Lieutenant. 

After the general surrender, Mr. Mitchell 
returned to Tennessee, where, July 9, 1865, 
he was married to Mrs. Maria Lowrey, a na- 
tive of White county, Tennessee. Her parents, 
Woodson P. and Nancy P. (Mitchell) White, 
were natives of Virginia and North Carolina 
respectively. They are the parents of ten 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



585 



children, all of whom married except one, 
John R., who lives at Lancaster, this county. 
Mrs. Mitchell had one child by her first hus- 
band, Flora, wife of Dr. Little of Sparta, 
White county, Tennessee. By Mr. Mitchell 
she has two children: W. W., born in White 
county, Tennessee, August 4, 1869, and 
F. M., in Dallas county, Texas, June 3, 1876. 

April 17, 1874, Mr. Mitchell landed in 
Texas, having sold out his possessions in 
Tennessee. Soon after coming to Texas he 
bought land a mile and a half west of Lan- 
caster, where he liv-ed eight years. He then 
disposed of the property and bought land 
four miles west of his former place, living 
there four years. Again selling out, he pur- 
chased a farm on Nolan river, Johnson 
county, Texas, and two years later sold it and 
returned to Dallas county, stopping about 
four miles northeast of Mesquite, and living 
there about three years. During his second 
year at the latter place he had the misfortune 
to lose his house and its contents by fire. In 
November, 1889, he moved to his brother-in 
law's farm near Lancaster, where he has since 
lived. 

Mr. Mitchell is, fraternally, a Royal Arch 
Mason, and politically, a Democrat. 



-^-^lAJTM/' 



^^ 



■'T/in/^^^ 



L. MOSS, Wheatland, Dallas county, 
Texas, was born July 16, 1855, on 
"^^ the farm on which he now lives. He 
is the third son and child of Azariah Moss, a 
sketch of wliom appears in this volume. 
He was reared on the farm, received a com- 
mon-school education, and remained with his 
father until he was thirty-one years of age. 
January 15, 1885, he was united in mar- 
riage with Miss MoUie Porter, a native of 
Dallas county, and a daughter of Frank and 



Mary Cornelius (Derrah) Porter, who came 
from Tennessee to Dallas county and were 
among the first settlers of this place. After 
his marriage Mr. Moss resided at tiie old 
home three years. In 1888 he built his pres- 
ent residence, a cottage of six rooms, where 
he is comfortably situated. His farm on 
which he lives has 320 acres of land: 200 
acres are under cultivation. He and his wife 
have one child — Virjjie. 

Mr. Moss is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
Lancaster Lodge, No. 200. 



A. MORRIS, 



farmer. 



a prosperous „.^ 

was born in Sangamon county, Illi- 
" nois, February 9, 1840, the son of 
Hamilton R. and Mary M. (Jarrett) Morris, 
natives of Virginia, whose eleven children all 
grew up and married. Mr. Hamilton R. 
Morris was brought up on a farm in Ken- 
tucky, and about 1820 moved to Illinois and 
married there. During the Mexican war he 
was in Colonel Baker's Regiment, under 
General Pillow's command. The Captain of 
his company was Achilles Morris, a cousin of 
his, who afterward died in Tampico, Mexico, 
while in the service. Hamilton was in the 
battles of Cerro Gordo, Vera Cruz and Mon- 
terey, and-at the close of the war he returned 
to Illinois. In the autumn of 1852 he came 
to Texas, locating first about fourteen miles 
south of Dallas, on what is known as Ten 
Mile creek. He resided here until 1854, 
when he moved to Parker county and pre- 
empted 160 acres of land fourteen miles north 
of Weatherford. In 1866, on account of In- 
dian depredations in Parker county, he re- 
turned to Dallas county, where he remained 
until his children were all married, after 
which time he abandoned his home and lived 



586 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



with them until Ills death, at his daughter's, 
Mrs. Woody, in Parker county, iu 1886. 

The subject of this sketch, Mr. T. A. Mor- 
ris, has been a farmer all his life. In 1860 
he was in the State service, in what was 
known as Texas Rangers in Henry Thomp- 
son's company. 

In 1861 he enlisted in the regular Con- 
federate service, placed in Company E, com- 
manded by Captain J. L. Leonard, in the 
Tenth Texas Infantry, commanded by R. Q. 
Mills, the brigade being commanded first by 
A. Nelson, who died in Arkansas, then by 
Dishler, who was killed in battle at Chicka- 
mauga, afterward by Granbury of Texas, 
in Pat. Cleburne's division and Hardee's corps. 
His first service was on the coast of Texas. 
In the spring of 1862 he was taken to Ar- 
kansas, engaging in an active campaign until 
January 11, 1863, when he was taken 
prisoner at the battle of Arkansas Post, con- 
veyed to Camp Douglas and held there for 
exchange until April following; when ex- 
changed lie was placed in Lee's army during 
the spring campaign, after which he was 
placed with the Tennessee army, commanded 
first by Bragg, second by Joseph E. John- 
ston and lastly by Hood, passing through all 
the service of that army. He was captured 
at the battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1884, and 
taken to Columbus, Ohio, where lie was kept 
until January 13, 1865. 

He then lived in Illinois until December, 
when he returned to Texas. During his ser- 
vice he was in a number of military engage- 
ments, among which were the battles of 
Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Chancellors- 
ville and Richmond. 

December 24, 1867, he married Miss Aman- 
da Heath, a native of Iowa and a daughter 
of Christopher and Patsey (Tucker) Heath, 
natives of North Carolina who came to Texas 



in 1848, buying the farm on which Mr. Mor- 
ris now lives. Mr. and Mrs. Heath were the 
parents of nine children who lived to ma- 
turity, six of whom are still living, in differ- 
ent parts of this State. By his own energy 
and good management Mr. Morris has ac- 
quired a considerable amount of property, 
having now a fine farm of 160 acres, most of 
which is well improved. The buildings on 
his place would do credit to many of the best 
farms in the older States. He has a fine two- 
story frame residence, a large barn in which 
to store sufiicient grain for his stock the year 
round, etc. In 1880 he erected upon his farm 
a small cotton gin, which was operated for 
several years. In the summer of 1890, owing 
to the increased demand, he removed his old 
gin house and built one of greater proportions 
and having all the modern improvements. 
The children are: Mattie, Ginnia, Byron 
P., Albert A., Bouchie, "Willie E. and Thomas 
Heath. 

fS. BECKLEY, a prosperous farmer, 
was born in Switzerland county, In- 
® diana, October 4, 1837, the son of Rev. 
S. L. and Ruth (Mathews) Beckley, natives 
of Kentucky. The father, a wagon maker by 
trade, followed his vocation and farming in 
Indiana, residing there until 1840, when he 
moved with his family to Dade county, JVIis- 
souri; and there he continued wagonmak- 
ing and farming for a few years, and then 
began preaching the gospel, yet working 
more or less, managing the affairs of the 
farm, though his wife and children were 
doing all possible to advance the work. All 
his undertakings were crowned with success. 
When the war broke out he was robbed of 
nearly all he had, the soldiers at various 
times taking all his horses and provender. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



587 



Owing to the many trials and troubles he had 
undergone, his health failed. lu 1868 he 
sold out what property he had left and moved 
with his family across the country to Dallas, 
arriving May 14, purchasing and settling 
upon a farm near Wheatland, which he oc- 
cupied until his death, September 14, 1883. 

Mr. Beckley, whose name introduces this 
sketch, was therefore brought up on a farm. 
In the fall of 1861 he enlisted in the State 
Guards, organized to protect the interests of 
Missouri. He was in the service about a 
year, under Captain Tucker, when the com- 
pany disbanded, reorganized and entered the 
regular service of the Confederate army, 
where he was a member of Company A, 
Regiment of Colonel Smith, Brigade of Gen- 
eral Shelby and Division of General Price. 
His period of service was spent principally 
in Arkansas. During the skirmish at Forms- 
ville, Missouri, in Price's raid through that 
State, he was seriously wounded, having to 
be lifted on and off his horse; but he scarcely 
ever failed to be on hand for service. He 
participated in the noted raids of Cockerell, 
Shelby, Marmaduke and Price, and also in 
that which was made to Lone Jack, Missouri, 
on which expedition occurred one of the 
hardest-fought battles in that State. At one 
time be was arrested for treason and tried for 
the burning of the courthouse at Greenfield, 
Missouri, but he was innocent. 

After the surrender he returned home, 
where he remained until the father sold out 
and moved with his family to Texas; in fact, 
he accompanied the family to this State. A 
few years afterward he bouglit and improved 
a farm of ninety acres, to which he later 
added seventy acres. Kt length he exchanged 
ninety acres of his laud for his brother's in- 
terest in the old homestead, where he has 
since resided, taking care of his father until 




his death, and caring also for his aged 
aiother, who is still living with him, being 
seventy-seven years of age, still doing her 
house work. But the father was never idle 
while able to do anything. He was fond of 
reading. He was confined to his bed three 
months before his death. Mr. Beckley, our 
subject is a member of the Baptist Church 
at Lancaster. 



ILLIS M. LOVING, son of James 
Loving, is a native of Kentucky, 
born January 4, 1841. His father 
was born in the same State in 1810, and 
when Willis M. was about three years old 
moved with his family to Texas. He built a 
flat-boat, and, leaving Kentucky on it, he 
came down the river and then up to Shreve- 
port. At that point he landed, bought two 
ox teams and wagons, loaded his goods aud 
family in them and came across the country 
to Lamar county. There he raised a crop and 
remained one year, after which lie moved to 
Dallas. That was before Dallas county was 
organized. He spent the residue of his days 
in Dallas, and died there in 1869, at the age 
of fifty-nine years. 

In 1862 Willis M. enlisted in B. Stone's 
Second Regiment, and remained with the 
regiment about two years. At the end of 
that time he was detailed for the purpose of 
collecting and raising horses for the army, 
and was at Dallas when the Confederate 
forces surrendered, at that time having in 
his charge several hundred horses and mules. 
While he was with the regiment he par- 
ticipated in several battles, but was never 
wounded or captured. After the war he re- 
turned to the parental home aud remained 
there as long as he was single. 

Mr. Loving married Mrs. Mary A. (Fal- 



588 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



coner) Ewing, who was born in Missouri, 
Novein])er 1, 1839, daughter of John C. and 
Martha M. (Lamison) Falconer. Her father 
was forty-two years old at the time of his 
death and her mother passed away at the 
age of thirty-four. Mrs. Loving moved from 
Missouri to Texas with her first husband, 
Robert Ewing. By him she had two chil- 
dren: Lidia, who died quite young; and 
Charles, who is now a resident of this county. 
Following are the names of Mrs. Loving's 
brothers and sisters: John C. ; William; 
Andrew; Richard; Virginia; Rebecca, wife 
of Edward White; and Eliza, wife of George 
Birch. Mr. Loving is the oldest of his 
father's family, the other members being 
Henry D.; W. B.; Lucy, wife of W. H. 
Myers; Susan, wife of C. A. Myers; and 
Sally, wife of E. A. Davis. All live in 
Dallas county. 

Mr. Loving is engaged in farming and 
stock-raising. He owns a farm of 145 acres 
near Grarland, which is regarded as one of the 
best in the neighborhood. He has some fine 
Durham cattle and a number of horses. In 
the raising of Clyde horses he is in partner- 
ship with Robert Murphy. 

Mr. and Mrs. Loving have one child, 
Mattie, who is now the wife of W. S. Ram- 
sey, and lives near her parents. Mrs Lov- 
ing is a member uf the Baptist Church. 



jICHARD FLANAGAN, liquor dealer, 
X of Dallas, Texas. — All cities pride them- 
^ selves in the possession of popular places 
of public resort, where gentlemen can meet 
and enjoy the amenities of social life un- 
trammeled by its conventionalities. One of 
the finest places in this respect in the city is 
that of Mr. Flanagan, which is conducted in 



a strictly first-class manner. All its appoint- 
ments are elegant and no more attractive 
saloon is to be found. The very choicest of 
wines, liquors and beers are dispensed over 
its bar by experienced and courteous attend- 
ants, and it is the resort par excellence of 
Dallas. Mr. Flanagan was born in St. 
Catherine, Canada, in 1854, to Martin and 
Mary (Kelly) Flanagan, who removed to the 
Dominion from Roscommon, Ireland, in 
1847. They later became residents of Roch- 
ester, New York, where the father died, at the 
age of sixty years. 

Of their family Richard was the youngest, 
and upon the death of his mother, which oc- 
curred when he was thirteen years of age, he 
began to make his own way in the world, and 
learned the trade of boilermaking at Brook- 
lyn, New York. Later he worked at Roch- 
ester, when one day the boilermakers went 
out on a strike and he adopted barkeeping as 
his profession, following this in all the prin- 
cipal cities of the United States. Thus he 
acquired a thorough knowledge of the re- 
quirements of the business, and has put that 
knowledge to a practical use. After remain- 
ing in business in Cincinnati for some time, 
he sold out and went to San Francisco, Cali- 
fornia, where he had charge of the Lick 
House bar, remaining there nineteen months, 
leaving there and coming to Fort Worth in 
1877, but in 1878 came to Dallas, and after 
being with L. Craddock for five years, the 
the firm of Flanagan & Loomiswas estab- 
lished, their place of business being called 
The Ofiice. At the end of one year Mr. 
Flanagan sold out to Mr. Loom is and went 
back to Fort Worth, and with a brother-in- 
law opened the White Elephant, and dur- 
ing his residence in that city he was elected 
to the position of Alderman, the duties of 
which he discharged in a manner highly sat- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



589 



isfactory to liis coiistitnents. After his re- 
turn to Dallas he began business under the 
name of Dick Flanagan, but at the end of 
two years moved to his present elegant quar- 
ters. He is an authority on sporting matters 
and his word is considered as good as his 
bond. Miss Julia, the youngest daughter of 
Charles and Minnie Hillar, of Dallas, for- 
merly of Owensboro, Kentucky, became liis 
wife in 1879, and by her he is the father 
of five children, two of whom are now living, 
Richard, Jr., and Ray. Mr. Flanagan is a 
Democrat, and socially belongs to the I. O. O. 
F., the K. of H.. K. of P., the Irish- Ameri- 
can Society, Liquor Dealers' Association of 
Texas and the Fat Men's Association. He 
and his family attend the Catholic Church. 

T. MACON, a contractor and builder 
of Dallas, came here in March, 1889, 
'"^ and has already erected many resi- 
dences here, as well as the Oak Cliff Hotel 
and the Christian Church. Besides, he has 
also put up several business houses, as the 
Henderson building on Commerce street, etc. 
In 1890 he employed 250 men. 

He was born in Alabama, in 1845, the fifth 
in order of birth of the ten children of E. J. 
and Mary Ann (Syler) Macon. His father 
was born in North Carolina and early in life 
settled in Alabama. He was at first a saddler, 
and afterward became a planter and accumu- 
lated considerable wealth, but the ravages of 
war swept it mostly away. He died in 1863 
and his wife, a native of Alabama, died in 
1861 — both in Shelby county, Alabama. 
Mr. Macon was brought up to farm life and 
educated at Selma. Alabama, and at Cahaba, 
Dallas county, same State. In 1862, in 
Shelby county, he enlisted in Company K, 

39 



Thirty-first Alabama Infantry, as a private, 
and did service in Tazewell and Murfreesboro, 
Tennessee, and in the siege of Vicksburg. 
He was then honorably discharged, but he 
afterward joined General Forrest's Cavalry, 
in which he was a Corporal, and was engaged 
in many skirmishes. The battle of Selma, 
Alabama, was the last engagement in which 
he took a part. After the war closed he en- 
gaged in farming and running a sawmill. He 
sawed all the lumber that entered the con- 
struction of the Shelby Iron Works near 
Birmingham. After conducting the sawmill 
four years, in 1880, he came to Texas, set- 
tling in Ellis county and engaging in farm- 
ing for two years. After that he went to 
Corsicana, Texas, and thence he came to Dal- 
las, in 1889. 

He is one cf the leading and responsible 
builders, alisulutely responsible and reliable 
in all transactions We have always found 
him prompt, reliable and strictly business in 
all his dealings. Business intrusted to him 
will have faithful attention and be satisfac- 
tory. The Gould building is giving excellent 
satisfaction in every respect, is an ornament 
to Dallas and a source of pride and comfort 
to the Texas & Pacific Railway Company. 
He is universally known as a good contractor 
and worthy of the confidence which may be 
placed in him. 

In 1864, in Shelby county, Alabama, Mr. 
Macon was married to M. E. Basset t, a native 
of that State and brought up in Cahaba. Her 
parents were Joseph L. and M. A. (Gwin) 
Bassett. Her father was born in England, 
and her mother in Alabama. She died in 
1845, and the father was killed in a sawmill 
in Talladega county, that State, in 1865. 

Mr. Macon built the general office build- 
ing in Dallas on the Texas & Pacific line. 
This is the best railroad office building in the 



590 



SiaTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



State of Texas, a building of which Dallas is 
justly prond. He has also recently bnilt the 
Waxahachie National Bank and other build- 
ings of note at Fort Worth and Houston. 
He is the leading contractor and builder in 
the city. 

Mr. Macon is a Democrat, and he and his 
family belong to the Christian Church. He 
has had five living children, as follows: 
Thomas C, Alexander W., Cora and Carrie 
(twinsj, and John. 

Three children are dead, viz : Ennna, wife 
of W. C. Lewis, now a resident of Dallas; 
she died in the spring of 1892, aged twenty- 
four years, a devout member of the Christian 
Church of Dallas; her children are Bassie 
and Mollie, who are nice, cheery and promis- 
ing children, and Benjamin who died in 
1882, at twelve years of age. The other de- 
ceased child of Mr. Macon was Willie, who 
died in 1884. 



lAPTAIN W. F. MORTON, the popu- 
lar and efficient Constable of Precinct 
No. 1, of Dallas county, Texas, was 
born in Montgomery county, North Carolina, 
February 9, 1838. 

His parents were Dr. J. S. ami Sarah A- 
Morton, both natives of North Carolina. The 
father was an eminent physician and noted 
Baptist minister. He was for fifty years a 
devout member of that church, forty years 
of which were spent as a missionary in Mis- 
sissippi and Arkansas, and he died in Lamar 
county, Texas, in 1887, at the age of seventy- 
two. None but words of commendation were 
ever spoken of him. He won all hearts by 
his devout and Christian character and tire- 
less work for the reformation of the i-ace. 
The worthy wife and devoted mother died 
March 22, 1890, at Dallas, Texas, aged 



seventy-six years, having been all her life a 
consistent Christian, never demonstrative in 
her religious life, but constant and firm, and 
eminently fitted to be the wife of a self-re- 
nouncing and hard-working missionary. Tliis 
worthy couple were the parents of seven ciiil- 
dren, only three of whom now survive: The 
Captain; and an only brother, James W. 
Morton, who lives in Fannin county, Texas; 
and an only sister, Mrs. Annie H. J. Mar- 
tin, who lives in Hot Springs, Arkansas. 

The subject of this sketch was the third 
child, and was educated in Mississippi, to 
which State his parents had moved from 
North Carolina, in 1838. In that magnifi- 
cent State his childhood and early manhood 
days were passed. His first enterprise on his 
own account was teaching school in Missis- 
sippi; his next was as a clerk in a drug 
store at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, continuing 
in the latter position for four years, or until 
the war intervened between the South and 
North. 

He, then, enlisted in the Confederate States 
army, and was made Captain of Company 
C of the Eleventh Arkansas Regiment of In- 
fantry. He served in the Army of the Ten- 
nessee, and participated in a great many 
hard-fought battles. At the fall of Island 
No. 10, he was taken prisoner, and removed 
to Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois, where he 
was held for five months and eighteen days, 
and then exchanged at Yicksburg, Missis- 
sippi, after which he again engaged in the 
war, in which he continued until its close. 
His brother, Edward C. Morton, was also 
captured at Island No. 10, at the same time 
with himself, and died in Camp Douglas, at 
the age of twenty years. 

When the war had closed. Captain Morton 
returned to Mississippi and farmed for a 
couple of years in Franklin county, that 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



591 



State, after which he clerked in the drng 
store of E. L. J. Bowen & Brother, continu- 
ing to retain his position under Dr. R. J. 
Durr, who bought out his former employers. 
Being too aspiring to remain a clerk long, he 
finally bought out the Doctor, and, tak- 
ing in a partner by the name of B. F. 
Kitchen, continued in business at that point 
for two years. He then removed his drugs 
and otlier stock to Natchez, Mississippi, 
where he formed a partnership with S. L. 
Guice, under the firm name of Morton, 
Kitchen & Co., wholesale and retail drug- 
gists, continuing to do a successful business 
at that point for two years. He then dis- 
posed of his interest in the drug business, 
and removed to Jackson county, Texas, en- 
gaging in tlie grocery business in Texanna, 
the county seat of that county. He remained 
here until 1873, when he sold out and re- 
moved to Dallas, where he has been ever 
since. He was employed for six months by 
a lumber firm in that city; after which he 
served a year as a regular Policeman; then 
tilled the position as Deputy Marshal for two 
years; later, serving as City Marshal and 
Chief of Police, for five years, which 
latter position he resigned to accept that 
of special oflicer on the Texas & Pacific 
railroad. After six months he returned to 
Dallas, and was given charge of the Dallas 
county jail, serving as Jailor for tiiree years. 
During this time he withstood several mobs, 
who surrounded the jail, determined to take 
prisoners out and hang them. During Pre- 
sident Cleveland's administration he served 
four years as Deputy Cnited States Marshal 
of the Northern District of Texas. In 1890 
he was elected Constable, and is now a can- 
didate for re-election, without opposition. 
He is honored as a citizen and oflicer, and has 
discharged his duty without fear or favor. 



"While on leave of absence from tlie army 
he was married in Franklin county, Missis- 
sippi, in 1863, to Miss Emma Guice, an es- 
timable lady, anil a daughter of J. M. Guice, 
a prosperous farmer of that county. To this 
union three ciiildren have been born: the 
only daughter and first child being Mrs. May 
E. Price, aged twenty-five years, who lives in 
New Orleans, Louisiana, and has one daugh- 
ter, Lillian Morton Price. The next child is 
a namesake of the Captain's, W. F. Morton, 
Jr.; the other son being Edward C. Mor- 
ton. Both sons are in the confectionery 
business on Main street, Dallas, and are 
aged twenty-two and twenty years respec- 
tively. 

The Captain is a prominent member of 
several societies, he belongs to the Tanne- 
hill Lodge of Masons, and also to the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, as well as 
the Knights of Honor and the Legion of 

Honor. 

In religious matters, he naturally belongs 
to the Missionary Baptist Church, in the in- 
terests of which his father was such an earn- 
est worker. 

As a citizen the Captain is held in high 
esteem for his manliness and many other 
good qualities of head and heart. As a sol- 
dier and oflicer in the late struggle, his 
early enlistment and four years of valiant 
service attest his devotion to a cause that was 
dear to the Southern people. He was brave, 
true and courageous, and has a splendid re- 
cord as a citizen, and is a military and civil 
officer. 



-^-^x/m/lr- 



^ 



-^i/irm^~ 



C. BROWN was born in Maryland, 
eighteen miles from Baltimore, August 
28, 1833, son of Josiah and Mary 
(Hollingsworth) Brown. His father was born 
in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and' re- 




592 



HISTOBT Oh' DALLAS VOUNTr. 



moved to Baltimore when he was six years 
old, and his mother was a native of Maryland, 
the Holliiigsworths having settled in this 
country in 1685. Both families were Quakers. 

The subject of our sketch was reared on a 
farm in Harrison county, Ohio, until he 
reached his sixteenth year. In 1852 he went 
to California, embarking in a sailing vessel at 
New Orleans, making the journey via the 
Nicaragua route, and after six months land- 
ing in San Francisco. For seventeen yeai-s 
lie was successfully engaged in mining in 
that State, and during that time returned to 
the States and spent one year. In 1869 he 
came East, and the following year located in 
Texas. He then purchased his present farm 
of 356 acres, which at that time had very 
few improvements. It was first settled upon 
by a Mr. Durett, who was killed by light- 
ning in Parker county. Mr. Brown now has 
one of the best improved farms in the county, 
near Eagle Ford, and his residence, an ele- 
gant, modern structure, is beautifully located 
on a natural building site. 

He was married August 11, 1870, to Miss 
Emma Z. J. Wood, a native of Jefferson 
county, Ohio, daughter ot Joel and Zeruiah 
(French) Wood, also Quakers. After his 
marriage he took his bride to Missouri, pur- 
chased an outfit, and from there drove to 
Texas. Seven children have been born to 
them: William T. M., Nellie A., Florence, 
Maud, Elwood, Emma and Mabel A. Mrs. 
Brown is a member of the Christian Church. 

ilLLIAM K. WHEELOCK, a promi- 
nent citizen was born in Jefferson 
county, New York, in 1851. His 
parents were Rev. Rufus and Hannah B. 
(Robenson) Wheelock, natives of Vermont 




and New York, respectively. The former 
was a Congregationalist minister for forty- 
eight years. He was a graduate of the 
Auburn Theological Seminary. After grad- 
uating he preached in New York, at Cham- 
pion for four or five years, at Deer river live 
years, at Danby, Matt's Corners, Mansville 
and Pulaski for some time, and liis was the 
best known name in that section of New 
York or of any in the State. He was con- 
sidered a man of wonderful ability. His 
services were sought after by the large 
churches, but he preferred to remain in the 
small places, " doing liis duty in that state of 
life unto which it pleased God to call liim." 
His last pulpit was Bristol Center. He had 
preached, Sunday, while on a visit to his son 
and felt perfectly well, but in a few hours 
after the delivery of a powerful sermon he 
was stricken down with a stroke resembling 
apoplexy. He was an able, faithful minis- 
ter, a devoted husband and father and a good 
Christian man. He was released from his 
labors in the eighty-lirst year of his life. His 
wife is still living, at Adams, New York, aged 
seventy-six, and although so old a lady her 
sweet, Christian piety and pure life exert a 
religious influence that is felt by every one 
who comes in contact with her. She is very 
well preserved in mind and body. She was 
the mother of one daughter and four sons, one 
of whom is deceased. One of the sons re- 
sides in Chicago, our subject in Texas, and the 
other brother and only sister are residents of 
New York. 

William was educated at Ithaca, New York, 
where he took an academic course, finishing 
at Cornell University. He then engaged in 
the employ of the railroad as chief clerk in 
the passenger depai'tment of the Houston & 
Central railroad, at Houston, coming there 
in 1870, and to Dallas in 1871. When he came 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



593 



to Dallas he established the first up-town ticket 
ofSce ever opened in the city. He acted as 
the passenger and ticket representative for two 
years, and then was made union ticket agent 
for all the railroads, continuing in that posi- 
tion twelve years in all. He was a trusty, 
efficient official, and gave great satisfaction to 
tlie public and to his employers. He resigned 
his position, however, at the end of the fif- 
teen years and went into the hotel business, 
with Mr. Hodge, buying out the McCloud 
and later leased the Winsor, and ran them 
both for some time. He sold his interests 
in both hotels in March, 1892. Since that 
time he has been settling up his business. 
Mr. Wheelock has served the city as Alder- 
man for a term of two years, beginning in 
1880. 

Onr subject was married in 1878, October 
8, to Miss Fannie Montague, daughter of 
Henry M. and Susan Montague, of Franklin, 
Kentucky. Mrs. Wheelock is connected with 
some of the most prominent citizens of the 
city, among which are Dr. J. W. Crowdus, T. 
L. Marsalis and others. Her father belonged 
to one of the old and best known families in 
Kentucky. Her mother is still living, and 
resides with her daughter. She is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. 
Mrs. Wheelock is an only child, and is an in- 
telligent, amiable lady, and is well known 
and highly respected throughout the city of 
Dallas. 

Mr. Wheelock and his charming wife have 
two bright interesting little ones, Rufus M. 
and Susie, combining all the virtues of both 
parents. Mr. Wheelock is a member of the 
K. of J:", and Elks, and is District Deputy of 
the State in the latter, is Past Exalted Ruler 
and present Secretary of the Dallas Lodge, 
and is now Grand Tyler of the Grand Lodge 
of America, having Just returned from a 



meeting of the Grand Lodge of the Elks, 
held at Buffalo, New York. He has taken 
but little interest in politics, but has been 
elected by his fellow citizens to represent 
them as a delegate to the convention at Hous- 
ton, August 16, 1892, to nominate a candi- 
date for Governor. When he does interest 
himself in politics he goes to work in it as he 
does in everything else, with energy and 
determination. 

fOHN E. THATCHER, M. D., physician 
and surgeon, is one of the young and 
rising physicians of Dallas, Texas, and 
was born near Centreville, Appanoose county, 
Iowa. His parents were Rev. William and 
Lavinia F. L. Thatcher, the forn)er a native of 
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, the latter of Iowa. 
The father received a common-school educa- 
tion, but as he was a hard student he became 
a scholar of note, doing his own study and 
thinking. He was converted at the age of 
nineteen, and at once took a working place 
in the church of his choice, entering the 
ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
soon after conversion, in the North Ohio 
Conference. He remained in that conference 
for some years, doing some hard and efficient 
work. In the early sixties he joined the Iowa 
Conference, having removed to that State. 
He there met Miss Lavina Lantz, to whom 
he was married in 1866. She was the daugh- 
ter of Jonathan and Margaret Lantz, resi- 
dents of Iowa. He continued in the itiner- 
ancy of that conference until about 1870, 
when, owing to throat tronble, he was com- 
pelled to abandon active work. He still con- 
tinued to preach when needed as a supply, 
and where there was no one in charge, until 
the age of seventy-one, his death occurring 



594 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



P^ebruary 19, 1886. He was a man of great 
intellectual breadth and force, of independent, 
clear-cut views and yet of kindly, gentle 
manners, broad charity, pure life and conver- 
sation, and as a consequence exerted a wide 
influence for good in the different localities 
where he was called to labor. His death 
took from the church a man of strong intel- 
lect, high culture, broad sympathies and most 
generous disposition. He was married three 
times, and was the father of nine children. 
Our subject is the only living member of the 
third marriage. The third wife's parents 
were farmers, and her father, J. Lantz, died 
about the age of seventy-iive years. His 
wife, Margaret, is still living, an honored and 
highly respected pioneer woman, residing 
near Centreville, Iowa, aged eighty-six. She 
has descended far down the shady side of life 
and her sun is nearly set. The Doctor's 
mother is still living, and she is one of a large 
family of children, only five of whom are 
now living. She resides at Neosho, Missouri, 
aged about fifty-six. She was converted and 
united with the Methodist Episcopal Church 
in her early girlhood days, since which time 
she has lived the life of a zealous Christian 
woman. 

Our subject received his early education in 
the public schools of Centreville, and in 1880 
entered the Neosho Collegiate Institute for a 
literary course. He read medicine under his 
brother, Dr. W. F. Thatcher, commencing in 
1886. In the same year he entered the 
Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri, at 
St. Louis, graduating in 1889. He practiced 
six months with liis brother and then went to 
the Hahnemann Homeopathic Hospital at 
Rochester, New York, where he served as 
house physician for eight months, but was 
then compelled to resign and return to Dal- 
las, on account of the illness of his brother, 



W. F. Thatcher. He remained in this city 
for about seven months, when he went to 
Montague county, Texas, where he carried on 
a country practice for about a year; then he 
returned to Dallas, where he has since re- 
mained. Here he intends to stay, has built 
up a fine practice in this city, and has taken 
his place among the most prominent and 
influential physicians of Dallas. 

He is a member of the Texas Homeopathic 
Medical Society, also of the Rochester 
Hahnemannian Society. He belongs to the 
K. of P., and the Fraternal Mystic Circle. 
He is a rising man, and has a bright future 
before him as he is sure to be successful. 



^ 



-r®^ 



^ 



ARAH J. McCLAIN was born in Mon- 
roe county, Kentucky, May 7, 1845, 
and came with her father to Texas when 
she was only nine years of age. In Dallas 
county she was reared, and here. May 10, 
1863, she was united in marriage with 
Thomas J. McClain. They started out on 
their marriage life young, energetic and am- 
bitious, and without pecuniary assistance 
from any one. Their earnest efforts were 
soon rewarded with success, and they found 
themselves in easy circumstances. Mr. Mc- 
Clain was reared on a farm and was engaged 
in farming all his life. The last fourteen years 
of his life he conducted a mercantile business 
in connection with his agricultural pursuits. 
He was a man of excellent business qualifica- 
tions and made a success at whatever he un- 
dertook, in all his dealings observing the 
utmost integrity. At the time of his death 
he owned 800 acres of tine land, 600 in Dallas 
county and 200 in Johnson county, besides 
town property in Garland. Mrs. McLean now 
resides in Garland with her little son, the rest 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



595 



of her cliildren having married and left her. 
Like lier husband, she is a good financier, 
and since his death has had the personal super- 
vision of his large estate. She has also pur- 
chased other property. 

Samuel Compton, Mrs. McClain's father, 
was born in North Carolina in 1809. His 
parents moved from that State to Tennessee 
when he was a small boy. After he grew up 
he went to Kentucky, where, about the year 
1837, he wedded Miss Kasirah Kirby, who 
was born in 1819, daughter of Robert Kirby. 
Mr. Compton moved to Texas in 1854, mak- 
ing the journey in wagons, being six weeks 
on the road, and landing in Dallas county on 
the 1st of November, 1854. There were eleven 
wagons in the company with which they trav- 
eled, and the journey was in many respects a 
most pleasant one. Mr. Compton purchased 
160 acres of land east of Garland and after- 
ward sold and bought laud uear Pleasant 
valley, in the eastern part of Dallas county. 
He lived on that farm until 1870, when he 
he died at the a^e of sixty -one years. Mrs. 
Compton was sixty-six at the time of her 
death. This worthy couple had a family of 
six children, Mrs. McClain being the fourth- 
born and one of the three who are now liv- 
ing. Their names are as follows: Bishop^ 
AVilliam R., Samuel T., who died in the war; 
Sarah J., Smith B., and Ellen C, wife of 
John McDonald. 

Thomas J. McClain was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, January 29, 1835, son of John and 
Margaret (Burkstress) McClain. His mother 
is living at this date, having reached the ad- 
vanced age of eighty- seven years. John Mc- 
Clain died at the age of eighty-four years. 
He and his wife were the parents of eleven 
children, namely: Alexander; Matilda A., wife 
of McClelland Stunkard; PriscillaJ., wife of 
Washington Shell, is deceased; John K.; 



Thomas J., referred to in this sketch; Samuel; 
Charles F.; Jessie O.; Mary C, wife of Will- 
iam Allaway; Sarah M., wife of Mack Hawk, 
and James P. Thomas J. came to Texas in 
1858 and bought land in Lamar county, and 
after his marriage made his home in Dallas 
county. During the time he was engaged in 
the mercantile business he was also Post- 
master of Pleasant valley for a number of 
years. He served seven months in the army, 
after which he was taken sick and was dis- 
charged on account of disability. His death 
occurred on his birthday, January 29, 1888, 
at the age of fifty-three years. Following are 
the names of Mr. and Mrs. McClain's chil- 
dren: Priscilla, wife of T. (I Brown; Cora 
C, wife of William Myers; Bell, wife of Dr. 
J. D. Mormon; John S., deceased; Lillian, 
wife of J. A. Martin, and Major Leslie. 

Mrs. McClain and three of her children are 
members of the Christian Church, of which 
Mr. McClain was also a devoted member. 



G. GRACEY is a farmer and stock- 
man of Lisbon, Dallas county, Texas, 
and with the interests of this section 
he has been identified since the fall of 1848. 
He was born in Bond county, Illinois, Oc- 
tober 13, 1833, the third of five children 
born to William and Isabel (Harris) Gracey, 
natives of North Carolina, who settled in 
Illinois in 1818. The father was a farmer 
by occupation and died in 1842, one year 
after the death of his wife, his birth having 
occurred June 11, 1796, his wife being 
thirty-eight years of age at the time of her 
death. After the death of his parents C. G. 
Gracey found a home with relatives, but when 
he was ten years of age he started out to 
make his own way in the world, and possess- 




.'•96 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ing but little education and being unac- 
quainted with the ways of the world, he 
found it quite difficult to secure a livelihood 
for a number of years. After working at 
different employments and in various local- 
ities for a number of years he finally drifted 
to Texas in 1848, coining thither with a man 
named John B. Robinson, the journey being 
made by team in thirty days. Mr. Gracey 
was engaged in stock-driving for one year, 
the two subsequent years being spent at 
various occupations. He then purchased 160 
acres of land near Cedar Hill, but he after- 
ward purchased a farm of 200 acres near 
Lisbon, which he greatly improved. In the 
spring of 1862 he enlisted in Company K, 
Nineteenth Texas Cavalry, and served princi- 
pally in Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana and 
Texas, participating in the raid of Cape 
Girardeau, Missouri, and in the expedition 
down the Red river. After the war closed 
he returned to Dallas county and settled 
down to farming, and is now the owner of a 
fine farm of 322 acres the most of which is 
in a high state of cultivation. 

In September, 1866, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Sophia Hill, a daughter of 
Isaac and Pauline B. (Carter) Hill, who were 
born January 30, 1804, and Novemljer 28, 
1813, and died October 1, 1861 and October 
3, 1861, respectively, their marriage having 
been celebrated June 5, 1834. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Gracey the following children were born: 
Charles W., of Hall county; Nora Eleanor, 
the wife of J. W. Morrison, of Hall county; 
Eddie, who died in infancy; Harvey Hill; 
a little daughter that died in infancy; Olivia 
Bell ; Jessie who died at the age of two years; 
Eugene R. and another child that died while 
a babe. Mr. and Mrs. Gracey are members 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and 
he is considered by all one of the useful 



citizens of the county. He has succeeded in 
accumulating valuable property and has sur- 
rounded himself and family with all the 
necessary' comforts of life, and has also given 
his children good educational advantages. 



-Il^^( 



^ 



LFRED PEMBERTON, deceased, was 
a native of Tennessee, and came to Dal- 
las county, Texas, some time in the 'SOs. 
Here he engaged in agricultural pursuits and 
continued thus employed until the breaking 
out of the Civil war, when he enlisted in the 
Confederate army and served faithfully until 
the close of the war. After his return he 
was married, October 16, 1865, to Mrs. 
Josephine Eddy, a daughter of William 
Myres, a pioneer of Dallas county. After 
his marriage, Mr. Pemberton settled on the old 
homestead of Mr. Myres, where he followed 
farming successfully until the spring of 1887, 
when he purchased a finely improved farm of 
110 acres of J. O. Ricketts. One month 
after his settlement on this place Mr. Pem- 
berton died, aged forty-eight years. To him 
and his wife two children were born: William 
and Lula — both now living with their mother. 
Mrs. Pemberton is the youngest of the 
live children born to William and Ann Myres, 
natives of Garrard county, Kentucky, and of 
German ancestry. William Myres was born 
in 1801, a son of Louis Myres, who moved 
from Maryland to Kentucky in an early day. 
Ann Myres was the daughter of Jacob Myres 
of Kentucky. William Myres was reared to 
farm life, and after reaching manhood began 
dealing in stock, and continued that business 
until November 1, 1846, when he and his 
wife and five children came to Texas, which 
was then the frontier of civilization. He 
first settled on a tract of land three miles 




-^'^^^Z^- y^x^X^ 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COO NT r. 



597 



soutliwest of Dallas, purchasing a small im- 
provement and taking a headright in Peters' 
colony, where he resided the rest of his days. 
His deatii occurred in 1871, at the age of 
seventy years. His wife died in 1870, aged 
sixty-nine. Mrs. Pemberton was a child 
when she came to Dallas county, and here she 
was reared. She remained with her parents 
until her marriage with Ezra Eddy, who came 
from niinois to Texas at an early period. He 
followed farming until the breaking out of 
the late war, when he enlisted in the Con- 
federate service. He died at Little Rock, 
Arkansas, in 1863, aged twenty-five years. 
Tiieir union was blessed with one daughter, 
Eleanor, who died in the twentieth year of 
her age. 

Mrs. Pemberton, with her son and daugh- 
ter, resides on their beautiful farm, eight 
miles south of Dallas. She is a member of 
the Christian Church, of which Mr. Pember- 
ton was also a consistent member. 



KEARNEY J. KIVLEN is a native of 
Sligo, Ireland, who emigrated to Amer- 
ica with his parents when six years 
old, and settled in New York city. There 
he was educated in the College of St. 
Joseph's parish of Christian Brothers. In 
1857 he removed to Davenport, Iowa, where 
he remained four years. In 1861 he went to 
St. Louis, and when the Civil war broke out 
he enlisted in the defense of his adopted 
country, and fought the Indians in Minnesota 
and Dakota, under ex-Governor Sibley, then 
general in command of the expedition 
against the Little Crow tribe of Sioux In- 
dians, who had slaughtered the white settlers 
at different points. 

Returning to St. Louis he joined theCom- 



missary Department at Chattanooga, Tennes- 
see, and served four years in this position. He 
was on active duty during the battle of Look- 
out Mountain under Captain A. D. Baker, 
and was afterward under Captain Toole until 
the surrender. When peace was declared he 
went to Atlanta, Georgia, and embarked in 
the grocery business; he remained there one 
year, meeting with fair success. He re- 
turned to Davenport. The Fenian excitement 
was running high, and he being adventurous 
was the first young Irishman to sign his 
name to the military department of the 
Fenian organization. He was elected Lieu- 
tenant of a company of eighty-six men, who 
left Davenport, Iowa, to march to Canada to 
fight for the cause of. hia native country. 

He eventually ijMVted into the cooper busi- 
ness, which he had learned from his father. 
He himself is the Kfth generation of 
coopers, and is a thorough master of the 
craft. He lived for a time in Bunker Hill, 
Illinois, where he became actively interested 
in politics. In 1874 he removed to Texas, 
and carried on his trade in Sherman, Denni- 
son and Funis. In 1876 he came to Dallas 
and opened business in a small way, which 
he gradually built up until a corporation was 
organized, known as the Dallas Cooperage. 
Company, the incorporators being Kearney 
J. Kivlen, T. F. Ennis, F. M. Cockrell and 
George J. Dexter. Mr. Kivlen has the man- 
agement of the concern, which turns out 300 
barrels daily and manufactures all kinds of 
goods in this line. 

Mr. Kivlen was married in 1872 at Bun- 
ker Hill, Illinois, to Miss Mary Gilligan, a 
native of New York city. Seven children 
were born to this union, six of whom are 
still living: Maggie, Annie, Daniel, Charles, 
Nellie and Kearney. Bessie Lee died in in- 
fancy. The family are members of the 



1586, Tlie Sttaer TTii narr-jcfi x i^.'jitvL -jae 
'S>iv&ah^ LJ- ISSSi. in CbiEaaa. hi ltrs> 
Svan. T»iia iai me ismit ay h^ fermemL ar- 
CTe& Wt- S£7isLB» nTtHnOBr ^ jooie ^ 

tiffian are me CatJHWm Wrrfgrng 'ffi Aaiaaat 
5&e gifjjim rf ^^rtaoa. aod Ette A_ ft. H - W. 

(rii .jf IMIaft. DoEms naac sine ie ias ae- 
ennei t&e ■ r wrfwiw «EECIuKBxaa.-ir :iie l^isrd. 
of WaOBT Conmiaraanes. alua Cluurman. <i£ 
ibe fffiwiirrfH^r- «tt Bsawswa. Mr- Azrrjsa. fs 
i all awear aie «ac& ae 'ine of cfie 



-Ai TriiL be 5nmi± aise- 



- : - — ifgr aa apprapriaDB "ice in ;nis 

^ pOodltiHK IIL tiie 33C3I at %■ 

XT. wMb& TTtlirrii kae aham: tiie 




maOE Ciiev ••gmp- 33 dtB CBHEfirf^ BO. 

Ac- fwjgtifim at x fititnt'mwt' ami S6e SbBrtV* <^ 

tr9« pljggg For a Gne, woSe oe meinurr 
rf ttfir wHiw i'^T " jaflg^fiT fre was S^esa ta t&reBK 
aa^ fife wavs «^ tfe sesr wociii but IxESiE' 
&Ba<wB. ti&ev I£«eii ma^y Qa cieinaei'vs&. ami 
^ebC rxp FfiBwaty - pas^HiL T^itrmng BkiC 
wgit tfaeia^ aecderaeBCef c^eoaatzy ami 
die t—gg**™" of i^isr kaywlad&as st Ae 



le^jijLe imi:tLir "s-oaTri -.:itt'^ inc. 'jisz rieis ~y,r- 

aci~'is :f ne tri'iuy (amid ae amntt in. je^qrij- 
laea^— f— . IZieij- leseeauians are scilL aujc^ 
■wiiiei.-r ii^riitri- ai tth^ aa oac in is nin: m 
oniisaal tfiiajr ii itui tfi«wn. ■?rnhf!r ic tne iisc 
or jeeanii Teaecatfoiu fn aimnsc any isimnxa- 
arcT inm "»men. 'ine aiaw fh. TTie Hisirws dir 
ra^ar 'WJHrs oasfe bt^ar rifomfrffHt wtnn. 'iie 
saeiai mil basiiFSa fniH?^ia if :afi jqwt^ jf 



was a BeunbiicaHL ia. fifae bok 

ailTeT'-ui a geafideal 
ausaonc 'if t 

Cfeaii^BeBL. ?r:Bwgs. 

; auiiBi wti£ii 




rngr 



JEc. Ss£y i6!awfc!ii aa s 

■^'■'^""tr ^sw Tvfc i 

fed falEawBi t&» ] 

JT fn. ais naCrwB coancnr- 




BeiBBHBaini "S^v 
ii*isa^ fn. ^Ae 5iil if 

tff "Wi jwt Lilti^ ac oiii 

T^> III I riBiirni|» TTiuf III! I &mi_ 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



599 



he knew but little of that life, but as there 
was hardly any other source of livelihood in 
this country at that time, he was forced to 
turn his attention to agriculture. Mr. Henry 
bought and improved a small place near the 
old town, where he was engaged until 1863, 
and at that date he moved to the village of 
Lancaster. The Civil war having come on 
in the meantime, and a pistol factory having 
been established at this place, he was em- 
ployed as an engraver in this factory. He 
was soon, however, forced in the Confederate 
service, was taken to Houston and other 
places, and kept during the winter of 1863- 
'64. In the spring of the latter year he made 
preparations to make Lancaster his perma- 
nent home, and in 1886, after the close of the 
war, took active steps toward establishing 
himself in business. 

In the spring of that year, Mr. Henry went 
to Houston and Galveston purchased a small 
stock of goods, with which he opened a store 
at Lancaster. A few years later his son PanI, 
who had for some time prior to that been in 
the mercantile business at San Antonio, and 
the younger son, R. P., became interested in 
the business, but which was continued in the 
name of the father. A branch store was 
soon established at Hntchins, this county, 
which was placed in the hands of the younger 
son. The partnership was dissolved in April, 
1874, and the father and vonnffest son en- 
gaged in business in Lancaster, under the 
firm name of Paul Henry & Son, which was 
continued until January. 1880. In that year 
the father resigned his business at Lancaster 
and his interest to the establishment at 
Hntchins, under the name of Paul Henry & 
Son, which he continued until 1888. For some 
years prior to this Mr. Henry had made his 
home at Dallas, but returned to Lancaster to- 
ward the close of 1888, where he died, De- 



cember 18, 1890, at the age of seventy-two 
years. He led an active life up to the close 
of his career, and attained a fair degree of 
success for one of his means and opportuni- 
ties. He was of an ardent temperment, pos- 
sessed quick intelligence, was well informed, 
social in disposition, and above all things be- 
lieved in the rights of man, and always stood 
for their strict observance. He served the 
people of Lancaster as Postmaster for many 
years, and gave satisfaction in this capacity. 
He retained to his death a taste for his art 
as an engraver, and kept in his possession un- 
til three years before he died his press and 
lithograph stores, which he brought from 
France. His wife, nee A. Adelaide Dehogue 
was a native also of Charteiean, France, and 
accompanied her husband to this country. 
She shared his fortunes through his early 
struggle for a few years only, when she passed 
away. Of their four children all but one are 
now living, and are residents of this county, 
viz.: the wife of J. Revershan, who resides 
near the city of Dallas; Paul, the eldest son, 
died at Lancaster December 22, 1889, leav- 
ing no family; Rene Paul, a citizen of Lan- 
caster; Asia Adelaide, the wife of Henry B. 
Lloyd, who resides in the southern part of 
the county. 

R. P. Henry, the youngest and only sur- 
viving son of J. P. and A. Adelaide Henry, 
was born in Charteleau, France, January 22, 
1850, and was only five years of age when his 
parents came to this country. The first 
seven years of his life in this county was 
spent on his father's farm west of Dallas. 
Unfortunately just at the time when he 
should have been in school the war came on, 
and the schools were broken, as were most of 
the families. He attended a select school 
taucht by the Misses Jacobs, where he re- 
ceived the rudiments of a fair English edu- 



GOO 



HISTOBT OF DALLAS COUSTT. 



cation. After attaining a suitable age he 
left school and b^an to earn a livelihood, 
and was varionsly engaged, while jet a boT, 
before taking an interest in the mercantile 
bneines* with his father. His name first be- 
came known in business in 1S7-L when he 
and his father entered into a partnership as 
Paul Henry & Son. in Lancaster. As has 
already been mentioned Mr. Henry was in- 
terested in mercantile pursuits in Lancaster 
and Hutchins, in this county, either alonei. or 
in connection with his father and brother. 
During this time and more especially of late 
years, he has been interested in the cotton 
and real-estate business. In January. 1S91. 
he established the business, with which his 
name has been most prominently connected 
since. At that date he organized the Bank 
of Lancaster, which, although a compara- 
tively new institution, fills a long felt want in 
that community, and which promises to de- 
velop into an institution of which the founder, 
as well as the village, mav be proud. 

Mr. Henry has done business for many 
years in the southern part of this county, and 
he is well and favorably known to the citizens 
of that locality. The success he has attained 
is a sufficient guarantee of the correctness of 
his methods. Mr. Henry also possesses about 
1,000 acres of land most of which lies in 
Dallas county, and also valuable property in 
the city of Dallas. He does business with 
some of the heaviest financial institutions in 
the city, being a stock-holder in the City 
National Bank, the Xorth Texas National 
Bank, and is also a director in the Fourth 
National Bank of Dallas. Like his father 
Mr. Henry has never sought pnbUc ofiice, 
preferring the paths of private life and the 
certainties of an honest livelihood. 

He was marriel May 9, 1S76. to Miss 
Nannie D. Knox, a daughter of Washington 



Knox, then of this county, but originally 
from Boone county, Missouri, where Mrs. 
Henry was bom and partly reared, her j)arents 
having moved to Texas since the war. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Henry have been bom five chil- 
dren: Stella, Mary. Paul. Jennie and E. P. 
Mr. Henry is a member of the Knights and La- 
dies of Honor, and to his family, fraternities, 
friends and associates he always shows the 
kindness and sympatbic devotion of a friend. 



^ 




TRICK McDONOUGH, Duncanville, 
Texas. — The subject of this sketch has 
been identified with the interests of 
Dallas county since 1873. He was born in 
Ireland. February 9. 1846, son of Patrick and 
Judith (Lydon) McDonough. natives of the 
same place. His father was a farmer in the 
old country, and in 1848 he and his wife 
emigrated to America, leaving their chil- 
dren, the subject of this sketch, then two years 
old, and an infant, with Mrs. McDonough's 
parents. Here they went earnestly to work 
to make a home. Mr. McDonough finding 
employment on a raUroad in New York State 
and his wife keeping a boarding-house. At 
first, however, she was employed in a farmers 
family. In 1852. having saved her earnings, 
they sent means to bring their little ones to 
this country, and in due time the grand- 
mother and uncle arrived with them. Mr. 
and Mrs. McDonongh being in Viminia at 
that time. Mr. McDonough continued to 
work on the railroad until he had saved 
means enough to emigrate to the Territory 
of Minnesota. There he pre-empted 16<J acres 
of Government land, improved the same and 
subsequently traded it for a farm in Cook's 
valley. He has spent nearly thirty-five years 
in Minnesota and is still living there. Eleven 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



601 



children were born to this wortliy couple, 
namely; Patrick, John, Bridget, deceased, 
iSartholonievv, Maria, Daniel, Anna, Andrew, 
Julia and James. One died in infancy. 
The parents still reside on the old homestead 
and are well advanced in years, and are con- 
sistent members of the Catholic Church. 

As will be noticed from the above, Mr. 
McDonou^h was six years old when he came 
to America and was only a youth when he 
went with his parents to Minnesota, being 
there when that State was admitted into the 
Union. He grew up on his father's farm 
and remained with his parents until the out- 
break of the Civil war. Enlisting in May, 
1S64, in Company K, Twenty-first Illinois 
Volunteer Infantry, he served through that 
sanguinary struggle; was wounded in the 
ankle at Pine Mountain, Georgia, and from 
the effects of the injury thus sustained has 
never recovered. 

After the war, Mr. McDonough worked at 
various occupations in many different places 
until 1873, when he located in Dallas, Texas, 
working by the month one year. He was 
married, December 23, 1874 to Miss Eliza- 
beth Jane Hustead, a native of Dallas 
county, and a daughter of Harrison and 
Prudence (Bartlet) Hustad, who came to 
this county in 1845. After his marriage he 
rented land of R. G. Penn, who furnished 
liim with a team and seed and received half 
the crop, this arrangement continuing two 
years. Then he rented another farm, having 
his own team after the first year, after which 
he rented land for cash four years. In 1881 
he purchased his present farm, 163^ acres, 
and in 1883 settled on it. One acre of this 
he donated to the district for school purposes. 
He at once began improving his place, and 
now has an orchard of six acres and a beauti 
ful home surrounded with shade and orna- 



mental trees. He and his wife have five 
children living; Annie P., Daniel C, Jesse 
Lee, Lulu Mary and Jasper Columbus. 
Their oldest, John Franklin, died in infancy. 
The parents and two children are members 
of the Baptist Church, and Mr. McDonough 
holds the office of Deacon. Politically, he is 
independent. 

A MITEL G. WORTHINGTON, a re- 
tired grocery mercliant of Dallas, was 
born in Muhlenburgh county, Kentucky, 
in 1831, the fifth of eight children born to 
Thomas and Rebecca (Hart) Worthington, 
also natives of Kentucky. The father was a 
farmer and local Methodist minister, and i-e- 
mained in his native State until his death, 
which occurred in 1852. The mother came 
to Dallas county in 1863, where she died 
three years later. 

Samuel G. Worthington was reared to farm 
life, aijd educated in the subscription schools 
of Kentucky. In 1855 he went to "Wash- 
ington county, Mississippi, where he en- 
gaged in cotton raising; but previous to this 
he attended school two years in Mississippi. 
Mr. Worthington subsequently returned to 
Kentucky, where he enlisted in Company K, 
First Kentucky Cavalry, for one J'oar, but 
remained some months after his term had ex- 
pired. He was in the battles of Shiloh and 
Perry vi He, Kentucky, and was discharged in 
October, 1862, after which he came to Dal- 
las. In 1863 he enlisted in McKamy's Com- 
pany, Bowland's battalion, and served on the 
frontier. In February, 1865, Mr. Worth- 
ington was transferred with Captain Walter 
Caruth to the Quartermaster department, at 
Tyler, where he remained until the close of 
the war. He then returned to Dallas and 



HISTOBT or DALLAS COCXTT. 



in farming nntil l!J^>. w^e" ne 
wsat to Anbom and et^aged in mercanrl.e 
busiiieaw Ten jeais later, in 187S. he re- , 
turned to Dallas, and engi^ed in the grocer 
bosinees. under the firm name of Worthily- i 
ton & Franklin, ontil 1891. In 1889 he ' 
erected his present resadenee on MeKinnej 
a venae. 

Febraary 13, 1»S3, iLr. Worthington mar- 
ried Elizabeth C. Lae^, widow cl 6. F. 
LaeeT, and a daoghter of Ahab and Mary 
(Easfej) Bowen, natives of Tenneseee. The 
parents came to Dallas coantj. in 1^)65, 
where the mother died, in 18S9. and the i 
father is still living in this dtj. Mr. and 
Mrs. Worthington have one child. Tema. I 
Tbej are members of the MethodistTpiseopal ' 
Chnreh. and policicallj. Mr. Worthington is 
a Democrat. 



iT. REV. ALEXANDER CHARLE.S 
GARRETT. Bishop of Northern Tesas, 
residing at Dallas, was bom in eoantj 
S%o, Ireland, in 1^32, the joangest child . 
of RcT. John Garrett, rector of Ballymote ^ 
parish for half a eentnij, the living being 
held by his grandfather and great-grandfather 
for IS^J Tears. His father was a man of 
sterling traits of character, leaving his imprint ' 
npoa his time. He died in 1S54. His wife, j 
before marriage Eliza Fry. was the daughter 
of Henry Fry, of eoanty Roscommon, Ire- 
land. They had Hfteen children: five of the 
sons became ministers of die gospeL 

Early in life, Mr. Garrett, whoee name 
heads this notice, was sent to school at Laean, 
near Doblin, where he eontinaed for eight 
years, when he entered the Cniv»sity of 
Dnblin, with the nltintiate view of edaeating 



:ii"se-: ri'T tie "I'lrTrr. ri'^-'iT iii ;•■«"' ■5"iv 

- c 

his .::e.-^ry work. He graduated as Baehdor 

of Arts in the first dass. Then be took a di- 
vinity coarse, and the Divinity Testimoniam 
in 1^56. and was wdained deaeoB in Joly 
that year, and in Joly next year as priest. 
He s»-ved thee years as carafie to Bev. Thomas 
Lowndes, rector of East Woridham, in Hamp- 
shire. England. Next he served tea years as 
a miseioaary on the northwest coast of Amer- 
ica in TaneoBv^s Island; then he took the 
palpit of St. James' Church in San Franeiseo 
until 1S72: next he served in the cathedral at 
Omaha, Nebraska, until 1874, whoi he was 
d^eeted to the episcopate by the general con- 
vention. Was consecrated missiooary Bishop 
to northwestern Texas at Trinity Cfaardi in 
Omaha, December 20, 1374, by the Rev. 
Robert H. Clarkson. D. D„ Bishop of Ne- 
Uaska; Rf. Rev. Daniel S. Tattle. S. T. D.. 
Bishop of Utah: the Rt. Rev. William 
H. Hare. D. D„ Bishop of Niobrara, and 
Ri. Rev. John F. Spaalding, D. D., Bishop 
of Colorado. He received the degree of 
LL. D. from the university in 1S76, and 
that of D. D. from the University of 
Dublin in 1SS2. 

When he arrived in Texas. December 31, 
his territory embraced 1<».*XN} sqnare miles, 
and in this vast tract there were only three 
diurdi buildings of his denomination, and 
they were smalL wooden structures. He 
began work at onee, by p»sonal visitation. 
When after that the first annual convoca- 
tion met. the Bishop had prepared ^The Bish- 
op's Primary Charge,'" — a production that 
stands withoat a rival for far seeing wisdom 
and deamess of instmetioa. After Xea years 
of work the plan has not been changed, all 
the wotk bdng performed, as the documents 
will show, along the primitive road. As a 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT F. 



603 




thinker Bishop Garrett has but few equals, as 
is shown by his published work. 

He was married in 1854, to Miss Lelitia 
Hope, and of their four children only two 
survive. 

ijADlSON M. MILLER (deceased) 
was one of the earliest settlers of 
'^^^ Dallas county, Texas, and while this 
is true of many others, few distinguished 
tlieinselves more for business ability and a 
strict adherence to the true principles of man- 
hood than the subject of this sketch. He 
was born in Georgia, in 1814, but in 1832 
removed to Alabama, where he began life 
for himself at the age of eighteen years. He 
was overseer of three large plantations, and 
during his career as their manager, he dis- 
tinguished himself for his sound good sense, 
as well as for his managerial and financial 
ability. In 1844, he enlisted under Captain 
Wallace, as ranger, at which he continued 
two years in Texas, at the end of which time 
he located a homestead, then returned to 
Mississippi for his two children, and with 
them returned to Texas and settled on the 
land, which consisted of 640 acres. He en- 
gaged in general farming and the mercantile 
business on a small scale, but the latter enter- 
prise continued to grow until it became one 
of the central trading points of a large tract 
of country. At his death, which occurred 
April 1, 1860, he was estimated to be worth 
about $100,000, much of which the rightful 
heirs werei'obbed of. Mr. Miller was inter- 
ested in the public welfare and was one of 
those instrumental in securing the Texas 
Central Railroad. 

In 1837, he was married to Miss Isabel 
McCluskey, born in Georgia, in 1815, the 



daughter of Benjamin and Mary McCluskey. 
She was a faithful member of the Bresbyte- 
rian Church, and after having borne her hus- 
band four children, died June 11, 1844. 
Their eldest child, M. C, is now the widow 
of Quincy A. Sweatt, a sketch of whom is 
given in this work; William died when nine 
years old; Josephine and the fourth child 
died in infancy. Mr. Miller was married a 
second time, in 1846, to Miss Mary Rawlins, 
who died in 1857, a zealous member of the 
Christian Church. She bore Mr. Miller the 
following children: Benjamin F., who died 
at the age of sixteen, while serving in the 
Confederate army; Fredonia died in 1863; 
Madison M., who was born in 1851, and now 
resides on the old homestead. March 2, 
1880, he was married to Lulu S. White, who 
was born in 1856, and to their union three 
children have been born; Lulu B.; Benjamin 
W. and Flora L. Madison M. Miller and 
his wife are members of the Christian Church, 
in which he is now serving as Elder. He is 
a Democrat politically, and is a member of 
the executive committee, and president of 
the Democratic Club. His record as a citi- 
zen is untarnished, and in all the affairs of 
life he has borne himself in an upright man- 
ner, and is recognized as a man of true wortli. 

ILLIAM W. HOBBS was born in 
Alabama, in 1833, the oldest child 
in the family of John T. and Caroline 
(Bibb) Hobbs, natives of Alabama. Their 
ancestors were Virginia people, and were 
early settlers of Alabama. John Hobbs was 
born in 1812, received a common- school edu- 
cation, and followed the vocation of a farmer 
all his life. In 1845, he moved from Ala- 
bama to Holmes county, Mississippi; his 




604 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



death occurred in Kaufman county, Texas, in 
1886, at the atre of seventy-four years. He 
was twice married. By his first wife, nee 
Caroline Bibli, he liad six cliildren, of whom 
only W. W. is now living. The others died 
young, with the exception of Caroline A., 
who married Thomas Bibb, a distant relative 
of her mother, She died, leaving a family 
of fonr children, who are now living in Kauf- 
man county, Texas. Mrs. Hobbs died in 
1844 or '45. After her death, Mr. Hobbs 
married her cousin, Lemisa A. Bibb, by 
whom he liad one son, Thomas B., who now 
resides in Kaufman county, Texas. She sur- 
vived her husband one year, dying in 1887. 
At the age of twenty-two, William W. 
Hobbs left home and came to Texas, stopping 
in Dallas county, January 1, 1856. From 
the time he arrived here until May, 1857, he 
was engaged in teaching school. He then 
returned to Mississippi. While in Dallas 
county he was married. He was in Missis- 
sippi when the war came on, and he joined 
the Confederate service, becoming a member 
of Company G, Twenty-second Mississippi 
Infantry, commanded by Captain Reed and 
Colonel Bonliam. He participated in many 
important engagements, and was captured at 
Atlanta; was, however, only held twenty- 
four hours. He remained with the army un- 
til the surrender, when he returned to Mis- 
sissippi and remained tliere a year. After 
the war he found himself " broke." He had 
owned several slaves. He planted a crop, 
but before it was harvested he sold out and 
came to Texas. Having but little money, 
he went to work on land his wife owned. Af- 
ter their return from Mississippi, her mother 
gave her fifty acres, and to this Mr. Hobbs 
added fifty acres more, for which he paid 
15.10 per acre. Mrs. Hobbs also had seventy 
acres she had inherited from her father. This 



land, located in the Post Oaks, they sold for 
11,100, and bought 160 acres, eight miles 
east of Dallas, paying for the same $5 
an acre. That was in 1872, and the 
land is now valued at $50 an acre. Be- 
sides this property, Mr. Hobbs owns two 
other farms — eighty-nine acres of tine land 
in this county, and 320 acres in Kaufman 
county. 

Mr. Hobbs was married, in 1856, to Nancy 
Beeman, daughter of John and Emily (Hon- 
eycutt) Beeman. Her parents were among 
the first settlers of this county, having lo- 
cated here about 1841. (See sketch of Scott 
Beeman in this volume.) Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs 
are the parents of five children: Josephine, 
wifeof J. D. Herndon; Hellen B., wife of 
John L. Furgeson; Florence, wife of P. A. 
Spurlock; Lennie and Gaston K. He and 
his wife are members of the Christian Church. 
Mr. Hobbs is a member of the Farmers' Al- 
liance. He served as Deputy Sheriff two 
years. 

J. EMM INS, junior member of the 
firm of Sonnetield & Emmins, con- 
' tractors and builders, was born in Lon- 
don, England, in 1863, the second in a family 
of eight children born to John and Elizabeth 
(Hartley) Emmins, natives of London. The 
father was a brick contractor, and the parents 
still reside in London. Our subject remained 
in his native country until fourteen years of 
age, where he received his education and 
learned his trade, having served a four years' 
apprenticeship. In 1877 he emigrated to 
New York, remaining there and in New 
Jersey for two vears, thence to Cleveland, 
Ohio, where he worked at his trade, and in 
1882 landed in Dallas county, Texas. He en- 
gaged in contracting in 1884, and this firm 




^P^^^, d-.i ^u^ 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUtirY. 



605 



has worki'il principally in Dallas, havinjr 
eroctod the 0. W. Guild buildiiii;;, Leaehmaii 
bnildiiii;;. Hlakoaiiy luanufacturinii; Imildiiiir, 
patrol station, the music hall at the fair 
grounds, and many others. Mr. Eniniins takes 
an active part in politics, voting with the 
Democratic party, and in 1890 was a candi- 
date for Alderman for that party, and made 
a very creditable race. The same year he also 
made a visit to London, England. Socially, 
he is a member of the 1. O. (). F., Trinity 
Lodge, No. 198, in which he has held the 
office of Vice Grand. 

fie was married in Dallas, Texas, in 1886, 
to Carry D. Percey, a native of Missouri, and 
daughter of Jefferson and Anna Percey, 
also natives of Missouri. The father was 
attorney of Denison, Texas, in au early 
day, and his death occurred in that city in 
1884; his wife died in 1883. Mr. and Mrs. 
Emmins have three children: Elizabeth, 
Nellie and Edith. 



lENERAL WILLIAM LEWIS CA- 
BELL was born in Danville, Virginia, 
January 1, 1S27. His grandfather, 
Joseph Cabell, was a native of Buckingham 
county, Virginia, and married Miss Poca- 
hontas Rebecca Boiling of the same county. 
The father of our subject. General Benjamin 
W. S. Cabell, was also a native of Bucking- 
county, Virginia, and married Sarah E. 
Doswell. William L. grew to maturity on 
his father's farm, and at the age of eighteen 
years he entered the United States Military 
Academy at West Point, and was graduated 
in 1850, with high honors. He was assio-ned 
to duty as brevet Second Lieutenant in the 
Seventh Infantry. He was afterward made 
First Lieutenant, and in 1855 he was ap- 

40 



pointed Regiment Quartermaster, which office 
lie held until 1858. He was then made 
Captain, and went on duty on tlie staff of 
General P. F. Smith, who was in command of 
the Utah expedition. At tlie close of this ex- 
pedition he went to Fort Kearney to rebuild 
it, and in 1859 he went to Fort Arbuckle. 
He was engageil in this lino of work until 
ho sent his resignation from the regular 
army to President Lincoln. When this was 
accepted he started at once to Montgomery, 
Alabama, and April 19, 1861, he tendered 
his services to the Confederate Government. 
He was commissioned Major, and was ordered 
to Richmond, Virginia, by President Davis 
to organize the Quartermaster, Commissary 
and Medical Departments. After some active 
service he was promoted to the office of Brig- 
adier General, and participated in many of 
the most noted engagements of the war. To 
trace his career in detail would be but a rep- 
etition of history, but suffice it to say that 
he was the soul of patriotism and courage, 
and a constant inspiration to his troops. 
With iiim it was always " Come," not " Go," 
and he himself was the first to reaoli the 
point of danger. He was captured at Mine 
creek, and was held a prisoner at Fort War- 
ren until August 28, 1865. In all the scenes 
of carnage and the bloodshed of battle, the 
General never foruot his manhood, and de- 
t'enseless wonien and children ever found in 
him a strong protector. 

iVfter the declaration of peace General 
Cabell returned to Austin, Texas, and reached 
that place foot-sore and weary. He after- 
ward went to Arkansas, and engaged in vari- 
ous occupations; he was a leader there of the 
Democracy in the dark times of reconstruc- 
tion. Under many difficulties and the most 
adverse circumstances he began the study of 
law, and was admitted to the bar. In De- 



606 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ceinber, 1872, he came to Dallas as a perina- 
nent resident. He at once took a position 
as a leader in all matters of importance, and 
has been repeatedly Mayor of the place. 
For years he has been in railroad building, 
but is now retired from active business pur- 
suits. 

General Oabell was married July 22, 1856, 
to Harriet A., the daughter of Major Elias 
Eector, and they have reared a family of 
children that have been an honor to their 
name. They are: Benjamin E., Kate Doswell, 
John Joseph, Lawrence Duval and Lewis 
Hector; Pocahontas Rebecca and William 
Lewis died in infancy. The mother passed 
away April 16, 1887. She was a woman of 
rare virtues, and greatly beloved by those 
who were in a position to know her many 
merits. The General is Lieutenant General 
of the United Confederate Veterans, and de- 
votes much time and thought to the interests 
of his organization. He is a very popular 
speaker and is in constant demand to address 
his old comrades at their reunions and camp- 
fires. He has written much upon the subject 
of the Civil war, and he is regarded as an 
authority upon all que.-tions pertainino- 
thereto. General Cabell is a man of sterling 
qualities and unquestioned integrity of char- 
acter, and is a true representative of the typi- 
cal Southern gentleman. 



ILBUR F. THATCHER, M. D., the 

MM homeopathist of Dallas, Texas, was 
j^ born in the State of Ohio, near To- 
ledo, in 1846, and is a son of William and Sa- 
rah (Welch) Thatcher. The father was born in 
1818, and was a minister of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church for half a century. He 
died in 1886. The mother was a native of 



Pennsylvania, and was born in 1819. They 
reared a family of six children, two of whom 
survive, the Doctor, and Mrs. Betts, a resi- 
dent of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Dr. Thatcher was educated in the hig-h 
school of Toledo, and afterward attended the 
Normal School. In 1863, at the age of seven- 
teen years, he enlisted in the Third Ohio Cav- 
alry, Company L, and went out in defense 
of the North. He saw much hard service, 
and was in the army until the cessation of 
hostilities. Two of his brothers volunteered 
their aid. One of them was wounded in 
battle, and was a prisoner at Belle Isle; the 
other one was captured by the famous John 
Morgan. On his return to civil life, Dr. 
Thatcher traveled extensively in the West be- 
fore he began the study of medicine. He first 
read under the preceptorship of Dr. Dever 
of Dexter, Michigan, and then entered the 
Hemoeopathic College at Detroit, Michigan. 
He was graduated in 1875, and for a few 
years was engaged in a general practice. He 
then took a special course in gynecology, at 
different hospitals of Chicago, soon after 
which he came to Texas, and located at Paris. 
He resided there from 1882 to 1887, and in 
the latter year came to Dallas. Probably no 
man in the whole State of Texas stands higher 
in the estimation of the public than Dr. 
Thatcher. He is a patriotic citizen, a skill- 
ful physician, a scholarly and cultured gentle- 
man.' He has won an enviable reputation in 
professional cii-cles, and has a large and en- 
thusiastic patronage. 

Dr. Thatcher was united in marriage, in 
1876, to Miss Margaret J. Craig, a native of 
Michigan. One son has been born to them, 
W. Craig, a bright and promising child. 
Mrs. Thatcher is an accomplished musician, 
and a woman of excellent traits of character. 
The Doctor is a member of the Masonic fra- 



BISTORT OF DALLAS C0UNT7. 



607 



ternity, and belongs to the blue lodge and 
chapter. He is also a luember of the CI. A. 
R. Politically he is independent. He and 
his wife are both members of the Congrega- 
tional Church. 

fOSEPH W. RECORD is among the 
foremost and most enterprising and de- 
servedly successful of the many eminent 
gentlemen who devote their timeand energies 
toward the material advancement of the best 
interests of Dallas. Few have achieved so 
general and widespread influence in real-estate 
circles. He was born in Lewisburg, Marshall 
county, Tennessee, in 1846, and in 1853 
moved with his parents, George W. and Alice 
Amanda (Hughes) Record, to Dallas county, 
Te.xas. The parents were natives of Tennes- 
see, the father born in Marshall and the 
mother in Shelby county, and after moving to 
Dallas county, Texas, the father cultivated 
the soil until he received his final summons. 
He was the first Sheriflf of Marshall county, 
Tennessee. The mother is also deceased. 
Grandfather Record was a native Virginian 
but moved to Tennessee at a very early day 
and there died. Grandfatlier Hucrhes was a 
native of the Old North State but moved from 
tliere to Tennessee, where his death occurred. 
Joseph "W. Record, the fourth in a family 
of seven children, was about seven years of 
age when he came with his parents to Texas, 
and he received a fair education in the dis- 
trict schools of Dallas county. He was early 
trained to the duties of the farm, and was en- 
gaged in tilling the soil when the war broke 
out. In 1861 he threw aside the implements 
of peace and took up the weapons of warfare, 
enlisting in May of that year in Company K, 
Nineteenth Texas Cavalry, for twelve months. 



At the close of his term of enlistment he re- 
organized with the same company and regi- 
ment. He operated principally in Louisiana, 
was on the Red river campaign, also in the 
Arkansas campaign, Missouri campaign, and 
in Indian Territory. He was in the General 
Price raid through Missouri and at the final 
surrender he was on the Brazos river. 

Returning to Dallas county Mr. Record 
engaged in farming and teaming, following 
the latter occupation until about 1872 or 
until the railroad interfered. He subsequently 
went to New Mexico and Colorado with cattle 
and remained abroad one year. 

Durincr Cleveland's administration he served 
as Deputy United States Marshal four years, 
under General W. L. Cabell. 

He was married in Dallas county, Decem- 
ber 23, 1872, to Miss Cannie Thomas, daugh- 
ter of A. A. and Mary (Armstrong) Thomas, 
natives of Missouri and Arkansas, respect- 
ively. Both parents are deceased. After mar- 
riage Mr. Record settled in Dallas, and in 
1874 was made Deputy Sheriff under James 
E. Barclay, serving the entire term. He has 
ever taken a decided interest in politics and 
votes with the Democratic party. He is a 
member of the K. of P., Dallas Lodge, No. 
78, and is also a member of the uniformed 
rank of K. of P. He is a member of the I. O. 
0. F., Dallas Lodge, No. 44, and a member 
of the K. of H. His marriage resulted in the 
birth of two children: Lula Lee and James E. 



^;)M^ILAS HOPKINS, a retired farmer, 
fflrol '''*^ twenty acres of land and a beauti- 
^^^ ful home in the suburbs of Oak Cliff, 
where he is comfortably situated and sur- 
sounded by everything that goes to make 
life enjoyable. He is well aijd favorably 



608 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



known liere, having Leen identified with the 
best interests of Dallas county for many 
years. A resume of his life is as follows: 

Milas Hopkins was born in Polk county, 
Missouri, June 22, 1842, the youngest of 
the ten children of John and Margaret (Fox) 
Hopkins. His father was a native of one of 
the Carolinas and a son of James Hopkins, 
who was of English and Welsh ancestry. 
The Hopkins family moved to Tennessee 
when John was a child, and in that State he 
was reared and married. The mother of our 
subject was a daughter of Hugh Fox, who 
also moved from Carolina to Tennessee at an 
early day. For a time Mr. Hopkins was en- 
gaged in farming in Tennessee. In 1834 he 
moved to Illinois and two years later to Folk 
county, Missouri, where he lived until 1847. 
That year he immigrated to Dallas county, 
Texas, coming here with ox teams. Here he 
died in January, 1849, at the age of fifty 
years. After his death Mrs. Hopkins bought 
320 acres from John J. Metcalf. Her children 
improved a farm of seventy- five acres. Their 
family consisted of ten children: all lived to 
be grown and three still survive. Mr.' Hop- 
kins departed thie life in 1864. 

The subject of our sketch was five years 
old when he came to Texas, and here on the 
frontier farm he was reared. He resided with 
his mother until her death and after that re- 
mained on the old homestead until the spring 
of 1868, when he purchased 200 acres of 
partially improved land, and farmed on it 
until 1889. That year he sold out, receiving 
$125 per acre, the purchase price having 
been §55.80 per acre. 

Mr. Hopkins was married, January 25, 
1872, to Miss Elvira Elizabeth Neelly, a 
daughter of Pallas Neelly,of whom mention is 
made elsewhere in this volume. Following 
is the issue from this uuiou: Mary Lou 



Henry, Margaret, George W., Grover Cleve- 
land, Cora Elizabeth, and James who died 
when two weeks old, and another child that 
died in infancy. Mrs. Hopkins is a member 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. 
Hopkins is a member of the A. F. & A. M., 
Oak Cliff Lodge, No. 705, of which he was 
a charter member. He was formerly a mem- 
ber of the Tannehill Lodge, No. 52. 

W. NEELLY, a farmer and stock- 
raiser and prominent citizen of Dallas 
^® county, Texas, has resided here since 
1865. 

Mr. Neelly was born in Polk county, Mis- 
souri, August 18, 1840, son of Pallas and 
Lucinda (Hopkins) Neelly, natives of Maury 
county, Tennessee, His father was a son of 
George Neelly, a native of South Carolina, 
and his great-grandfather Neelly was born in 
Scotland, came to America before the Rev- 
olution and fought as a soldier in that war. 
George Neelly was drowned in the Missis- 
sippi river when his son Pallas was six years 
old, and the latter was reared in Arkansas by 
Simon Trent, an old friend of the family. 
The mother of our subject is a daughter of 
James Hopkins and is of English descent. 
She and Mr. Neelly went to Missouri, where 
they became acquainted and were mari'ied. 
He engaged in farming in that State until the 
troblons times of the Civil war. Six chil- 
dren were born to them, of whom three, G. 
W. and two daughters, survive. James H. 
died in 1857, at the age of fourteen; John 
W., a member of Company G, Tenth Mis- 
souri Infantry, died in prison at Alton, dur- 
ing the war, aged nineteen; and Thomas S. 
was killed during a skirmish near Bentonville, 
at the age of sixteen years. Mr. Neelly and 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



his three sons were in service, and, during 
their absence, owing to the condition of af- 
fairs in Missouri, Miss Neelly loaded her 
household goods into the wa^on with her 
two little girls, aged twelve and fourteen, 
and came to Dallas county, Texas. They 
were eight weeks in making the journey 
and encountered many obstacles on the 
way, their oxen dying. After the war she 
was joined by her husband and they made their 
home where Oak Cliff is now located. There 
Mr. Neelly died, on the 5th of February, 
1877. Mrs. Neelly is still living, in this 
county. She was reached the advanced age 
of eighty-three years and retains her physical 
and mental vigor to a remarkable degree. 
He was a consistent member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South, to which she also 
belongs. 

Their son, G. W., was reared on the farm 
and was at home when the war broke out. 
He enlisted under General Price, came South 
and was assigned to Company C, Tenth Mis- 
souri Cavalry, and was commissioned as 
Second Lieutenant. At Humansville, Mis- 
souri, he was wounded in the right shoulder, 
which disabled him from active service 
for a year, and from the effects of which 
he has never fully recovered. He served 
till the close of the war and was dis- 
charged at Shreveport, June 8, 1865, after 
which he joined the family in Texas, walk- 
ing from Shreveport to Dallas. For two 
years he engaged in teaching school. Then 
he purchased a team and utensils and devoted 
his attention to the agricultural pursuits on 
his present farm. 

December 21, 1871, he married Miss El- 
via J. flight, a native of Texas and a daugh- 
ter of Kobert A. and Martha A. (Jordan) 
Ilight, who came from Tennessee to Texas in 
1860. His wife died on the 6th of August, 



1878, and December 28, 1881, Mr. Neelly 
wedded her sister. Miss Louisa P. Hight. 
He has three children by his first marriage 
and four by the latter, viz.: Martha L., wife 
of James Barker, Dallas county; MoUie E. ; 
Addie E. A.; George W., Jr.; Fanny P.; 
Eula Lee and Laura A. 

In 1872 he purchased his farm of 110 
acres, which he has improved and on which 
he has since resided. He now owns 226 
acres of land and is engaged in general farm- 
ing. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., 
Oak Clifl" Lodge, No. 705, and Dallas 
Chapter, No. 47; has passed all the chairs 
of the blue lodge, served one year as Grand 
Deacon of the Grand Lodge and two years as 
District Deputy Grand -master. His political 
views are in harmony with Democratic prin- 
ciples. 

' t > — :@> — ^ V 

VAN" W. BOLTON settled in the north- 
eastern part of Dallas county thirty- 
three years ago, and hence is to be 
classed with the pioneers of this county. 

Mr. Bolton was born in Humphreys 
county, Tennebsee, March 8, 1833, son of 
William and Jane (Cooly) Bolton, the former 
a native of Virginia, and the latter of North 
Carolina. His father was Captain of a com- 
pany in the war of 1812. He was twice mar- 
ried, by the first union having four children 
and by the second five. The children by his 
first wife are William T. and James, 
deceased; Aljigail, who became the wife of 
C. K. Weaver; and Nancy, deceased. The 
names of the other children are Benjamin W., 
deceased; Evan W.; Henry; Elizabeth, wife 
of Joe Scales; and Charles M., deceased. 
The father died in 1840, and the mother of 
our subject departed this life in 1850, aged 
forty-five years. Evan remained with his 



610 



HI8T0BT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



inotlier, making the support of her family 
until the time of her deatli, wheu the chil- 
dren fonnd homes with their relatives. 

Mr. Bolton was united in marriage with 
Francis J. Parker, March 11, 1856. Her 
birth occurred on the 11th of August, 1837. 
The year following their njarriage they came 
to Dallas county, Texas, and settled where 
the family now resides. Mr. Bolton pur- 
chased 100 acres of land, which he has 
improved and on which he has a nice little 
home. Twelve children have been born to 
them, all now living except one. Their 
names are as follows: Perraelia A., wife of J. 
G. Drake; James W. ; William H. ; Amanda 
J., wife of A. J. Berriman; Malana T., wife 
of C J. Mayers; Mary L., wife James A. 
Wilson; Sarah E., wife of J. G. Hutston; 
Hattie B., wife of J. H. Hutston; Lucy A.; 
Margaret P.; and Benjamin L. 

During the late war Mr Bolton served in 
the army, under B. Warren Stone. Wheu 
the war was over lie returned home and 
again took up his agricultural pursuits, 
which occupation has since claimed his atten- 
tion. He served as Constable of his town- 
ship three years, and as School Director 
twenty-one years. 

|EORGE W. JAMES was born in Jasper 
county, Missouri, September 24, 1846. 
His parents, Hannibal and Charlotte P. 
(Bradtield) James, were born in Loudoun 
county, Virginia, the former on the 20th of 
March, 1810, and the latter on the 22d of 
June, 1815. They were married in 1841, 
and that same year moved to Jasper county, 
Missouri, where they made their home for 
twenty-three years, after which they moved 
to Dallas county, Texas. Mr. James rented 
land in this county two years and then 



bouglit a farm near Garland. They lived on 
it until 1889, when he and his wife, becom- 
ing advanced in years, they broke up house- 
keeping and went to live with their two sons, 
Joseph M. and George W., spending most 
of their time with George. They lived hap- 
pily together over fifty years and had the 
pleasure of celebrating their golden wedding. 
Mrs. James was called to tiie world beyond 
on the 1st of April, 1891, at the age of 
seventy-five years, nine months and nine 
days. Eight children wei-e born to them, 
all dying in infancy except three. Jeffer- 
son T. died in the army in 1863, and only 
two are now living. 

George W., the subject of this sketch, 
served eight months in the Southern army 
during the latter part of the war, being a 
member of Price's army in tiie Indian depart- 
ment. While he was not in any regular 
engagement, he took part in sevei-al 
skirmishes. 

December 29, 1870, Mr. James was united 
in marriage with Miss M. C. Jones. She 
was born in McMinn county, Tennessee, 
December 23, 1851. Her father, Robert D. 
Jones, was a native of Yirginia, born April 
9, 1812, and her mother, nee Martha E. 
King, was born in Virginia in 1820, their 
marriage occurring in 1840. The mother 
departed this life in December, 1859, and 
the father passed away in 1881. Following 
are the names of their children: James W. ; 
Ellen M., wife of B. F. McDaniel; John T.; 
Joseph A.; Mary E., wife of C. S. Newton; 
Horace K. ; Martha C, wife of G. W. James; 
Lucinda, wife of S. F. Hustead; Amanda, 
wife of James T. Murrell; Robert H.; and 
George W., who died at the age of sixteen 
years. 

After his marriage Mr. James engaged in 
farming on his own account. He rented 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



611 



land for three years and then purchased a 
farm of 100 acres. To this he has since 
added 200 acres more, now owning 300 
acres on Dntcii creek, located within half a 
mile of Garland. Here he has a fine resi- 
dence and barn, and everything conveniently 
arranged for successfully carrying on farm- 
ing operations, and the most of the improve- 
ments on this place he has made himself. 
He and his wife are the parents of two chil- 
dren: Charlotte E., born in Dallas county, 
November 30, 1S71, and Horace H., born at 
the same place, September 23, 1875. 
Although Mr. James was deprived of early 
educational advantages himself he believes 
in giving his children a good schooling. He 
and his wife are members of the Missionary 
Baptist Church. 



fHOMAS F. McENNlS, vice-president 
and manager of the Dallas Elevator 
Company, is an enterprising and pro- 
gressive citizen, and one in whom Dallas 
county takes a just pride. He comes from 
Revolutionary stock, from ancestors who 
brooked no injustice, but made themselves 
masters of circumstances; his paternal fore- 
fathers took an active part in the Revolution 
in Ireland, and his maternal ancestors partici- 
pated in the American revolution. Thomas 
McNeir, great-grand-uncle of Mr. McEnnis, 
served in the Revolutionary war with marked 
distinction, and his grandfather, Lieutenant 
George McNeir, was in Fort Henry at the 
time of the bombardment of that place, and 
defended the original star-spangled banner 
that furnished the subject of the immortal 
ode. Mr. McEnnis, although living in St. 
Louis during the late Civil war, was one of 
the most thorough Southern sympathizers; 



he was a political prisoner, and was one of 
eleven men in St. Louis county who were 
registered as enemies to the Government, 
rather than give up their allegiance to the 
Confederacy, which they believed was right. 
Mr. McEnnis was born in St. Louis, De- 
cember 17, 1839, and received his education 
in various schools and colleges in that city, 
finally entering the St. Louis University. 
When he left this institution he went to learn 
the ship chandler's business, an industry 
which led him into other lines; he invested 
in a flour mill in Illinois, and afterward, in 
1875, came to Texas and engaged in the same 
business at Ennis; and was afterward engaged 
in the same business at Galveston, but dis- 
posed of all liis milling interests to embark 
in the grain and flour trade in Dallas; this 
business he conducted for ten years, but at 
the end of that period accepted the vice-presi- 
dency and management of the Dallas Elevator 
Company. He was one of the most promin- 
ent factors in the organization of the first 
board of trade and was its first president. 
With a few other merchants he formed the 
Merchants' Exchange Association, which, 
within a few days raised the funds for build- 
ing the Merchants' Exchange; this edifice 
was erected at a cost of $45,000. Mr. Mc- 
Ennis was afterward president of the Ex- 
change. He was one of the most energetic 
workers in raising the money for the build- 
ing of the Mexican Central railroad, now the 
Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe railroad. He was 
first vice-president and one of the orginators 
of the Dallas Homestead & Loan Association, 
of which he was a charter member; this is 
one of the most successful associations of this 
character in the South, and since then has 
been a charter member of two other success- 
ful building and loan associations, and at all 
times has assisted the public and private en- 



012 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY ■ 




terprises that would benefit the city or 
State. 

Ill religion Mr. McEnnis is a Catholic, and 
has assisted in building up churches, schools 
and orphan asylums in Dallas and other por- 
tions of Texas: has been treasurer of the lo- 
cal branch of the Catholic Knights of 
America in Dallas for ten years, and is State 
treasurer of the association. 

He has three children married: Joseph E, 
at Houston; Mrs. Emma Alston and Mrs. 
Regina Spann; and has two single sons — 
John George and William McEnnis of this 
city. 

!ILL1AM H. LITMNEY, one of the 
prosperous young farmers of Dallas 
county, Texas, was born in this 
county, September 25, 1862. His parents 
were among the pioneer settlers of Texas, and 
on the frontier farm he was reared. He 
started out in lite with limited means, but by 
honest industry and good management he has 
become the owner of 106 acres of tine land, 
all under fence, fifty acres in cultivation and 
the rest in pasture. This land is rolling and 
consists of a sandy loam. 

October 15, 1884, Mr. Lumney was united 
in marriage with Miss Frances Potter, who 
was born March 29, 1862, daughter of John 
P. Potter. A biography of Mr. Potter will 
be found on another page of this volume. 
Mr. and Mrs. Lumney have had two children: 
Elsie and Nanna Oda. 

Mr. Lumney's father, Thomas Lumney, 
was a man possessed of sterling qualities, and 
in his composition were found those elements 
that go to make up the true pioneer. He 
was married on the 25th of September, 1832, 
to Rachel Haught, and when, in 1845, they 
came from Hlinois to Dallas county, Texas, 
their family consisted of two children. They 



at first settled on a headriglit, and several 
years later had the misfortune to lose their 
land. Mr. Lumney died on the 27th of No- 
vember, 1873. After his deatli Mrs. Lum- 
ney purchased a farm of 137 acres, on which 
she is still living. She was born in Ohio, 
December 18, 1824, the daughter of Penn- 
sylvania-Dutch parents, Peter and Sallie 
(Carver) Haught. Her parents moved from 
Pennsylvania to Virginia, thence to Ohio and 
from there to Illinois, being among the early 
settlers of those States. Mr. Haught died in 
1843. Of her early experience here Mrs. 
Lumney graphically relates many interesting 
incidents. There was probably not another 
pioneer family in Texas that endured more 
hardships and privations than they. Bravely 
did she do her part in helping to make a 
home on the frontier. At times when her 
husband was away at work and she saw the 
Indians camping near, she would yoke up 
the oxen, put the children in the wagon and 
drive to the nearest neighbor for protection. 
Frequently she assisted with the work in the 
field. Game of all kinds was plenty, and 
many were the bear and deer hides she 
dressed. The first pigs they bought they 
penned in the chimney corner to keep the 
wolves from catching and killing them. Of 
their nine children, all are living except the 
oldest and youngest. They are as follows: 
Ara, wife of Fayette Bond; James; Mary E., 
wife of Cal. Woodward; Sarah J., wife of 
James Isbel; Turner; Thomas V.; William 
H.; Charles and Emily. 



-^^lyxTi/l- 



-^um/^-^^ 



'HOMAS C. BR(3WN, an enterprising 
young farmer near Pleasant Valley 
post office, was born in Greene county, 
Alabama, May 17, 1854, the second son of 
John G. Brown, who was born in Williams 



%^ SSB^^-' 




'■^ 





HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



613 



county, Tennessee, in 1815; he went to 
St. Louis, Missouri, when a young man and 
clerked in one of the large dry-goods stores 
there for a number of years, went to Ala- 
bama and married Miss Martha E. Colvin, 
who was born in 1830; she now lives in 
Alabama, in the sixty-first year of her age. 
In their family were eleven children, namely: 
John G., deceased; Thomas C, B. F., Ten- 
nie, who died unmarried; Aima, the wife of 
John Mawhinney, and she died leaving three 
children; J. P., who died leaving one child; 
Bettie, wife of J. A. Altman; Louisa M., 
Mary, W. A. and N. A. 

When he first came to Texas Mr. Brown 
had but $150; but he went hopefully and 
vigorously to work, lirst hiring out to Mr. 
n. R. Newman, but he had the misfortune 
to receive a severe injury in a cotton gin, 
and the resulting doctor's bill took all his 
spare money. On recovery he rented a 
farm for three years, and by that time he 
had accumulated enough to buy a farm of 
163 acres, partly improved, for which he paid 
$2,000. He has since purchased more land, 
and now has an aggregate of 365 acres of 
good land, all in one body, well improved, 
with a good residence, etc. It is about six 
miles east of Garland. In two more years 
he will be ready to quit work, having enough 
of this world's goods to carry him through 
the I'emainder of his life. He has been a 
very industrious farmer. He has plenty of 
fine horses and mules for all the demands of 
the farm. 

He married Miss Ellen P. McClain, who 
was born October 1, 1864, the daughter of 
T. J. McClain, who was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1835, and came to Texas in 1856, 
stopping first for a year in Lamar county. 
He afterward moved to Dallas county, locat- 
ing upon a farm he had purchased. In May, 



1863, he married Miss S. J. Compton, who 
was born in May, 1845, in Kentucky, and 
was ten years old when her parents moved to 
Texas. Mr. and Mrs. McClain had six chil- 
dren, viz.: Ellen P., wife of Thomas C. 
Brown; C. C, wife of W. L. Myers; Belle 
K., wife of Dr. J. D. Morman; J. S., de- 
ceased ; Lillian, who is the wife of J. A. 
Martin; and Leslie. Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
have four bright little children, namely: 
Tennie B., born August 10, 1880; Clinton 
S., August 13, 1882, and died at the age of 
thirteen months; Addie J., born April 8, 
1885; Arthur, September 6, 1887; and Delia, 
October 18, 1889. 






f AC QUE MAXIMILIEN REVER. 
CHON was born November 16, 1810, 
at Marcigny, in the province of Bur- 
gundy, France. His grandfather, Jacque 
Reverchon, was a member of the convention 
that founded the first republic in 1792 and 
occupied several positions under the iirst 
Fiench empire, but after the fall of Napoleon 
I. he was banished from that country by the 
Bourbons and died in Switzerland in the year 
1829. His father, Jean Reverchon, was a 
quiet gentleman that never mixed much with 
the politics of his country. 

J. M. Reverchon, the subject of this sketch, 
obtained his education in the college of 
Cluny, but was in Paris in July, 1830, when 
the revolution that precipitated Charles X. 
from the throne broke out and he took part 
in the famous three days' lighting. After the 
death of his mother he married Florino Pete, 
the daughter of a distinguished lawyer, and 
settled near Lyon, where he conducted a large 
farm, which was considcreil in that part of the 
country as a model of its species and upon 



614 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



which he spent much of liis time and a large 
amount of money in improvements. For the 
valuable additions and improvements which 
he made on tlie plow used in that country he 
was awarded a gold medal from the French 
Government. In 1846 he left his family and 
went to Algeria to found a new colony, but 
this trip was not a success, a large amount 
of money was lost, his health was much im- 
paired and he was compelled to return 
to his mother country and sell his fine 
establishment at great sacritice. He took 
some part in the revolution of February, 
1848, but the faction that finally put Napo- 
leon III. on the throne triumphed, and he 
then withdrew from politics and being dis- 
gusted with the new regime he emigrated to 
the United States, reaching this country in 
December, 1856. He joined Monsieur Con- 
siderant's colony at Reunion near Dallas, 
Texas, but, like many others, it did not take 
him long to see that the partnership system 
inaugurated in that colony was not a wise 
plan, and he began doing for himself on a 
small farm that he obtained from the old 
French company. Mr. Reverchon had for 
his only companion his youngest son, Julien, 
the balance of his family having been left in 
France with the understanding that they 
were to join them at a later period. This ex- 
pectation was only partially realized. Being 
a stranger in a strange land Mr. Reverchon 
found it quite difficult to obtain a foothold 
on the ladder of success, but with courage and 
perseverence he converted his little piece of 
wild prairie land into a good little farm, the 
products of which pointed out the possibilities 
of the State and what could be done with 
such land and in such a climate if one were 
endowed with a proper amount of persever- 
ance and determination. On the same place 
where he first settled Mr. Reverchon died in 



the month of August, 1879, after a long and 
painful illness. Besides his son Julien, he 
had two daughters who reside in the State 
and two sons in France. His wife never 
came to this country, but died in her native 
land in 1871. 

Julien Reverchon, their son, was born at 
Diemoz, not far from Lyon, August 3, 1837, 
and at quite an early age developed a ten- 
dency toward the study of natural history. He 
made a speciel study of botany and at the 
age of fourteen years he could name at sight 
all the wild plants growing in his neighbor- 
hood. He was eighteen when he came with 
his father to Texas and he remained with 
him and helped to develop the little farm 
in the wilderness which is, to-day, a suburb 
of West Dallas. July 24, 1864, he married 
Marie Henry, daughter of Paul Henry and 
granddaughter of Captain Deshogues, who 
was a follower of the great Napoleon, was dec- 
orated with the cross of the Legion of Honor 
and was badly wounded in the disastrous 
battle of Waterloo. To Mr. and Mrs. Rev- 
erchon two sons were born: Michel and 
Maxirailien; but just as they were merging 
into manhood they were both stricken witli 
typhoid fever and died, in 1884. It was for- 
tunate for Mr. Reverchon and his devoted 
wife that at this most trying time a young 
man, Robert Freeman, one of the best friends 
of the departed boys, consented to live with 
the heart-broken parents, and to this day has 
in a measure replaced the departed loved 
ones in their desolate hearts and home. Mr. 
Reverchon has never entirely abandoned the 
study of botany, and all his leisure hours are 
devoted to the collection and classification of 
the plants of Texas, of which he possesses an 
extensive collection of dried specimens, and in 
some of his tours to the western part of the 
State he discovered ,i number of species new 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



615 



to the scientists. He is corresponding with 
some of the leading botanists of the United 
States, and has contributed many valuable 
notes on the Flora of North America by Dr. 
Asa Gray, and his name is dedicated to an 
entirely new genus, which was discovered by 
him in the Pan-handle of Texas in 1879. 
Mr. Beverchon inherited from his father a 
large lil)rary and some papers dating from 
the tirst French revolution; and among them 
he is proud to show a letter from the Em- 
peror Napoleon I. to his great-grandfather. 



^ 



m^ 



^ 



W. WHITEFIELD, a venerable citi- 
zen of Dallas county, Texas, was born 
^® in Sussex county, Virginia, February 
12, 1806, son of Wilkins and Mary (Sterte- 
vantj'W hitefield, natives of the same place. His 
father moved to Tennessee in 1808, and there 
spent the residue of his days, dying at the 
age of sixty. His mother lived to be eighty 
years old. The names of their eleven chil- 
dren are as follows: Henry; G. W., the sub- 
ject of our sketch; William; Harrison; John; 
Thomas; James; Martha, wife of Robert 
Charter; Sallie, wife of Dr. McFail, and, 
after his death, of James Nichols; Dosia, 
wife of William Claget; and Virginia, wife 
of Dr. D. B. Cliff. 

Mr. G. W. Whitefield has been twice mar- 
ried. In 1836, he wedded Miss Louisa King, 
by whom he had three children: Daniel, Vir- 
ginia, wife of Rev. Oliver Parker, and Sarah, 
deceased. His wife departed this life in 
1848, at the age of twenty-five years. For 
his second companion Mr. Whitefield mar- 
ried Miss Sarah Bond, who was born in 
Tennessee, April 1, 1823, daughter of John 
and Sarah (Hunter) Bond. Her mother died 
in 1822, at the age of thirty- one years, and 



her father passed away in 1848, aged seventy- 
two. After the death of her mother her 
father married again. By his first wife he 
had seven children, Mrs. Whitefield being 
the youngest. The names of her brothers 
and sisters are Lucy, wifeof George Holland; 
Joseph; Mary, wife of Nusum Barham; 
Nancy, wife of James Southall; Joim P.; 
Catharine, wife of William Trimble. Mr. 
Bond's second wife was before her mar- 
riage Mary Anderson. She bore him eight 
children, whose names are as follows: Will- 
iam; Angeline, wife of John Sandefer; 
Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Thompson; Susan, 
wife of William Crntcher; Myra, wife of 
Mr. Bingham; Martha, wife of Thomas 
White; Henry and George. 

Mr. Whitefield came to Texas in December, 
1849, making the journey by water by way 
of Shreveport. He first located in Harrison 
county, where he lived four years. Then, 
after a year spent in Limestone county, he 
came to Dallas county and purchased 160 
acres of land, located a mile northwest of 
where Garland now stands. He afterward 
made money enough to increase his landed 
estate to 900 acres. This, however, he has 
since divided among his children, with the 
exception of 240 acres reserved for himself 
and wife. Although now eighty-five years 
of age, to all appearance Mr. Whitefield holds 
a lease on life for some time to come. His 
wife has passed her three-score years and 
ten, and she, too, is full of life and vigor 
for one of her age. When Mr. AVhitefield 
settled in Dallas county this country was 
sparsely inhabited. All their goods had to 
be hauled from Houston with ox teams. The 
Indian and the buffalo had left the country 
the year previous to his arrival here. Game 
of all kinds was plenty. Their meal they 
ground in a steel mill something on the style 



61G 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



of the old-fashioned wall coffee-mill. Mr. 
Whitefield and his wife have lived to see all 
their children married except one son. The 
children by his last marriage are as follows: 
John; Thomas; Dundenah, wife of Charles 
Kennon; Belle, wife of William Prigmore; 
Eugenia, wife of L. P. Cabaniss; Walter C, 
twin brother of Mrs. Cabaniss; Davis, wife 
of John Clemensou, is deceased. 



iKYYD W. FLORENCE dates his birth 
in St. Clair county, Alabama, October 
28, 1848. The history of his father, 
John H. Florence, will be found on another 
jiage of this volume. 

In 1856 David W. came to Texas with his 
father and settled in Rusk county. After re- 
maining there four years they moved, in 1860, 
to Smith county, where they lived until 1866. 
That year they located in Van Zandt county, 
and after a residence of four years there came, 
in 1871, to Dallas county. 

Mr. Florence was married while in Van 
Zandt county, December 29, 1866, to Miss 
Julia Baty, who was born on the lotii of 
February, 1850. Her parents, Thomas and 
Roxie A. (Bell) Baty, were married in 1830. 
Her father died in 1854:, when she was four 
years old, and she also had the misfortune to 
lose her mother when she was quite small; so 
she remembers nothing of either. Following 
are the names of her brothers and sisters: 
William; Sarah, wife of William Greer; 
Joseph and William, who died in the war; 
FoUie Ann, wife of Isaac Weed; Caroline, 
wife of Mr. Beason; Vastie, wife of William 
Berton; Talitha, wife of William Wilson; 
Roxie A., wife of Russell Allen; Thomas, who 
first married a Miss Boyles and afterward a 



Miss Darby; and Lucinda, who died when 
small. 

When Mr. Florence settled in Dallas 
county he purchased 207^ acres of land, and 
since that time has been very successful and 
accumulated other property. His home farm 
now comprises 730 acres, 300 acres in culti- 
vation and the rest in pasture, all being well 
fenced. He also has a i-anch in Taylor county 
of 1,860 acres, all fenced, and eighty acres 
under cultivation. Mr. Florence has been 
dealing largely in stock, but since his son has 
becotne old enough to assist him, he has 
turned all his cattle and horses on the ranch 
over to him, while he himself handles what 
he can conveniently on the home farm. Mr. 
Florence is regarded as one of the most suc- 
cessful farmers in Dallas county. 

He and his wife have three children: J. 
H., born June 14, 1868; Martha, September 
6, 1872, died July 15, 1873; Emet D., born 
November 20, 1885. 



^^ 



tANGDON C. MoCALLUM, farmer, was 
born in York county, South Carolina. 
January 11, 1852, son of Peter McCal- 
lum, who was born in Scotland in 1808, and 
came to America when nine years old. with 
his father, who settled in South Carolina. 
He married Miss Violet Wallace and had ten 
children, as follows: Duncan, Joseph, James, 
Augustus, Jane, wife of William Finley; 
Elizabeth, wife of Robert Finley; Robert, 
John T., Langdon C. and an infant girl. 
This family moved to Texas in 1873, and 
the next year the father bought land in Dal- 
las county, where the subject of this sketch 
now lives. He died in 1883, at the age of 
seventy-live years, and his wife in 1880, aged 
sixty-seven. July 29, 1874, Mr. L. C. Mc- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



617 



Calluiii married Miss Mollie Foote, who was 
born November 23, 1858, tlie 'laughter of 
Martin Van Buren Foote and Minerva Foote. 
Her mother was born in Georgia and moved 
to Texas in 1869, shortly after her father 
died; indeed, he died after all were ready 
to move to Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Foote's 
children have been: William, deceased; Mol- 
lie, now Mrs. McCalluni ; James, John and 
Van Buren. Their mother married the 
second time, wedding Wade Bolton, in 1873, 
and by this maraiage there is one child, 
nametl Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. McCal! urn's 
children are: Homer, born January 27, 1877; 
Violet, September 18, 1880; Otto, July 4, 
1882; Guy, July 18, 1884; Asa, October 25, 
1886; and May, November 30, 1889. 

Mr. McCailum has a farm of ninety-four 
acres, well improved, and he is one of the 
substantial farmers of the county. He be- 
longs to the Knights of Honor, Lodge No. 
2,756, at Pleasant Valley. 



^ORATIO G. LEONARD, a prosperous 
farmer, was born in White county, Ten- 
nessee, October 23, 1820, and moved to 
Texas in 1867, a poor man, having lost every- 
thing during the war; but by good manage- 
ment, economy and persevering industry he 
has now a good farm of 160 acres in a good 
state of cultivation. 

His father, Joshua Leonard, was born in 
1787, in Grayson county, West Virginia, and 
moved to Tennessee when a young man. In 
1810 he married Sarah Duff, who died July 
25, 1846, at the age of fifty years, and Mr. 
Leonard died in Missouri, while on a visit 
there, also at the age of fifty years. August 
4, 1844, Mr. Horatio G. Leonard married 
Miss Ellen Collins, daughter of William and 



Elizabeth (McMahan) Collins, and born Sep- 
tember 5, 1825. Joshua Leonard had nine 
children; the living are: Horatio G. and 
Thomas J.; and the deceased, Obadiah; 
Elizabeth, who married William Jonagan; 
Hamilton; Dennis; Mary, who married 
Thomas Young; and William. Mr. and Mrs. 
Collins' children are: James E.; Angeline, 
wife of Richard Rice; Rachel, wife of John 
Gross; Ellen, wife of Horatio G. Leonard; 
Jane, wife of Archibald Cowan, and Reuben 
C, — all of whom are deceased except Mrs. 
Leonard. 

In 1862, Mr. Leonard, our subject, enlisted 
in the Fifth Tennessee Cavalry, and was 
operating as scout when he was captured and 
paroled. He was afterward at the battle of 
Chickamauga and captured again and paroled. 
He is a Freetnason, being a member of Dutch 
Creek Lodge, No. 441, in which he has filled 
the office of Junior Warden and Tyler. 

Mrs. Leonard belongs to the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. Their children are: 
Angeline, born August 1, 1849; Jane, De- 
cember 11, 1852; William N., Decembor 31, 
1856; Susan, April 11, 1858; Joanna, Sep- 
tember 26, 1860; and Julia, January 1, 1863. 
Susan married Samuel McMnrray, Joanna 
is the wife of Landon Allen, and Julia 
married John Boyd. 

fHOM AS SANDIFER, farmer, wab born 
in Pike county, Mississippi, March 21, 
1846, and in 1866 came with his 
father, Peter Sandifer, to Texas. His father 
born in North Carolina, in October, 1812, 
went to Louisiana when a young man, and in 
1830 married Miss Sarah Carr, who was born 
in North Carolina in 1813. They raised ten 
ciiildren, namely: Elvira, now the wife of 



618 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



George Lee; William, deceased; Jaines; John, 
deceased; Mary, now Mrs. Patrick Lyle; 
Amos, deceased; Thomas, the subject of this 
sketch; Franklin; Sarah, wife of George 
Daniel, and Delia. The father died June 15, 
1890, at the age of seventy-eight years, and 
the mother in 1881, at the age of sixty-nine. 
January 14, 1875, Mr. Thomas Sandifer 
married Miss Frances Tarrant, who was born 
October 20, 1853, the daughter of William 
Tarrant, who married Eliza Ellis and had 
seven cliildren, namely: Serlida, now the wife 
of John Huifhines; Nancy, the wife of Amos 
Sandifer; Julia, the wife of Marsh Hughley: 
Frances, wife of Thomas Sandifer; and Louisa, 
the wife of Charles Webb. 

When he was married and commenced life 
for himself, Mr. Thomas Sandifer, our subject, 
had no property, but went to work, and by 
energy, perseverance and good judgment he 
has acquired a nice home of 125 acres, on 
which he himself has made all the improve- 
ments. But he has suffered a misfortune 
withal, losing his first residence by fire. He 
attends faithfully to his cliosen calling, agri- 
culture, and is an exemplary citizen. He has 
brought up eight cliildren, namely: Cora, 
Mary, Edward, Ellen, William, James, Lucy 
and Robert. Mr. and Mrs. Sandifer are mem- 
bers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 



^ 



^ 



JikEE COATS. — This enterprising young 
mli ff'''"'"^'" ^^^ born in Dallas county, Texas, 
^F^ January 29, 1865, son of Thomas D. 
and Mary A. (Paschall) Coats. His fafher 
dying when Lee was fourteen years old, and 
he being the oldest son at home, the care of 
the farm and the support of the family fell 
largely on hjm, and he remained with his 



mother, conducting the farming operations 
for her. When he -was twenty-one he mar- 
ried, took his bride home with him, and con- 
tinued to reside with his mother a year longei-. 
Having inherited eighty-nine acres of his 
father's estate, he built a house on it, and has 
since lived near his mother. 

Thomas D. Coats, his father, was a native 
of South Carolina, born in 1826, and when 
quite small went with his father to Tennes- 
see, where he was reared. May 7, 1846, he 
was married in Tennessee, to Miss Marj' A. 
Paschall, and the following fall they came to 
Texas and settled where Mrs. Coats now lives. 
Mr. Coats joined the colony, thereby obtain- 
ing a headright of 640 acres. He built a 
fine house, improved his land, and was mak- 
ing good progress when misfortune overtook 
him. His house burned. He rebuilt a like 
structure, and had it just completed when he 
was taken sick and died, his death occurriiig 
January 5, 1879, at the age of fifty-three 
years. Mrs. Coats was born about 1829, 
daughter of Elisha and Rachel (McClain) 
Paschall. Ten children were born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Coats, seven of whom are living, 
namely: Nancy J., wife of Henry D. Lov- 
ing; James A.; Elisha D; Isabella, wife of 
Mack Tyler; Lee, Sidney and Wall. 

Lee Coats was united in marriage with 
Miss Lizzie Amburn, December 3, 1885. She 
was born August 15, 1870, daughter of John 
Amburn. Her mother's maiden name was 
Martin. Mr. and Mrs. Amburn had a family 
of twelve children, as follows: Jeff, Henry, 
Cynthia, Lucinda, Isaac, Jacob, James, 
Joseph, Lizzie, Benjamin, Jane and Ira. 
Cynthia is now Mrs. H.J. Dawden. Lucinda 
was first married to Lewis Robinson, and 
after his death to Balis Johnson. James is 
deceased. 

Mr. and Mrs. Coats have two children: 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



619 



Albert, born March 1, 1888, and Lillie, Feb- 
ruary 3, 1890. Mrs. Coats is a meinber of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically 
Mr. Coats affiliates with the Democratic 
party. 



^ 



^ 



^OL. GEORGE W. GIVENS, deceased, 
was born in Kentucky, July 28, 1826, a 
son of Matthew and Lucy (Chonning) 
Givens, of Irish ancestry and natives of 
Kentucky. When he was ten years old the 
family moved to Missouri and settled in 
Lewis county, and he remained on the farm 
with his parents until he was eighteen. At 
that time he volunteered as a soldier in the 
Mexican war, and served until the war ended. 
He participated in many engagements and 
was in the celebrated battle of Monterey. 
Three months he was in the hospital waiting 
upon the sick and wounded. When hostili- 
ties ceased he returned to his home in Mis- 
souri and engaged io farming. About this 
time news of the wonderful gold discovery in 
California was spreading over the country 
and attracting throngs of people to the 
Pacific coast. With that crowd of gold- 
seekers was Mr. Givens. He crossed the 
plains with ox teams, was six months in 
making the trip, passed through many hard- 
ships and privations and had several serious 
encounters with hostile Indians. He was 
successfully engaged in mining at Sacra- 
mento and Colusa for two years, after which 
he returned to Missouri by way of the 
Isthmus of Panama In the spring of 1853 
he again made the trip across the plains to 
California, this time taking with him a drove 
of cattle. After his arrival there he devoted 
his time to trading, and remained in Califor- 
nia until April, 1856. 

Colonel Givens was married on the 14th 



of October, 1857, to Miss Sallie E. Overton, 
a native of Lewis county, Missouri, and a 
daughter of Dudley W. and Dulcenia (Nail) 
Overton. Her parents were natives of Ken- 
tucky and of Scotch- Irish descent. 

They moved from Kentucky to Missouri 
and in the latter State lived forty years. 
They were among the pioneers of Missouri 
and Mr. Overton was a participant in the 
Black Hawk war. He and his wife came to 
Texas, and both died at the home of Mrs. 
Givens. 

October 15, 1857, Mr. and Mrs. Givens 
starled for Texas with horse teams, and, owing 
to poor roads and few bridges, they were six 
weeks in making the journey. They first 
settled in Collin county, where they resided 
two years. Then they moved to Ellis county 
and Mr. Givens purchased a farm of 400 
acres of wild land and at once began to 
improve it. The first year they lived in a 
rude clapboard house. The following sum- 
mer Mr. Givens built a residence. After 
being engaged in farming there for fourteen 
years they, in 1870, went to California, this 
time making the journey by rail. He pur- 
chased a farm in Napa valley, near Napa, 
located on it and remained there until 1873, 
then returning to Texas. In Dallas county 
he bought 500 acres of wild land, five miles 
south of Dallas, which he developed into a 
fine farm. He built an attractive residence, 
planted fruit, shade and ornamental trees, 
and there followed farming until he died. 
To him and his wife four children were born, 
viz.: John Dudley, of Dallas county; George 
Matthew and William Richard, on the old 
homestead; and Lucy D. 

Colonel Givens was a member of the A. F. 
& A. M., having been made a Mason when 
he was twenty-one. Ha took great interest 
in agricultural matters, and by his honorable 



620 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



and upright dealings he won the coniidence 
and esteem of all who knew him. He was 
ever ready to assist the needy and relieve the 
suffering, and no one was ever turned from 
his door empty handed. His death occurred 
at Mineral Wells, Texas, August 11, 1888. 

During the Civil war he served in the 
Commissary department, driving team, and 
from exposure then incurred his health 
became impaired, and he never fully recovered. 
In 1887, hoping to find restoration by 
change of climate, he went to California, 
but to no avail. 

Mrs. Givens still lives on the old home- 
stead, which is managed by her two 
younger sons. 

(OLOMON W. CALDWELL is another 
one of the venerable pioneers of Texas. 
He came here in 1841, when he was 
twenty-three years of age, working his way 
by driving a team for a man who was mov- 
ing to this State. Here he found employ- 
ment as a farm hand and worked in this way 
until he was able to buy a piece of land. He 
bad many difficulties to meet and overcome, 
as did all the early settlers. When he first 
camped on the little creek where he now 
lives, Mr. Caldwell had to go four miles for 
water. On one occasion, while he was gone 
for water and his wife was getting supper, a 
panther approached, attracted by the odor of 
the meat she was cooking. She threw it the 
pan of meat, and when it had eaten the mor- 
sel it went away satisfied. Bears were also 
troublesome and frequently made raids on 
their hogs. Worse to be dreaded than tiie 
wild animals were the savage Indians. 

Mr. Caldwell was born in the Territory of 
Illinois in 1818, on tlie 26th day of March 



His father, Matthew Caldwell, was born in 
Union district. South' Carolina, in 1763. 
He was first married in South Carolina and 
moved to Kentucky when tliat State was a 
Territory. There he reared a family of six 
children: Curtis; John; Isaac; Christian, 
wife of John Couch; Sallie, wife of Thomas 
Cowscrt; and Pollie, wife of a Mr. AYilliams. 
Of the children by his father's lirst wife Mr. 
Caldwell knows nothing, having lost trace of 
them years ago. After the deatli of his wife 
in Kentucky, Matthew Caldwell was married, 
in that State, to Nancy White, who was born 
in North Carolina in 1785, their marriage 
occurring in 1803. About 1817 they moved 
to Illinois. By his second wife he had five 
children, namely: Meron, wife of John Eads; 
Matthew H.; George H.; Solomon W. ; and 
Hugh C. The subject of our sketch is the 
fourth-born in this family and is the only 
survivor. His father died in 1826, at the 
age of sixty-three years, and his mother in 
1837, aged fifty -three. 

When he came to Texas Mr. Caldwell 
first located in Red River county. In 1842 
he was there married to Miss Leona Crown- 
over, who was born June 3, 1820. After 
twelve years of wedded life she died, in 1854, 
aged thirty-four years, leaving no children. 
Mr. Caldwell had taken a headright of 320 
acres. He sold that and moved to Dallas 
county in 1850. Here he pre-empted 160 
acres and bought ninety-nine acres more, 
making in all 259 acres, his present farm. 
September 5, 1855, Mr. Caldwell was united 
in marriao-e with Miss Martha Ann Coats 
who was born January 1, 1837. Samuel 
Coats, her father, was a native of South 
Carolina, born in 1802, and her mother, nee 
Nancy Jones, was born in 1800. Mr. Coats 
moved to Texas in 1844 and settled in Dal- 
las county. His death occurred in 1874, at 



\/' 



n I STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



621 



the age of seventy-two years, and his wife 
died in 1872, aged seventy-two. They were 
the parents of eleven children, viz.: John J.; 
Thomas D.; Fannie, M'ife of J. P. Lawrence; 
Elizabeth, wife of E. C. Browder; James A.; 
Nancy; Martha A. and Marion A. (twins); 
John W. ; Sarah M.. wife of Bennett Mann- 
ing; Pernicia, wife of Balis Johnson. Of 
this numerous family only three are living — 
Mrs. Caldwell, Mrs. Lawrence and Mar- 
ion A. 

Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell have had six chil- 
dren, namely: Nancy E., wife of W. H. 
Coyle; Samuel B., who married Virginia 
Singletery; James A., who married Mary 
May; John D., who married Sallie McNeal; 
Mary J., deceased; and Mattie, wifeof Will- 
iam White. Both he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South. Mr. Caldwell served in the Mexican 
war, and is now a Mexican pensioner, draw- 
ing $8 per month. 

^OLONEL GEORGE NOBLE, deceased, 
was born at Loudon, Pennsylvania, and 
was the second of a family of seven 
children. His parents, Robert and Sarah A. 
(Scott) Noble, were natives of Eranklin 
county, Pennsylvania, and there passed their 
lives. The father died in 18§4 and the 
mother in 1889; she was a sister to the late 
Thomas A. Scott, president of the great 
Pennsylvania Railroad, who died in 1881; 
another brother was James D. Scott, a most 
worthy citizen of Chambersburgh, Pennsyl- 
vania, who died in 1886. 

Col. Noble lived in his native village until 
about the year 1845, when he removed with 
his parents to Mercer county, Pennsylvania; 
there he remained until 1854, and then went 
to Pittsburg and entered the service of the 

41 



Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He l)egan 
.his career as a brakeman on a freight train, 
and continued with this company as brake- 
man, conductor, depot and train master, and 
division superintendent until 1863. At this 
time he went West to look after some mining 
interests of his uncle, and until 1866 he was 
in California and Arizona. After his return 
he was appointed superintendent of the East- 
ern Division of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, 
and served acceptably in this capacity until 
March 1, 1874. He then resigned to accept 
the general superintendency of the Texas and 
Pacific Railroad, which office he held until 
May, 1881. When he took charge of this 
road it measured fifty-seven miles in length; 
in May, 1880, it had grown to 444 miles, in 
May, 1881, to 800 miles, with contracts per- 
fected for its completion to El Paso; in Jan. 
uary, 1882, arrangements had been made for 
completing the line, 1,487 miles. Mr. Scott's 
liealth failing, he disposed of his interests, 
and at the same ti me Colonel Noble resigned his 
position with the road. His connection with 
the road began at a most inauspicious time: 
it was paralyzed with debt, was without credit 
and friends, but at the close of seven years it 
was the longest line in the State of Texas. 

When the strike of 1877 swept the coun- 
try, the Texas and Pacific suffered its full 
share of loss of property and traffic. An in- 
cident of this great event will bear recording: 
Colonel Noble was absent, but returned on 
Saturday night. Sunday morning he was met 
by a committee of men, making certain de- 
mands; his reply was in every way charac- 
teristic: "No, gentlemen, I will not give 
you an answer on the Sabbath day." Monday 
he gave his reply to tlie men, and those who 
had the previous day been frenzied with a 
belief in their wrongs now threw their hats 
in the air and hurrahed for George Noble. 



622 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



It was a fixed liabit of tlie Colonel's to keep 
the Sabbath day free from business care, and 
eleven o'clock of the Sabbath of the strike 
fonnd him at his accustomed seat in church, 
listenino; to the truth as it was spoken by his 
pastor. 

For nearly five years after his resignation 
he engaged in private business, having large 
interests in both mines and cattle. In 1886 he 
was appointed by Governor John C. Brown 
(then receiver) general manager of the Texas 
Pacific Railroad, with headquarters at Dallas. 

For his first wife he married Miss Harriet 
Coulter, a descendant of one of the leading 
families of Pennsylvania. Of this union eight 
children were born, four dying in infancy: 
Harriet M., the wife of Malcolm A. McDon- 
ald; Alice G.. th3 wife of F. M. Cockrell, a 
young merchant of Dallas; George L. and 
William H., both engaged in railroad busi- 
ness in Texas. In March, 1873, Mrs. Harriet 
M.Noble died, deeply mourned by her family 
and a wide circle of friends. Col. Noble's 
second marriage occurred in 1874, to Miss 
Nettie P. Douglass, a daughter of Archibald 
A. and Maria (Parks) Douglass, natives of 
Pennsylvania and descendants of honored 
ancestors. By this second marriage one child 
was born, Douglass Baird, who died in in- 
fancy. 

Colonel George Noble passed to his final rest 
December 4, 1886. A man universally be- 
loved, it is needless to say that he was mourned 
only as those who have lived with those 
broad, generous purposes which have won the 
hearts of the multitude. The whole system 
of railroads that he had so long and faithfully 
managed put on the emblems of mourning; 
strong men were seen to weep, and an entire 
State bowed its head in woe. Never in the 
liistory of Dallas was there such a large and 
impressive funeral service. Business was sus- 



pended, and each man, woman and child 
shared the grief of those bound by ties of kin- 
ship and close association. Let it be remem- 
bered that this sadness was for their own 
loss, for, verily, he had passed to his reward. 



^ 



^:©¥ 



^ 



fACOB BUHRER, a resident of Dallas, 
Texas , was born in Switzerland. In 
1872, at the age of sixteen years, he 
came to this country, landing on American 
soil in New York and going at once to 
Ritchie county, West Virginia, where he was 
employed at farm work. In 1880 he came 
to Dallas, and for two years resided on Ross 
avenue. Having been prudent and saving 
while employed in various pursuits, he was 
enabled in 1882 to purchase his present home- 
stead on Julius street. This property consists 
of two acres, is within the corporate limits of 
Dallas and has become very valuable, although 
at the time he purchased it, it was considered 
to be far out in the country and there were 
no fenfts between bis house and Ross avenue. 
Since he has settled here he has been success- 
fully engaged in conducting a dairy, having 
sixty-five cows and other farm stock. In 
addition to this property, Mr. Buhrer has 
recently purchased a farm of 200 acres in the 
eastern portion of Dallas county, upon which 
he intends shortly to make his home. He 
came to Texas with less than §5 and 
and without any aid save his own industry 
and economy has accumulated his present 
holdings. He speaks with pardonable pride 
of the result of his efforts here. 

In 1877 Mr. Buhrer was united in mar- 
riage with Anna Hinterman, also a native of 
Switzerland. She came to this country in 
1874. Their union has been blessed with 
five children, all of whom are now living 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



623 



viz; Lena, Arnold, Bertha, Julia and Annie. 

Mr. Bulirer is a member of the German 
Evangelical Lutheran Church. He is Deiu- 
ocratic in politics, and, although not a poli- 
tician, takes a deep interest in public affairs 
ami everything tending to the best interests 
of the country at large and the State and 
county of his adoption. 

In reference to the parents of Mr. Buhrer, 
be it recorded that his lather, Jacob Buhrer, 
iSr., was born in northern Switzerland, and 
in 1866 emigrated to the United States 
and settled in Ritchie county, West Virginia, 
on a farm, pursuing the vocation he has been 
engaged in all his life. He still lives where 
he originally settled. He and his wife, who 
before her marriage was Miss Anna Scherer, 
and who is also a native of Switzerland, are 
the parents of four children. All are living 
and are as follows: Jacob, whose name heads 
this sketch; John, who married Lizzie Seun, 
lives in Dallas; Henry, who is single and a 
resident of Dallas; and Annie, who married 
Chris. Moser, a prosperous dairy farmer, of 
Dallas county. Mr. and Mrs. Moser have 
five children. 



A. ROBERTS, M. D., Dallas county, 
was born in Cleveland county. North 
S* Carolina, February 25, 1837, a son of 
Thomas J. Roberts, a native of the same 
county. His grandfather. Colonel John M. 
Roberts, was a Revolutionary soldier, and a 
native of Virginia. R. A. Roberts received 
a liberal academic education at Shelby, North 
Carolina, and afterward entered the collegi- 
ate department of the Furman University at 
Greenville, South Carolina, and graduated 
in the class of 1857, receiving the deo-ree of 
A. B. He then began the study of medicine 
under the preceptorship of Dr. Thomas 



Williams, of Shelby, North Carolina, and 
then took his first course of lectures in the 
Medical College at Charleston, South Caro- 
lina, in the session of 1857-'58. He continued 
the study of medicine under Dr. Williams in 
connection with his practice until the fall of 
1858, when he entered the Jefferson Medical 
College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and 
after a full course and thorough examination 
he graduated in the class of March, 1859. 
Dr. Roberts then located in Marion district. 
South Carolina, where he had a successful 
practice until the fall of 1859, after which 
he became dissatisfied, having become aiilic^ 
ated with the Western fever, or, more prop- 
erly termed, the Texas fever. He came by 
way of Memphis, Tennessee, up the Red 
River to Shreveport, Louisiana, and then by 
private conveyance to Dallas, Texas, arriving 
November 1, 1859. Dallas was then a small 
and uninviting place, and Dr. Roberts con- 
cluded to locate in Cedar Hill, but there be- 
ing no unoccupied houses he was obliged to 
buy one in which to winter. When the 
spring opened it found two very much dis- 
satisfied persons, and he and his wife then 
started out in a buggy to look over middle 
Texas, going through Ellis, Navarro and 
Limestone counties, down to the terminus of 
the Houston & Texas Central railroad, and 
over into Washington county. But not lik- 
ing any of the country, they concluded to 
remain at Cedar Hill for a year or two, and 
then return to South Carolina. Having 
brought some slaves with him Dr. Roberta 
decided to buy a farm two miles south of 
Cedar Hill, and a number of stock horses 
and cattle. 

About the time he was getting ready to re- 
turn to South Carolina the Civil war com- 
menced, and he countermanded all arrange- 
ments in that direction, and in the spring of 



634 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



1862 he volunteered as a private in Company 
B, Nineteenth Texas Cavalry, bnt was soon 
selected as Company Surgeon for Conipany 
-R. After going into Arkansas with the 
Nineteen Texas Cavalry, which became one 
of Parsons' Brigade, he met with Surgeon J. 
Hunter Berrien, Chief Surgeon on the staff 
of General E. Kirby Smith, who was com- 
manding the Trans-Mississippi department, 
with headquarters at Little Rock. Dr. Ber- 
rien was graduated at the same medical college 
as Dr. Roberts, and he told the latter he 
would send up an application for him for 
Assistant Surgeon of the Confederacy, The 
application in due time returned from Rich- 
mond approved, and he was ordered to be 
examined by the medical examining board of 
the Trans-Mississippi department located at 
Shreveport, Louisiana. His examination was 
entirely satisfactory and Dr. Roberts was then 
put on duty in the Blockley hospital at Little 
Rock, where he remained until 1863, and by 
request was then ordered to report to Gen- 
eral Henry E. McCulloch, commander of the 
Northern sub-district of Texas, at Bonham, 
where he has placed on duty as Examining 
Surgeon. Dr. Roberts also acted at Post 
Surgeon, and in the spring or early summer 
he was ordered to report for duty to General 
Magruder at Houston, and directly to Major 
General John Ireland, now ex-Governor, in 
the southern district of Texas; was next 
put on duty as Post Surgeon at Fort De 
Bray on Matagorda Island in command of 
Major John A. Vernon; and in the spring or 
summer of 1864 was ordered to report to 
General N. H. Darnell, in command of the 
port of Dallas. Dr. Roberts was then put 
on duty as Post Surgeon of Dallas and also in 
charge of the hospital of this city, where he 
remained until the surrender in April, 1865. 
Taking the oath of allegiance and return- 



ing home, he again went into the private 
practice of medicine. He and his wife were 
still dissatisfied with Texas, and having a 
desire to return to the old State east of the Mis- 
sissippi river, he traded his farm for horses 
and mules, took all the stock he had left from 
the ravages of the war, and started for Louis- 
iana and Arkansas, in order to sell them to 
get means to accomplish his journey. But 
he found the farmers with no means to buy 
the stock and he returned with them to Texas, 
turned them out on the prairie, and went into 
the active practice of medicine. He bought 
out Dr. R. L,. Sullivan, located again at Cedar 
Hill, Dallas county, Texas, and bid adieu to 
all desires to return to the Carolinas. He 
has since built up a large and successful 
practice in this county and surrounding coun- 
try, and in due course of time the country 
improved, and his landed possessions also 
increased. The Grand Cetitral & Santa Fe 
railroad had decided to go somewhere through 
this section, and Dr. Roberts gave said rail- 
road as an inducement to pass through where 
it now is located a free righfof way for about 
one mile, plenty of switch rooni, land for 
depot purposes, and every other block of 
land in the railroad addition, and the road 
accepted the proposition and built the depot 
where it now stands. Dr. Roberts has ever 
been a true and tried Democrat, and was a 
delegate from Dallas county to the first Dem- 
ocratic State Convention after the Edmond 
J. Davis administration, convening at Galves- 
ton, to nominate the State ticket. 

He was married in 1859, to Miss R. E. 
Croft, of South Carolina, and they have five 
sons and two daughters living and one son 
deceased: William A., Charles D., Duncan 
B., Robert Lee, Joshua L., deceased, Mollie 
A., now Mrs. Newland, Thomas D., and 
Jessie May. Dr. Roberts is still living in 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



625 



Cedar Hill, foUowina: In's profession, but is 
gradually retiring from active practice, in 
connection with his son, Dr. C. D. Roberts. 
He has practiced medicine in this community 
about thirty-two years. He has never had 
political aspirations, but lias been a quiet 
citizen, and he and his wife have been con- 
sistent members of the Missionary Baptist 
Church at Cedar Hill for many years. 

fENRY BOLL, who has been a resident 
of Dallas county, Texas, since 1855, is a 
native of Canton Aargau, Switzerland, 
and dates his birth November 14, 1830. He 
is a son of Henry and Magdelina (Peier) Boll, 
natives of the same canton. Until nineteen 
years of age he lived on a farm, then went to 
Zurich to learn the butcher business, and 
served an apprenticeship of four years. He 
engaged in business for himself, and was thus 
employed until he emigrated to the United 
Slates. 

Mr. Boll was first married September 22, 
1852, to Miss Anna Notzli, a native of the 
canton of Zurich and a daughter of Jacob 
Notzli. By this union two children were 
born, and in 1854 the wife and both little 
ones died. The following February Mr. 
Boll came to America, sailing from Bremen, 
and, after a voyage of sixty-one days, landing 
in Galveston. He went to Houston, where 
he spent a few days, and from that place came 
to Dallas, making the journey with ox team 
and on foot, and reached his destination on 
the 4th of July, 1855. He first settled in the 
French colony; was detailed to do the butch- 
ering, which was done three times a week, 
and also assisted in improving the farming 
lands. After remaining in tiie colony about 



three months, be and three of his countrymen 
leased 160 acres of land of the colony; after- 
ward discovered that the colony had no title 
to the land and abandoned it. Then, with his 
brother-in-law, Jacob Nussbauraer, he en- 
gaged in butchering and followed the busi- 
ness until the breaking out of the war. 

In January, 1862, Mr. Boll enlisted in 
defense of his adopted country, and was as- 
signed to the commissary department. In 
the spring of 1862 he was sent back to Texas 
for cattle, and was given a place in the com- 
missary department of Colonel Burford's regi- 
ment, where he remained until January 1, 
1863. At that time he was assigned to a 
position in the commissary department at 
Post Waco to issue rations, collect and deliver 
provisions in Louisiana and Texas, where he 
remained until the close of the war. 

Returning to Dallas county, he again en- 
gaged in butchering, and continued tlie busi- 
ness until 1869, being then in feeble health. 
In that year he was elected City and County 
Treasurer, filling the office for three or four 
years, with honor to himself and to the entire 
satisfaction of his constituents. Retiring 
from office he took up his old business of 
butchering and followed it successfully for 
four years, during this time prospecting 
through western Texas. 

In 1880 Mr. Boll's brother. Professor Jacob 
Boll, a naturalist, of whom mention is found 
elsewhere in this work, died in AVilbarger 
county, near the mouth of Pesor river. Mr. 
Boll went there, took up his remains and 
buried them in Dallas. About this time he 
contracted a disease of the eyes, and has since 
been gradually growing worse. He is now 
totally blind in his right eye and the left one 
was only partly saved by an operation per- 
formed in Europe in 1889. Since his return 
from Europe he has been retired from busi- 



626 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ness, giving his attention to the care of his 
own and his sisters' property. 

In 1856 Mr. Boll's father, mother and two 
sisters came to this country, followed, in 
1864, by his brother John, and in 1869 by 
Jacob, the one above referred to. The latter 
subsequently returned to liis native country, 
but came back to Texas in 1874. His son. 
Dr. William Boll, an eminent physician of 
this State, died in Green Springs, Ohio, at 
the age of thirty-eight years. 

The subject of our sketch was married the 
second time July 22, 1856, in Dallas, to Miss 
Elizabeth Knopfli. a native of Switzerland, 
and daughter of Jacob K. and Barbara (Stein- 
man) Knopfli. Mrs. Boll came to Texas with 
Mr. Boll's father and family. By this union ten 
children were born, eight of wliotn are still 
living: Annie, Minnie, Heimeratta, Henry, 
Jacob, Lizzie, Charles and William. 

Mr. Ball is a member of A., F. & A. M., 
the Tannehill Lodge, No. 52, Dallas Chapter, 
No. 47, and Dallas Commandery, No. 6. He 
has passed through the chairs of all the orders 
and is a member of the Grand Lodge. 

IHARLES H. BERNARD was born in 
Logan county, Kentucky. His parents, 
Jesse B. and Mildred (Crewdson) Ber- 
nard, were natives of Virginia, the former 
born June 8, 1772, and the latter November 
15, 1785. Some years after their marriage 
they moved to Kentucky and bought land in 
Logan county, where they lived the rest of 
their lives, both dying in 1833, the mother 
on the 27th of August and the father on the 
16th of September. They were the parents 
of fourteen children, as follows: Sophia W., 
who was born August 16, 1804, died July 8, 
1805; Virginia, born March 18, 1806, be- 



came the wife of William Wood, and died in 
Illinois, leaving a family of children, most of 
whom were married and had families: James 
Crewdson, born November 25, 1807; Nancy 
Merideth, October 12, 1809; Harriet N., 
May 15, 1811; William V, April 16, 1813; 
Elizabeth E., April 27, 1815; John ()., April 
6, 1817; Charles H., February 10, 1819; 
Mary J., January 26, 1821; Jessie Gatewood 
Allen, August 15, 1822; Samuel Minor, 
August 8, 1824; Lucy Ann, December 15, 
1826; and Frances Mildred, November 25, 
1828. 

Charles H. Bernard was reared on the farm, 
attended the common schools and flnished his 
education at Alton, Illinois, in Shurtleff Col- 
lege. Soon after his father's death he went 
with his oldest brotlier to Illinois, he being 
then only fourteen years of age. They stopped 
in Adams county, near where Quincy is now 
located, and there his brother bought a farm, 
which he conducted in connection with a 
general merchandise store. He continued to 
work for his brother until he reached his 
majority. 

Mr. Bernard was married September 5, 
1841, to Miss Margaret Ann Lewis, a native 
of Kentucky and a daughter of Benjamin W. 
and Emiline A. (Cloud) Lewis, natives of 
Virginia. Mrs. Bernard is the oldest of 
their four children, and she and her sister, 
Mrs. Hannum, of Lancaster, are the only 
ones now living. Mr. and Mrs. Bernard 
were married in Woodford county, Illinois, 
and subsequently moved to Adams county, 
same State, where they bought a small farm. 
In the fall of 1847 Mr. Bernard came to 
Texas and took a headright of 600 acres of 
land on Ten-mile creek, sixteen miles south 
of where the city of Dallas now stands, where 
he has since resided. Here he has developed 
a fine farm and reared a large family. Fol- 



HISTORY OP DALLAS GOUNTT. 



627 



lowing are the children born to him and his 
wife: Elizabeth E., July 7, 1842; Helen A., 
January 1, 1844; Milus G., December 12, 
1845; Laura A., December 7, 1849; Charles 
W., January 28, 1852; Mary A., June 2, 
1853; Emma L., July 9, 1855; Donia A., 
January 11, 1858; William I., February 4, 
1860; Tom L., November 17, 1861; Charlie 
O., December 16, 1863; and Samuel M., 
March 8, 1867. Of these all are living ex- 
cept four. The three oldest were born in 
Illinois and the others in Texas, with the ex- 
ception of the youngest, who was born in 
Missouri while Mr. and Mrs. Bernard were 
there on a visit. 

In the winter of 1863 Mr. Bernard was 
forced into the Confederate service, but re- 
turned home after three months. His oldest 
son, Milus, was also forced to enter the ser- 
vice at the same time, and went with his 
father. He returned home soon after the 
latter. Owing to the fact that he could not 
remain here in peace, Milus re-entered the 
service in Louisiana, took the measles soon 
afterward and died. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bernard are members of the 
Christian Church. 

fOHN H. FLORENCE, of Mesquite, 
Dallas county, was born in Lincoln 
county, Georgia, August 13, 1817, a 
son of David Florence, who was born in the 
same county, June 29, 1798. The latter 
was married September 28, 1816, to Miss 
Pollie Hicks, who was born March 23, 1799, 
Mr. Florence's mother, Julia Bond, was born 
September 23, 1773, in Lincoln county, 
Georgia, and died at the age of sixty-tive 
years. Her mother, who was born and 
reared in Lincoln county, Georgia, died 



there at the age of ninety two years; she 
was never out of that county during lier 
whole life. David Florence lived in Geor- 
gia until 1841, when he moved to Alabama, 
and died there in 1859, at the age of sixty- 
one years; his wife died in 1854, at the age 
of fifty-three years. They were the parents 
of nine children, viz.: John H., our subject; 
William B., who died in Indian Territory in 
1883; Julia, wife of Herman Howard, died 
in 1838; Simeon; Nancy, wife of Richard 
Floyd; Mary, wife of Clayton Allen, died 
February 28, 1889; David; Jane, wife of 
John Allen. 

John H., our subject, lived in Alabama 
until he moved to Texas, December 24, 1856. 
He and his family came in company with his 
two brothers and their families and two 
young men, with ox and horse teams, and 
were fifty- two days on the road, having been 
detained by the sickness and death of his 
brother Sebron's wife. Mr. Florence rented 
land the first year in Rush county, and after- 
ward bought 320 acres of improved land. 
After two years he sold out and moved to 
Smith county, bought 940 acres of unim- 
proved land, and five years later sold this 
place and bought 320 acres in Van Zandt 
county. He remained there four years, and 
then purchased 320 acres of improved land 
in Dallas county. His home farm now con- 
tains 379 acres, and he also owns 1,420 acres in 
Taylor county, and 160 acres elsewhere, own- 
ing in all 2,959 acres. He and his son are ex- 
tensively engaged in raising cattle and horses 
on their ranch in Taylor county. 

Mr. Florence was married December 24, 
1837, to Miss Martha Walker, who was born 
October 6, 1817, in Lincoln county, Geor- 
gia. Her father, Jesse Walker, born in 
1790, was married to Pollie Sellman, and 
they were the parents of the following chil- 



638 



HISTOHY OF DALLAS COUJfTT. 



dren: Betsie, wife of John Wadsworth; 
James; Martha, wife of John H. Florence; 
Nancy, wile of William Wadsworth, died in 
1881; Jane, wife of William Been; PoUie, 
who died in 1857, was the wife of Thomas 
Hillgrove; Lucinda, now Mrs. Josiah Haw- 
kins; Sarah, wife of Solomon Been; Susan, 
the wife of Victor Neely; Jesse, who died 
in the army; and William, who died in 1864:. 
Mr. and Mrs. Florence liave had eleven chil- 
dren, all of whom are now deceased but two. 
Amanda was married to Sehron Willingham, 
who afterward died, leaving three children. 
She was again married to Lewis Wilson. 
Mary, formerly Mrs. Thomas Forence, is 
now deceased, leaving one child, Dudley 
Florence. Elizabeth married D. C. Mur- 
phree, and died July 5, 1890. Jane is the 
wife of Isaac Seals; Nancy; Jessie; and Ore- 
lena,who died be fore marriage. Mr. Florence 
held the office of County Commissioner one 
term in Dallas county, and Mrs. Florence is 
a member of the Baptist Church. 



4^ 



^^^ 



J^ F. BOHN Y, agent for the Pabst Brew- 
W-'ff ing Company, at Dallas, was born in 
^^® Baden, Germany, August 14, 1843, a 
son of John and Caroline (Hanry) Bohny, 
also natives of Baden. The father died in 
his native country in 1861, and the mother 
afterward came to Cincinnati, Ohio, thence to 
Nashville, Tennessee, where she died in 1869. 
The subject of this sketch left Germany 
for New Orleans in 1857, going thence to 
Nashville, and then to Scranton, Pennsylva- 
nia, where, in 1861, he enlisted in the Fifty- 
second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer 
Infantry, Company F. He was in the battle 
of Fair Oaks, througii the Peninsular cam- 
paign, was taken pri.soner at James Island, 



opposite Fort Sumter, July 3, 1864, was 
confined at Andersonville, and after the ex- 
change was taken to Florence. In Decem- 
ber, 1864, he was taken to Annapolis, Mary- 
land, and next to Nashville, Tennessee, where 
he was discharged on account of poor health, 
caused by exposure. After the close of tiie 
war Mr. Bohny settled in Nashville, and in 
1866 he went to Galveston, Texas, and next 
to Dallas, where, in partnership with his 
brother, he opened the first bakery in the 
city. Two years later he left Dallas for a 
time, and in 1871 returned and started the 
William Tell Honse, on the corner of Com- 
mercial and Market streets, which he con- 
ducted a number of years. He next embarked 
in the saloon business, and afterward became 
the proprietor of the Tevoli Hall, later the 
Apollo Hall, on Main Street. Mr. Bohny 
subsequently sold his interest in the latter, 
and engaged with his present company. 

Mr. Bohny votes with the Republican 
party, has served as Alderman of the second 
ward, also as Mayor of the city, has been a 
member of the School Board; he is a member 
of the I. O. O. F., of the K. of H., of the 
George H. Thomas Post, No. 6. G. A. R., 
was the originator and first president of Dal- 
las Frohsinn Singing Society, and was also 
the originator and first president of the Dal- 
las Turn Verein. 



-^-^xyi/lfty- 



inru^^^ 




H. TAYLOR, a farmer and stock- 
raiser, Lisbon, Dallas, county, Texas, 
" was born five miles south of Dallas, 
July 28, 1854. He is the second son and 
third-born in a family of twelve children of 
J. H. Taylor, a biography of whom will be 
found on another page of this wtirk. 

W. H. Taylor was reared on a farm, at- 
tended the common schools, and completed 



,..»^!°;^fes 





HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



639 



his education at Mansfield college, Tarrant 
county, Texas. He resided with his parents 
until he was twenty-three years of age, after 
which he and his brother, C. T. Taylor, pur- 
chased a farm and engaged in stock-raising. 
He was married March 6, 1883, to Miss Rosa 
L. Grear, a native of Tennessee and a daugh- 
ter of Robert F. Greer and Kate, nee McDon- 
ald, who came to Dallas county in 1877. Her 
jrrandfather went from South Carolina to 
Tennessee at an early day. Her father now 
lives with her, her mother having died on the 
8th of May, 1891. In 1887 Mr. Taylor sold 
his farm and purchased his present home 
property, where he is now engaged in farm- 
ing and stock-raising. This place contains 
356 acres, 200 of which are under cultivation. 
He and his brother own a large stock range 
in Tom Green county, Texas, where he has 
about 4,000 cattle. 

Mrs. and Mrs. Taylor are the parents of 
two children: Eugene Hamilton and Kattie 
Erin. Their oldest child died at the age of 
seven months. 

Mr. Taylor is a member of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian and his wife of the Christian 
Church. Politically, he affiliates with the 
Democratic party. He is a man whose good 
judgment and well-directed efforts have won 
for him success in liis various undertakings. 

[ILLIAM P. COLE, a highly honored 
citizen of Dallas, was born in Harri- 
son county, Texas, in 1846, a son of 
John Cole, a pioneer of Texas, and was but 
four years of age when his father died. His 
mother, whose maiden name was McCurry, 
is still living, a landmark of the olden time, 
God-fearing and brave, and devoted to her 
children and the good of the people gener- 




ally, by her practical symyathy with benevo- 
lent movements. Being the eldest of the 
children, upon young Cole naturally devolved 
gi-eat responsibilities at an early age. He 
went with his grandparents to the extreme 
frontier, into what was tlien the Milan 
district. 

At the beginning of the war he returned 
to Dallas and enlisted in Company B, Thirty- 
first Texas Infantry, under Col. Hawpe, in 
the service of the Confederacy. The opera- 
tions of his regiment were in Texas, Louisi- 
ana and Arkansas, and he was consequently 
in many perilous situations, under Kirby 
Smith. He was in the service three years when 
he was honrably discharged, and settled in 
Waller county, southern Texas, engaging in 
mercantile pursuits. 

In 1877 he joined the Knights of Honor, 
and for thirteen years has been one of the 
pillars of that organization. The first year 
he was elected Grand Reporter, and in De- 
cember of the same year Grand Secretary' of 
the order, as also of the order of the Knights 
and Ladies of Honor, which position he still 
holds, to the satisfaction of all. In 1882 he 
was elected Grand Recorder for the Ancient 
Order of United Workmen, which position he 
is also fulfilling still. He has also been a 
member of the Finance Committees of the 
Knights of Honor and the Knights and La- 
dies of Honor. He has taken an important 
and influential part in the legislation of the 
two orders, devoting his whole time to his 
duties as secretary, having an able assistant. 
The marvelous jjrowth of the order attests his 
honesty, industry and efficiency, as it has 
grown under his aid from a membership of 600 
to 300,000. He is the best known lodge man in 
Texas, having been a member of almost every 
Grand Lodge since he has been in office. In his 
political sympathies he is a Democrat, and in 



630 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



his religious relations he is a member of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church. 

He was married in 1869, to M. Alice 
Hooper, a native of Alabama, who was reared 
in Texas, and they have tliree sons and one 
daughter: John T., William P., Jr., Emily 
Frank and Baxley. 



^ 



^ 




F^i 



P. SANDERSON, deceased, was en- 
gaged in the real-estate business at 
Oak Cliff, Dallas county. He was 
burn in Amelia county, Virginia, in 1833, the 
third of eight children born to Robert T. 
and Ann N. (Kidd) Sanderson, also natives 
of Virginia. Grandfather Sanderson was a 
soldier in the war of 1812, and his son, 
Robert T., was a farmer all his life, and 
his death occurred in "Virginia, in 1846; the 
mother of our subject died in that State in 
1872. 

T. P. Sanderson, our subject, commenced 
life for himself as a farmer, and in 1861 he 
enlisted as a private in Company O, First 
Virginia Cavalry, and was afterward elected 
Sergeant of his company. He participated 
in the battles of Chickahominj, Manassas, 
Petersburg, Richmond, Monterey and Spott- 
sylvania Courthouse. At the close of his 
service he returned to Virginia, and in 1869 
removed to Christian county, Kentucky, and 
engaged in railroad contracting and building. 
He was so engaged until coming to Texas in 
1881, after which he followed tlie real-estate 
business, buying and selling in Dallas and 
Oak Cliff, and he ultimately owned consider- 
able property in both places. He moved to 
Oak Cliff in 1884, occupying a beautiful 
home. He took an active part in politics, 
votino- with the Democratic party, and 
socially was a member of William A. Smith 



Lodge, near Cochran Chapel, A. F. & A. 
M., and also of the Farmers' Alliance. 

Mr. Sanderson was married in Virginia, 
January 28, 1857, to Miss Ann M. Moseley, 
a native of that State, and a daughter of 
Richard J. and Mary (Adams) Moseley, also 
natives of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Sander- 
son had seven cliildreii, viz.: S. C, who died 
in 1885; John B., deceased in the same year; 
S. J., a resident of Dallas; R. L., a merchant 
of this city; T. P., at home; Ella Lee, wife of 
W. L. Daniel, of Oak Clitf; Roger P., a 
member of the police force of Dallas. Mr. 
T. P. Sanderson died March 16, 1892, of la 
grippe, at the family residence, surrounded 
by his family and sorrowing friends, and was 
interred in the family lot at Oak Cliif ceme- 
tery' March 17. His remains were followed 
to their last resting place by the prominent 
citizens of Oak Cliff" and Dallas. 



ILLIAM TRAMMELL, proprietor of 
a saloon on Elm street, Dallas, was 
born in Omaha city, in 1851, the 
youngest of nine children born to William 
and Mary (Young) Trammell, the former a 
native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and the latter 
of Monticello, Kentucky. The parents were 
married in the latter State, and at an early 
day removed to Omaha, Nebraska, where he 
was engaged as a surveyor, and was also 
Probate Judge. In 1865 they came to Dal- 
las, Texas, and later settled at Corsicana, 
Texas, where he died in 1865, and the 
mother afterward removed to Arkansas, 
where she died in 1865. 

William Trammell, our subject, was reared 
in the city of Omaha, and in 1866 he came 
to Dallas, where he learned the tinner's 
trade, with C. D. Kanady. He worked at 




BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



631 



his trade until 1887, wlien he engaged in the 
saloon business, on Elm street. He has 
taken an active part in politics, voting with 
the Democratic party, and socially, is a 
member of Coeur De Lion Lodge, No. 8, 
K. of F., having joined that order in 1875. 
Mr. Trammel! has witnessed the growth of 
Dallas from a small hamlet to its present 
magnitude, and has always taken an active 
interest in everything for its good. 

He was married in this city, in 1883, to 
M. Ehrhardt, a native of Franklin, Louisiana, 
and a daughter of M. E. and Mary Ehrhardt, 
natives of Germany. The father, a merchant 
tailor by trade, settled in Kew Orleans at an 
early day, and was killed at Franklin, Loui- 
siana, and the mother still resides in 
the latter city. Mr. and Mrs. Trammell 
have had four children: Etnma, Louie, 
Georgie and Willie. 



3f>- 



A. SALE was born in Estill county, 
Kentucky, June 26, 1829. He lived 
on a farm with liis father until he was 
twenty-one, when he engaged in farming 
lor himself and was thus occupied most of 
the time until he was twenty-nine. He was 
married May 20, 1858, to Miss L. J. Mun- 
day, and after his marriage continued farm- 
ing operations until the war broke out. He 
was then employed by the Government as 
drover for the army, dealing in mules and 
horses. In one week's time he delivered up 
ward of 1,500 mules. After the war he sold 
his farm and engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness for seven years in Mercer county, Ken- 
tucky. 

In the fall of 1872 Mr. Sale came to Texas. 
The first year he rented and operated a farm 
in Collin county. Then he moved to his 




present place, he having purchased a two- 
thirds interest in 640 acres of land in Dallas 
and Collin counties before coming to this 
State. On this property he has since con- 
tinued to reside, now owning 300 acres of 
fine, well improved land. His residence is 
surrounded with shade trees and is, indeed, a 
beautiful and attractive home. In his farm- 
ing operations Mr. Sale has been uniformly 
successful. He has 125 acres under cultiva- 
tion and the rest of his land is in pasture. 
On his farm are two tenant houses. His 
chief products are corn, cotton and hay. He 
raises and deals in mules, cattle, horses, hogs 
and sheep. 

Mrs. Sale was born on the 16th of Jan- 
uary, 1837, a daughter of Edmond and Mar- 
garet Munday. Her mother was born in 
1802, and is still living. For a more ex- 
tended mention of her see the sketch of Dr. 
G. W. Newman, with whom she resides. 
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Munday 
are as follows: Susan May, wife of Dr. 
Speers; James, Sarah and R. L. deceased; 
Reuben P.; J. J.; and L. J., wife of R. A. 
Sale. Mr. Munday died July 14, 1866, aged 
sixty-four years. 

Of Mr. Sale's parents be it recorded that 
his father, Samuel Sale, was born in Vir- 
ginia and removed from there to Kentucky 
with his father when he was only seven 
years old. He was reared in that State and 
there married to Miss Mildred Harris. He 
died at the age of seventy-three years. Tiie 
names of their seven children are: Stephen, 
Nancy, Webber H., A. IL, R. A., Elizabeth 
and B. H. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Sale twelve children have 
been born, viz.: James M., born October 30, 
1860, killed at Jackson, Tennessee, January 
21, 1878; Samuel Mc, born October 1, 1862; 
Reuben B., March 7, 1865; Stephen H., 



633 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



June 7, 1867; John W. H., April 15, 1869; 
Walter D., December 6, 1871; Sarah B., 
June 11, 1874; Annie M., June 4, 1876; 
Charley P. and R. L., twins, born April 15, 
1878; Charley P. died June 15, 1878; Jesse 
A., May 15, 1881; Willie Clay, Janxiary 13, 
1884. 

Mr. Sale is a Royal Arch Chapter Mason, 
and has filled all the offices in his lodge. He 
is also a member of the Knights of Honor, 
having his membership in Piano Lodge, No. 
977, and having served as Dictator of that 
order. Mrs. Sale is a member of the Knights 
and Ladies of Honor. She carries $1,000 in- 
surance in that order, and her husband 
twice that amount. Both are looking to the 
welfare of their family, should either one be 
carried away. Mr. Sale is a member of the 
Christian Church, and his wife of the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Church. 

ESLEY F. CURTIS was born in Ma- 
comb county, Michigan, March 25, 
1832. When he was a small boy he 
moved with his father to Ohio, and was there 
reared, remaining with his parents until his 
marriage. On the 8d day of April, 1853, he 
wedded Miss Elizabeth Pearl. He continued 
farming in the Buckeye State until 1861, 
when he moved to Illinois and bought land. 
There he carried on farming operations until 
1873, the year he moved to Dallas county, 
Texas. While in Illinois Mr. Curtis had con- 
siderable bad luck, owing to sickness, he hav- 
ing settled in a very unhealthy portion of the 
State, and when he arrived in Dallas he had 
but little means with which to make a start. 
He bought a lot and built a house there, but 
as he found it somewhat difficult to make 
money in town, he purcha.sed 190 acres in the 




eastern part of Dallas county and commenced 
to improve the farm on which he has since 
lived. His land is now nnder a good state 
of cultivation and he has a nice little home, 
located near New Hope and three miles north 
of Mesquite. 

Of his parents, we record that his father, 
Milo S. Curtis, was born in Danbury, Con- 
necticut, December 11, 1793. He was a sad- 
dler and harnessmaker by trade. When a 
young man he went to New York, and was 
there married to Miss Cynthia Brant, in 1824. 
She was born in Watertown, New York, 
March 11, 1808. In 1828 they moved to 
Michigan, bought land, improved it and lived 
there until 1835. That year Mr. Curtis sold 
out and moved to Ohio, becoming one of the 
pioneer settlers of that State. He took up 
Government land in Scioto county, improved 
it and lived on it until tlie time of his death, 
September 23, 1864. His widow survived 
him twenty-five years and one day, her death 
occurring September 24, 1889, at the age of 
eighty-one years. Five of their children are 
still living, of whom the subject of our sketch 
is next to the oldest. They are Laura, wife 
of John Holman; Wesley F. ; Ciiarles B. ; 
William C, and Ellen, wife of D. F. Brown. 

Mrs. Wesley F. Curtis was born in Jack- 
son county, Ohio, August 25, 1833. Her 
father, Robert Pearl, was born in Virginia 
in 1804. Her mother, whose maiden name 
was Nancy Morrow, was born in 1808 and 
died in 1848, aged forty years. Iler father 
was subsequently married to Deborah Wells. 
He is now deceased. By his last marriage he 
had no children. Following is the issue from 
his first union: Mary, wife of Jonathan Mar- 
tin; Jane, wife of John Harrison; Bazel; 
Thomas, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of Wesley 
F. Curtis; Cynthia, wife of Peter Gould- 
berry; and Samuel, Robert, Andrew and 



UISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT i . 



633 



James — the last two dying when qnite 
youtig. Of the above named only four are now 
living. 

Mr. and Mrs. Curtis have had nine chil- 
dren born to them, whose names are as fol- 
lows: John B. ; Robert P.; Jennie, wife of 
R. S. Kimbrough; Sallie; Mary; George, 
Lillie, wifeof William Morris; William and 
Rosa. Rosa was born November 6, 1869, and 
died in 1871. 



fnOMAS Iv. FLOWERS was born in 
Wilson county, Tennessee, December 
25, 1840. He has been a resident of 
Texas since 1870. 

Joseph Flowers, his lather, was also a na- 
tive of Tennessee, born in Rutherford county. 
He met his death by drowning, July 4, 1848, 
at tiie age of thirtj -seven years. The mother 
of Thomas K. was, before her marriage, Miss 
Cynthia Lannom. She was born May 23, 
1811, daughter of William Lannom, and died 
in November, 1869, at the age of fifty-eight 
years. Following are the names of the chil- 
dren born to Joseph Flowers and his wife: 
James S., William M., Green B., deceased, 
Sarah B., wife of J. M. Sinclare, is deceased, 
Andrew J., a resident of Texas, and Thomas 
K., the youngest of the family. 

The subject of our sketch was first mar- 
ried in Tennessee, co Miss Snsan B. Mul- 
lins, who was born May 24, 1843, daughter 
of Thomas Mullins. She came to Texas 
with her husband in 1870, and died on Red 
River, May 29, 1873, at the age of thirty 
years. Their union was blessed with four 
children, whose names and dates of birth 
are as follows: Udorah, born August 10, 
1867; Joseph T., born April 15, 1869; 
Laura M., February 8,1871; Willie, Febru- 



ary 15, 1873. The last named died in July, 
1873. 

Mr. Flowers rented land on Red River for 
seven years after he came to Texas. In the 
fall of 1877 lie came to Dallas county and 
bought 200 acres of land. His second mar- 
riage was celebrated with Martha J. (Ham- 
ilton) Harbin, who was born October 10, 
1844. Thomas S. Hamilton, her father, was 
born in Wilson county, Tennessee, June 14, 
1820, and her mother, nee Elizabeth J. Bal- 
lard, was born March 7, 1827. Mr. Hamil- 
ton came to Texas in 1830, he being ten 
years old at that time. The Indians were 
then numerous and troublesome here, and it 
was with difficulty that the early settlers 
protected their families and their property 
from the ravages of the red men. Mr. Ham- 
ilton served all throuo-h the Mexican war. 
His first wife died in December, 1853, at 
the age of twenty-six years. Mrs. ^''lowers 
is the oldest of their children. The names 
of her brothers and sisters are Mary E., who 
became the wife of William J. Cherry, is 
now deceased;" Amanda C, who died when 
quite young; Marcus W., Albert A., Augusta, 
wife of Charles Vaughn. Mr. Hamilton 
was married the second time, in 1867, to 
Martha Newland, by whom he had five 
children: Lucy R., wife of Boyd Bledsoe; 
Georgia A., Lela A., Alma and Robert. Mr. 
Hamilton departed this life in Dece!iiber, 
1883, at the age of sixty-three years. 

Mrs. Flowers was the owner of 115 acres 
of land at the time she married her pres- 
ent husband, and that, with the 200 acres 
Mr. Flowers purchased, makes 315 acres, a 
fine farm that is now improved. Eighty 
acres are under cultivation, and the rest is 
used for pasture, being dotted over with 
fine Jersey and Holstein cattle. By his 
present companion Mr. Flowers has six chil- 



63f 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



dreii, viz.: Nina A., born April 10, 1876; 
Bealah H., April 18, 1878; Willie M., May 
14, 1880; Mattie E., April 4, 1882, and 
died October 4, 1886; Mora Lee, July 9, 
1884, and James D., August 29, 1886. By 
the former husband, David A. Ilarhin, a 
native of Kentucky, born September 15, 
1828, Mrs. Flowers has one son, John D. 
Harbin, born October 4, 1861. 

Mr. and Mrs. Flowers and live of their 
children are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Mr. Flowers is associ- 
ated with the Masonic fraternity, being a 
member of Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441; is 
also a Knight of Honor, having his mem- 
bership with Pleasant Valley Lodge, No. 
2756. His political views are in harmony 
with Democratic principles. 

lORNELIUS M. TUCKER, was born in 
Whitefield county, Georgia, August 4, 
1844, and was reared and educated in 
his native place, remaining there until he 
reached his majority. November 2, 1871, he 
wedded Miss Nancy A. Smith, and October 
30 of the following year he came to Dallas 
county, Texas. For four years he rented 
land and at the end of that time bought 100 
acres. He then moved to his land and 
tented out until he was able to build a house. 
After living there ten years he purchased 
109 acres of unimproved land, where lie now 
lives, having brought it up to its present 
high state of development. He has since 
bought other lands and now owns in this 
county and others 924 acres, besides valuable 
property in Colorado city, a town of 5,000 
inhabitants. When Mr. Tucker came to 
Texas he had a few hundred dollars, but was 
unfortunate, lost it all and had to begin again 



without anything. He has since met with 
eminent success. Previous to his coming to 
this State he was engaged in a general mer- 
chandise business, but sincft his arrival here 
has given his whole attention to agricultural 
pursuits. 

Of Mr. Tucker's parents we record tliat his 
father, Alden Tucker, was born in 1799, and 
died in 1884, at the age of eighty-five years. 
His mother was before her marriage Miss 
Elizabeth Bailey. She departed this life at 
the age of eighty-eight years. Their family 
consisted of twelve children, namely: Elijah; 
Williatn; Archy; James; Lucinda, wife of 
Robert Isbel ; Clinton C. ; George W. ; Martha, 
wife of N. F. Wilson; Amanda, wife of 
Willinra H. Miller; Pollie Ann, wife of Joel 
Smith; Elizabeth, who died when about 
eighteen years old; and Cornelius M., the 
yonngest and the subject of this article. 

Mrs. Tucker's parents were Silas Smith 
and Elizabeth J. Johnson, natives of Jackson 
county, Georgia. Her father died at the 
age of eighty-three years. Their five chil- 
dren were: Mary, wife of Julius Hudson; 
John T., deceased; Samuel F. ; Elizabeth J., 
wife of John Pan-is; Nancy A., wife of C. 
M. Tucker. 

Mr. and Mrs. Tucker have had two chil- 
dren: Clinton C, born August 30, 1872, and 
Elizabeth J., September 10, 1884. Mr. 
Tucker is held in high esteem by all who 
know him. To his genial good nature, his 
strict integrity and his industrious habits 
may be attributed his success in life. 



UGUSTUS GARRISON.— This gentle- 
man, an enterprising young farmer, re- 
siding near Pleasant Valley, Dallas 
county, Texas, dates his birth in York county, 
South Carolina, August 14, 1869. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



635 



Williain F. (-irarrison, bis father, was born 
in York county, October 14, 1841, and was 
tbere married, November 24, 1865, to Miss 
Nancy IT. E. Poovey. She too, was a native 
of the same county, born August 23, 1846. 
Four years after their marriage, in 1869, 
they moved to Jiradley county, Arkansas. 
Following are the names of William F. Gar- 
rison's brothers and sisters: Peter; John; 
James, who was killed in the war; Sallie, de- 
ceased, wife of David Jackson; Mary, de- 
ceased; and Zeine. William F. was next to 
the youngest of the family. The members 
composing the Poovey family are, Duncan; 
Nancy E., mother of the subject of our 
sketch; Robert; Kate; Augustus; James; 
John and Mary; the last thiee are deceased. 
To William F. Garrison and his wife were 
born the following named children: Mary C, 
born September 2, 1866, and is now the wife 
of William S. Tucker; James P., born Jan- 
uary 9, 1868; Augustus; Emma, born Febru- 
ary 5, 1871; John D., bora July 22, 1872; 
William, born January 11, 1874; Cordelia E., 
born October 22, 1875; Nancy, born January 
11, 1878; and Lois, born July 4, 1881. In 
1879, Mr. Garrison moved from Arkansas to 
Texas, where he rented land and farmed for 
three years. Ilis death occurred October 6, 
1882, at the age of forty-one years. 

After their father's death, Augustus and 
his brother, J. P., continued to live with 
their mother and cultivate the farm. After 
renting for live years, they bought 120 acres 
of improved land for thejr mother, and paid 
for it. They have since purchased 200 acres 
for themselves. All this land is well fenced, 
eighty acres of the Jirst farm and 130 acres 
of the other being under cultivation. When 
the family first came to Texas, and at the 
father's death, they were in limited circum- 
stances, but the sons went earnestly to work 



to secure a home and now have their mother 
comfortably lixed. They are industrious 
young men, upright and honest in all their 
dealings, and are bound to make their mark 
in the world. They have had but little op- 
portunity for schooling, but have acquired 
sufficient education to intelligently conduct 
their farming operations. During the war, 
Mr. Garrison's father served in the Confeder- 
ate array, and at that time contracted disease 
from which he never recovered, and which 
caused his death. Both parents had united 
with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 
and three of their daughters and the subject 
of our sketch are members of the same 
church. 

IfHOMAS P. FISHER dates liis birth 
in Kentucky, in 1833. His father, 
John Fisher, was a farmer in that 
State; his mother, nee Margaret Barbour, a 
native of Kentucky, died in Missouri, in 
1849. They had eight children, viz.: Eliz- 
abeth, who married John D. Rupard, by 
whom she had twelve children, ten of whom 
are living; Sarah Jane, wife of W. J. Rupard, 
has six children ; Thomas B., the subject of 
this sketch: Robert H., who married Eliza 
Ingles, by whom he had ten children, six of 
whom are living; Mary Ann, wlio married 
Reuben Hogg, by whom she had seven chil- 
dren, four of whom are living; Isaac, who 
wedded Caroline Beeman, had three children, 
of whom two are living; Jennie, wife of 
John Fisher, has seven children; Christopher 
wedded Margaret Ilunnicut, and five of their 
seven children are now living. In 1850, the 
father, John Fisher, married Paralee Rupard. 
By her he had five children, four of whom 
survive, viz.: W. E. Fisher, who married 
Fannie Martin, by whom he had eight ciiil- 



630 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



dren ; Isabella, wife of John Ward ; Silas, who 
married Laura Williamson, and by her has 
three children; Paralee, who wedded A. B. 
Kirk, and has two children. 

Thomas B. Fisher, the subject of the 
sketch, went from Kentucky to Polk county, 
Missonri, in 1844, where, after reaching man- 
hood, lie engaged in farming. In 1851-'52, 
he crossed the plains to New Mexico; in 
1854, he went to California, and in 1856, he 
returned to Missouri. At the outbreak of 
the war he enlisted in Captain Morris Mitch- 
ell's company, Parsons' brigade. Confederate 
army. The service was chiefly infantry, and 
the scene of action in Arkansas and south- 
west Missonri. In 1863, he was elected 
First Lieutenant of Company A, in Jack- 
man's regiment. Jackman also commanded 
the brigade. W. H. Lemmons, of Dallas, 
was troop captain. Mr. Fisher was in the 
last raid into Missouri from Arkansas; was 
wounded in the engagements at Pilot Knob 
and Glasgow; was engaged also at Prairie 
Grove, Little Rock and Helena, Arkansas. 
After the surrender of Lee, his company was 
disbanded, at Corsicana, with all the brigade. 

Mr. Fisher was married in Polk county, 
Missouri, in 1857, to Mary E., daughter of 
Rnssell Murray of Benton county, Missouri, 
by whom he had six children, live of whom 
are living. They are as follows: Russell, who 
married Mollie Rupart, has three children 
living; Lizzie, wife of J. H. McCommas; and 
Murray, Florence and Jackman. 

During Mr. Fisher's service in the field, 
liis w ife moved to Arkansas, and in 1864, 
she, in company with Mrs. O. P. Bowser, of 
Dallas, left Carroll county, Arkansas, by 
wagon en route to Texas. Arriving at the 
Arkansas river, they abandoned their wagon 
and rode on horseback from that point to 
Hempstead county, Arkansas, where Mr. 



Fisher joined them. They settled at Rich- 
ardson, Dallas county, where they made their 
home for sixteen years, after which they set- 
tled on the old homestead farm of A. Mc- 
Commas', where they now live. They claim 
that their house is one among the oldest in 
Dallas county, it having been built in 1844, 
or near that time. 

Mr. Fisher is the present County Commis- 
sioner for Precinct No. 1. He is a politician 
of Democratic faith, and is active in public 
affairs. With the exception of the years 
spent in the army, he has devoted himself to 
farming. He is a member of the Masonic 
order, and also of the Baptist Church. He 
has never missed an election since old enough 
to vote, excepting during the war, and then 
voted for Jeif. Davis each time. He has 
never scratched a Democratic nominee. 



AMUEL H. NANCE, farmer, was b:)rn 
in Cass county Illinois, May 21, 1849, 
son of O. B. and Sarah B. Nance, natives 
of Virginia who moved to Kentucky, where 
they were married, and in 1839 to Illinois. 
In the fall of 1851 the father came to Texas 
and bought a section of wild land, which he 
at once proceeded to improve. He added to 
his original purchase until he had at the time 
of his death, in 1874, about 2,000 acres, all 
good land. Of his ten children eight are 
still living, — six of them in this county, one 
in Illinois and one in California. 

Mr. Nance, whose name heads this sketch, 
completed his school days at Marvin College, 
in Waxahachie. After he became of age he 
continued work on the farm. He now has a 
fine farm of 340 acres, all improved, 140 
acres being; in a fine state of cultivation. 

He was married January 12, 1876, to Miss 



i. \ 






HISTOMT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



637 



Lila Piigh, a native of Mississippi and a 
daughter of J. M. Pugh. By tliis tnarriage 
there were two children, both of whom died 
in infancy. November 22, 1882, Mr. Nance 
was married the second time, on this occasion 
wedding Miss R. L. Pogue, a native of Vir- 
ginia and a daugiiter of James and Edna 
Pogue, also natives of the Old Dominion. 
By this marriage there is one son, Olin B. 



€ 



> 



fREDERICK W. PELLENZ, plinnber. 
Dallas, Texas. — No business requires a 
more thorough knowledge of details 
than that which relates to the sanitary condi- 
tion of our houses and public buildings. Of 
late years this subject has received the care- 
ful study of scientific men, who make san- 
itary plumbing a specialty, and the perfec- 
tion to which the science has been brought 
is the best comment upon the intelligence 
which has been devoted to it. In this im- 
portant enterprise, together with handling all 
necessary stock pertaining to the business, 
Mr. Frederick W. Pellenz has achieved a 
well-earned reputation and is a member of 
the firm of Pellenz & Co. He was born 
in New Orleans, Louisiana. May 23, 1856, 
and was the seventh in a family of nine 
children born to William W. and Helen H. 
(Palasier) Pellenz, natives of Louisiana but 
of German origin. The father's birth oc- 
curred at New Orleans, and he was one of 
the veterans of the Mexican war, receiving a 
wound at the battle of Monterey. He was a 
tinner by trade, and at one time (1855) took 
a contract to furnish the city of New Orleans 
with oil lamps for illumina';ion. He was 
elected Captain of Company A, Heavy Ar- 
tillery, of the State militia, and was holding 
that position when he met with the accident 



42 



that caused hie death. He was superintend- 
ing the erection of the first grain elevator 
ever built in the city of New Orleans, and 
while up on the frame woi'k his feet slipped 
and he fell to the ground, a distance of many 
feet, injuring his hip very seriously. He 
went to New York city for treatment, but 
was told that his case was hopeless (as he 
had been told in New Orleans), but he would 
not give up, and went to Paris, France. There 
he received no encouragement, and returned 
to New Orleans, where his death occurred, 
March 30, 1867. He left a wife and five 
children, four sons and a daughter. Two of 
the sons reside ^t Denver, Colorado, and one 
at New Orleans, and the daughter, who is now 
the wife of D. W. Fraek, resides in Denver 
also. The mother's death occurred in Au- 
gust, 1870, when in her fiftieth year. The 
maternal grandfather of the above mentioned 
children, wf^s a gallant soldier in the war of 
1812. 

F. W. Pellenz commenced business for 
himself as collector for a New Orleans firm, 
held the position until his mother's death, 
and then went to Chicago, Illinois, where he 
began working as an apprentice to a contract- 
ing plumber, with whom he remained five 
years, becoming in that time thoroughly 
familiar with his trade. He afterward 
worked for f^nother firm for two years, and 
in 1879, came to Texas, locating at Paris. 
His health was very poor at this time and he 
was advised to rough it on the frontier for a 
few months. He accordingly secured a posi- 
tion on a ranch in western Texas, as a cow- 
boy, and although he weighed but 100 pounds 
when he went there, in a year's time he had 
gained forty pounds. He returned to Chi- 
cago, Illinois, and accepted a position with 
the Detroit Heating and Lighting Company, 
being sent by that company to Fulton, Ar- 



fi38 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



kansas, where he put up an extensive gas 
plant and equipped a large hotel lor the use 
of gas. Returning to Chicago, he engaged 
with another firm and was sent to Hot 
Springs, Arkansas, to do the plumbing and 
steam heating in a large hotel of that city. 
Finishing liis contract, he went to Paris, 
Texas, to do the steam-fitting and plumbing 
in the new jail and courthouse, this being 
the first work of the kind done in that city. 
He subsequently went to Little Rock, Ar- 
kansas, and embarked in merchandising in a 
little town called Galloway, where he was 
made the first Democratic Postmaster in Ar- 
kansas. His predecessor was shot and killed 
by a negro. Mr. Pellenz continued in busi- 
ness in that town for two years, when he 
sold out and went to Kerr, Arkansas, where 
he was again made Postmaster. Shortly after 
his appointment his clerk was assassinated, 
and Mr. Pellenz sold out his stock of general 
merchandise and moved to Dallas, Texas. 
Here he accepted a position with C. E. Hos- 
mer, a contracting plumber of the then young 
city, and remained with him six months. 
From here he went to Austin, where he 
was in the same business for five years, but 
he was then prostrated by a dangerous fever, 
in M'hich he came very near losing his eye- 
sight. He went to New Orleans and after 
a long course of treatment his sight was very 
much improved. After a series of moves to 
various places, Mr. Pellenz located in Gal- 
veston, Texas, where he remained fifteen 
months. 

On the 12th of January, 1887, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Clara Louise 
Polvogt, daughter of F. C. and Elizabeth 
Polvogt, the father a native of Germany but 
of Polish descent. Mr. Polvogt came to 
America at an early day and took an active 
part in the Rebellion, being in the marine 



service and serving on a man-of-war. His 
death occurred during the yellow fever epi- 
demic of 1868. The mother is of German de- 
scentand is oneofatriplet,thethree yet living, 
one in Germany, another in New York city 
and the mother of Mrs. Pellenz, who makes 
her home in Galveston, Texas. After his 
marriage Mr. Pellenz came to Dallas, locating 
here in 1888, the gas foreman of the works. 
A year later he opened up business for liini- 
self and has been doing unusually well. Mr. 
Pellenz is a member of Dallas branch of C. 
K. of A. Lodge, No. 70, and is president of 
the Local Plumbers' Association. In politics 
he is neutral. He and his wife hold inetn- 
bership in the Catholic Chiirch. 

fOHN RAPE, one of the representative 
farmers of Dallas county, was born in 
Sangamon county, Illinois, September 
18, 1842, a son of Jackson and Eliza J (Sump- 
ter) Rape, natives of Tennessee and Maryland. 
The father improved the farm wheie he lived 
until his death, which occurred August 9, 
1889. They were the parents of eight chil- 
dren, six of whom are still living. 

The subject of this sketch came with his 
father to Dallas county in January, 1854, 
and settled on the farm where lie now lives. 
In those early days railroads were unknown, 
and they made the journey in wagons. Mr. 
Rape has followed farming as an occupation 
since coming to this State, except when in 
the service of the Confederate army, when he 
was engaged in the manufacture of fire-arms 
for the soldiers. He first worked at Lan- 
caster, this county, then at Marshall, Texas, 
and at the close of the war he was in the 
shops at Tyler, this State, and had no means. 
He afterward returned to his father's. He 



BISTORT OF DALLAS OOUNTT. 



639 



now occupies the old homestead, of 415 
acres, 125 acres of whicli is in a tine state of 
cultivation. 

Mr. Rape was married January 29, 1862, 
to Miss Julia A., a daughter of Jacob Boyd- 
son, a native of Kentucky. By this union 
there were six children, live of whom survive: 
Mary A., Ida J., William J., Oma D. and 
Hugh E. Mr. Rape lost his wife by death, 
and he was then married to Mary, daughter 
of M. G. Terry, a native of Virginia. They 
have had two children, Rufus H. and Lorena. 
He is a member of the order of Odd Fellows, 
and also of the Christian Church. 






^CH>^ 



^ 



jLLANSON DAWD7, one of the first 
settlers of Dallas county, Texas, is a 
son of Allanson and Nancy (Garrison) 
Dawdy. His father was born in Tennessee, 
July 12, 1786. From there, in 1815, he re- 
moved to Illinois, where he remained till 
death. He was an active member of the 
Baptist Church, and a man of strict integrity 
and good habits. His marriage to Nancy 
Garrison occurred May 12, 1805. To them 
were born twelve children, as follows: James, 
born August 12, 1807, died in 1867; Sarah, 
April 25, 1809, now deceased; Elizabeth, 
June 11, 1811, is a resident of Illinois; 
Howell, January 13, 1813, is deceased; 
Matthew, November 23, 1815; George W., 
March 23, 1819, deceased; Daniel, Novem- 
ber 23, 1870; Rachel, February 27, 1822; 
Nancy, Septembers, 1824, deceased; Allan- 
son, the subject of this sketch; Jesse, April 
8, 1828; William C, June 28, 1831. 

Allanson Dawdy, whose name heads this 
article, was born December 15, 1826. He 
remained with his parents until 1846, when 
he enlisted in the Mexican war and served 



one year; was in the engagement at Buena 
Vista, under. Colonel Hardin. Returning 
from the war, he located in Dallas county, 
Texas. On the Trinity river he ran a ferry, 
known as Dawdy's Ferry. This he continued 
until 1881. In the mean time he purchased 
the farm where he now lives. During the 
civil war he enlisted, in Darnell's regiment, 
under Captain Perry; was in a number of 
skirmishes, and was First Lieutenant. At 
the lime of Lee's surrender he was at Tyler, 
Texas. 

In 1848 Mr. Dawdy was married to Re- 
becca Shelton, daughter of William and 
Elizabeth Shelton, natives of Virginia. For 
his second wife he married Miss Mary Kin- 
ney, and for his present, Mary Batchelor, a 
native of Missouri. 

Mr. Dawdy has had eight children, viz.: 
Samuel W., afarmerof Dallas county, Texas; 
Allanson, Jr., a farmer of Hamilton county, 
Texas; Jane, wife of R. Keithley; William, a 
farmer of Dallas county, Texas; and John 
Jesse, Olie, Byron and Ross, at home. 

Politically, Mr. Dawdy is a Democrat. He 
is a member of the Masonic order and has 
been an active member of the Christian 
Church for several years, and was at one 
time a deacon of the church. 

Such is a brief sketch of one of the pioneer 
settlers and substantial farmers of Dallas 
county. 

fESSE M. RAMSEY, one of the pros- 
perous farmers of Dallas county, was 
born in Pettis county, Missouri, a son 
of Samuel and Salinda Ramsey. The parents 
came to Texas in November, 1845, settling 
on the farm where our subject now lives, 
having bought a patent on 570 acres. The 
father remained here about thirty years and 



640 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTT. 



then moved to near Whitesborough, Grayson 
county, Texas, where he died in the fall of 
1888. He was tlie father of twelve children, 
namely: Martha, William R., John B., Jesse 
M., Mary Ann, James C, Henry, Laura, 
Fannie and Rose. Three of the children died 
when young. Mr. Ramsey's first wife was a 
Miss J^'uller, who died in the winter of 1868, 
at the age of forty-six years. 

Jesse M. was born in 1843, being but two 
years of age when his father settled on the 
place where he now lives. He has about 
1,000 acres of fine black land, 300 acres of 
which is under a Hue state of cultivation. 

He was married in September, 1869, to 
Miss Catherine Trees, the daughter of Craw- 
ford and Annie M. Trees, who were the first 
to procure license to marry after the organiza- 
tion of Dallas county. Mr. and Mrs. Trees 
were natives of Union county, Illinois, and 
came to Texas in April, 1845, taking up the 
land where the father lived until his death, in 
February, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey are 
the parents of three children: W. C, John 
Henry Brown and Winnie Ann. 

Politically, Mr. Ramsey is a Democrat, 
and religiously, is a consistent member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South. By 
close attention and hard work he has gath- 
ered around him considerable of this world's 
goods. 

ffAMES LYONS.— This enterprising 
farmer although not a native of Texas, 
has been identified with the interests of 
this State all his life. 

He was born in Hawkins county, Tennessee, 
February 26, 1853, and that same year his 
father moved to Texas, in wagons, making 
the journey in nine weeks. 

William M. Lyons, his father, was born in 



Hawkins county, Tennessee, May 5, 1824. 
His first wife, who before her marriage was 
Ellen Smith, wedded in Tennessee, and by her 
had two children: Samuel S. and Ellen: the 
former is deceased. For his second wife 
William M. Lyons married Caroline Watter- 
son, daughter of Henry Watterson; she was 
born February, 27, 1825, married William 
M. Lyons, in 1852, and they had four chil- 
dren: James, Rosanna E., Henry W., and 
George M.; James is the only one living; 
Rosanna E. married John B. Harris, and left 
one child, P. Arthur Harris. William M. 
Lyons settled in the eastern portion of Dal- 
las county, where he bought 640 acres of 
land. James Lyons and his mother still live 
on the old place. 

In 1862, William M. Lyons joined the 
Burford legiment. Captain Thomas' Company, 
and went into the Confederate army, believ- 
ing that it was his duty to try to protect the 
rights of the country he lived in: was with 
Price on his raid into Missouri. From ex- 
posure incurred while in service, Mr. Lyons 
was taken sick, and came home on a sick fur- 
lough, where he died, December 3, 1863, aged 
thirty-nine years. His father dying when 
James was only ten years of age, he, being 
the oldest of the family, still lives on the 
land his father purchased. It is located fif- 
teen miles east of Dallas, and eight miles 
south of Garland. 

James Lyons was married, January 10, 
1875, to Miss Lillie Stubblefield, who was 
born in Virginia, April 4, 1856. Her father, 
William Stubblefield, born in Tennessee, July 
27, 1822, was first married to Miss Harriet 
Profit. Three children were born to them : 
Henrietta, John P. and Harriet. Of these 
three only the first named, who is the wife of 
Samuel Logins, is living. For his second 
wife Mr. Stubblefield wedded Miss Margaret 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



641 



Duff, in 1854, she, too, being a native of Vir- 
ginia. Seven children were born to this 
union, namely: Mrs. Lyons; Mollie, wife of 
Gus Jordan; Joseph; William, deceased; 
LuUie; Mattie, wife of Russell Jordan; and 
Charley. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lyons have four children, 
viz.: William, born March 1, 1876; Ina, 
October 4, 1880; John H., November 8, 
1883; and James J., July 11, 1886. 

Mrs. Lyons is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Churfeh. 



aBERT T. BURCHARDT was born 
in Lowenberg, Germany, September 14j 
1864, son of Frederick and Gussie 
(Rouge) Burchardt, natives of Germany, and 
with them, in 1876, emigrated to America 
when he was twelve years old. The family 
came at once to Texas, and settled three miles 
east of Mesquite, where the father bought 
land and improved a farm, fie and his wife 
now reside at Mesquite. The subject of our 
sketch was the fourth-born in a family of ten 
children, whose names are as follows: James; 
Bertha, wife of Henry Brannegen; and Har- 
mon, Albert T., Matilda, Theodore, Charley, 
Frederick, Gussie and Minnie, — all now 
living. 

Albert T. lived with his father until he was 
twenty-two years of age, when he was mar- 
ried to Miss Minnie Bobe, October 8, 1887. 
She was born in Leese^ Hanover, Germany, 
January 27, 1867, and when nine years old 
came to this country with her mother, nee 
Elizabeth Nehrmeyer, who was born in Ger- 
many, July 9, 1842, and married William 
Bobe in 1864. He died in 1876, at the age 
of thirty-four years. The next year Mrs. 
Bobe came from her native land to Texas. 



They had three children, namely: Louisa, 
wife of Michael Greenbaum; Minnie, wife 
of Albert F. Burchardt; Mary, wife of Pole 
Beach. 

Mr. Burchardt began married life with 
little capital save a willing hand, and his 
honest and earnest efforts have been crowned 
with success. He bought a nice farm near 
ISew Hope, in the eastern part of Dallas 
county, and has since improved it, having 
erected a good house, barn and other build- 
ings. His land is all under fence, and his 
pastures are well stocked with horses, mules, 
and cattle. Mr. Burchardt belongs to that 
class of men who make a success of what- 
ever they undertake. He is good-natured, 
open-hearted, and possesses many estimable 
traits of character that render him a good 
neighbor and a most worthy citizen. He and 
his wife are members of the Lutheran Church. 
They have no children. 

PHOMAS McKEE ELLIS, deceased.— 
Another of the pioneers of Dallas 
county, whose name it is the province 
of this work to record in connection with the 
history of his adopted home, is Thomas Mc- 
Kee Ellis, who was of Scotch and Irish 
descent, some of whom served in the Revo- 
lutionary war. He was for nearly a half cen- 
tury a resident of this vicinity. Mr. Ellis 
was a pioneer in the broadest and best sense 
of the word, and came of pioneer ancestry. 

He was born in Abbeville district. South 
Carolina, and there grew to years of maturity, 
but just as he was verging on manhood his 
parents moved to Kentucky, and he accom- 
panied them. However, he only remained in 
that State a short time, for the Territory of 
Illinois had been thrown open to settlement. 



642 



HISTOBT OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



and he moved across the Ohio river and took 
np his residence in what is now Polk county 
of that State. There he was married, about 
1820, the lady whom lie selected as his life 
companion being Mary Witt, a daughter of 
John Witt, then of Polk county, but who 
subsequently became one of the pioneers of 
Dallas county, Texas, where many of his 
descendants now reside. From Polk county, 
Illinois, Mr. Ellis moved to Greene county, 
that State, and thence to Texas, whither he 
came in 1845, and made his first stop in this 
State, in Lamar county. 

After a few months he came to Dallas 
county, which he reached in the month of 
January, 1846. He settled in this county a 
short distance south of where the village of 
Lancaster now stands, and became the pos- 
sessor of 640 acres of land in that localit}'. 
He thus became a resident of the county be- 
fore it was regularly organized, and it is need- 
less to say, therefore, at a time when the 
country was but sparsely settled. Mr. Ellis 
never made but the one !nove, residing till 
the date of his death on the tract of land on 
which he settled when he first came to the 
county. He was not a public character and 
there is nothing therefore to record of him 
of a political nature. He was one of those 
men who always contributed to the solid 
wealth of the community in which they re- 
side by the labor of their bands rather than 
by busying themselves with the affairs of 
others, whether of a public or private charac- 
ter. As a citizen, however, he discharged 
his duties faithfully, rendering such service 
as good citizens are expected to and rendering 
them promptly and cheerfully. He led the 
unpretentious life of a farmer, but as such 
was successful far beyond the average man, 
accumulating considerable property, mostly 
in lands which he managed with discretion 



and from which his children received a large 
share of the benefits. Having been bi-onght 
up at a time when the advantages of an edu- 
cation were not so fully appreciated as at this 
day, and when the facilities for obtaining one 
were by no means what they are now, his 
training in this respect was necessarily neg- 
lected. He did not even have the oppor- 
tunities to make up in some degree for this 
misfortune after growing up, for the reason 
that his youth and early manhood were wholly 
absorbed in the conflicts and rough experiences 
that mark the life of the first settlers in a new 
country, he having resided successively on 
the frontiers of Kentucky, Illinois and Texas 
when the only art at that time known was 
the art of war, the only science the science 
of life as narrowly viewed from the stand- 
point of bread and butter, and the only litera- 
ture taught the plain old Anglo-Saxon of 
our common Bible. Yet, in sound sense and 
discriminating judgment he was not lacking. 
Li all the sterling virtues of manhood he rose 
to the full stature, and his life, though un- 
assuming, was crowded with usefulucBS and 
he left the impress of his character upon those 
by whom he was surrounded. For more than 
thirty years he was a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, and for about fifteen years of his 
later life he was a communicant of the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Church, and while identified 
with that body he lived conscientiously with 
his professions. Quietly at his home, sur- 
rounded by many of his children and old 
friends and amidst the scenes of nearly half 
a century of his labors, he passed away from 
this earth, on the 7th day of March, 1890, at 
the advanced age of ninety-one years, his loss 
most deeply lamented by those who had 
known him longest and best. For the last 
ten years of his life he was blind. The wife 
of his youth who had borne him a faithful 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



643 



companionship througli the long years of his 
toils and hardships, had preceded him to the 
land of rest, about a year, having died also at 
the old home place, on June 26, 1889, aged 
eighty-seven years. She, too, had been a 
member for many years of the Baptist Church 
and was a pious and exemplary Christian 
woman. 

Thomas M. and Mary Ellis were the par- 
ents of eleven children, all of whom grew to 
maturity and were married, and the most 
are living at the present time, and are resi- 
dents of this county. Their eldest, Elizabeth 
Jane, became the wife of John HofFman, of 
Greene county, Illinois, and there died, leav- 
ing one daughter to survive her. The second 
child of Thomas and Mary Ellis, Ellen Ma- 
linda, became the wife of Captain Middleton 
Perry, and at an early day came with him to 
Dallas county, Texas, and are now residing 
in the vicinity of Lancaster; Mary Ann is the 
widow of Jones Greene, of this county; 
Orilla Caroline has been married three times, 
and is now the wife of Judge John Stephens 
of Hillsboro, Hill county, Texas; Margaret 
was married to R. A. Lemmons, of Ellis 
cotmty, of this State, but is now deceased; 
Martha Angelina was married twice, now the 
wife of Thomas Ramby of Dallas county, and 
resides about three miles south of Lancaster; 
Harriet Emeline is the widow of Calvin Tay- 
lor and lives just west of the village of Lan- 
caster; William F., the eldest son, resides in 
Howard county, this State, having spent the 
most of his life, however, in this county, 
where he was reared and where he is well and 
favorably known in the southern part of the 
county; John T. is a resident of Lancaster; 
James Henry resides about one and one-half 
miles east of Lancaster, while the youngest, 
Louisa F., is the widow of W. L. White, who 
was for many years a successful merchant of 



Lancaster, and she still resides in the village. 
Some facts of more general interest concern- 
ing this lady will be found in the sketch of 
her deceased hushand, which appears in the 
biographical department of this work. 



■--^i^i^^^m/^ 



\r<^ 




rlLLIAM A. HARRISON, the sub- 



ject of this sketch, is a native of 
^ Alabama, born August 2, 1854. In 
September, 1875, at the age of twenty-one, 
he came to Texas, and since that time has 
been a resident of this State. The first year 
he hired out to a farmer and the second year 
cultivated land on the shares. December 24, 
1876, he was united in marriage with Miss 
Mary Coyle, and at the time of their marriage 
her father presented them with sivty-five 
acres of wild land. Mr. Harrison at once 
went to work to improve it, and he and his 
wife lived on it for thirteen years. Dispos- 
ing of that property, Mr. Harrison bought 
113 acres where he now lives, and this being 
the best of land he has developed it into a 
fine farm. By honest industry and good 
management he has worked his way up, like 
many other poor boys who came to Texas to 
seek their fortunes, and is now in easy cir- 
cumstances. 

Sidney Harrison, father of William A., 
was born in North Carolina. When a young 
man he went to Alabama and was there 
married to Miss Ruth Brooks, also a native 
of the State of North Carolina. He served 
four years in the Confederate army, and died 
in 1866, soon after his return from the war. 
His wife departed this life in December, 
1873. They had a family of six children, 
whose names are as follows: William A.; W. 
M.; Martha; Mary E.; Lucy, wife of a Mr. 
Rogers; and Julia A., wife of Frank Hall. 



6il 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Mrs. Harrison's father's name was Michael 
Coyle. He was born in St. Francis county, 
Arkansas, May 16, 1829. He came to Texas 
in 1849, and tirst settled in Harrison county. 
On the 6th of January, 1852, he wedded Miss 
Manerva J. Hunter, and in December of the 
following year moved to Dallas county. Mrs. 
Coyle was born in west Tennessee, October 
27, 1827, and came to Harrison county, 
Texas, in 1849. Mr. Coyle laid his claim on 
160 acres of land in the eastern part of Dal- 
las county. He died January 14, 1863, at 
the age of lifty-three years and eight months. 
Mrs. Coyle died January 23, 1888, aged sixty 
years. They were the parents of nine chil- 
dren, three of whom died in infancy. The 
names of the others are: William H.; J. H.; 
M. S.; Mary C, wife of W. A. Harrison; 
Mattie, wife of John T. Luper; and Sallie, 
deceased. 

To William A. Harrison and his wife five 
children have been born: Lieu Emma, Fan- 
nie M., Lillie Bell, Addie Jane and D. W., 
the first and fourth named being deceased. 
Mrs. Harrison is a member of the Christian 
Church. Mr. Harrison is a Democrat in his 
political belief. 



fOHN P. POTTER dates his birth in 
Bedford county, Tennessee, February 17 
1827. His parents, William and Jane 
(Kinby) Potter, were born in the years 1800 
and 1803 respectively. In 1848, when John 
P. was twenty-one years of age, the family 
moved to Texas and settled in Smith county. 
They started South in wagons, but when they 
reached the river found their loads were too 
heavy, so they shipped the family and goods 
by boat, John P. and his father continuing 
on the journey with the teams. The senior 



Mr. Potter bought land in Smith county and 
remained there until his death, which occurred 
in August, 1851, at the age of tifty-one years. 

April 8, 1851, John P. Potter was united 
in marriage with Martha A. Oden, who was 
born in Texas, July 11, 1835, her father, 
Kinchen Oden, having moved with bis family 
from Illinois to Texas that same year. Mr. 
Potter first took a lieadrio-ht of 320 acres and 
improved it to some extent. He subsequently 
sold out and moved on a portion of his father's 
land. He next bought a farm in Tarrant 
county, engaged in tlie stock business and 
remained there two years. Disposing of his 
stock and land, he moved back to Smith 
county, and from there came to Dallas county, 
in 1861, and bought property near Haught's 
Store, where he now lives. At difierent times 
he added to his first purchase until his landed 
estate numbered 1,000 acres. As his children 
grew up he divided his land among them, re- 
taining 600 acres for himself. About half of 
this is under cultivation and all is well fenced. 
Scattered over his estate are tenant houses, 
and as a proof of his kind treatment of and 
just dealings with his tenants we state that 
some of them have been with him fifteen 
years. 

During the Civil war Mr. Potter enlisted 
in the army, in 1863, under Colonel Terrell, 
was in several battles and skirmishes and 
served until the war was over. Returning 
home, he again took up his agricultural pur- 
suits. During his absence much of his stock 
had been taken by the Confederate soldiers. 

Mr. Potter's wife died on the 24th of 
April, 1872, aged thirty-seven years. She 
had borne him nine children, whose names 
are as follows: William L. and Elizabeth, 
both now deceased; Lecie J., wife of D. C. 
Laudess; Mary B., wife of J. M. McKinzie; 
Sarah F., wife of W. H. Lumby; John K., 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



645 



deceased; Frank O.; Robert D.; and Martha 
E., deceased. 

In 1874 Mr. Potter was again married, — 
this time to Mrs. Jane Hill, nee Porter. 

Mr. Potter says that when they came to 
Texas they had little use for money. Year- 
lings were legal tender. If a man owed an- 
other $5 he gave him a .yearling calf. All 
he has Mr. Potter has made for himself 
since he came to Texas, with the exception 
of a few hundred dollars which were left to 
him at his father's death. Having lived here 
forty-three years, he may justly be ranked 
with the pioneers of the State. For seven 
years he has served as Justice of the Peace. 

Mrs. Potter is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

fOSEPH B. L>. YOUNG, real-estate 
dealer and capitalist, is one of the worthy 
pioneers of Texas, without whose per- 
sonal sketch a history of Dallas county would 
not be complete. He is a native of Tennes- 
see, born in Fayette county, April 21, 1836, 
the thirteenth of a family of sixteen children. 
His parents, Samuel and Judith (Palmer) 
Young, were natives of Virginia and removed 
to Tennessee while the Cherokee and Choctaw 
Indians were still in possession of a portion 
of the territory. The father was descended 
from one of the first families of Virginia, 
and was an extensive dealer in live-stock; he 
was also a slave-owner and did a large busi- 
ness in planting. He died in 1844, and his 
wife passed away in 1842. But twelve of 
their children grew to mature years, and only 
two daughters and two sons now survive. 

At the age of fifteen years, Joseph B. D. 
began life for himself. He came to Harrison 
county, Texas, and secured employment on a 



farm; for two years his chief occupation was 
following the plow. His educational advan- 
tages were very meager, and after these two 
years of service he took his earnings and 
went to school for a year; he was a student 
at McKenzie College, one of his fellow 
students being the Hon. John H. Cochran, 
now representing the Sixth Congressional 
District of Texas. He was eighteen years 
old, and almost penniless, but he was pos- 
sessed of a courageous heart, and a will de- 
termined to win the day; with these two 
characteristics, success must come. He soon 
became known as a rising young dealer in 
live-stock, and his judgment became the 
standard of the community. 

Mr. Young was married November 14, 
1867, to Miss Visa Mahon, who was the 
sixth-born of a family of nine children of 
John and Elizabeth (Kinman) Mahon; her 
birth-day was April 27, 1837. Her father 
was a native of South Carolina, and the 
mother was born in the same State; she was 
a cousin of John C. Calhoun. The father 
died in Harrison county, Te.xas, 1868, and 
the mother in 1859. 

In 1871 Mr. and Mrs. Young came to 
Dallas, where Mr. Young has by careful and 
judicious investments acquired an ample 
competency for the coming years. He is 
considered one of the most substantial real- 
estate dealers in Dallas county, and is the 
owner of property valued at $40,000. He 
has contributed liberally both of his means 
and personal effort to all those enterprises 
which go to make a progressive business 
center. He has given to every railroad that 
enters the city, has taken stock in banks as 
they have been organized, and has made 
liberal donations of real estate to the city. 
He owns five acres where his residence is lo- 
cated, and has one of the most delightful 



646 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



homes in tlie city. Two children were born 
to him and his wife, but both are deceased. 

Mr. Young was a soklier in the late war, 
being a member of Company H, Seventh 
Texas Volunteer Infantry; he was in the 
battle of Mansfield and of Shiloh, and in 
many skirmishes; he was in the service three 
years and eight months, although not con- 
tinuously for that length of time. He votes 
with the Democratic party, but takes no act- 
ive interest in the issues of that organization. 

fEROME B. HATCH, deceased, was 
born in Winfield, Herkimer county. 
New York, January 8, 1839, and was 
the fourth son of Jerome L. and Pamelia K. 
Hatch, the parents of eight sons and two 
daughters. At the early age of sixteen years 
Jerome with an elder brother came West, 
stopping at Beloit, Wisconsin. Afterward 
his parents removed to Illinois, and his home 
was with them for several years. He joined 
an Illinois regiment, and was in the Union 
army about two years. His father died at 
Decatur, Illinois, aged sixty- six years; his 
mother is still living, remarkably strong in 
body, with her mental faculties well pre- 
served; she is eighty- live years of age. 

In tlie year 1865, while living in Decatur, 
Illinois, Mr. Hatch was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary J. Alger of Mishawaka, In- 
diana. He tirst came to Texas in the year 
1872, in the interests of the Champion Ma- 
chine Company of Springfield, Ohio. Com- 
ing as far as Viiieta, Indian Territory, by 
rail, then by stage to Denisou and Dallas, he 
traveled over a large portion of the State with 
horses and wagon or by the regular line of 
stage coaches running in those days. Two 
years later, in 1874, he commenced to work 



for D. M. Osborne & Co., of Auburn, New 
York, and remained in their employ until his 
death, managing their extensive business, 
covering the territory of Texas, Louisiana, 
Indian Territory and Mexico. Mr. Hatch 
was a man of push and energy, and soon 
built up a large and profitable business. He 
was interested in and ever reidy to lend a 
helping hand for the up-building and pros- 
perity of Dallas, his adopted home. By 
proper management and close attention to 
business he accumulated considerable prop- 
erty. 

Aside from his home his greatest delight 
was in visiting his extensive stock-farm in 
Denton county, where he was engaged in 
raising fine grades of live-stock, especially 
Holstein cattle. 

Early in January, 1890, his health be- 
gan failing. Soon after, with his devoted 
wife, he went to San Antonio, thence to 
Boerne, Texas, where he died very suddenly 
with hemorrhage of the lungs, March 24, 
1890. His remains are buried in Trinity 
cemetery, this city. His widow, Mary J. 
and married son, Harry J., are now living at 
the old home at the corner of Ervay and 
Cadiz streets. 

EORGE W. LOOMIS, Dallas, was born 
in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1845, a son 
of George and Anna B. (Webb) Loom is, 
natives of New London county, Connecticut. 
The father was a farmer by occupation, and 
and remained in his native State until his 
death, which occurred in 1881; the mother 
died in New London county, in 1887. George 
W. was reared to farm life, and educated in 
the schools of Norwich, Connecticut. In 
1861, he enlisted in Company F, Eighteenth 



HISTORY OF D.iLLAS COUNTY. 



647 



Connecticut Infantry, for three years or dur- 
ing the war. He was in the battle of Bull 
Kun, Winchester, Harper's Ferry, Piedmont, 
Cedar Hill, Fisher's Hill, Lynchburg and 
second battle of Winchester. Mr. Looniis 
was taken prisoner at the first battle of Win- 
chester, and was confined as a prisoner of war 
at Libby and Belle Island prisons for nearly 
eight months. After his release he joined 
his company, and served until the close of 
the war. He received a gun sliot wound at 
the battle of Piedmont and Winchester, and 
vras honorably discharged at Harper's Ferry, 
in June, 1865, and was mustered out of the 
State service at Hartford, Connecticut. The 
same year he came to Galveston, Texas, where 
he remained until coming to Dallas, in 1S74. 
He has made Loomis addition to the city, 
situated in the southern part, in addition to 
which he owns a good farm in Tarrant county, 
4,000 acres in Van Zandt county, and land 
in Hamilton county. 

Mr. Loomis was married in New London 
county, in 1870, to Miss Madeline Austin, a 
native of New York, and daughter of Dr. 
Charles Austin, who died many years ago in 
Connecticut. Mrs. Loomis died in New 
York city, in 1884. Two children were born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Loomis, namely^Frank 
Wells and George Austin : the latter was ac- 
cidentally killed when two years of age. Mr. 
Loomis was again married in May, 1885, in 
Dallas, to Ada Nellie Stone, a native of Iowa, 
and daughter of John and Mary (Morley) 
Stone, natives of England. They emigrated 
to Iowa in an early day, in 1871 to Austin, 
Texas, and in 1873 to Dallas, where the father 
engaged in the agricultural firm of Stone & 
Keating. He was elected Mayor of the city 
of Dallas, but did not serve. His death oc- 
curred in February, 1890, and the mother 
still resides in this city. Mr. and Mrs. 



Loomis have had two children, — Edgar Webb 
and Richard Foster. Politically, Mr. Loomis 
afKliates with the Democratic party, and so- 
cially, he is a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 
70, K. of P., and also of the Uniformed Rank, 
K. of P.; of Dallas Lodge, No. 44, L O. O. F.; 
of Ridgley Encampment, No. 25; and of 
George H. Thomas Post, No. 8. 

,ENJAMIN F. COFFMAN. a rising 
young business man of Dallas, Texas, 
was born in Logan county, Kentucky, 
March 3, 1863, and is a son of W. A. and 
Agnes (Howard) Coffraan. The paternal an- 
cestors emigrated from Germany and settled 
in Virginia and Kentucky. The mother of 
our subject died in Tennessee, in 1878, but 
the father survives and resides in Tennessee. 
There were nine children in the family, three 
of whom are deceased. Four of the brothers 
came to Texas. Benjamin F. received his 
education in the school at Cove Spring, Ken- 
tucky, and at the age of seventeen years 
came to Texas. He settled in Dallas county 
and engaged in agriculture, which he pursued 
three years, coming at the end of that time 
to Dallas, to open a livery stable; for seven 
years he conducted this successfully, and 
then sold out to make another venture; this 
time it was in the real-estate business, in 
which he has been very fortunate. A large 
amount of property has passed through his 
hands, and he has succeeded in placing it all 
to advantage. The Coffraan addition is a 
valuable piece of city real estate, a large por- 
tion of which is still in the original owner's 
hands. 

Mr. Coflfman was married in Dallas, Au- 
gust 4, 1887, to Miss Alice Belle Goble, a 
native of Texas. They have had born to 



648 



EI STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



them two sons, Frank and Lee. Our subject 
is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and 
the entire family belong to the Baptist 
Church. Politically, he atiiliates with the 
Democratic party; he was elected a member 
of the City Council, from the Seventh Ward, 
in May, 1890, although he had strong oppo- 
sition. He is a man who is entirely above 
the corruption of l)arty intrigue, and may 
be depended upon to exert his best efforts 
in behalf of the city's interests. 

jBSALOM S. HUMBARD, a farmer 
residing in Calhoun township, precinct 
No. 1, Dallas county, Texas, dates his 
birth in Greene county, Tennessee, in April, 
1835. Henry Humbard, his father, was also 
a native of that State. His mother, nee Eliz- 
abeth Moleck, was born in Germany, and at 
an early age came to this country, settling in 
Tennessee. Henry Humbard passed his life 
as a skilled blacksmith. At the outbreak of 
the Seminole war he laid aside the hammer 
for the musket, and served under General 
Jackson during the whole period of hostili- 
ties. In 1846 he moved to Bradley county, 
Tennessee, where he died in 1860. 

Absalom S. moved from his native State 
to Jasper county, Missouri, in the fall of 
1852, and engaged in farming there. He 
was married October 6, 1856, to Mary M. 
Cook, a native of Johnson county, Tennessee. 
She was the daughter of William and Rachel 
Cook, also natives of Johnson county. Mrs. 
Humbard's grandfather was Levi Heath. By 
the above marriage there were three children, 
nil of whom are now living within a mile of 
tiieir father's home, namely: Rachel Eliza- 
beth, wife of John R. Carroll, and has five 
children; Nancy Jane, wife of Abraham L. 



Phillips, has four children; and John W. G. 
L., aged fifteen years and at home. 

In 1859 and 1860 Mr. Humbard joined 
the Minnte-men in Jasper county, for 
protection against the Kansas Jayhawkers. 
His regiment selected Judge John R. Shi- 
nault as their colonel. When the Federal 
General Siegel invaded Missouri, Mr. Hum- 
bard joined the State six-months "Guards," 
under General Rains; and when the latter 
was about leaving the State and was at the 
State line, Mr. Humbard told him that if he 
intended to leave the State lie could do so, 
but as for him he would fight by his fireside. 

Returning to Spring river, he recruited 
and organized a squadron of thirty- five men 
and fought through that country until the 
following spring, when he and Major T. R. 
Livingston and Captains Rusk and Robertson 
consolidated their forces and placed Major 
Livingston in command. By the Federals 
this body of men was afterward called Liv- 
ingston's Bloody Spikes. 

In the spring of 1863 Livingston was killed 
in a charge upon the Federals at Stockton, 
Vernon county, Missouri. The command 
then selected Captain Pickler for their leader, 
but he, too, vpas soon afterward killed, in a 
hand-to-hand fight with a Federal soldier. 
Next they selected Captain Percy, and he 
continued to be their leader until they dis- 
banded at Fort Washita, near Bogy depot, 
Chickasaw nation. This command was first 
under General Claiborne Jackson, and after- 
ward under General Price. It was engaged 
in the battle of Pea Ridge, and many 
skirmishes, in what was known as guerrilla 
warfare. In the original muster roll there 
were 115 men, but at the close of the war 
only fifteen men were remaining, 100 having 
been killed ! Mr. Humbard, who had gen- 
erally been employed as the recruiting and 



HI8T0RY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



649 



scouting officer, was wounded five times: 
once in the head by a pistol shot which frac- 
tured his skull, in a hand-to-hand conflict at 
Greenfield, Missouri; once through his right 
arm just below the elbow, breaking both 
bones; once through his hand; and twice he 
received slighter flesh wounds. Two horses 
were shot under him, and several shots passed 
through his clothing. He was taken prisoner 
on the State line between Missouri and the 
Indian nation, by Colonel Clayton, and was 
confined for six weeks in Springfield, Mis- 
souri — at first in the courthouse and after- 
ward in a prison camp — but, with others, he 
made his escape and reached the Confederate 
line. 

In the fall of 1863, when he was in Ar- 
kansas, Federals ordered all rebel families out 
of his neighborhood in Missouri. Receiving 
orders at one o'clock, he mounted his horse 
and found his family about twelve miles 
south of where he had left them. He took 
them to King's river, where sixteen families 
rendezvoused, of whom Captain Reek Johnson 
and sixteen picked men placed themselves in 
Mr. Humbard's charge, against his protest, 
and, pledged to him and to each other to 
obey, came 300 miles south through the 
enemy's lines without any loss, the heroic 
Mrs. Hiimbard driving the wagon most of 
the way, reaching Paris, Texas. Mr. Huin- 
bard kept two men in advance and two men 
iti the rear. They remained at Paris until 
January 1, 1864, at which time Dallas county 
was selected for a home. 

Leaving his family temporarily on the 1st 
of May, he returned to Bradley county, 
Missouri, where he joined his men again. 
After the war closed he returned to Dallas 
county, rented a farm of William Caruth, and 
carried on farming there for two years. He 
subsequently purchased the farm of 160 acres 



where he has since lived. With other lands 
he has managed to accumulate property suffi- 
cient to enable him to live at ease during his 
declining years; has led an industrious life 
and contributed means and influence to the 
best interests of the county, and is one of its 
most respected citizens. He is a member of 
the Farmers' Alliance, a Patron of Hus- 
bandry, and a Knight of Labor; in politics a 
Democrat, a reformer, believing in a govern- 
ment by the people and for the people; and 



in religion he is a Methodist. 



^ 



^ 



A. ROBINSON, a prominent real- 
estate dealer of Dallas, Texas, a man 
* of enterprise, of marked individuality 
and natural business ability, hails from one 
of the leading counties of the old Buckeye 
State. 

D. A. Robinson was born in Belmont 
county, Ohio, June 10, 1848, son of Thomas 
and Martha (Kerr) Robinson, natives of 
Ohio and Maryland respectively. Samuel 
Robinson, grandfather of D. A., went from 
Virginia to Ohio about 1810 and settled in 
Belmont county. He was a soldier in the 
war of 1812; was by occupation a farmer; 
died in 1855, aged eighty-two years. His 
wife was before her marriage a Miss Mary 
McConneil. lu her latter years she was 
blind, and it is recorded of her that during 
the four years of the Civil war her time was 
spent in knitting socks for the soldiers, in 
whom she took an active and sympathetic in- 
terest. Samuel and Mary Robinson were 
the parents of seven children, Thomas being 
the eldest. Only one of the family, David 
W., is now living, his home being on a farm 
in Pottawatomie county, Kansas. Thomas 
Robinson, also a farmer by occupation, died 



650 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



of cholera in 1854, aged forty-two jears, and 
Martha Robinson, his widow, resides with 
her eldest son in Linn conntj, Missouri. 
They had six children, viz.: Saimiel M., a 
farmer of Linn county, Missouri, is married; 
George W., unmarried, a photographer, re- 
sides in Denver, Colorado; Rebecca J., 
widow of Joseph Boggs, resides with her 
children in Belmont county, Ohio; James 
W., married Sarah Doane and lives on a farm 
in Linn county, Missouri; D. A., whose name 
appears above; and Joseph C, who married 
Kate ]\[cAfee, is pastor of the Bresbyteriaii 
Church of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. 
The Rev. Mr. Robinson is a graduate of 
Princeton Theological Seminary, and High- 
land University of Kansas. 

The subject of this sketch received his 
educatioti in the public schools of his native 
county, and for two or three years was en- 
gaged in teaching school in Ohio, beginning 
when he was only sixteen years of age. He 
went from Ohio to Missouri, where he taught 
about three years. Then he read law at Brook- 
iield, Missouri, under Myers & Huston, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1872. He opened 
an office in Brookfield and was engaged in 
the practice of his profession there for a 
number of years. He came to Dallas county, 
Texas, in 1876, and was connected with the 
building and operating (as superintendent) of 
tiie Dallas & Wichita Railroad. He was 
Secretary and one of the charter members of 
the Texas Trunk Railroad Company. In 1879 
he opened a real estate ofKce in Denton. He 
settled in Dallas again in 1888, and since 
that year has been engaged in his present 
business. While in Denton he was Mayor 
of the city two years, being elected in 1882. 
At Brookfield, Missouri, he was a Justice of 
the Peace when only twenty-one years of age. 

Mr. Robinson was married, in 1880, to 



Miss Sarah J. Trimble, daughter of John and 
Catherine Trimble, of Belmont county, 
Ohio. Her father, a respected farmer of that 
place, died in 1876. Her mother is still 
living in Belmont county, having reached 
her seventy -tburth year. Mrs. Robinson is 
one of a family of nine children, seven of 
whom are still living. 

Mr. Robinson takes an active interest in 
political matters, affiliating with the Repub- 
lican party. He was a delegate to the State 
convention tiiat met in Austin in April, 
1880, and has been a delegate to every State 
Republican convention since that time. At 
the National Republican Convention in 
Chicago in 1880 he was one of the 306 dele- 
gates who votbd the thirty-six ballots for IT. 
S. Grant. Mr. Robinson is president of the 
State Republican League of Texas. 



fAMES H. BROWNLEE was born in 
Al)beville, South Carolina, June 1, 1842, 
a son of George Harvey and Malinda 
(Barinore) Brownlee, natives of South Caro- 
lina and of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The great- 
grandfather, George Brownlee, came from 
Ireland and settled in South Carolina. 

When the subject of our sketch was seven 
years old his parents moved to Alabama and 
settled on a farm. There he was reared and 
was quietly engaged in agricultural pursuits 
on the home place when the late war came on. 
He enlisted in Company H, Tenth Alabama 
Regiment, and served in Virginia under Gen- 
eral Robert E. Lee. In the seven days' battle, 
fought at Richmond, he was wounded in the 
right arm, and vras disabled for eight weeks, 
and at Spottsylvania Courthouse he received 
a wound through the body, which rendered 
him unfit for active duty. After the war he 



HISTORY OV DALLAS COUNTY. 



651 



returned to Alabama and remained there one 
year. 

October 24, 1865, Mr. Brownlee married 
Miss AUie Pyles, a native of Alabama and a 
daughter of Lewis and Melinda (131ackbnrn) 
Fyles, natives of South Carolina. October 
10, 1866, he started for Texas, and arrived 
here January 7, 1867, after having been bed- 
ridden from the effects of his wound. Here 
he purchased 205 acres of wild land, which he 
improved, now having one of the finest farms 
in the county, having added to his first pur- 
chase 200 acres more. He gives his atten- 
tion to general farming and stock-raisins:, 
and in his various undertakings has met with 
eminent success. 

Seven children have been burn to Mr. and 
Mrs. Brownlee, four of whom are living, 
namely: Jessie, wife of M. F. Winter, of 
Dallas county; and Pearl, James and Ralph. 
He and his wife are members of the Baptist 
Church. Fraternally, he is an A. F. & A. 
M.; politically a Democrat. 

r?rW: ALTER R. STOVALL, a prominent 
- A/An physician and surgeon, has been ideu- 

C^^^\ tilled with the interests of Dallas 
county since February, 1882. 

Born in Carroll county, Mississippi, March 
10, 1853, the Doctor is a son of David G. and 
Mary (McNeal) Stovall. His father was also 
a native of that county, born in 1821, son of 
John Stovall, who was probably of German 
origin, and who went fronj Georgia to Mis- 
sissippi at an early day. David G. Stovall 
was reared on a farm in Mississippi and was 
there married to Mary McNeal, a native of 
South Carolina. Her father died in Georgia 
while the family were en route from South 
Carolina to Mississippi when she was a child, 



and in the latter State she was reared. To her 
and her husband were born si.x children, five of 
whom are still living. In 1861, about the 
time the war begun, Mr. Stovall died, leaving 
his widow with a family of small children. 
Her property was soon afterward confiscated, 
but, notwithstanding her losses, she managed 
to rear her children and give them a good 
education. In February, 1882, she sold her 
property in Mississippi and came with her 
family to Dallas county, Texas, where she has 
since resided. The names of her six children 
are as follows: Walter R., the subject of 
this sketch; Eugenia, wife of S. H. Gran- 
them, of this county; Ella, wife of James 
Drew, of this county; D. J., a farmer, and 
also of this county, and Alta G. Eflie died 
in infancy. Mrs. Stovall is a member of the 
Baptist Church. Her husband was an hon- 
ored member of the A. F. & A. M. 

Dr. Stovall lived on a farm and taught 
school until he reached his majority. His edu- 
cation was obtained at the Winona College 

to 

of Mississipi. At the age of eighteen he 
began the study of medicine, reading the 
medical books he obtained from the physi- 
cians of his town. He took his first course of 
lectures in the winter of 1874 and '75, at the 
Atlanta Medical College, Georgia, and grad- 
uated in the winter of 1877 and '78 at the 
University of Louisiana, New Orleans, now 
known as the Tulane University. He began 
practice in the spring of 1875 at Sidon, Le 
Flore county, Mississippi, where he remained 
until the fall of 1876, after which he located 
in Montgomery county, what was formerly a 
part of Carroll, where he remained until he 
came to Texas. Here he first settled at 
Grand Frairie, continuing there until De- 
cember 3, 1890, when he came to West Dal- 
las. He has met with eminent success in 
the practice of his profession, and is recog- 



652 



HISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



nized as one of the most skillful physicians 
in this section of the country. 

He was married December 16, 1890, to 
Miss Mattie A. Watson, a native of Tarrant 
county, Texas, and a daughter of Alfred Wat- 
son, a jjrominent pioneer of this State, who 
came here from Winchester, North Carolina. 
The Doctor is a member of the Baptist and 
his wife of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. Fraternally, he is associated with 
the A. F. &, A. M., Mountain Creek Lodge, 
No. 511, and has filled the chairs of Senior 
Warden and Master Deacon. 



-»fe 



^^^^ 



AMUEL C. PHELPS, Je., was born in 
Licking county, Ohio, November 21, 
1822, and raised on a farm where dai- 
rying was a specialty. March 4, 1849, he 
married Miss Sybil I3aker, a daughter of Ar- 
temas and Hettie Baker. She was born in 
1822, was a lady of education and refinement, 
and taught school for a number of years. 
They moved to Texas in 1851, landing in 
this neighborhood about the 20th of October. 
He dealt in cattle and made cheese for a year 
or two, then bought this land, 320 acres, on 
which he died. When he made the purchase 
he paid for it and got a clear title; the pay- 
ment left him without a team and almost 
penniless. He went to work full of hope, 
and with industry and economy soon became 
independent. By his continued industry he 
kept adding to his property until he died. 
He enjoyed life and took pride in making 
others who came about him enjoy themselves. 
He lived all his life free of debt and owed no 
man, when he came to die, anything but good 
will. 

To him and his good wife were born three 
children: Artenias, Elizabeth E. and Samuel 



0. Artemas was born in Licking county, 
Ohio, January 2, 1850, and is now living 
with his stepmother on the old homestead. 
His health has never been good, and has been 
declining for the past few years. Elizabeth 
was born in Dallas county, Texas, October 29, 
1851, is now a stout, healthy woman, tlie 
mother of ten children. She is the wife of 
W. 8. Lewis, a prosperous farmer and stock- 
raiser of Tarrant county. Samuel C. was 
born here on the old homestead, on Septem- 
ber 10, 1854; was raised on the old farm, a 
farmer; is now married, has one child and is 
now with his family living in Greer county, 
Texas. He is a stout, healthy man, and a 
dealer in general merchandise. Mrs. Phel])s, 
the mother of Artemas, Elizabeth and Sam- 
uel C, was a refined, educated woman, and 
taught school for some years before she was 
united with Mr. Phelps in marriage. She 
lived and died an honored member of the 
Christian Church. Her death occurred in 
March, 1859. 

Mr. Plielps, for a second wife, married 
Jane Christian, the widow of T. J. Christian 
and daughter of L W. and Amy Tuttle. Mrs. 
Christian, when she married Mr. Phelps, was 
the mother of one daughter, who was bora 
August 24, 1853, in Harrison county, Texas; 
she is now the wife of Thomas J. Parks, who 
is a prosperous farmer in this county, owning 
300 acres of land. She is the mother of six 
children. T. J. Christian, the first husband 
of Mrs. l^helps, died in Grimes county, Texas, 
October 7, 1858, of pneuinonia. Mr. Phelps 
and Jane Christian were married February 
27. 1860, and they had two children: Alice, 
born February 6, 1861, on the old homestead, 
is now the wife of Tell Perry, of Greer 
county, Texas. Her husband is a farmer and 
dealer in general merchandise. Alice re- 
ceived a good common-school education, then 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



653 



attended a State normal school, after whieli 
she taught school for some years before she 
was married. Nancy, the second daughter, 
was born January 3, 1863, on the old home- 
stead, and died January 1, 1865. 

Mr. Phelps was married to his second wife, 
Jane, on the eve of the great trouble between 
the States. His sympathies were with the 
Union cause. Under force of circumstances 
he went into a company of home guards, 
marched to Bonham and was there, with 
other Union sympathizers, detailed to go 
home and thrash grain for the people, in 
which capacity he remained during the war. 
He never was treated badly by the Confed- 
erate element of the country. 

At the close of the war he served as County 
Commissioner, under appointment. From 
that time to the day of his death he was 
among the foremost in all the labor aud po- 
litical reforms. He depended on his good 
actions toward his fellow men for his happi- 
ness, both here and hereafter. He lived and 
died without enemies, because he took pains 
not to interfere with other people's business. 
Samuel C. Phelps died February 25, 1891. 

D. WYLIE, one of the most promi- 
nent citizens of northern Texas, 
' ® was born in Coshocton, Ohio, in 
1838, but passed his early youth in Pennsyl- 
vania, and West Virginia. His grandfather, 
Rev. William Wylie, D. D., was for forty 
years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church 
in Wheeling, West Virginia, and finally died 
there in that city, aged ninety years. His 
father, Rev. Joseph S. Wylie, was born in 
Wheeling, and educated at Washington Col- 
lege, Pennsylvania, and Princeton College, 
New Jersey. Other eminent members of 

43 




the family were: Samuel B. Wylie, who was 
president of the Pennsylvania University, 
and Rev. Dr. Andrew Wylie, president of 
Washington College, Pennsylvania, and later, 
of the Indiana State University at Blooming- 
ton; J. S. Wylie, his only brother, who is 
president of the Iowa Northern Railroad 
Company and of the Northwestern Coal 
Dealers' Association at Davenport, Iowa. His 
only sister, Mrs. E. W. Cushing, resides in 
Atlantic, Iowa. Other ancestors and rela- 
tives also have been prominent in the educa- 
tional or business world. His mother, whose 
maiden name was Miss Hester Moore, was a 
daughter of David Moore, one of the early 
pioneers of Ohio, who inaugurated iron manu- 
facturing in that State, and who built the fur- 
nace known as the Mary Ann furnace in Lick- 
ingcounty,Ohio; was born atNewark, Licking 
county, Ohio, of a family of long American 
ancestry, someof whom have been in Govern- 
ment employ for half a century. She died in 
Atlantic, Iowa, in 1889, aged eighty-six 
years. 

Mr. Wylie, studious in his younger days, 
enjoyed a term at Jefferson College, Can- 
noiisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1852 he went 
to Iowa, with his guardian, S. C. Bever, 
president of the First National Bank of Ce- 
dar Rapids, that State. In 1858, he was 
clerk of the United States District Court, 
under Buchanan, when Judge Love was pre- 
siding in the western district of Iowa, at 
Des Moines. In the meantime Mr. Wylie 
was studying law, and in 1860 he was ad- 
mitted to the bar. 

At the first note of war he joined the Capi- 
tal Guards at Des Moines, and afterward the 
Second Iowa Infantry, under Captain Crocker 
and afterward Colonel Curtis, from Keokuk, 
Iowa. Though a boy, he took an active 
part in the election when Douglas was a can? 



654 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



didate for President of the United States in 
1860, and he has ever since been an ardent 
and constant Democrat. While in the service 
he was appointed as guard of the Hannibal 
& St. Joseph railroad; then he was ordered 
to Louis, Missouri, as Hospital Steward at 
the Fifth Street Hospital; shortly afterward 
he was detailed to take charge of the hospital 
on the steamer Warsaw and proceeded with 
the steamer to Bird's Point. He was with 
the regiment at Shiloh, taking part in the 
battle at that place, and was seriously 
wounded twice. Though not fit for service, 
he was appointed Hospital Steward in the 
United States army, and ordered back to Ben- 
ton Barracks, where he took charcre of all the 
hospitals, with Colonel B. L. Bonneville in 
command. While on duty he met and made 
the acquaintance of Miss. Emma Wilmans, and 
on September 26, 1862, in St. Louis, they 
were married. Miss Wilmans was the 
daughter of Caleb Wilmans, of Fairfield Illi- 
nois, one of the early pioneers and manufact- 
urers of that State; her mother was a Miss 
Ridgway of Philadelphia, and cousin of Hon. 
Thomas Ridg%vay of Illinois. While in 
charge of the hospital he was presented with 
a beautiful sword, which, however, during 
the excitement and confusion of war was 
lost, and was not found for twenty-five years, 
when it came to hand tliroucr;h the instru- 
mentality of Captain Brown, an old friend. 
His sister, having obtained a clue to its 
whereabouts, sent to her brother in Texas, 
George Brown of the Texas Pacific Railroad 
at Fort Worth, who returned it to the owner. 
It is a priceless heirloom. 

From Benton Barracks Mr. Wylie went 
to Memphis, Tennessee, but the old wound 
was so painful that he resigned and entered 
the grocery business there. Soon, how- 
ever, a call came from the Government for 



reinforcements; and he was appointed Lieu- 
tenant Colonel of the Second Regiment of 
Militia for the protection of the city of 
Memphis. After a short residence there he 
went to the mouth of White river and in 
connection with Dr. Wilmans opened a plant- 
ation, and also established a wood-yard to 
supply United Stat:s boats. General Rey- 
nolds with a force occupied the premises and 
destroyed both wood-yard and plantation. 
He then moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, 
where he was Justice of the Peace and Police 
Magistrate, and two years acting Mayor, and 
also took a leading part in the affairs of State. 
He was appointed by the Shreveport Board 
of Trade, and city of Shreveport, to represent 
that city at Washington to obtain Federal 
aid in improving Red river, and especially to 
remove that fatal obstruction to navigation, 
the great " Raft." For this purpose he spent 
years in Wasiiington, finally succeeding. It 
is therefore due to his tact and skill that that 
river was opened to navigation and com- 
merce. The ten years while he was in Wash- 
ington were especially fruitful of legislation 
in the interests of the South, in all of which 
he aided. He was instrumental in orwanizina: 
the Shreveport & Southwest Railroad Com- 
pany, of which he was secretary. After get- 
ting its construction under full headway he 
sold it to the Houston & Texas Central Rail- 
road Company. 

In 1880 he returned to Washington, and 
in his room there the Chicago, Texas & Mex- 
ican Central Railroad Company was organ- 
ized, and he came to Dallas to help build it, 
after successfully inaugurating its construc- 
tion, when the road was purchased by the 
Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Com- 
pany. Then he returned his attention to 
real estate; but the Santa Fe railroad system 
soon claimed his services, and he was em- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



655 



ployed in tbat enterprise two years. Then lie 
was manager of the right of way for the Cot- 
ton Belt. Next, with a number of Dallas 
capitalists, he built the West Dallas railroad, 
having previously, in connection with his as- 
sociates, made large purchases of real estate 
along its line. 

Thus it may be briefly seen how active and 
efficient he has been in some of the promi- 
nent enterprises inaugurated for the develop- 
ment of the New South, and he has been 
likewise active, from the very close of the war, 
in movements for the reconciliation of the 
North and South, beginning in this noble 
work long before the voice of the eloquent 
and immortal Grady of Atlanta was heard for 
national amity. He was Sergeantat- Arms for 
the Senate Committee to investigate the 
negro e.xodus, and his voice and pen were busy 
in bringing to light the truth. 

In 1885 he organized the Department of 
Texas of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
and was its first Commander. Although he 
is fearless in the advocacy of his principles, 
the veterans of the Southern army hold him 
in grateful and honored respect for his eiforts 
in bridging over the •' bloody chasm." As an 
orator he is eloquent and forciable, having 
great magnetism to draw his hearers quickly 
into sympathy with him. His language is 
clear, diction faultless, and his services are 
in constant demand for all public occasions. 
He is loyal in his friendships, steadfast in his 
devotion to his convictions, unflinching in 
his personal integrity, and is a type of perfect 
manhood. He has a charming home at Oak 
Cliff, where he freely and unostentatiously 
dispenses hospitality. He has a happy 
family. His children are named: William 
D., Jr., Harry W., Robert Augustus, Joseph 
W., Emma, now the widow of J. M. Ballard 
of Dallas Texas, with two children, — Emma 



and John M., Jr.; and Nellie, now the wife of 
Thomas S. Holden, who is one of the firm of 
the Schnider & Davis, wholesale grocery com- 
pany, of Dallas, Texas. The eldest son, W. D. 
Wylie, Jr., is at present assistant ticket 
agent of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Rail- 
way Company at Dallas; the second son, 
Harry, is in the printing business at Dallas, 
Texas; Joe, the third son, is now the private 
secretary of the Texas car exhibit under the 
management of JM^ajor W. B. Slosson: they 
have two cars with their exhibit traveling 
over the Unite! States, showing the vast re- 
sources of the State of Texas. Recently Mr. 
Wylie has been appointed Land and Tax 
Commissioner of the St. Louis Southwest- 
ern Railway Company (the Cotton Belt). 



^^lUILLIAM B. GRIBBLE is a son of 
^-Wiwfl Joseph Gribble, who was born in 
l-<2^4 England in 1817. Coming from 
England to America in 1859, his father lo- 
cated in Cooper county, Missouri, where he 
remained two years, and from there went to 
Moniteau county, same State. In 1881 he 
moved to Texas, and here died in 1883. He 
was engaged in the insurance business after 
the war till coming to Texas, prior to which 
time he was engaged in speculating in live 
stock, having been successful in all his various 
undertakings. He was liberal almost to a 
fault. Socially, he was a member of the 
Masonic order; politically, a Democrat; re- 
ligiously, a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church South. He was a liberal sup- 
porter of the church and a prominent and 
active member. At the time of his death he 
was a contractor on the construction of the 
Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis railroad. 
In 1844 Joseph Gribble married Miss Eliza- 



656 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



beth Curtis, who was born in England in 
1816. She, too, was a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church South. She was a 
very unpretentious woman, but was always 
to be relied upon in times of need or distress. 
She and her husband were the parents of 
seven children, of whom only the subject of 
this sketch reached adult age. The mother 
died about three months after the father, 
apparently of a broken heart. 

William B. Gribble was born in Devon- 
shire, England. In 1848 he went to Cardiff, 
Wales, where he remained until 1859, when 
the family came to America. He remained 
with his parents until he was twenty-four 
years of age, but engaged in the furniture 
and lumber business at the age of twenty- 
one, in Moniteau county, Missouri. At the 
age of twenty-four he left the parental roof, 
went to Indian Territory, and for two years 
and a half was engaged in farming there. 
He then moved to Dallas county, Texas, set- 
tled about four miles south of Wheatland, 
remained at that place three years, thence to 
a point about two miles south of Wheatland, 
and from there, in 1883, to Wheatland. At 
the latter place he engaged in the general 
merchandise business. Notwithstandinof he 

o 

has met with heavy loss by fire since locating 
here, he has again established himself in 
business and now has a thriving trade. 

In 1871 Mr. Gribble was married to Miss 
Nancy M. Spence, daughter of Elijah and 
Nancy M. Spence, and their union has been 
blessed with four children : Samuel J., Charles 
M., Fannie L., deceased, and George L. 

Mr. Gribble is in comfortable circum- 
stances. He has not made it the goal of his 
ambition to accumulate a fortune, but rather 
to do right; consequently, he has the unlim- 
ited respect of the entire neighborhood. Both 
he and his wife are members of the Method- 



ist Episcopal Church South. He is a Stew- 
ard and Trustee of the church and secretary 
of the Sabbath-school. For a number of 
years he has been a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, and is now Postmaster. 

EOF. JAMES REID COLE, A. M , has 

W a national celebrity as a teacher, for, be- 
^^ sides being a scholar in every sense of the 
term, he is also a fine disciplinarian, and the 
institutions of which lie has had the inanage- 
ment have been models in their way. He 
was born in North Carolina, in November, 
1839, son of William Carter Cole, a native 
Virginian, who became a resident of the Old 
North State, where lie was called from life. 
He was a soldier in the war of 1812, but 
after the war he was a planter, a magistrate 
and a minister of the gospel, and was very 
earnest in his laliors for the good of humanitv. 
His second wife was a Miss Murphy, of Vir- 
ginia, in which State she breathed her last. 
He was of English descent, his ancestors 
coming to Virginia about 1660. The subject 
of this sketch was the youngest of his par- 
ents' children, and attained to man's estate in 
North Carolina, his education being obtained 
in private schools and the Caldwell Institute, 
then under Prof. Holbrook, of Harvard Col- 
lege. He entered Trinity College of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South, in which 
institution he remained four years, taking the 
degree of A. B. In 1866 he took the degree 
of A. M. 

After his graduation in 1861 he joined a 
military company as a private, but afterward 
became a member of the Second North Caro- 
lina Cavalry, was transferred to different com- 
mands, being promoted until he reached the 
rank of Colonel, for meritorious service. A 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



657 



brother, wlio held the rank of Colonel, was 
killed while in the service. After the close 
of the war Prof. Cole returned to Greensboro, 
North Carolina, his home, where he taught 
school for one year. In 1866 he came to 
Texas as professor of ancient languages in 
McKenzie College in Red River county, which 
was under the auspices of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church South. In 1867 he went to 
Grayson county and took charge of an insti- 
tute there. In 1869 he was elected to the 
State Legislature and served four sessions, 
being on the Committee of Education and 
giving his attention especially to the educa- 
tional interests of the State. In 1873 he was 
elected to serve as Clerk of the Senate, and 
at the Democratic State Convention of that 
year a majority of the delegates offered to 
nominate him as Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, but he declined. In 1876 Prof. 
Cole was elected president of the North 
Texas Female College, the management of 
which institution was in his hands until 
1878, after which he was elected professor 
of English language, literature and history 
in the A. & M. College, at Bryan, Texas, and 
there remained until 1885. He next became 
Superintendent of tlie Public Schools of Abi- 
lene Texas, which he organized and of which 
he had control for four years, during which 
time they were greatly improved in many 
ways. In 1889 he came to Dallas, Texas, 
and establislied the well known educational 
institution known as Cole's Select School, 
which is admirably conducted and which is 
justly acknowledged to be one of the leading 
schools of the State. The Professor's success 
as an educator has been marked, and he com- 
mands not only the respect but the affection 
of his pupils. 

He was married in 1868, on the 5th of 
May, to Miss Mary P. King, a native of Ten- 



nessee and a daughter of Dr. King, whose 
father was one of the pioneers of that State. 
Her father came to Texas in 1852, and still 
resides on the property on which he first set- 
tled in Grayson county. To the professor 
and his wife nine children have been born. 
The two eldest daughters received their edu- 
cation at home, under their father and the 
best private teachers that could be procured, 
the one excelling in music, the other in art. 
Prof. Cole is a member of the Knights of 
Pythias, a Royal Arch Mason, and has long 
been a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South. He has always supported the 
men and measures of the Democratic party, 
and his reasons for his convictions, both po- 
litical and otherwise, are always clear and 
well defined. He is probably as line an ex- 
ample of the perfect teacher as there is in 
the South, and his reputation as an able in- 
structor is well established. 

OLOMON BRUNDAGE.— On his farm 
of 240 acres, lying south of the city of 
Dallas fifteen miles and two miles west 
from Lancaster, can be found the subject of 
this sketch, one of the prosperous and repre- 
sentative citizens of Dallas county. 

Solomon Brundage was born in Sangamon 
county, Illinois, A])ril 5, 1826, son of Daniel 
and Mary (Kendall) Brundage, natives of 
Gallatin county, Kentucky. His parents 
lived in Kentucky until four or five years 
after their marriage, when they moved to 
Illinois and took up a Government claim in 
Sangamon county. At that time there was 
only one log cabin where the city of Spring- 
field now stands. Mr. Jjrundaae at once set 
about improving his land, and remained there 
until 1856, when he sold out his possessions 



658. 



EISTOBT OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



and started overland for Texas. November 
15, 1856, be landed in Lancaster, this county. 
He bought a farm west of Lancaster four 
miles, and there spent the residue of his days 
and died. He was a farmer, from his boy- 
hood all through life, and his education was 
such as the common schools of Kentucky 
aiforded then. He was the father of eight 
children that lived to be grown and married: 
William H., J. A., Solomon, John C, Daniel 
H., Albert, Susan E., Annie E. and Minnie. 
Of these, four sons and one daughter still 
sui-vive: James A. resides in Excelsior 
Springs, Missouri; John C, Dallas county, 
Texas; Daniel H., Sangamon county, Illi- 
nois; Susan E., wife of Lelian Moore, Se- 
daiia, Missouri. 

Solomon lived on the farm with his father 
until he reached his twenty- third year. He 
was then married, December 12, 1848, to 
Julia Cam bell, daughter of Thomas and Eliz- 
abeth (Robertson) Cambell, who went from 
Kentucky to Illinois. After his marriage he 
bought a farm and began working for himself. 
In 1856 he sold ojit his possessions and came 
with his father to Texas. He first bought 
land three miles west of where he now lives, 
which he at once set about improving. 

His war recoi'd is an honorable one. Dur- 
ing the trouble with Mexico, when he was 
only twenty years of age, he enlisted in the 
Fourth Illinois Regiment, under Colonel 
Baker, and was in the service twelve months. 
He was among the first that were called out 
as twelve months' volunteers. Having served 
his time, he was honorably discharged and 
returned to his home in Illinois. When the 
Civil war came on he enlisted, in 1862, in 
Warren B. Stone's regiment, but he was 
afterward commanded by Colonel Isham 
Chisam. He served three years, during 
which time he participated in several im- 



portant engagements, being with the forces 
that operated west of the Mississippi river. 
After the general surrender in 1865 he re- 
turned to his home. His career, in some re- 
spects, has been a remarkable one. Although 
he has served through two wars he was never 
sick a day, never wounded and never lost a 
day from service. 

In August, 1863, while Mr. Brundage was 
in the Confederate lines, his wife died. In 
1864, he was united in marriage with Miss 
Martha J. Barrow, a native of Wisconsin and 
a daughter of David and Julia Barrow. He 
has never been blessed with children. 

Mr. Brundage is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church South. His political 
views have ever been in harmony with Dem- 
ocratic principles. 

ROBERT A. BLAIR, D. D. S., of Dallas, 
S Texas, who has proven quite an acqui- 
sition to the dental profession, is worthy 
of a space in the annals of his adopted home. 
He was born in the State of Alabama in 1865, 
and is a son of Thomas H. and Mary J. 
(Colvinj Blair, natives of South Carolina and 
Alabama respectively. The father was a mer- 
chant and planter, and died at the acre of 
fifty years. His wife passed away one year 
before his death. They reared six children, 
of whom the Doctor is the fifth-born and 
only son. He received his elementary educa- 
tion in the private schools, and at the age of 
fourteen years he entered the University of 
Alabama, and was graduated at the age of 
eighteen years, the youngest member of his 
class. At the age of nineteen years he came 
to Terrell, Texas, and helped to make the 
first brick that was used in the construction 
of the asylum at that place. He then turned 



HISTOEV OF DALLAS COUNT F. 



659 



to agricultural pursuits, but soon came to 
Dallas and began the study of dentistry. To 
complete his work he entered the Baltimore 
College of Dental Surgery, and was gradu- 
ated in the class of 1888, taking his degree 
of D. D. S. with high honors. He then re- 
turned to Dallas and practiced with his pre- 
ceptor for one year and a half, in February, 
1889, he opened an ofHce of liis own in the 
North Texas National Bank building, which 
he fitted up in the most approved style, both 
from a professional and artistic view. He 
has met with remarkable success. By giving 
to each patron his best effort he has inspired 
a conlidence that has already brought its re- 
ward by a constantly increasing patronage. 

Dr. Blair is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
and of the Uniformed Rank of K. of P. He 
has a frank, generous nature, and is a fine 
example of the generation which has sprung 
into existence since the war. 



^ 




S. RICKETTS, one of the enter- 
prising citizens of Dallas county, 
was born in Warren county, Ken- 
tucky, near Bowling Green, a son of Zede- 
kiah and Margaret (Dews) Ricketts, natives 
of Maryland and Virginia, respectively. W. 
S., the fourth of eight children, was born 
November 19, 1824, and April 6, 1847, he 
landed in Dallas county, with his father's 
family. He remained on their farm, seven 
miles south of Dallas three years, after which 
he went to California, where he was quite 
successful as a miner. He returned to Texas 
in 1853, and invested his accumulations in 
stock and lands, on which he has since re- 
sided, devoting his time principally to stock- 
raising. He has added to his land from time 
to time, until he now owns 700 acres, 150 of 



which is under a fine state of cultivation. 
During the war Mr. Ricketts supplied the 
beef for the Confederate army, in which ca- 
pacity he served two years and six months. 

Shortly after his return from California he 
married Miss Sarah A. Wampler, a daughter 
of Thomas J. and Nancy (Ray) Wampler, 
natives of Pennsylvania, who came to 
Texas in 1848. Mr. and Mrs. Ricketts are 
the parents of nine children, seven of whom 
are still living, viz. : James M., Luther W., 
Martha E. (deceased), Nancy J. (deceased), 
Mary, William A., Ruth A., Thomas Z. and 
David S. Having had the misfortune to lose 
his first wife by death, Mr. Ricketts was mar- 
ried the second time, July 19, 1880, to Mrs. 
Mary E. Baggett, a daughter of E. Bryson, of 
Ellis county, Texas, and they have two sons, 
Jefi"erson S. and Lonzo B. Mr. Ricketts is 
a member of the Christian Church, and is an 
ordained minister of that church. He has 
lost his second wife; has two sons and one 
daughteir living at Clayton, New Mexico; 
the other members of the family are living in 
Dallas and Ellis counties, Texas. 



fAMES RUSSELL, Lisbon, Texas, has 
been a resident of Dallas county since 
1880, and is thoroughly identified with 
its best interests. A brief biography of him 
is herewith given. 

James Russell was born in 131ount county, 
Tennessee, March 22, 1822, a son of Heze- 
kiah and Margaret (Gouger) Russell. His 
father was born in Carter county, Tennessee, 
d. son of Mr. William Russell, the former 
a native of England and the latter of 
Scotland. William Russell came to America 
with his parents when he was a boy, and pre- 
vious to the Revolutionary war, their family 



coo 



HISrOSY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



being among the pioneers of Carter county, 
Tennessee. The mother of our subject was a 
native of JMorth Carolina. She was married 
to Mr. Russell in JMorth Carolina, and soon 
afterward they settled in Tennessee. In 1830 
they removed to Morgan county, Illinois, 
where they resided until death. They reared 
a family of eleven children, five of whom are 
still living, James being the seventh-born. 
He received his education in the subscrip- 
tion schools, held in the primitive log school 
houses, attending about three months each 
year, and remained with his parents until he 
was twenty-four years old. 

January 4, 1849, Mr. Russell wedded Miss 
Elizabeth Fridmoore, a native of Virginia, 
born in Grayson. She is a daughter of 
Thomas Laudreth and Martha (Burton) 
Pridmoore, members of old Virginia fami- 
lies and of English and Welsh descent. They 
moved from Virginia to Indiana, and subse- 
quently to Illinois. After his marriage, the 
subject of our sketch located on a farm in 
Clay county, Illinois, where he resided seven 
years. He then returned to Morgan county, 
Illinois, and continued farming operations at 
that place until 1865; thence to Buchanan 
county, Missouri, where he farmed for two 
years; returned to Illinois and spent the win- 
ter, returning the following April to Mis- 
souri and locating in Knox county; two 
years later moved to Barry county, same 
State; in 1877 came to Texas, spent one year 
in Dallas and one year in Grayson county; re- 
turned to Barry county, Missouri, and two 
years later came again to Dallas county, and 
here he has since resided. He purchased 400 
acres of improved land in precinct No. 5, on 
which he is engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

Mr. and Mrs. Russell have had seven chil- 
dren, Hve of whom survive, namely: Eliza- 
beth, wife of John Howard, is deceased; 



Margaret, wife of Jacob Long, is deceased; 
Uezekiah, Nathaniel, of Montague county, 
Texas; James B. and Thomas P., both of 
Dallas county: and Susan E., wife of David 
H. Long, of the State of Washington. Mrs. 
Russell is a member of the Christian Church. 
Politically, Mr. Russell is a Democrat. 
During the Mexican war he served one year 
under General Wool, and participated in the 
battle of Buena Vista. Reared to habits of 
industry, and possessing keen foresight and 
good judgment, he has prospered in a finan- 
cial way. Besides his home farm he owns 
640 acres of land in Presidio county and 320 
acres in Polk county, Texas. 

||SAAC CARTER, one of the early settlers 
|r| of Dallas county, was born in Surry 
^ county. North Carolina, in 1813, a son of 
John and Nancy (Williams) Carter, also 
natives of North Carolina. The parents both 
died in their native State, the father about 
1846, and the mother a few years after- 
ward. Isaac was reared on a farm in North 
Carolina until twenty-three years of age, 
when he went to Jackson county, Missouri, 
and engaged in the milling business. In 
1848 he removed to Cass county, same 
State, and followed farming until coming to 
Dallas, Texas, in 1851. Mr. Carter first set- 
tled near Cedar springs, where he bought a 
partly improved farm, and he made his home 
there until 1888, and in that year he moved 
to the city of Dallas. During the late war 
he was in McKinzie's company. Smith's 
regiment, and served in Texas about eigh- 
teen months. 

Mr. Carter was inarrieil in Cass county, 
Missouri, in 1843, to Jane Preston, a native 
of Tennessee, and a daughter of George and 



HI8T0RY OF DALLAS COUNT Y. 



661 



Anna (Roddy) Preston, also natives of Ten- 
nessee. At an early day the parents moved 
to Cass county, Missouri. They died in 
Texas many years ago. Mr. Carter lost his 
excellent wife by death in Dallas county, in 
1874. Politically he is identified with the 
Democratic party. 



fC. WOODSIDE, a contractor and 
builder, residing at 165 State street, 
* Dallas, came here in 1871, since which 
time, with the exception soon to be named, 
he has followed the business mentioned, resi- 
dences being his speciality. He is now 
erecting the Thomas block and a Presbyte- 
rian church, and a residence at Oak Cliff, a 
brick residence in East Dallas, and also the 
Bentley building. In 1876 he moved to 
Gainesville and engaged in general merchan- 
dising. JSext he moved to Abilene, Texas, 
where he owned a brickyard, and under con- 
tract erected some important buildings there. 
In 1886 he returned to Dallas. 

He was born in Rowan county. North 
Carolina, in 1844, the youngest of the eight 
children of McDowell and Cornelia (Curry) 
Woodside, natives of North Carolina. Her 
father, a blacksmith and planter, died in 
August, 1844, in his native State, and her 
mother died in 1849. The grandfather, 
Archibald Woodside, a native of Scotland, 
was in the command of General Washington 
during the Revolutionary war. 

Mr. Woodside, our subject, was left an 
orphan in his boyhood, and was reared to 
farm life. In 1861 he enlisted in Company 
D, Thirth-fourth North Carolina Infantry, 
was mustered into service at High Point, 
and engaged in the Seven Days' battles 
before Richmond, in the Peninsular cam- 



paign, the battle of Chancellorsvilie, of Antie- 
tam and Gettysburg, and the second battle at 
Mannassas. After the close of the great 
struggle he returned to his native State. A 
year afterward he went to Knoxville, Tennes- 
see, where he followed his trade as journey- 
man carpenter until he came to Dallas. 
Here he has taken great local interest. 
Politically he is a Democrat, and socially he 
is a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 44, I. O. 
O. F., and of Amity Lodge, No. 108, K. of 
P. Both himself and wife are members of 
the Presbyterian Church. 

He was married in Gainesville, Texas, in 
1876. to Lucy E. Ritchey, a native of Red 
River county, Texas, and a daughter of 
James and Louis (Smith) Ritchey. Her 
father was a native of Kentucky, and her 
mother of Tennessee. Her father was a sol- 
dier an the Mexican war, having come here 
in 1836. Later he moved to Cook county. 
His death occurred in 1877, and his wife 
died in 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Woodside have 
one child, James Archibald. 



W. RUSSEY, a brick manufacturer 
of Dallas since 1873, employs now 
^S^^?^* about sixty men and runs his works 
to their full capacity (100,000 daily) about 
nine months in the year. 

He was born at Winchester, Franklin 
county, Tennessee, in 1851, the sixth of the 
ten children of B. F. and E. P. (Embrey) 
Russey. His father, a speculator and planter, 
was a native of Virginia, who came to Dallas 
in 1873 and resided here until his death, at 
Richardson, Texas, in 1888, at the age of 
eighty-two years. The mother, a native of 
Tennessee, died in that State, at the age of 
sixty-two years. Mr. Russey was reared in 




662 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



his native town, and commenced as a fireman 
on the Nashville & St. Louis railroad; and 
afterward operated in that capacity on the 
Cliattauooga & Nashville railroad; and he 
worked his way up to the position of en- 
gineer, which place he held five years alto- 
gether. Then he followed farming near 
Mineral Springs; next was at Texarkana, 
Arkansas, and then followed farming at Ful- 
ton, same State, then cattle dealing in Indian 
Territory, along the Missouri, Kansas & 
Texas railroad as that road was completed 
from point to point; and finally, in 1873, he 
came to Dallas. Here he has furnished the 
brick for many important buildings, both for 
business and residence. He is a Democrat 
on national questions, but takes no active 
part in the party's councils. He and his wife 
are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. 

He was married in Dallas, in 1878, to 
Ori A. White, a native of Jackson, Ten- 
nessee, and a daughter of A. J. and Emily 
(Jennings) White, natives of Tennessee who 
came to Dallas in 1873, and both dead. Mr. 
and Mrs. Eussey have had five children, 
namely: Oscar, who died in 1880; Katy 
Bell; Claude W.; Clifford C, and Merrill 
Wesley. 

BROWNLEE, contractor and builder 
of Dallas, arrived here May 24, 1874, 
^* engaging at once in his present trade. 
He has erected all the railroad buildings on 
the Texas Pacific railroad, and most of those 
at Fort Worth, at one time his jobs being 
1,300 miles apart, from El Paso to Laredo. 
He has also built many of the residences of 
the city, also the Windsor Hotel, opera 
house and county jail at Dallas, did the 



stone work on the postoflice and many other 
buildings. In 1888 he engaged in raising 
light-barness or trotting horses. He owns a 
good farm of 846 acres adjoining the city of 
Dallas. He is secretary and treasurer of the 
Texas Trotting and Horse Breeders' Associ- 
ation, being one of the charter members of 
that organization. 

He was born in Iowa Territory, in 1845, 
the second in the family of James and Levina 
(Ferrell) Brownlee. His father was a native 
of Indiana, and his mother of Ohio. His 
father, a carpenter, emigrated from Ohio to 
Iowa, in 1844, settling in Lee county; moved 
to Keokuk in 1847, and engaged at his trade. 
In 1872 he moved to Ringgold county, that 
State, where his death occurred, in 1888. 
The mother is still living, in that county. 
Mr. Brownlee was reared to manhood in 
Keokuk. In 1863 he enlisted in Company 
B, Third Iowa Cavalry, was in service three 
years, till the war closed, and was honorably 
discharged and mustered oat at Atlanta, 
Georgia. Returning to Keokuk, he learned 
the trade of carpenter. From there he went 
to Quincy, Illinois, Council Blufl"s, Iowa, 
and to Marshall, Texas, in 1872, and finally 
came to Dallas, in 1874. He is a Republican, 
and a member of George H. Thomas Post, G. 
A. R., of Dallas, Lodge No. 70, K. of P., 
and Dallas Lodge, No. 71, B. P. O. E. (Elks), 
of Trinity Lodge, No. 198, I. O. O. F., and 
of Ridgeley Encampament, No. 25. 

December 31, 1867, in Keokuk, he mar- 
ried Margaret A. Van Dyke, a native of 
Holland and a daughter of William and Al- 
leta (Brewer) Van Dyke, natives of Holland 
who emigrated to New York, moved to Chi- 
cago and finally to Iowa, where they both 
died. Mr. and Mrs. Brownlee have two chil- 
dren: Harry F., born on Christmas, 1870, 
at (jouncil Bluffs, Iowa; and Frank H., Octo- 



HISTOEV OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



663 



ber 11, 1874, at Dallas, Texas. Mr. Brown- 
lee is also the patentee of Erownlee's im- 
proved garbage furnace, for burning all kinds 
of niiscellaneous garbage and city refuse. 



-»fe 



^R. W. H. SUTTON, one of the early 
practitioners of Dallas, was born in 
Scott county, Kentucky, in 1841, a 
son of Dr. W. L. and Nancy (Cooper) Sut- 
ton, also natives of Fayette county, the 
father born in 1797, and the mother in 1807. 
The former was a graduate of the University 
of Maryland in 1818, was a prominent physi- 
cian of Georgetown, was the first president 
of the State Medical Society, a vice-president 
of the American Medical Association, and his 
death occurred in 1862, at the age of sixty- 
five years; the mother died in 1842. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in his 
native State, and is a graduate of George- 
town College. In 1860, after leaving college, 
he entered the medical college at Louisville, 
Kentucky, graduating with the class of 1862, 
and he immediately began the practice of 
medicine. Dr. Sutton left Louisville for 
Dallas, Texas, coming by railroad to St. Louis, 
thence to Gibson, Indian Territory, then by 
stage to Sherman, next by wagon to Dallas, 
arriving December 1, 1871. He formed a 
partnership with Dr. J. W. Crowdiis, which 
continued until 1874: since that time the 
Doctor has practiced alone. 

Dr. Sutton was married in Louisville, 
Kentucky, in 1862, to Mary Moore, native 
of that city, and a daughter of Henry and 
Euphemia Moore, natives of England and 
New York respectively. The father came to 
Tennessee at an early date, thence to Louis- 
ville, where he was a ])rofessor in the high 
school, and his death occurred in that city 



in 1880; the mother died about 1868. 
Mrs. Sutton died in 1876, leaving one child, 
Henry Moore, who is with the firm of Sutton 
& Steele, machinists and electricians. The 
Doctor was again married, in Tarrant county, 
Texas, in 1877, to Miss Rebecca J. Leeson, 
a native of Indiana, and a daughter of C. A. 
and Susan (Henwod) Leeson, natives of Vir- 
ginia, and both reside in Tarrant county. 
Dr. and Mrs. Sutton have have had six chil- 
dren, five now living: Willie, Mary, Row- 
ena, Alexander Garrett and Vienna. Poli- 
tically, the Doctor is a Democrat, socially, a 
member of Cceur De Lion Lodge, No. 8, K. 
of P., and Dallas County Medical Society; 
and religiously, both he and his wife are 
members of the Episcopal Church. 

HARLES W. McKINNEY.— In the 
year 1859, when the subject of this no- 
tice came to Dallas, the present city was 
a mere hamlet, and the surrounding country 
was in a wild, uncultivated state, and the 
inhabitants were few and far between. Mr. 
McKinney was born in the State of Texas 
in 1853, and is the youngest of a family of 
five children of James and Frances E. (Du- 
laney) McKinney. The father was a native 
of Alabama, but was reared in Greene county, 
Illinois. 

He was married in Virginia in 1834 and 
in 1844 he removed to Jefferson, Texas. He 
participated in the Black Hawk war and also 
in the Mexican war. In 1848 he removed 
from the place he had first occupied to the 
eastern part of the State, and in 1859 came 
to Dallas county. He afterward located land 
in Denton county, and in 1868 went to Mc- 
Kinney, Collin county, where his death oc- 
curred, in 1875; his wife died in the same 



664 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNT Y. 



place, December 1, 1879. He was an advo- 
cate of the pridciples of the Democratic party, 
and was a member of the Christian Church 
The paternal grandfather of onr subject was 
John A. McKinney, a native of the State of 
Kentucky. He came to Texas in 1832, and 
before his death lived under four different 
governments in this locality. He died in 
Dangerfield, Texas, in 1857. 

Charles W. McKinney received the greater 
part of his education at home, under his 
mother's instruction, ten months being 
the entire time spent in a regular school. 
His first business venture was in the man- 
agement of a hotel, and this he did suc- 
cessfully from 1870 to 1880. In Novem- 
ber of the latter year he went to Kansag 
City, and was engaged as a traveling sales- 
man for a period of four years. In 1884 
he returned to Texas and located in Den- 
ton county, where he resumed the hotel 
business. In 1889 he again abandoned this 
enterprise and went out on the road again, 
traveling throughout the entire State of 
Texas. He was with the Dallas Land and 
Loan Company, and is now permanently lo- 
cated at Oak Cliff. 

Mr. McKinney was united in marriage, at 
Dallas, in 1884, to Miss Jimmie Park, a native 
of Tennessee. Of this union three children 
were born: Katie Park, Nellie Wesley, 
Bessie Elizabeth, who died at the age of 
thirteen months, and Minnie Pearl, now ten 
weeks old. 

The Democratic party finds in Mr. Mc- 
Kinney a stanch adherent. He is a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F., of McKinney, and of 
the Knights of Honor of Denton, Texas. 
He and his wife are members of the First 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Oak 
Cliff. He has witnessed the growth and 
development of the great Southwest, and 



has contributed his share to the movements 
which have aided in the progress of the 
commonwealth. 

The children of James and Frances E. Mc- 
Kinney, who grew to maturity, are named 
as follows: Albert, Marshall L., Elizabeth, de- 
ceased, wife of N. C. Harris; William and 
Charles W. William McKinney still lives 
on his farm in Denton county, and is one 
of the most successful farmers in the county, 
and has one of the largest apple orchards 
in the State. This orchard has proved 
beyond doubt that one can grow as tine 
apples in Denton county, Texas, as in any 
other State; also peaches, berries and all other 
fruits. 

WHOM AS C. BAILEY was born in New- 
ton county, Georgia, September 10, 
1835, the eldest of seven children, 
born to Allen L. and Mary (Thweatt) Bailey, 
natives of Georgia and South Carolina. The 
parents were married in Georgia, and in 
1836 moved to Alabama, where the father 
engaged in farming. They both died in that 
State, the father in April, 1866, and the 
mother about 1852. 

Thomas C, our subject, was reared and edu- 
cated in the country schools of Alabama, 
and was engaged as overseer on his father's 
plantation until twenty-four years of age. He 
then began farming for himself, and at the 
breaking out of the war enlisted in Company 
D, Forty-seventh Alabama (ToUiver's) brig- 
ade, afterward Law's brigade, Lee's army. 
He was in the seven days' fight before Rich- 
mond, in the battle of Cedar Run, Fredricks- 
burg, and was also in many skirmishes. He 
had a brother killed at Port Hudson, on the 
Mississippi river. Mr. Bailey served in Vir- 
ginia and Alabama, and at the close of the 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



665 



war he returned home and resumed farming. 
In November, 1872, he left Alabama for Dal- 
las connty, Texas, and has been a resident of 
this city since that time. He was iirst en- 
gaged in farming, and afterward, in 1877, he 
entrao-ed in the lumber business, as collector 
and salesman. 

Mr. Bailey was married in Tallapoosa 
county, Alabama, September 24, 1860, to 
Miss Georgia Rowell, a native of that county, 
and a daughter of Howell and Elizabeth 
(Walton) Rowell, natives of Virginia.. At a 
very early date the parents settled in Ala- 
bama, where the father engaged as a cotton 
planter. They both died in that State, the 
father in the spring of 1872, and the mother 
about 1854. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have had 
five children, namely: Howell R., a resident 
of Dallas; Marie E., wife of Y.B. Dowell,an 
attorney of this city; Allen L., at home; 
Nettie, wife of Otis D. Ford, of the firm of 
Ford Bros. Publishing Company; Robert E., 
a clerk in Meador's grocery store, in Dallas. 
Politically, Mr. Bailey is identified with the 
Democratic party. Mrs. Bailey is a member 
of the Methodist Ciuirch at Dallas. 

COOPER, contractor and builder, and 
cistern builder, Dallas, came to this 
' city in 1873, engaging in the lumber 
trade, at the time of the construction of the 
Texas Pacific railroad; he was superintendent 
of the building department of that road to 
the time it reached Dallas, from Marshall; 
was also employed by the Missouri Pacific, 
as purchasing agent. Since then he has 
erected many a fine residence in Dallas, 
especially in East Dallas. 

He was born in New Jersey, in 1827, the 
son of Obadiah and Catharine (Howell) 



Cooper, natives also of New Jersey. His 
father, a farmer, died in New Jersey, about 
1874, and his mother died in 1839. He was 
brought up on a farm in his native State. At 
the age of seventeen years he went to New 
York city and served his apprenticeship there. 
After continuing a short time longer there at 
his trade, he went to St. Charles, Illinois, 
where he followed contracting. In 1866 he 
went to Omaha, Nebraska, where he was en- 
gaged with several mechanical departments 
of the Union Pacific railroad until he came 
to Texas. During the war he was employed 
in the mechanical department of the service 
at Nashville and Chattanooga. At Lookout 
Mountain he received a sunstroke, after which 
he returned to Illinois. 

He was married at Campton, Illinois, in 
1855, to Sevilla P. Eddy, a native of New 
York and daughter of Spaulding and Mary 
(Stephens) Eddy, natives of New York, who 
settled in Kane county, Illinois, in pioneer 
times, and subsequently moved to Iowa Falls, 
Iowa, where they died, — the mother about 
1883 and the father on Christmas day, 1886. 
Mr. Cooper's children are the following 
named: Nellie, widow of Edward Hubbard, 
and residing with our subject; and S. Eddy, 
unmarried, and the cashier of the freight 
department of the International & Great 
Northern railroad at Palestine, Texas; besides 
one child deceased. 

For many years Mr. Cooper was connected 
with the railroads of Illinois and Nebraska. 
In his political sympathies he has been a 
Republican ever since 1862, but takes no 
active part in political machinery. He is a 
member of Tanney Lodge, No. 49, F. & 
A. M. ; of the chapter at Omaha; of the 
Dallas Commandery, No. 6; of the Thirty- 
second-degree of Scotish-Rite Masonry, at 
Omaha; also Eastern Star; of the A. O. U. W. ; 



666 



HISTOBT OP DALLAS COUNTY- 



of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, a bene- 
ficiary order, and of the Knights of Pythias, 
at Omaha, Nebraska. Mrs. Savilla T. Cooper 
and Mrs. Nellie Hubbard are also members of 
the Eastern Star lodge. 



-'^ 



fE. WALLER, a retired farmer living 
in an elegant home at Oak Cliff, Texas, 
® surrounded by everything that goes to 
make life happy, forms the subject of this 
sketch. 

Mr. Waller was born in Southampton 
county, Virginia, in 1834, and spent his 
childhood days in that State. In the year 
1843, his parents moved to Marshall county, 
Mississippi, and settled on a farm near Holly 
Springs. When he was sixteen years of age 
his father sent him to Mayfield, Kentucky, 
to attend school. One year spent at a serai- 
nary there and another year at Wadesboro, 
same State, where he attended college, and 
his school days ended. The following year 
he was employed as a clerk in a general store, 
and after that engaged in business for him- 
self, continuing the same up to 1856. That 
year he sold out and came to Texas, settling 
in Hill county, where he bought a large tract 
of land, consisting of about 300 acres, and 
commenced farming. About ten acres of 
this was improved, and on it was a small 
shack of a house. He remained there, de- 
voting his time to the improvement of the 
place and farming and stock-raising, until 
1862, when he sold out and moved to Ellis 
county. There he rented a farm for his 
family while he was in the army. In the lat- 
ter part of 1862, he enlisted in the Con- 
federate service, as a member of the Thirtieth 
Texas Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Gur- 
ley. He entered as a private, but was soon 



detailed in the Quartermaster's department, 
continuing therein until the war closed, and 
thus saw little of the fighting. His regiment 
was engaged chiefly in scout duty 

Mr. Waller married Miss Fanny Kemble, 
of Mayfield, Kentucky, and at once started 
for Texas. Three children blessed their 
union, all of whom are now deceased: the 
oldest, Drury C, dying in 1878; Lnla, in 
1874, and Cora, in 1883. Mrs. Waller, after 
having been in poor health for several years, 
passed away in 1866. Mr. Waller was mar- 
ried to his second wife, Miss E. E. Moore, in 
December, 1868, at Holly Springs, Missis- 
sippi. From that time until a year ago they 
lived on their farm in Ellis county, this State. 
Then Mr. Waller purchased lots in Oak Cliff 
and erected a fine dwelling, which is fin- 
ished and furnished in the latest style, and 
in which he now resides. At this writing he 
owns three excellent farms, two in Ellis 
county and one in Dallas county, all near 
together, the tliree comprising about 1,000 
acres. These farms are rented, and under 
his careful supervision are paying well. At 
this time he has about seventy-five head of 
stock — horses, cattle, mules, etc. He annually 
feeds for market two or three car-loads of 
steers. 

Beginning with no means save his own 
energy and a determination to succeed, and 
working his way up to a position of wealth 
and influence, Mr. Waller is eminently a self- 
made man. He has made it a rule through 
life never to borrow money. Unless he had 
the cash to pay for an article, he went with- 
out it till he did have. 

In connection with this sketch it should be 
further stated that Mr. Waller's father was 
born in Virginia. He lived to be about sixty- 
six years old, and died in the Old Dominion. 
His mother, nee Louise Carbett, was also born 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



667 



in Virginia. Her death occurred near Holly 
Springs, Mississippi, in 1846. Of the five 
children in their family, all have passed away. 
Mr. Waller was born and reared a Demo- 
crat. He took an active part in promoting 
any measure that had for its object the ad- 
vancement of the best interests of his town 
and county. He died suddenly, in March, 
1892, and was buried in the city of his resi- 
dence, Oak Cliff, Texas. 



4^ 



^ 



A. LACY, a farmer and stock-raiser, 
postofEce Eagle Ford, Dallas county, 
" Texas, has been a resident of this 
county since 1850. Briefly sketched, an out- 
line of his life is as follows: 

Mr. Lacy was born in Carter county. East 
Tennessee, November 1, 1830. His father, 
P. Lacy, was a native of that State and a son 
of James Lacy, who was reared in East Ten- 
nessee, and who was a descendant of English 
ancestry that settled there at an early day. 

Mr. Lacy's father was reared on a farm and 
was subsequently engaged in the manufacture 
of iron. At the age of twenty-four years he 
was married to Miss Sarah In man, also a na- 
tive of East Tennessee, daughter of John 
Inman, who was of Irish descent, and who 
lived and died in Tennessee. After his mar- 
riage he removed to Giles county, Tennessee, 
and during the war of 1812 served un^er 
the celebrated General Jackson, to whom he 
became very much attached. Some time 
later he moved to Walker county, Georgia, 
where he remained eight years, at the end of 
that time returning to Giles county, Tennes- 
see. In 1849, with his wife and three chil- 
dren, he started iov what was then the frontier 
of civilization. They were detained at Mem- 
phis on account of high waters, and were 



obliged to remain there through the winter, 
and until about the first of May. While at 
Memphis, their oldest son, Alexander, died 
of cholera, aged twenty-eight years. In May 
they hired a boat to take them to Duval's 
Bluff, where they sold their horses and 
bought ox teams, continuing their journey to 
Texas, and enduring almost every hardship 
and privation imaginable. They arrived here 
in October, 1850, and the father pre-empted 
320 acres of wild land, which they set about 
improving, and here established their frontier 
home. The old gentleman resided on this 
place the rest of his days. He lived to the 
advanced age of ninety-two years and died in 
1887. His wife preceded him to the other 
world, dying in 1871, aged seventy years. 
Both were active and earnest Christians, and 
were consistent members of the Baptist 
Church for many years. 

As will be noticed, D. A. Lacy was twenty 
when he arrived in Texas with his parents. 
July 17, 1856, he was married to Pallina 
Coekrell, daughter of Wesley Cockrell, who 
came here from Missouri, in 1846. In con- 
nection with his farming pursuits, Mr. Lacy 
also engaged in teaming, hauling goods from 
Houston to Dallas; also from Shreveport to 
Dallas, for many years. His union with Miss 
Cockrell was blessed with nine children, all 
now living, namely: Avrey, wife of James 
Wright, Dallas county; Albert, also of this 
county; James, Los Angeles, California; 
Adaline, wife of W. Gray, Howard county, 
Texas; Philemon, Los Angeles; Sarah, wife 
of Jefferson Wright, Dallas county; Allice 
May, Leona and Carl. After the death of 
his first wife, Mr. Lacy was again married, 
July 17, 1884, to Mrs. Rebecca Girard, a na- 
tive of Cherokee county, Texas, daughter of 
Robert Retherford who came to Texas at an 
early date. The result of this union is three 



668 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



children: Daisy, who died in 1889, aged four 
years, and Lillian and Hettie Florence. 

Mr. Lacj is a Democrat of the old Jack- 
sonian type. During the late war he served 
four years as teamster in the Confederate 
service. lie still resides on the farm which 
his father pre-empted, and with him lives his 
brother, Abraham T. 



^ '^Mi'^^iW^^ — 

tHARLES M. ROSSER, M. D., is one 
of the well known and successful phy- 
sicians of Dallas, Texas. Although not 
a pioneer, he has been a resident of the city 
during the years of its greatest growth and 
prosperity, and the position he has occupied 
in its professional and social circles well en- 
titles him to mention in the annals of the 
the city. 

Dr. C M. Kosser was born in Randolph 
county, Georgia, December 22, 1862, son of 
Dr. M. F. and Julia A. (Smith) Rosser. His 
mother is a sister of Senator Hampton A. 
Smith, of Valdosta, Georgia. His father 
was in early life a practicing physician, but 
later devoted his time and energies to the 
ministry of the Methodist Protestant Church, 
being in active ministerial work in Georgia 
and in eastern Texas for forty years. About 
ten years of this time he was president of the 
Jsortheast Texas Conference. During the 
war he was Chaplain of the Forty-lirst 
Georgia Regiment of Infantry four years. 
He was taken prisoner at Vicksburg; and was 
subsequently exchanged. He is now, as he 
has been for twenty- two years, an honored 
resident of Camp county, Texas, he being 
sixty-niue and his wife fifty-eight years of 
age. Of their eight children, the subject of 
our sketch was the tifth-born and is one of 



the five who are still living. Dr. Rosser re- 
ceived a liberal education under the careful 
tutorage of that distinguished educator. 
Major John M. Richardson, Rector of East 
Texas Academic Institute. For several years 
he was engaged in teaching school, and at 
the same time studied medicine under tiie 
direction of Dr. E. P. Becton, of Sulphur 
Springs, Texas. He attended the Medical 
College of Louisville first in 1884-'85, and 
graduated there in 1888, at which time he 
was awarded the Whitsett gold medal by the 
faculty. Previous to his graduation he was en- 
gaged in practice three years inLone Oak, Hunt 
county, Texas, and at Waxahachie. He came 
to Dallas in March, 1889, and has since been 
identified with the medical profession here. 
The first year of his residence here he was 
editor of the Courier Record of Medicine, 
and the third year served as health officer of 
the city of Dallas. He is local surgeon for 
the Houston & Texas Central Railroad and also 
chief surgeon for the Texas Trunk Railroad; 
is medical examiner for the Mutual Life In- 
surance Company, of New York, Provident 
Savings Life Insurance Company, of New 
York, the Brooklyn Life Insurance Company, 
of New York, and the Catholic Knights of 
America. He is a member of the Dallas 
County Medical Association, the Northern 
Texas Medical Association, the Central 
Texas Medical Association, and the Texas 
State Medical Association. As a member of 
the latter he was elected secretary of the sec- 
tion of practice in 1891, and chairman of the 
section of State medicine, 1892. 

Dr. Rosser was married September 11, 
1889, to Miss Elma Curtice, daughter of 
John Curtice of Louisville, Kentucky. They 
have two children, Curtice, and Elma. Both 
he and his wife are members of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church South. He is also a 




•--^/ c^^^^^---^ ^(^^^h-^^^'i^^^^ . 



HI8T0RY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



669 



member of the K. of P., and in politics affili- 
ates with the Uemocratic party. 

Dr. Rosser has scarcely reached the noon 
of life. With his active mental temperament 
and his superior medical training, a future of 
bright promise awaits him. 



\R. A. M. COCHRAN, one of the early 
settlers of Dallas county, was born in 
Murray county, Tennessee, December 
25, 1839, the second son of William M. and 
Nancy Jane (Hughes) Cochran, natives of 
North and South Carolina respectively. In 
1843 the parents emigrated to Dallas county, 
Te.\as, where the father held the office of 
County Clerk, being the first clerk of the 
county, and was also the tirst Representative 
to the Legislature. He died in this county, 
in 1853, forty-six years of age, and the mother 
survived him some years, dying in 1878, aged 
fifty-nine years. On the paternal side the 
family are of Irish descent, and on the ma- 
ternal side of Welsh and English descent. 
Grandfather John Cochran served in the 
Revolutionary war from South Carolina. 

The subject of this sketch came to Dallas 
at the age of four years, where he received the 
advantages of the common schools, and also 
attended McKenzie college. After leaving 
school he took a medical course at the Uni- 
versity of Louisiana, at New Orleans, after 
which he engaged immediately in the practice 
of medicine in Dallas county. In 1861 Mr. 
Cochran enlisted in the Eighteenth Texas 
Cavalry, as Third Lieutenant of Company C, 
was afterward promoted to First Lieutenant 
and later as Captain. He was appointed as 
Adjutant General of the militia of Texas by 
General Magruder near the close of the war. 
He served in Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee, 

44 



and was in the battles of Arkansas Post, 
Cotton Plant, and was taken prisoner at the 
former battle, and confined at Camp Chase, 
Ohio. After the close of the war Dr. 
Cochran returned to this county and engaged 
in the practice of his profession, and in 1866 
he was elected to the State Legislature from 
Dallas county, continuing in that capacity 
one year. He was afterward elected Alder- 
man from the city, and again from the Second 
Ward, and in 1879 he was appointed Post- 
master of Dallas, Texas, by President Hayes 
and served during his administration. In 
1881 he was elected (Chairman of the Repub- 
lican State Executive Committee by the State 
Republican Convention at Dallas, serving 
two years. In 1883 he engaged in the in- 
ternal revenue business, and in 1886 was the 
Republican nominee for Governor of Texas, 
and made a canvas of the State. In the spring 
and summer of 1887, he canvassed the State 
of Texas in the interests of the anti-Prohi- 
bitionists. In 1887, he was called by the 
anti-Prohibitionists of Atlanta, Georgia, to 
canvass their city and county, which he did, 
and in 1889 returned to the internal revenue 
business, in which he is now connected. In 
1890 Mr. Cochran was nominated by Governor 
Ross and appointed by President Harrison 
as Commissioner of the Columbian Expo- 
sition from the State of Texas. 

He was married in Dallas county, Febru- 
ary 22, 1866, to Miss Laura A. Knight, a 
native of this county, and a daughter of O. 
W. and Serena (Hughes) Knight, natives of 
Tennessee. The parents were married in 
their native State, and afterward emigrated to 
Dallas county, settling near Cedar Springs, 
where the mother still resides, the father 
having died a few years ago. Mrs. Cochran 
died in December, 1870, leaving one child, 
Mamie M. Mr. Cochran was again married, 



eto 



HI8T0MT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



January 11, 1871, to Mrs. Mary A. Collins, 
a native of Washington county, Arkansas, 
and a daughter of William and Cynthia 
(Thomas) Jenkins, natives of Tennessee. The 
father, a farmer and saddler by occupation, 
moved from St. Louis, Missouri, to Washing- 
ton county, Arkansas, in an early day, and 
in 1845 to Dallas county, settling on a farm 
north of the city. Her father, William Jen- 
kins, was the first Sheriff of Dallas county, 
Texas. His death occurred in November, 
1871, aged fifty-four, and the mother is still 
living, at the old homestead, at the age of 
seventy-six years. Mrs. Cochran has one 
child living by her former marriage, Frank 
Terry Collins. Mr. and Mrs. Cochran have 
had three children, — WiU'^'Q M-i B. Porter, 
and A. M. 

Mrs. Dr. Cochran is now National Lady 
Manager from the State of Texas to the 
W^orld's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 
1893. She has attended twp meetings, at 
present writing. Her selection is a most ex- 
cellent and satisfactory one, and shows the 
wisdom of the Commission frqm whom she 
received the appointment. 



^ 



^ 



f JOSEPH CEOUCH is one of the thrifty 
farmers of Dallas county, Texas, and 
everything about his place indicates 
that he is an enterprising and progressive 
agriculturist. He is a son of Elijah Crouch 
who was born in Virginia in 1770 and moved 
to Cumberland county, Kentucky in 1813, 
thence to McMinn county, Tennessee, and 
there died in 1825. While a resident of 
Kentucky he was engaged in buying and sell- 
ing hogs and kept a general mercantile store. 
After his removal to Tennessee he kept a 
hotel which occupied his attention until nis 



death. He was a practical, wide-awake, and 
energetic man of business and was quite suc- 
cessful in all his undertaking's. He was an 
active and consistent member of the Baptist 
Church and a supporter of the Democratic 
party. His wife was born in 1772, a native 
of Virginia, who is now dead. She was an 
exemplary Christian woman and for years 
was an untiring worker in the Baptist 
Church. She bore her husband the follow- 
ing children: William, Jesse, John, James 
and Elijah deceased, and Joseph, Bettie, 
Avy, Batsie, Polly, Agie and Sally, living. 
The last mentioned is now about 80 years of 
age and is a resident of Colorado. His eai-- 
liest progenitors of which Joseph Crouch has 
any knowledge, were three brothers who came 
to this country in an early day. Joseph was 
born in the Old Dominion in 1813, and while 
an infant was taken to Kentucky where he 
remained until 1825, after which he was a 
resident of Tennessee until 1831. He then, 
at the age of eighteen years, started on a two 
weeks' trip to visit friends but was led on by 
one adventure after another until twenty 
years rolled by before he returned to his 
old houie. In 1844 he came to Texas and 
after some time settled in Rusk couuty and 
for seven years was overseer of a large planta- 
tion. The twenty years having elapsed, he 
then returned to his old home, where he made 
a visit of four months, and upon his return 
to Kusk county he sold his property there 
and moved to Dallas county and settled on 
his present farm in the year 1860. In 1856 
he was married to Miss Susan Malone, who 
was born in DeKalb county, Alabama, 
in 1833, moved to Mississippi, next to Up- 
shur county, Texas, and finally to liusk 
county, this State, in 1834. They have seven 
children: Mary, born May 31, 1857, now the 
wife of Craig Clay, a resident of Ferris, Ellis 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



671 



county; George, born March 24, 1861, and 
residing in Colorado; Martlia, born December 
1, 1863; John, born January 14, 1866, a resi- 
dent of Dallas county; the following childreu 
deceased: Missouri; Giles, October 7, 1870, 
and Joseph, February 15, 1872, at bis home. 
Mr. Crouch began life for himself witii no 
capital except what nature had bestowed upon 
him — astrongbody and willing hands, but to- 
day is the owner of a fine farm of 600 acres, 
well stocked and well improved, and what he 
has far more reason to prize -a reputation 
for being one of the most reliable men of the 
county. He is a Democrat and he and his 
wife are members of tiie Baptist Church. 

fOHN P. GILLESPIE, a well-known at- 
torney of Dallas county, was born in 
Fayette county, Tennessee, July 10, 
1852, a son of Andrew J. and Julia Ann 
(Wright) Gillespie. His mother was a 
daughter of Dr. James Wright and a native 
of Tennessee. His father was born at Knox- 
ville, that State, in 1814, and in iiis early in- 
fancy his parents removed to Madison county, 
Mississippi, where he was raised, and thence 
moved to New Orleans. In 1844 he married 
and settled upon a farm in Fayette county, 
Tennessee, and remained there until 1866, 
when he removed to Colorado county, Texas. 
Two years later he died while on a trip to 
Tennessee, in his fifty-fourth year. The 
mother was born in 1826, and is living in 
Travis county, Texas. The parents were 
people of great refinement and culture. They 
reared a family of eight children, six sons 
and two daughters. 

John P. received his education in Macon 
(Tennessee) College, finishing his course in 
1871. Until 1876 he engaged in agricult- 



ural pursuits, and then began the study of 
law, for which his excellent mental disci- 
pline had fitted him. He entered the law 
school at Tehuacaria, Texas, and in 1877 was 
admitted to the bar. He at once located at 
Dallas, and now practices in all the courts of 
the State, being very successful in his profes- 
sion and winning a wide reputation for clear, 
logical reasoning and sound judgment. In 
his political opinions he adheres to the prin- 
ciples of the Democratic party, and in society 
he is a member of the order of the Knights 
of Pythias. He is fearless in the expression 
of his opinions, but is tolerant of the opinions 
of others. There are few men better posted 
on the topics of the day, and none enjoy a 
larger circle of warm, admiring friends. 

Mr. Gillespie was united in marriage, at 
Dallas, in 1880, to Miss Emma Dickason, a 
native of Shelby county, Tennessee, who 
moved with her parents to Texas in 1874, 
settling in Dallas county. Mr. Gillespie has 
had six children: Jackson, Eloise, Gladys, 
Julia, and two who died in infancy. The 
family live on a, beautiful estate of 400 acres, 
where the hospitality of the genial and kindly 
host and hostess knows no bounds. 

ILLIAM BUSTKIN, who is engaged 
in the grocery business on the corner 
of Hall and Central avenues, was 
born in Grabow, near Cammin, in Prussia, 
December 17, 1848, the third of six children 
born to William and Maria (Tramsburg) 
Bustrin, also natives of Prussia. His mother 
died in the old country, and his father is now 
living, in Jasper county, Missouri. William 
was reared on a small farm in IVussia, to the 
age of sixteen years, after which he removed 
to Stettin, and afterward to Berlin, engaged 




673 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



as a ferryman, two summers, and afterward 
worked in a metal mint in that city. In the 
spring of 1869, Mr. Bnstrin set sail for 
America, and after his arrival he located in 
Columbia county, Wisconsin, where he 
worked at farm work during the summers, 
and attended school in winters. In the fall 
of 1870 he went to Boone county, Iowa; in 
the spring of 1872 he returned to Germany; 
in the spring of 1873 he came to Jasper 
county, Missouri, where he fanned for three 
years, and afterward embarked in the nursery 
business. In 1880, Mr. Bnstrin bought eiglit 
acres of land in this comity, which he used 
in growing nursery stock, but which he has 
since laid off in lots, and which is now known 
as Bustrin's addition to the city of Dallas. 
He takes an active interest in politics, voting 
with the Democratic party; is now serving 
his second term as Alderman from the Ninth 
Ward; was Secretary of Golden Kule Lodge 
for six 3'ears; and is a member of Coeur De 
Lion Lodge, No. 8, K. of P. 

Mr. Bustrin was married at Fort Scott, 
Kansas, in 1877, to Miss Lizzie Sparks, a 
native of Kentucky, and a daughter of Will- 
iam Sparks, a native of the same State. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bustrin have had three children; 
Bertha, Fred and Mary Belle. 

|INCENT H. GOLAY, partner in the 
Myrick & Dawley Coal Company, and 
one of the prominent and successful 
business men of the city, engaged in the coal 
business here in 1886. He came to Dallas 
in May, 1874, when the city had a popula- 
tion of about 5,000, and when the main busi- 
ness was confined principally to the square. 
Mr. Golay came from Perisacola, Florida, but 
he was a native of Mobile, Alabama, his 




birth occurring there on the 5th of October, 
1853. He was the youngest of seven chil- 
dren born to Albert and Rebecca (Williams) 
Golay, the father a native of Vevay, Indiana, 
and of Swiss descent, and the mother a native 
of Bullock county, Georgia. In 18p8 the 
father went to Pensacola, Florida. He mar- 
ried in 1840 at Pensacola, and in 1874 came 
to Dallas, where he remained four years. In 
1878 he returned to Pensacola, where his 
death occurred, in 1881. The mother is still 
living and resides in Pensacola. Of their 
children six are now living: Mrs. Clarine 
Runyan, of Pensacola; Zarilda, now Mrs. 
George O. Garrett, of Vales county, Texas; 
Sabra, now Mrs. Collins (a widow), of Pen- 
sacola; Malvina, Mrs. Caro (widow), resides 
in Pensacola; and Albert, who is married 
and also resides in Pensacola. The maternal 
grandfather of these children, David Will- 
iams, was a planter by occupation and an 
early settler of Florida. Vincent II. Golay 
came to Texas in December, 1873, and to 
Dallas in May of the following year. He tirst 
worked in the old Scott flour mills, his father 
being a partner in the same, and afterward in 
the Dallas Compress and Texas Compress. 
He remained with the companies oflf and on 
for about ten years. He then embarked in 
the coal business, managing the yard of E. 
G. Childs for about five years, wlien he con- 
ducted the l)usiness on his own account until 
October, 1892; then he joined the present 
firm. 

Mr. Golay was married in Dallas, in 1884, 
to Miss MoUie L. Leonard, daughter of Cap- 
tain William II. H. and Margaret (Blacer) 
Leonard, natives of Maryland and Cuba re- 
pectively. Her parents were married at 
Hannibal, Missouri, and the father was Cap- 
tain on the Mississippi river, and during the 
war was Captain of the gunboat General 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



673 



Bragg. He died at Foster, Kentucky, and 
the mother died in New Orleans in 1881, 
Vvhen fifty-two years of age. lie takes some 
interest in politics and votes with the Demo- 
cratic party. He was a member of the early 
Volunteer Fire Department for six years and 
has extended a helping hand to all worthy 
enterprises. His marriage has been blessed 
by the birth of four children: Travis and 
Edith (twins), Clarine and Vincent. 



4^ 



^ 



H. LANGDEAU has been prominently 
identified with the insurance business 
''" for the past twenty-six years, having 
tilled every position in the business except 
being president of a company. He is now 
working for different companies, special and 
general agents, and his work is confined 
mostly within the State of Texas. Previous 
to his coming to Dallas he was located in 
Little Rock, Arkansas, where for a year or 
more he was special agent for the New York 
Underwriters' Agency. 

Mr. Langdeau was born in St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, in 1836, the eldest of a family of eleven 
children, seven of whom are now living. His 
parents, Lawrence and Laura (Owens) Lang- 
deau, were natives of St. Louis and Kentucky 
respectively. Grandfather Langdeau was 
born in Canada, and about 1798 emigrated to 
St. Louis, Missouri, remaining there until 
the time of his death, engaged as an Indian 
trader. The father of our subject learned 
and followed the trade of ship carpenter, and 
for many years he was engageil in steamboat- 
ing on the Mississippi river. His death 
occurred in St. Louis in 1873. His wife died 
at the same place in 1888. C. H. Langdeau 
was reared in his native city and educated 
there. He was among the first students to 



attend the public high School of St. Louis. 
After leaving school he was engaged in steam- 
boating on the Mississippi, as clerk, being 
thus employed some thirteen years. Before 
beginning that business he took a course in 
a commercial college in St. Louis. 

Quitting the steamboat business, he turned 
his attention to insurance, first in Macon 
city, Missouri, where he remained some 
years. While in Macon city he was married, 
in 1865, to Mrs. Lou Terrell, a native of 
Missouri and a daughter of James A. and 
Rebecca (Wright) Terrell. Her father is a 
native of Kentucky and now resides near 
Macon> He was one of the early settlers of 
Missouri and formerly owned the land on 
which Macon is located. Her mother, a native 
of Missouri, died near Macon some years 
ago. After leaving Macon Mr. Langdeau 
settled again in St. Louis; thence to Little 
Rock, Arkansas, and in 1881 came to Dallas, 
Texas. Since that year he has been identi- 
fied with the interests of this place. He 
bought and improved his property at the cor- 
ner of Patterson avenue and Ervay street. 

Politically, Mr. Langdeau is a Democrat; 
socially, a Knight Templar Mason; re- 
ligiousy, a member of the Christian Church. 
His wife is also a member of the same church. 
He has a stepson and an adopted daughter, 
James A. Palmer and Grace Carpenter. 



fAMES S. TERRY, engaged in the real- 
' DO 

estate business, of ])allas was born in 
Greenville district. South Carolina, in 
1834, the eldest of nine children born to As- 
bury and Winnie (Graydoii) Terry, natives 
of South Carolina. The father was of English 
descent, and the mother of Scotch-Irish, and 
grandfather Terry came from England to 



674 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



South Carolina about 1777. Of the parents' 
nine children, eight are still living, namely: 
James S., our subject; Sally, now Mrs. War- 
ren of De Soto county, Mississippi; C. W., 
who resides in Oak Cliff; William H., who 
came to Texas before marriage, and died in 
1884; Mary, now Mrs. William Flynn of 
Washington county, Arkansas; Mattie, now 
Mrs. Duncan of West Dallas; George A., a 
resident of Nelson, Arkansas; and Thomas 
G., a resident of Dallas. 

James S. Terry was reared in South Caro- 
lina, and at the age of seven years he emi- 
grated to Mississippi. When twenty-one years 
of age he went to La Grange, Tenneseee, and 
engaged as a clerk in a store In 1861 he 
enlisted in the Southern Guards, Company 
A, and was in the artillery service twelve 
months, participating in the battles of Cape 
Girardeau, Missouri, Belmont, Columbus, 
Island No. 10, and New Madrid. They then 
swam the river to the Arkansas side, then to 
Fort Pillow, and Corinth. In 1862 Mr. 
Terry joined the Fourth Tennessee Infantry, 
Company A, and was in the invasion of Ken- 
tucky, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, 
Ciiickamauga, Nashville, and was then taken 
prisoner and confined at Camp Douglas for 
some time. Pie received a gunshot wound 
at Atlanta, and also three or four other 
scratches or wounds .Mr. Terry was in thirty- 
seven battles and many severe engagements. 
He was paroled a prisoner of war in 1865, 
at Richmond, Virginia. He then returned 
to Mississippi on foot, where he engaged in 
farming and threshing until conaing to Dallas 
city in 1872. Here he first engaged in the 
milling business, and subsequently erected a 
woolen mill of his own, which he conducted 
many years. Mr. Terry has been connected 
with the manufacturing interests of this city 
for a number of years, has aided in opening 



up and grading the streets, and has been 
active in all things for the good of the city. 
He was married in De Soto county, Mis- 
sissippi, in 1877, to Miss Callie Hicks, a 
native of Mississippi, and daughter of Charles 
and Lucy (Lugram) Hicks, natives of North 
Carolina. The parents moved to Mississippi 
at an early day, where the father died in 
1873, and the mother about 1881. Mr. and 
Mrs. Terry have had seven children, viz. : 
Hugh Findley, Ruth, Roy, Cleveland, Paul, 
Roblee and an infant, now deceased. Mr. 
Terry votes with the Democratic Jjarty, but is 
not active in politics. He has witnessed the 
growth of Dallas city from a population of 
2,000 to its present number, and is now liv- 
ing on his income and looking after his landed 
interests. 



1^. W. KANADY, manufacturer of har- 
ness and saddlery goods, Dallas, 
' Te.xas, was born in Lancaster, this 
county, in 1865, the second in a family of 
three children born to C. D. and V. H. (Mil- 
ler) Kanady, natives of New York and Ten- 
nessee. The father came to Dallas county 
about 1858; four years later settled in Wax- 
ahachie, Ellis county, where he engaged in 
the hardware business; was next at Pleasant 
Run ; in 1869 he came to Dallas county, where 
he again engaged in the hardware business; 
in 1872 removed to Hutchins, Texas, where 
he •followed farming, and in 1882 returned 
to Dallas county. 

The subject of this sketch was reared prin- 
cipally in the city of Dallas, and was educated 
in the schools of Hutchins, and learned the 
trade of harnessmaking in Dallas. He subse- 
quently took a trip to Southern California, 
but in the spring of 1888 he returned to this 
city, and engaged at his trade. Mr. Kanady 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



075 



now carries a full line of bugfries, wagons, 
agricultural implements, harness and saddles, 
and does both a wholesale and retail business 
at the corner Elm and Pearl streets. He was 
married in Dallas, in August, 1890, to Mrs. 
G. Cockrell, the widow of R. B. Cockrell, and 
a daughter of Samuel S. and Louise (Dus 
seau) Jones, natives of Tennessee and France 
respectively. The mother came to Dallas 
county in 1844, with her parents, and settled 
with the French colony. The parents were 
married in Dallas county, and the mother 
died in France in 1873, and the father now 
resides at Wichita Falls, Texas. Mr. and 
Mrs. Kanady have one child. Gillie V. Mr. 
Kanady is identified with the Democratic 
party, and both he and his wife are members 
of the Christian Church, corner Bryan and 
Pearl streets. Residence, corner of Pearl and 
Cottage streets^ 






^ 



lAMUEL. L. RANDLETT, Jb., son of 
Samuel L. and Eliza V. (Parkerson) 
Randlett, was born in St. Mary's parish, 
Louisiana, in 1865. His father was born in 
the State of Indiana in 1819, and there re- 
sided until 1835. That year he moved to St. 
Mary's parish, Louisiana, and resided with 
his father, John Randlett, until the latter's 
death, which occurred in 1862. In 1850 he 
purchased a plantation of 1,100 acres, which 
he operated up to the time of his death in 
1882. In 1861 he enlisted in the Fifth 
Louisiana Cavalry, in Captain Gordy's Com- 
pany. In 1862 he was detailed to serve in 
the Commissary department, under Captain 
Kerr, which position he held until the close 
of the war. In politics he was an old-line 
Whig. He was an active memlier and liberal 
8upi)orter of the Episcopal Church; was prom- 



inent in the Masonic circles, having been 
a member for forty years and having held 
high positions in Master Mason, "Royal Arch 
and Knight Templar degrees. Generosity 
and honesty were his most prominent charac- 
teristics. The mother of our subject was born 
in Louisiana in 1827, daughter of James and 
Mary (Drehr) Parkerson, her father a native 
of Sweden and her mother of South Carolina. 
Her parents ilaoved from South Carolina to 
Louisiana in 1812, going overland by the 
way of iSfatchez, Mississippi, to the parish of 
East Feliciana, thence to St. Mary's parish, 
where he still resides. Mr, Randlett's pater- 
nal grandmother was a Catholic and still ad- 
heres to the faith. Her education was ac- 
quired in a convent. His mother was of a 
very kind, generous and affectionate disposi- 
tion; was a zealous member of the Episcopal 
Church. Mr. Randlett is the next to the 
youngest in a family of seven children, as 
follows: James, who died in childhood; 
Lyman was killed when young by being 
thrown from a horse; Kate is now the wife 
of Rev. G. R. Scott, a Baptist minister at 
Montague county, Texas; Elnora, deceased, 
was the wife of James W. Reilly, manager 
of a sugar plantation in St. Mary's parish, 
Louisiana; Alice, widow of Edward C. At- 
kinson, assistant superintendent of the Hous- 
ton Direct Navigation Company. She still 
resides at Houston, Texas; the sixth born, as 
already stated, is the subject of this sketch; 
and Warren died in July, 1889, at Corsicana, 
Navarro county, Texas. 

Samuel L. Randlett received a very good 
education at Franklin, Louisiana, and re- 
mained at home with his parents until 1881, 
in which year he moved to Texas and located 
in Houston, where he apprenticed himself to 
an engineer. He remained there four years 
and then returned to Louisiana, obtained a 



676 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



position of assistant superintendent on a su- 
gar plantation. He was afterward promoted 
to superintendent, remained thus employed 
until 1889. That year he moved to Lancas- 
ter, Texas, and immediately engaged in the 
hardware, furniture and undertaking busi- 
ness. He was married in 1889 to Miss Addie 
H. White, daughter of W. L. and Louisa F. 
White. They have one child, Louise, born 
May 15, 1891. In politics Mr. Randlett is 
a strong Democrat and adheres strictly to 
party rnles. He is a member of the Epis- 
copal Church, while his wife is associated 
with the Baptist denomination. 

Mr. Randlett is young and energetic, well 
respected and highly spoken of by his neigh- 
bors and fellow men. He is kind-hearted 
and liberal, and has recently contributed a 
considerable sum toward building a female 
seminary in his adopted town. 

MAYER, brewer, Dallas, Texas.— If 
the old world had not contributed to 
' ® the population of the new, Texas 
would not have reached its present high 
state of development. Germany has fur- 
nished her full quota of excellent men, and 
among them is Mr. Mayer, a resident of Dal- 
las, and one of its substantial citizens. He 
came to America in 1875, and after a brief 
career in the East, made his advent into the 
Lone Star State, where he began business as a 
brewer, being the pioneer of that trade in 
Dallas and Fort Worth. He accumulated a 
handsome competency, settled in Dallas, and 
invested in real estate on Elm street: the same 
is now very valuable property. Mr. Mayer 
has been one of the enterprising and pro- 
gressive men of Dallas. His standing in 
flociety illustrates forcibly the truth, that — 



" Honor and shame from no condition rise 
Act well your part ; there all the honor lies." 

Mr. Mayer has shown his appreciation of 
secret organizations by becoming a member 
of the Odd Fellow fraternity, and he is also 
a leading member of all the German socie- 
ties. 



-«fe 



EH«- 



R. GEORGE WILLIAM EWELL is a 
native Virginian, his birth occurring 
in Prince William county in 1821, and 
is a son of James B. and Sophia (Douglas) 
Ewell, the former a native of the Old Do- 
minion and the latter of Maryland. The 
father followed the occupation of an agricult- 
urist, and moved from his native State to 
Tennessee in 1839, remaining there until his 
death. He was a member of the Presby- 
terian Church. Mrs. Ewell was a descend- 
ant of Lady P. Douglas, of Scotland. The 
founders of the Douglas family in America 
were three brothers, George, William, and 
Richard Douglas, the former settling in New 
York city, and the two latter in Maryland. 
Mrs. Ewell died in Yirginia, and the father 
afterward married a Miss Gwynn, who died 
in Tennessee. To his first union were born 
eight children, one of whom, a son, is resid- 
ing in Waco, Texas, and a daughter, the eld- 
est, is now a resident of Peoria, Illinois, and 
although quite old, is still hale and hearty. 
Dr. George W. Ewell was reared in his na- 
tive State, Yirginia, until eighteen years of 
age, received a good practical education in 
private schools, and then went to Tennessee, 
where he began the study of medicine under 
L)r. Richard Ewell, in Hardeman county. 
He later entered the College of Medicine at 
Philadelphia, and graduated from that institu- 
tion in the class of 1842, with the degree of 
M. D. He began practicing in north Missis- 



niSTORY OF DALLAS GOUIST^. 



677 



sippi, and continued there fur fourteen years, 
and then came to East Texas, located at Mar- 
shall, Harrison county, where he remained 
twelve years. He practiced his profession 
until his health failed, and then, in 1871, came 
to Dallas, settling on what is now Elm street, 
then a new-cnt road through the woods, but 
now in the very center of the city. He owns 
considerable real estate in the city. Dr. Ewell 
has been a member of the Presbyterian 
Church since sixteen years of age. and has 
been elder for fifty years. He is a direct 
descendant of a family of Presbyterians and 
is a worthy representative. He built the 
first Presbyterian church in Dallas, when 
there were but seven members, and contin- 
ued to be one of its stanchest supporters. 
Dr. Ewell was married in 1845, to Miss Sul- 
livan of Alabama, and to them were born 
six children, three of whom are now living: 
William Sullivan, died at the age of ten 
years; Mary Douglas, at home; Sallie, now 
Mrs. Captain E. S. Gay, resides in Atlanta, 
Georgia; Rosa F., was tlie wife of Dr. Camp- 
bell, and died leaving a daughter, Mabel 
Ewell, who makes her home with her grand- 
parents; there was also an infant son, George 
W., Jr. In politics Dr. Ewell was formerly 
a Henry Clay Whig, but he now affiliates 
with the Democratic party. 

;R. y. P. ARMSTRONG, a prominent 
physician and surgeon of Dallas, and 
health officer of this city, born in David- 
son county, Tennessee, February 18, 1855. 

His parents were John W. and Pauline 
Armstrong, the former a native of Alexan- 
dria, Virginia, and the latter of Dover, Ten- 
nessee. The Doctor's father was a steamboat 
captain for twenty-five years, his career as 



such ending in 1865. He owned the Run- 
yau, one of the largest vessels plying Cum- 
berland river, running between Nashville and 
New Orleans. After the war he turned his 
attention to the wholesale grocery business 
at Louisville, Kentucky, and from his estab- 
lishment there the wholesale house of Arm- 
strong Company of Dallas, was formed, the 
firm being composed of John S. Armstrong 
and Henry C. Armstrong; the former a 
wealthy banker of Dallas, the latter of Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, both being brothers of Dr. 
Armstrong. This family consisted of thir- 
teen children, the subject of our sketch being 
the seventh-born and one of the seven who 
are still living. 

Dr. Armstrong was educated at Notre 
Dame, Indiana, where he received the de- 
gree of A. M. He graduated from the 
Medical College of Louisville in 1877, after 
which he began the practice of his pro- 
fession at Caldwell, Texas. He remained 
there thirteen years. At the end of that time 
he took a post-graduate course at Bellevue 
Hospital, New York, followed by courses in 
the Polyclinic of New York and a post-grad- 
uate course in the Post-Graduate Hospital of 
that city; after which he went abroad, spend- 
ing one year in London and Paris, winding 
up with a special course at Birmingham, 
England. 

Returning to Texas, Dr. Armstrong lo- 
cated in Dallas in 1890, since which time he 
has been a worthy member of the medical 
profession here. At Caldwell he served as 
local surgeon for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa 
Fe Railroad. He has been for some time, 
and is now, examining physician for several 
life-insurance companies and secret organiza- 
tions. His extensive and thorough prepara- 
tion for his life work, combined with his nat- 
ural genial disposition and courteous manner, 



678 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



renders hiin a deservedly popular man. 

Dr. Artnstroiig was married in 1877, to 
Miss Tennie Brjmer, daughter of A. R. Bry- 
mer who settled in Texas in 1845. Mr. Bry- 
mer died in 1890, aged eighty-one years. 
The Doctor and his wife have one child, 
John S. 

Dr. Armstrong takes little interest in po- 
litical affairs, his attention being wholly occu- 
pied by professional work. He is a member 
of the Knights of Pythias, having passed all 
the chairs in his lodge. He is at present 
advocating the cause of sanitation in the city 
of Dallas and exerting his influence to place 
the health department of the city upon a 
plane with the largest and most prosperous 
cities of the East. 



4^ 



^ 




L. McDonald, attorney at law, 
Dallas, was born in Grimes county, 
l» Texas, Jnne 29, 1860, a son of 
General J. G. McDonald and Julia (Davis) 
McDonald, natives of Tennessee. The father 
was an attorney of Grimes county, for many 
years, and is still a resident of that county, 
aged sixty-six years. He was Brigadier Gen- 
eral of the State trcops of Texas during the 
late war, but on account of poor health, was 
never actively engaged. He took an active 
interest in politics, was a member of the 
Legislature three terms before the war, and 
was District Attorney two terms, of four years 
each, his first term being from 1856 to 1860. 
The mother of our subject was a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church South, from 
girlhood, and her death occuri-ed October 29, 
1886, at the age of fifty-eight years. She 
was active in church work, and was univer- 
sally admired for her many good qualities 
and her amiable traits of character. The 



parents reared a family of ten children, seven 
of whom are still living, and our subject is 
the fifth child in order of birth. 

W. L. McDonald, the subject of this 
sketch, took an academic course at Patrick's 
Academy, at Anderson, receiving two gold 
medals for declamation and oratory, and later 
took a law and English course at the Texas 
University, and in 1885 graduated at the 
Southwestern University. He stood the ex- 
amination before the Supreme Court of Texas, 
in June, 1886, and in July ot the same year 
began practice at Dallas, under the firm name 
of McDonald & Porter. Was elected a member 
of the Texas Bar Association in 1886. In 
1887 Mr. McDonald was admitted to prac- 
tice in the United States Courts. He has 
been a Notary Public for the past four years. 
In 1885 was elected Clerk of the House of 
Representatives of the State, serving two 
terms, and later was appointed Deputy United 
States District Clerk for the Northern Dis- 
trict of Texas, serving one year. 

He was married October 26, 1887, to Miss 
Hattie A. Stemmons, of Dallas. She died 
February 22, 1888, aged twenty-four years, 
having been a consistent member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South, of Dal- 
las, through life. Mr. McDonald is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic order, blue lodge and chap- 
ter; also of the O. E. S., and Good Samari- 
tans; of the I. O. O. F.; is Prelate in the 
K. of P., Cceur de Lion, No. 8, Dallas; and 
is a member of the First Methodist Episco- 
pal Church Soutli, of Dallas, in which he has 
held the office of Steward for four years. He 
has been Superintendent of the Sabbath- 
school of the same church for two years, 
is first vice-president of tlie Sunday-school 
Superintendents' Association, and is also 
an active member of the Y. M. C. A. 
Is a member of the Texas Literary Associa- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



679 



tion, several temperance societies, and the 
Band of Hope, and attorney for the Mutual 
Building Association. Mr. McDonald has 
made his own start in life, having been born 
on a farm and raised to work, and also taught 
school thirteen months; clerked in a law 
office and store, and canvassed for books and 
papers. He is a Democrat in his political 
views, and by hard work, economy and good 
management, has risen to his present position. 
He has a good law library, and has a line 
future prospect before him. 



^ 



^ 



fM. BRAMLETT, architect, contractor 
and builder, located in Dallas in 1886. 
® Here he has erected a number of the 
finest residences and business buildings, 
amons the latter being the Jones Bros.' real- 
estate building. He is now putting up the 
Tenth "Ward school building. 

He was born in Giles county, Tennessee, 
in 1850, the second-born of the seven chil- 
dren of A. J. and M. R. (Wallace) Bramlett. 
His father, a native of Georgia, was a 
planter who was married in Macon, Alabama, 
and early settled in Tennessee, but now re- 
sides at Rome, Georgia. His wife was born 
in Virginia. Mr. Bramlett, whose name 
heads this sketch, was raised near Rome, 
Georgia, in which town he was educated and 
learned his trade. After working at his 
trade for a time in Georgia, he went to Mis- 
sissippi and worked four years, — at Sardis, 
Pontotoc and other points. In 1881 he 
came to Texas, settling at Weatherford, 
where he was foreman on the construction of 
the courthouse. He was also foreman on 
the courthouse at Pecos City. He also took 
contracts and erected buildings at many 
other points in Texas, New Mexico, La Cru- 



ces and also a large factory in old Mexico. 
In June, this year (1891), he commenced a 
very large building in this county, — Buck- 
ner's Orphan Home. 

December 18, 1871, at Rome, Georgia, he 
married Laura Richardson, a native of Geor- 
gia and a daughter of D. K. and M. R. 
(Johnson) Richardson, natives also of the 
same State. Mr. and Mrs. Bramlett have 
two children, namely: Walter Sherwood, who 
graduated at the high school June 28, 1891, 
delivering the valedictory; is an apt student 
and will attend college; Richard Eldridge, 
now attending the Dallas high school. 

Mr. Bramlett, an ardent Democrat, has 
taken an active part in politics. He and his 
wife are meinliers of the Baptist Church. 



ALAWAY H. PATRICK.— Kentucky 

has furnished Texas with many of her 
representative citizens, among whom 
may be mentioned Calaway H. Patrick, a 
native of Perry county, that State, born 
October 20, 1822. His parents, Alexander 
and Catherine ("White) Patrick, were natives 
of Virginia and Kentucky respectively, the 
father born November 14, 1794. The latter 
moved from his native State to Madison 
county, Kentucky, and was there married in 
1818. He moved from there to Robinson (now 
Leon) county, Texas, and there received his 
final summons on the the 18th of November, 
1872. He was a self-made man and what he 
accumulated in the way of this world's goods 
was the result of his own good fighting quali- 
ties. He surmounted many difficulties and 
became one of the prominent men of his 
county. He was a "Whig and by that party 
was sent to represent his county in the Legis- 
lature of Kentucky for a number of terms. 



680 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



For years he was an active member of the 
Baptist Church. He was the son of John 
and Elizabeth (Calaway) Patrick, the father a 
native of Ireland, and his grand-parents, 

Isaac and (Bell) were both natives of 

the Emerald Isle. Our subject's maternal 
grandparents, George and Kachel White, 
were residents of Madison county, Kentucky, 
and the former was drum major in the 
Revolutionary war. To Alexander and 
Catherine (White) Patrick were born thir- 
teen children, who are named in the order of 
their births as follows: Alexander B., de- 
ceased; William W., deceased; Calaway H.; 
John Davis, deceased; Elizabeth is the wife of 
Mr. Custer, who was an uncle of General Cus- 
ter; Henry D., resides in Austin, Texas, and is 
now acting as deputy agent of the Central 
Texas Railroad; Amelia, deceased, was the 
wife of Mr. Shelton; Mary H., deceased, was 
the wife of Fletcher Chatham; George C, 
resides in McLennan county, Texas; Richard 
W., deceased, was Captain of his company 
and was killed in the Confederate army in 
the Salem or Jenkins' Ferry fight, in 1864; 
James I., deceased; and Thomas D., deceased. 
Calaway H. Patrick, the subject of this 
memoir, left his native State and moved with 
his parents to Texas in 1841, settling on the 
west bank of Trinity river and thence to 
Franklin, Robertson county, to escape the In- 
dians. He joined the minute company, of 
which he was a member from 1841 to 1845, 
and in the last named year he joined the 
rangers, being afterward stationed at John- 
son Station four months. In 1846 he volun- 
teered and went to the Mexican war. He 
was in Captain Eli Chandler's company, 
Colonel John C. Hays' regiment and for 
services rendered during that time he is now 
drawing a pension. Returning to Texas he 
settled oti a place about one mile east of his 



present property and there resided until 1849 
when he returned to Robertson county. He 
served as District and Deputy Clerk of that 
county for two years and returned to his pres- 
ent home, where he has continued up to the 
present time. 

In 1862 he enlisted in the Eighteenth 
Texas Cavalry, Company I, under Captain 
Perry, and served the lost cause faithfully 
until the close. He was at Gainesville, Texas, 
at the time of the surrender. 

On the 13th of March, 1847, Mr. Patrick 
was married to Miss Rhoda I. Smith, a na- 
tive of Alabama, born in 1830, and the 
daughter of Abram and Elsie Smith. Her 
grandfather was General Bird Smith. Mr. 
and Mrs. Patrick became the parents of ten 
children: Abraham A., a resident of Hamil- 
ton county; Susan E., wife of John H. Stad- 
den, who died in 1864; Nancy A., wife of W. 
F. Lovett; William J., on the old farm; El- 
sie C, wife of F. M. Woodard, and resides in 
Fish county; George C, died in 1888; Mary 
Allin, died 1870; James L.; and Emma A., 
now the widow of Mr. S. B. Ashley, and 
died November 15, 1891. Socially Mr. Pat- 
rick is a Royal Arch Mason, and in politics 
he is a supporter of the Democratic princi- 
ples. He and Mrs. Patrick hold member- 
ship in the Baptist Church. 



4^ 



4(§>N 



^ 



ANIEL F. SULLIVAN, one of the 
prosperous business men of Dallas, is 
engaged in plumbing, steam and gas 
fitting, and occupies an important position in 
the world of commerce as it exists in Dallas 
county. He was born in the city of Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1858, 
and is a son of James and Mary Sullivan, 
natives of the beautiful " Emerald " Isle. 



HISTOUY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



fiSl 



In 1878 he removed to Dallas, when the pres- 
ent flourishing city was a mere hamlet and 
plumbing was in its infancy. He has de- 
voted himself faithfully to his business, and 
has used his utmost endeavors to bring the 
trade of plumbing to a standard which makes 
it both an art and a science. 

Since 1887 he has been located at No. 107 
North Market street, and has won a patron- 
age from the best class of citizens. By cor- 
rect business methods and high and honor- 
able dealings he has gained the confidence of 
the community, and the esteem and respect 
of a wide circle of acquaintances. 

f(3HN S. MOAD, a member of the firm 
of Gill, Moad & Gill, architects and 
superintendents of construction, was a 
few years ago an obscure carpenter in Geor- 
gia, but has arisen to a position of financial 
independence and enjoys the confidence of 
the entire body of business men in Dallas. 
He is a native of the State of Georgia, born 
November 30, 1851, in Walker county, near 
the Tennessee line. He is the oldest of a 
family of eight children born to Sterling and 
Sary (Barber) Moad, who were natives of 
Tennessee. When the father was twenty 
■years of age, he went to Jefferson City, Mis- 
souri, and enlisted in the Mexican war, serv- 
ing the United States thirteen months. 
After hostilities ceased he removed with his 
father's family to Georgia, just across the 
Tennessee line, and there they lived during 
the late war; the father was an invalid, and 
80 did not participate in the conflict. The 
residence was near the scene of the battle of 
Chickamauga, and during this fight the 
mother and children were sent into the spurs 
of the ujountajns for protection; the father 



was left at home, but suffered no bodily 
harm from either party. They continued to 
live there until 1882, when they removed to 
Henry Grove, Texas. In 1888 they went to 
Caddo, Indian Territory, and now reside 
with a son. John S. began life as an ap- 
prentice to a carpenter in Chattanooga, and 
mastered the trade at the age of nineteen 
years. He went to St. Louis, Missouri, and 
there worked as a journeyman until 1874, 
when he took a trip through Illinois and 
Iowa; he also visited Nebraska, and finally 
stopped in Kansas City, where he remained 
about one year. In 1883 he went to Wichita, 
Kansas, and there opened an office for the pur- 
pose of establishing himself as an architect; 
he had previously made a thorough study 
of the business, and during the phenomenal 
growth of Wichita, made an enviable reputa- 
tion. In the spring of 1887 he came to Dal- 
las, engaging in the same business, January 
1, 1890, he formed his present business re- 
lations, which have been most advantaofeous 
He has furnished designs and estimates for 
the greater part of the fine buildings in Dal- 
las. The architecture of this city reflects 
great credit upon both architects and builders. 
Mr. Moad was united in marriage to Miss 
Elizabeth Pettigrew, March 4, 1875. Mrs. 
Moad was the daughter of Jason Pettigrew, 
one of the first settlers of Fannin county, 
Texas. He was an agriculturalist and was 
widely known through eastern Texas. He 
was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and 
was instrumental in establishins more lodges 
than any other one man during his time. 
He died in 1886, and his remains were laid 
to rest with all the honors of the order. Mrs. 
Moad died August 9, 1887, leaving her hus- 
band and one child, Buena Vista, born 
August 14, 1876. Mr. Moad was married a 
second time May 16, 1880, to Miss Gallic F. 



682 



HISrOkY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Smith, a friend and school-mate of his lirst 
wife, and a daughter of W. P. Smith, one of 
the pioneers of Fannin county. 

Mr. Moad is a member of Dallas Lodge 
No. 44, 1. O. O. F., and of Tannehill Lodge 
No. 52, A. F. & A. M. Politically, he 
afHliates with the iiepubliean party. He and 
Lis wife belong to the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church, and cordially support those 
movements wliich are calculated to elevate 
the moral standard of the community. 

xMDREW B. KIRPY was born in Mon- 
roe county, Kentucky, June 30, 1839, 
son of John and Anna J. (Nelson) 
Kirby. His father was a native of Monroe 
county, Kentucky, born November 24, 1816, 
and his mother was also a native of that State, 
her birth occurring October 27, 1817. The 
senior Mr. Kirby was a farmer by occupation 
and owned land in Kentucky. Disposing of 
his interests tiiere, he moved to Texas in 1854 
and settled in Dallas county on the last day 
of November. Here he bought 800 acres of 
land, improved it and lived on it for sixteen 
years. His death occurred on the 19th of 
July, 1870, at the age of fifty-four years. 
His wife died March 30, 1862, aged forty- 
live. They had seven ciiildren born to them, 
of whom Andrew B. the subject of our 
sketch, is the oldest. The others are Nancy 
A., now deceased, who was first married to 
James Cormack, and after his death to N. 
M. Ballard; Mary J., who died young; B. 
C, a resident of Bosque county, Texas; 
James W., also a resident of Hosque county; 
Julia C. became the wife of Zechel Hughes, 
and has since died; and Sarah T., wife of B. 
Toller. 

Andrew B. was sixteen years of age when 



his parents moved to Texas. He remained 
with his father until the war came on, when 
he entered the army, remaining in the ser- 
vice until hostilities ceased. A portion of 
the time, however, he was at home. He did 
not take much interest in the war, and says 
he never stood guard but one night. Althougli 
he was a Democrat, he was opposed to secess 
sion and did not vote for it in Texas; take- 
little interest in politics now. 

January 21, 1863, Mr. Kirby was united 
in marriage with Sarah A. Ballard, who was 
born in Kentucky, February 15, 1840, daugh- 
ter of Reuben and Eliza (Butler) Ballard. 
Her father was born August 4, 1807, and 
died November 13, 1887, aged eighty years. 
Her mother was born September 2, 1814, and 
died August 5, 1878, at the age of sixty-four. 
They moved to Texas in 1847 and settled in 
Dallas county, making the journey with 
wagons and being six weeks en route. Mrs. 
Kirby, being seven years of age at that time, 
remembers vividly the hardships they en- 
dured. Their whole diet at first was wild 
game. All their bread stuff had to be hauled 
from Paris. After they raised corn they 
ground their meal in a hand mill. The Bal- 
lard family consisted of the following named 
children: Neeley; Lucinda J., wife of Will- 
iam Ray; Lewis J.; Francis M. ; Sarah A., 
wife of Andrew B. Kirby; Thomas A. ;• 
Nancy E., wife of Alford Compton; Nathan 
B.; Lieuvicy, who was twice married and is 
now deceased, her first husband being Will- 
iam Miller, and her second, E. A. Stallcup; 
Martha J., who has been twice married, first 
to W, R. Compton, and after his death to W. 
A. Cautrell; and John B Glover and Reu- 
ben, deceased. Following is the issue from 
Mr. and Mrs. Kirby's union: Anna E., wife 
of G. W. Junes; Robert B., deceased; next, 
Alvin R., living; Lucinda, wife of J. F. Pot- 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



683 



ter; David T.; and William Rosco, deceased; 
and Lieuvicy, living. Mrs. Kirhy and her 
daughters are members of the Christian 
Church. 

At the time of his marriage Mr. Kirby 
owned 175 acres of land. On this he built a 
bouse, naoved to it, began improving bis land, 
and now has a fine farm. Reared in a new 
country where there were no schools, he was 
deprived of educational advantages. Roliti- 
cally he is a Democrat. 

Of Mr. Kirby's ancestors, it should be 
further stated that his grandfather, Robert 
Kirby, a descendant of an English family, 
was born in Virginia, and was on the battle- 
field at the surrender of Cornwallis, being 
then twelve years of age. An older brother 
of his served in the Revolutionary war for 
five years as a drummer boy. Mr. Kirby's 
grandmother, whose maideu name was McCoy, 
also witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis, 
and at that time became acquainted with 
Robert Kirby, to whom she was afterward 
married. The grandfather died when Mr. 
Kirby's father was eighteen years old, and 
the grandmother lived until after he was 
married. Robert Kirby and his wife moved 
to Kentucky soon after their marriage, and 
were prominent among the early pioneers of 
that State. 

ENJAMIN D. ATWELL, son of Ben- 
jamin A. and Ann (Dodson) Atwell, was 
born in 1842, in Anne Arundel county, 
Maryland. His father was born in that 
same county, in 1813, and remained there 
until 1845, when he removed ±o Trumbull 
county, Ohio. In 1850, he removed to Mad- 
ison, Wisconsin, remained there until 1890, 
and then came to Texas to pass the rest of 
his days with his son, the subject of this 



sketch. He was a caipenter by trade, whicli 
be followed until he went to Madison, Wis- 
consin. At that place he engaged in the 
mercantile business, which he continued for 
a period of about thirty years. He is a con- 
sistent and active member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church; in politics, a Republican. 
Mr. Atwell's mother was born in 1817, at 
Washington, District of Columbia. She re- 
mained thei-e until her marriage, which event 
occurred in 1837, at the Rock Creek Church 
of that place. Following is the issue from 
their union: Their first-born died in infancy; 
Benjamin D. was the second; The third-born, 
William P., is at. present holding the posi- 
tion of United States Consul at Roubaix, 
France. He was first appointed under Pres- 
ident Arthur's administration, and served an 
entire term at Amsterdam; was again ap- 
pointed by President Harrison. He was a 
Captain in the regular army, but is on the 
retired list. He was educated in Madison, 
Wisconsin, and married Miss Fannie McNeal, 
daughter of General John McNeal. In 1864, 
he organized Company G, Thirty-seventh 
Wisconsin, and participated in several severe 
engagements. He lost his leg at Petersburg. 
After that he was transferred to the regular 
army, and when General Hancock organized 
what was known as the Invalid Corps, he was 
commissioned as Captain, which oflice he 
held until placed on the retired list. The 
fourth-born in the family was Joseph, and 
the fifth, Sarah, died in infancy. 

The subject of this sketch remained with 
his parents until he was nineteen years of 
age. In September, " 1861, he enlisted in 
Company G, First Berdan's Sharpshooters, 
serving until commissioned Adjutant, Thirt\'- 
sixtb Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in Feb- 
ruary, 1864. He was wounded at the battle 
of Cold Harbor, Virginia, June 3, 1864, be- 



684 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTT. 



ing shot through the right shoulder. He 
was sent to the hospital at Washington, Dis- 
trict of Columbia. He returned to his reg- 
iment on the 23d of August, and on the 26th 
day of August, he was taken prisoner at 
Ream's Station on the Weldon railroad, was 
sent to Libby prison, kept there three months, 
and then paroled and sent to Annapolis, Mary- 
land, remaining until January 6, 1865, when 
he again joined his regiment in front of 
Petersburg, Virginia, and participated in the 
closing campaign of the Army of the Poto- 
mac in Virginia, and was present at the sur- 
rendeer of General Robert E. Lee to General 
Grant at Appomattox. He left the service 
as brevet Major. Is not a pensioner, from 
principle. 

In 1865, Mr. Atwell established a com- 
mercial college at Portage City, Wisconsin. 
He subsequently removed to Sparta, where 
he continued in the same business. From 
the latter place he moved to La Crosse, where 
he established a commercial college in the 
building formerly occupied by the celebrated 
Brick Pomeroy. This institution is at pres- 
ent in a very flourishing condition, having a 
yearly attendance of about 400. He re- 
moved to Texas in 1873, and located at Mes- 
quite, about ten miles east of Hutchins. Af- 
ter remaining there seven years, he moved to 
Hutchins, in which place he has since re- 
sided. On his arrival in Texas, he com- 
menced farming, and continued in that voca- 
tion until 1880. At that time he entered 
upon a mercantile life. 

Mr. Atwell has been twice married. In 
1868, he wedded Miss Deema Hawley, of 
Jamestown, New York, who died in 1884. 
Pour children were the fruits of this union, 
viz.: William H., now practicing law in 
Dallas, Te.xas; Horton B., clerking for his 
father; and Fannie D. and Ida O., twins. 



His second wife, whom he married in 1887, 
was Miss Kate C. Simpson, a native of 
Sparta, Tennesseee. Her father was a Major 
in the Confederate service, and afterward 
Judge of the Circuit Court. Two children 
have been born to them, — Benjamin D. and 
Charles S. 

In politics, he is a stanch Republican. He 
is a member of the Masonic order, having 
received the Royal Arcli degree. His wife 
is a consistent member of the Christian 
Church. Mr Atwell began the battle of life 
with absolutely nothing, but by his industry 
he has gained enough to keep the wolf from 
the door. 

fOHN S. BURNS, farmer, Dallas county, 
Texas — .Mr. Burns, a progressive farmer 
of Dallas county, Texas, and a much es- 
teemed citizen of the same, comes of good old 
Virginia stock; his parents, John and Mary 
V. (Cancade) Burns, being natives of that 
State, the father born in Bath county, in 
1802, and the mother in 1807. In politics, 
the elder Burns afKliated with the Dem- 
ocratic party, and he is a worthy member of 
the Presbyterian Chnrch. He is still living, 
and is a resident of his native county. The 
mother was also an active member of 
that chui'ch, and was honored and revered by 
all who knew her. Mr. and Mrs. Burns 
were married in 1827, and the fruits of this 
union were the following children: Lewis 
F., resides in Bath county, Virginia; Persley 
F., resides in the same county; Melvina G., is 
the wife of C. G. Miller; James A., in Vir- 
ginia; John S.; Tilitsou F., in Virginia; and 
Newton A., also a resident of Virginia. The 
paternal grandfather was also a native of the 
Old Dominion. John S. Burns was born 
in Virginia, in 1843, and remained under 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



685 



the parental roof until tin breaking out of 
the war, when he enlisted in the Eleventh 
Virginia Cavalry, and participated in a num- 
ber of the principal engagements, — Gettys- 
burg and the Wilderness. He was wounded 
by a shell and taken to the hospital, but did 
not remain there long. He served until the 
close of the war and surrendered at Appo- 
mattox. Coming to Texas after cessation of 
hostilities, he first located on Ten Mile creek, 
where he remained until 1880, when he re- 
turned to his native State. Four months la- 
ter, he came back to the Lone Star State, and 
settled in Dallas county, where he has since 
resided. In 1872, he was married to Miss 
Alice U. Ross, who was born in West Vir- 
ginia, in 1853, and who came to Texas with 
her parents in 1866. Eight children were 
born to this union, who are named as follows: 
Josie M., Johnny (deceased), William L., 
Cora (deceased), Mary V., Etta B., Leslie L. 
and Ocie R. Mr. Burns is a selt-made man, 
for when he first landed in Texas he had but 
§10. He is now the owner of a well im- 
proved farm of 150 acres, has it well stocked, 
and his reputation for honorable dealing is 
not excelled by any man. 



-^ 



34- 



fOHN HUGHES COCHRAN, who has 
been a resident of Texas since his early 
childhood, is the subject of the follow- 
ing sketch. As he reached tlie age of ma- 
turity he became so closely identitied with 
the history of Dallas county that this record 
would not be complete without a review of 
his personal career. He was born in Colum- 
bia, Maury county, Tennessee, June 28, 
1838 John Cochran, his grandfather, was 
an Irish gentleman, and he married Margaret 
McClanahan, whose ancestors were from Scot- 

46 



land. They resided in Abbeville district, 
South Carolina, where the grandfather died. 
The father of our subject was born in Abbe- 
ville district in 1807, and removed with his 
widowed mother to Maury county, Tennes- 
see. There he married Nancy J. Hughes, in 
1837. She wa6 a native of Virginia, and 
had removed to Tennessee with her parents. 
When John H. was three years of age they 
removed to Texas, and settled at the place 
now known as Farmers' Branch, Dallas 
county. Mr. Cochran broke the first sod 
that was ever turned for a field in Dallas 
county, in 1843. When the county was or- 
ganized in 1846 he was elected the first 
Clerk, and in August, 1847, he was sent to 
the Legislature of the State of Texas. He 
took a leading part in the deliberations of that 
body, and gained a wide reputation for his 
wisdom and excellent judgment in the for- 
mation of the laws of the new country which 
he was assisting to develop. He died April 
24, 1853. His widow, a pious and resolute 
woman, took charge of the family of six chil- 
dren, and reared them to honorable manhood 
and womanhood. John H. is the oldest of 
the children. He was graduated with high 
honors from McKenzie Institute, Red River 
county, Texas, and in 1858-'5'J served as a 
member of the faculty. In 1860 he went to 
Young county, and took the census of that 
year. Also this year he commanded a com- 
pany of Texas Rangers, under Governor Sam 
Houston. 

Upon the declaration of war between the 
North and South he enlisted in Company C, 
Sixth Texas Cavalry, and served from Sept- 
ember, 1861, to June, 1862. He did valiant 
service in the cause he had espoused, but on 
account of ill-health he was obliged to resign. 
He returned to his home, and in 1862 was 
elected Assessor and Collector of Dallas 



680 



ni8T0R7 OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



county. After his term of office had expired 
he went to the frontier, meeting with many 
adventures and narrow escapes from death. 
He was one time attacked by the Indians, 
and with two comrades made a brave defense; 
tliey repelled the attack, Init witnessed the 
horrible butchery of many of their neighbors 
who failed to reach the shelter. A short 
period of these harrowing experiences suf- 
ficed, and he returned to Dallas county. 

The people of the county testified to the 
conlidence which they reposed in Mr. Coch- 
ran by electing him to represent them in the 
fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth Sessions 
of tlie Legislature. He was Speaker of the 
last named Assembly, and in 1882 he vas 
re-elected to the eighteenth session, and in 
1890, to the twenty-second session. During 
the fifteenth Assembly he was Chairman of 
the Committee on Taxation and Revenue, and 
really formed the laws known as the Tax 
Laws, which raised the credit of the State 
from lifty cents to par. During his long 
career as a legislator no suspicion of trickery 
has ever been cast upon him, and he is re- 
garded as above chicanery. He is able, con- 
scientious and fearless in the discharge of his 
duty. There has been no better Representa- 
tive in the House in the past twenty years. 
He was appointed Postmaster of Dallas by 
President Cleveland, and served with much 
credit for four years, two months and two 
days. It was while he was in otfice that the 
city made its moat rapid growth, and the mails 
were handled with a promptness and accur- 
acy that challenged the admiration of all 
parties. For twenty-five years he has been a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and he is 
also a Knight of Honor. He belongs to the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a liberal 
supporter of the society. 

Mr. Cochran was married June 20, 1860, 



to Miss Martha Jane Johnson, of Young 
county, Texas. Six children were born to 
this union. The two elder sons, William R. 
and James A., died just as they had attained 
manhood. They were bright, promising 
youths, an honor to their parents and a 
credit to the community in which they 
were reared. 



^ 



^ 



fACK SCOTT has been identified with the 
interests of Dallas county, Texas, for 
more than two decades, and it is fitting 
that biographical mention of him should be 
made in this work. 

He was born in Brown county, Ohio, Au- 
gust 28, 1837, son of Taylor and Susan 
(Compton) Scott, natives of Ohio. Grand- 
father John Scott came from England to Ohio 
at an early day. He, in company with Cap- 
tain Massey, surveyed a part of that State for 
the Government, and in return for his services 
received a large tract of wild land. He died 
in Ohio at an advanced age. Taylor Scott 
lived to be eighty-four years old, and died 
near his old home in Ohio. Susan Scott is a 
daughter of Richard Compton, who came 
from Virginia to Kentucky in early times, 
subsequently locating on Government land in 
Ohio, where he passed the rest of his days. 
Grandfather Scott served during the war of 
1812, and Grandfather Compton was a Revo- 
lutionary soldier. Mrs. Scott still resides in 
Ohio, having reached the advanced age of 
eighty- six years. Eleven of their twelve chil- 
dren grew to adult years, and eight are still 
living. 

The subject of our sketch was reared on a 
farm and received his education in the com- 
mon schools. At the age of eighteen years 
he started out in life for himself; went to the 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTr. 



687 



Territory of Nebraska, and there engaged in 
farminc and afterward in the stock business. 
In 1869 he came to Texas and located in 
Dallas county, near where he now resides. 
He lirst engrao-ed in the manufacture of 
shingles, wliich he continued for three years, 
and then turned his attention to agricultural 
pursuits. He subsequently became associated 
in business witli the tirm of A. W. Littlehale 
& Bro., of Dallas, remaining thus engaged 
tliree years. After that he returned to farm- 
ing and gardening, which he has since fol- 
lowed. He has sixteen and a half acres of 
land located a mile and a half from Dallas. 

Mr. Scott was married in 1862 to Miss 
Mary Elizabeth Penny, a native of Indiana, 
and a daughter of Wesley Penny, also a 
native of that State. This union was blessed 
with one child, Rillie, now the wife of Eman- 
uel Sontare, of Dallas county. The young 
wife and mother passed away the year follow- 
ing her marriage, 1863. In January, 1869, 
before leaving Nebraska, Mr. Scott wedded 
Emmie Baker, a native of Michigan, daughter 
of Dr. Calvin Baker, who removed from that 
State to Nebraska. By this marriage six 
children were born, of whom four are living, 
namely: Andrew, Minnie, Ida and Emmie. 
Mrs. Scott departed this life April 30, 1885. 

During the late war Mr. Scott served as a 
Captain in the State Guards, under Governor 
Davis' administration. He is a member of the 
Farmers' Alliance. 



fAMES W. WRIGHT, M. D., deceased, 
was born near Nashville, Tennessee, 
Febrnary 4, 1825, son of Thomas and 
Martha A. (Tate) Wright, who were of Eng- 
lish and Irish ancestry. He was reared on a 
arm and when he reached his majority 



enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican war; par- 
ticipated in some of the prominent battles, 
and remained in service one year, the term 
of his enlistment. He then returned to his 
home in Tennessee and began the study of 
medicine, under the preceptorship of Dr. 
Etherly, of Green Hill, Wilson county, that 
State. He took his first course of lectures 
in Louisville during the winter of 1849-'50, 
and graduated at the medical college of Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, in 1860. 

Soon after his return from the Mexican 
war Dr. Wright was married, October 28, 
1848, to Miss Lucy C. Brooks, a native of 
Davidson county, Tennessee, and a daughter 
of Moses T. and Nancy (Tate) Brooks. In 
the fall of 1850 they emigrated to Texas, 
making the journey with horse teams and 
being six weeks on the road. At that time 
Dallas had but two stores and a few log 
houses. The Doctor's father had purchased 
a tract of wild land and they settled on a 
portion of it, five miles north of Dallas, on 
Five Mile creek. He began improving the 
land and at the same time established himself 
himself in a medical practice. His profes- 
sional duties often called him many miles 
away, and the life of a young practitioner, 
riding horseback over new country, without 
roads or bridges, was by no means an easy 
one. He practiced here until the fall of 
1860, when he returned to Tennessee and 
completed his medical course, as before stated. 
In 1861 he came back to Texas and bought 
100 acres of land in Dallas county, near 
where Oak Cliff now stands, and, in connec- 
tion with his partner, engaged in farming to 
some extent. During the late war he served 
as surgeon on board the Melissa. 

To Dr. Wrio-ht and his wife six children 
were born, viz.: Martha A., who died at the 
age of five years; Sarah W. E., who became 



C88 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



the wife of William P. Pollerd, died Septem- 
ber 27, 1876, leaving three children; James 
B.; Mary J., wife of David E. CofEman, of 
Taylor county, Texas; Jesse, at home; and 
Kattie T., wife of Otis D. Brittan. Dr. 
Wright's death occurred on tlie 5th of Oc- 
tober, 1882. He was a member of the A., 
F. & A. M., and was well and favorably 
known throughout Dallas county. Mrs. 
Wright continued to reside on the old home- 
stead until March, 1891, when she moved to 
Dallas. She is a member of the Baptist 
Church. 

fAMES G. GAKVm, a prominent and 
early pioneer of Dallas county, was born 
in Howard county, Missouri, in 1830, 
the eldest of seven children born to Stephen 
H. and Jeanette (Brooks) Garvin, natives 
of Kentucky. The father moved to Missouri 
when a young man, and remained in Howard 
county until his death, which occurred in 
1875; the mother now resides in Randolph 
county, Missouri, at the advanced age of 
ninety- five years. 

James G. was reared to farm life and edu- 
cated in the subscription schools of Howard 
county. In 1861 he enlisted in Colonel Nat. 
M. Burford's regiment, and was in the bat- 
tle of Wilson's creek, then served under Col- 
onel David Williams, was under General 
Price on the Missouri raid, and next at Fay- 
etteville, Arkansas. He served until the close 
of the war and was discharged at Shreveport, 
after which he went to Randolph county, 
Missouri, and in a short time came with his 
family to Dallas county, Te.xa8. He bought 
200 acres of partly improved land, where he 
built a good house and has now 125 acres 
under a tine state of cultivation. Mr. Garvin 
resided in the city of Dallas six years, where 



he was engaged in the grocery and feed busi- 
ness on Ross avenue. He still owns the store 
and also has live residences on San Jacinto 
and McCoy streets, which he rents. He takes 
an active interest in the Democratic party, is 
a member of the Bryant Street Christian 
Church, and is always active in church work. 
Mr. Garvin was married in Randolph 
county, Missouri, January 10, 1850, to Cath- 
erine A. Tompkins, a native of Missouri and 
daughter of William Tompkins, a native of 
Kentucky. Mr. Garvin lost his wife October 
13, 1875, at St. Louis, Missouri, and they 
had five children, viz.: William, a farmer of 
Rockwall county, Texas; Laura, now Mrs. 
W. C. Harvey, of Vernon, this State; Mar- 
tha, who married J. T. Sims, of Dallas 
county, and died September 8, 1883; Min- 
erva, wife of John Runkle, of Rockwall 
county; Robert E., of Shackelford county, 
Texas; and Joseph. Mr. Garvin was again 
married, in 1876, to MoUie Hedrick, a native 
of Mississippi and daughter of John Hedrick, 
a resident of Denton county, Texas. She 
died of consumption in Dallas county in 
1878, and in 1879 Mr. Garvin married Lulu 
Smith, a native of Tennessee and daughter of 
Mr. Smith, who died some years ago in this 
county. This wife died in 1882, leaving one 
child, Lulu. In 1888 Mr. Garvin married 
Ann Eliza Haines, a native of Tennessee. 
Her father died in that State, and the mother 
is still living in Hardeman county. 



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ARCUS De la FAYETTE GRA- 
CEY, a pioneer farmer of Dallas 
county, was born in Bond county, 
Illinois, October 22, 1831, a son of William and 
Harriet Isabella (Harris) Gracey, natives of 
North Carolina. The parents were reared in 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT F. 



Tennessee, but later emigrated to Illinois, in 
the early settlement of that State, where the 
father engaged in farming. They reared a 
family of eight children, and the father died 
in Illinois in October, 1842; the mother, 
March 4, 1841. 

Marcus, our subject, was eleven years of 
age when his father died, after which he 
lived with an uncle until he came to Texas, 
in September, 1846. He came with his 
brother-in-law, in a two-horse wagon, and 
was six weeks and four days making the trip, 
landing at Coffey's Bend. They crossed the 
Ked river, and lived in a tent four weeks, or 
until they could build a cabin. Mr. Gracey 
assisted in improving his brother-in-law's 
farm, and then worked for a family by the 
name of Norboe, at farm work. December 
24, 1854, he located 320 acres of land one- 
half mile from where Lisbon now stands, 
where he built a log house, 16x18 feet, and 
he has since added to his original purchase 
until he now owns 500 acres, all of which is 
under a high state of cultivation. 

Mr. Gracey was married September 7, 
1854, to Miss Amanda E. Harris, a native of 
Warren county, Kentucky, and a daughter of 
Thomas H. and Martha E. (Skies) Hari-is. 
The parents were married in Kentucky, but 
in November, 1852, they located in Texas. 
Mr. and Mrs. Gracey have had ten children, 
eight of whom survive, viz.: William T., a 
farmer and stock-raiser of Stephens county; 
Mary B., wife of David A. Yokley, a slock- 
raiser of Palo Pinto county; Robert R., a 
stock-raiser of Stephens county; Joseph S., a 
stock raiser of Clay county; Albert Sidney, 
also of Clay county; George Henry, a stock- 
raiser of Stephens county; Lucy and Cora. 
Mr. and Mrs. Gracey are members of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Politi- 
cally, he is a Democrat, and socially, a mem- 



ber of the A. F. & A. M., having joined the 
order in 1852; was Treasurer of the Masonic 
lodge. No. 52, for many years; is a member 
of the Dallas Chapter, and also of the Royal 
Arch. He is a self-made man, and by his 
own industry and economy has accumulated 
property, and by his many years of upright 
dealings has won the confidence and esteem 
of all who know him. 

fESSE H. PEACOCK, liveryman, Lan- 
caster, Texas. — There are few enterprises 
that contribute to the convenience of the 
residential and transient public more than 
the well appointed livery stable, and foremost 
among those who have been successful in this 
business is Mr. Peacock. His father, A. W. 
Peacock, was born in the Keystone State, 
but moved from there to Pope county, Ar- 
kansas, where his death occurred in 1852. 
He was married in 1841, to Miss Lucy How- 
ell, a native of Tennessee and the daughter 
of Jesse Howell. Socially, Mr. Peacock was 
a member of the Masonic order, and in his 
religious views he was a Presbyterian. The 
five children born to this union are named in 
the order of their births as follows: Lorenzo 
Q., died in 1852; Nancy, died in 1852; 
Thomas A., was accidentally shot and killed 
in 1865; Mattie, died in 1888: she was the 
wife of John Rawlins, a resident of Dallas 
county, Texas; and J esse H. The last named 
was born October 27, 1849, in Pope county, 
Arkansas, and he there remained with his 
mother until the time of her death, which 
occurred in 1857. He then made his home 
with his uncle, II. A. Howell, a merchant of 
Dardanelle, Yell county, Arkansas, with 
whom he remained until 1860, after which 
he came to Dallas county, Texas. Here he 



690 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



resided with another uncle, Thomas A. How- 
ell, until sixteen years of a^je, when he started 
out to light life's battles for himself. He 
first engaged in cattle-driving, and later 
freighted for about three years. After this 
he rented a farm about four miles west of 
Lancaster, continued there about four years, 
and tlien moved to that town, where he con- 
ducted a livery barn for some time. He was 
elected constable, served in that capacity for 
about six years, and then bought a farm, on 
which he resided one year. Since then he 
has been a resident of Lancaster, and, in 
company with E. S. Guy, carries on a livery 
barn. In the year 1877 Mr. Peacock was 
married to Miss Mary E. Guy, who was born 
January 22, 1850, and who is a daughter of 
Eobert S. and Emily (Green) Guy. Mr. 
^Peacock is a man of sterling integrity and 
good business ability. Mrs. Peacock's grand- 
father, John Guy, was a native of Ireland, 
came to America when sixteen years of age, 
located first in Virginia, but subsequently 
moved to Callaway county, Missouri, where 
his death occurred in 1855. He was an 
active member of the Presbyterian Church 
for many years and was an Elder in the same. 
In 1819 he was married to Miss Mary C. 
Baskin, a daughter of John and Elizabeth 
Baskin, and the fruits of tiiis union were 
eleven children, seven daughters and four 
sons. Of this family Robert Smith Guy 
(father of Mrs. Peacock) was the eldest. He 
was born in Augusta county, Virginia, but 
moved with his parents to Callaway county, 
Missouri, where he remained until 1852. 
Although his advantages for receiving an 
education were not of the best, by close 
application and observation he became well 
informed, and at an early age began the study 
of law. In 1846 he married Miss E. Green, 
a native of Missouri, born in 1825 and the 



daughter of John and Elizabeth (Proctor) 
Green, natives of Kentucky. After his mar- 
riage Mr. Guy first embarked in farming, 
continued this one year, and then began 
teaching school, but at the same time contin- 
ued the study of law. Soon after coming to 
the Lone Star State he was admitted to the 
bar, but for some time after his admission 
he continued to teach. However, his prac- 
tice grew to such proportions that he was 
compelled to abandon teaching and give his 
entire attention to his profession, becoming 
one of the most successful jury lawyers of 
his district. In 1861 he organized Company 
F, and joined Colonel Stone's regiment, with 
which he served one year, when he was 
obliged to resign on account of ill health. 
He afterward re-enlisted and served in the 
Quartermaster Department until the close of 
hostilities. In politics he was a Democrat, 
and the esteem in which he was held by his 
party was evinced by his being elected Sena- 
tor from his district two successive terms. 
He was a member of the Masonic order, and 
a liberal supporter of the church. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Guy were born three children: 
William W., died in Camp Washington, Ar- 
kansas, during the war; M. E., wife of our 
subject; and Edward S., born in 1853, and 
married March 8, 1876, to Miss Sallie B. 
Lacy, a native of Ellis county, Texas. He is 
a member of the firm of Peacock & Guy. 

fC. KEARB Y, attorney, Dallas, Texas.— 
A history of the prominent men of 
® Dallas county would be incomplete 
without mention of the subject of this sketch, 
J. C. Kearby, who is one ot the able at- 
torneys of the county. He owes his nativity 
to Clark county, Arkansas, his birtli occur- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



691 



ring in Arkaclelpliia, in 1848, and was the 
eldest of three children born to Dr. E. P. 
and Mary (Peyton) Kearby, natives respect- 
ively of Kentucky and Virginia. When a 
young man the father emigrated to Hot 
Springs county, Arkansas (1840), was mar- 
ried there, and there practiced medicine. In 
1857 he came to Denton county, Texas, and 
followed his profession for some time, and 
later moved to Van Zandt county. Texas. 
He is now a resident of Rains county, Texas. 
The mother died in Hot Springs county, 
Arkansas. J. C. Kearby was reared in the 
Lone Star State, and educated in the sub- 
scription schools of Denton county. In 1861 
he enlisted in Denton county, in Captain O. 
G. "Welch's Company, Cooper's Regiment, 
and later was in Charles De Moss' Regiment, 
Twenty-ninth Texas Cavalry. He enlisted 
for twelve months and, at the expiration of 
his term of service, re-enlisted for the re- 
mainder of the war. He was in the battles 
in Indian Territory, was afterward at Elk- 
horn, Cabin creek, Honey creek, Poison 
Springs, Mansfield, and he was also in the 
Red River expedition. At the close of hos- 
tilities Mr. Kearby returned to Denton and 
began reading law with Judge Waddle, of 
McKinney, continuing with him until the 
latter's death, which occurred in 1867. He 
then finished reading law with Colonel 
Welch, of Denton, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1869, after which he at once com- 
menced practicing and has been doing an ex- 
tensive court practice throughout the State. 
He began at Van Zandt, where he remained 
until 1874, and then came to Dallas. 

While in Van Zandt, or in 1871, he was 
married to Miss Lula Robinson, a jnative of 
Alabama, and the daughter of J. M. and 
Elizabeth (0"Hara) Robinson, natives of 
Alabama. In 1866 Mr. Robinson and family 



moved to Van Zandt county, Texas, where 
he followed farming until his death in 1880. 
The mother died eight years later. Mr. and 
Mrs. Kearby are the parents of four children: 
Victor P., reading law at Van Zandt; 
Maud, Jay and Fay. Mr. Kearby takes 
quite an active interest in politics and votes 
independently. He endorsed the Greenback 
movement, and in 1888 was that party's 
candidate for Congress. Socially he is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity. Mrs. 
Kearby and children are members of the 
Congregational Church. 



^ 



^m 



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AMUEL HUN NIC UTT, of Dallas 
county, was born five miles east of the 
city of Dallas, February 26, 1848, a 
son of William C. Hunnicutt, one of the 
early pioneers of the State. He is a native 
of Illinois, but came to Texas in 1846, where 
he bought and improved land on White 
Rock creek, and there resided until his death 
in September, 1868. Samuel was reared on 
this farm, spending most of liis time raising 
stock. In the spring of 1863 he joined 
Colonel Burford's Nineteenth Texas Cavalry, 
Company B, and while in the service he was 
mostly engaged in detached duty. He 
was engaged in the raid down Red river 
when Colonel Banks was forced back into 
Louisiana, and the following spring he re- 
turtied home and resumed work on the farm. 
Mr. Hunnicutt lived near where his father 
had settled until three years ago, when, on 
account of the advantages of school facilities, 
he bought property in Cedar Hill, where he 
is now one of the most important stock 
dealers of the county feeding and shipping 
several thousand head yearly. He shipped 
this season some of the best grades of cattle 



693 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ever shipped from this section of the county. 
He has property in the city of Dallas and 
Oak Cliff, beside his home in Cedar Hill, 
and he has by fair dealings with his fellow- 
men won their conlidence to that extent that 
his word is as good as his bond. 

IT) 

Mr. Hunniciitt was married March 5, 
1868, to Miss Fannie M., a daughter of Mil- 
ton Merrifield, a native of Kentucky, and an 
early settler of this county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hnniiicutt are the parents of live children: 
Nannie Lue, Jack, Julia, Fannie and 
Samuel. 

fAMES B. BRYAN, a farmer of Dallas 
county, was born in Harrison county, 
Texas, September 28, 1844, a son of J. 
B. Bryan. The latter moved to Dallas 
county in 1846, and opened the first hotel in 
the then small village where the city of Dal- 
las now stands. He lived here eight years, 
and then went to California, where he died. 
He was a native of Tennessee, and a brother 
of John Neely Bryan, who built the first 
cabin where the city of Dallas now stands. 

James B., our subject has made farming 
his principal occupation through life, and re- 
ceived his education in the common schools. 
He entered the Confederate service in Col- 
onel Lane's Begiment, Company A, in the 
spring of 1862, and was in active service 
until just before the close of the war, when 
he was discharged on account of his eyes. He 
was in the battle of Prairie Grove, also at 
Van Buren, Arkansas, and after his return 
home he resuineil work on the farm. He has 
gained by his economical living and hard 
work a good home of 110 acres of line land, 
which he has well improved, and also has 
property in the city of Oak Cliff. He is a 
consistent member of the Methodist Episco- 



pal Church South, at Cedar Hill, and by his 
upright dealings has won the confidence of all 
who know him. 

Mr. Bryan was married August 18, 1870, 
to Miss Susan E., a daughter of Milton Mer- 
ritield, a native of Kentucky. By this union 
there are seven living children: John A., 
Effie L., Maggie L., Walter S., Arthur C, 
Susie £. and Samuel C. 



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F. MITCHEL, 214 Houston street, 
iH^ Dallas, is a farmer of Dallas county, 
® and has been identitied with its inter- 
ests since 1873. 

Mr. Mitchel was born in Montgomery 
county, Alabama, November 16, 1833, a son 
of Daniel and Elizabeth (Lawrence) Mitchel, 
the former a native of Georgia. His grand- 
parents were of Irish ancestry, and settled in 
Alabama when his father was ten or twelve 
years old. The mother was born in South 
Carolina, but was reared in Alabama. B. 1*\ 
Mitchel grew up on a farm and received his 
education in the common schools. He re- 
sided with his parents imtil he reached his 
majority, after which he worked at the car- 
penter's trade, building gin houses and 
presses and running-gears, etc., and was thus 
employed until he came to Texas. At the 
breaking out of the late war, he enlisted, in 
January, 1862, in Captain Glasco's Company, 
or Hillard's Legion, and was in East Tennes- 
see and Virginia, serving on signal duty one 
year. He participated in the battle of Peters- 
burg, Virginia, on the evening of June 17, 
1864. At the close of the war he returned 
to Alabama and continued work at his trade. 
Coming to Texas in 1873, he located on a 
farm about live miles south of Dallas, and 
remained there until 1878. He was married, 
September 3, 1878, to Mrs. Alzadia Jackson, 



BISTORT OF n^iLLAS COUNTY. 



693 



widow of J. R. Jackson, and daughter of Rich- 
ard Manlding. She was born in Texas and 
reared in this county. After his marriage, 
Mr. Mitche! lived in Wise county two years. 
He then purchased of the U. L. Lennard head- 
right ses'enty-tive and three-fourth acres, 
and here he has since been engao;ed in farm- 
ing. He and his wife are the parents of four 
children: Susan Maud, John Presley, James 
Jefferson and P'rank. By her former mar- 
riage, Mrs. Mitchel has two children. Lava 
and Ollie May. She is a member of the 
Christian Church. In politics, Mr. Mitchel 
affiliates with the Democratic party. 



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W. HOUSTON.— This gentleman, a 
farmer and stock-raiser, residing in 
f® Rrecinct No. 5, Dallas county, Texas, 
postoffice Ka, was born in Madison county, 
Tennessee, July 6, 1831, a son of Martin P. 
and Eliza Drucila (G-arnett) Houston. The 
Houston family were among the early set- 
tlers of North Carolina, and were of Irish 
ancestry, while the (iarnetts were also of 
North Carolina, and were of "Welsh descent. 
His parents were reared in North Carolina 
and there married. At an early day they re- 
moved to Tennessee where they passed the 
rest of their lives. 

Mr. Houston grew up on tiie farm. He 
was the third-born in a family of nine chil- 
dren, and when he was twelve years old his 
father died. The father's death was followed 
soon afterward by that of the oldest son and 
daughter, thus leaving the care of the mother 
and younger children on him. February 8, 
1853, he was united in rnarriage with Miss 
Mary A. Jordan, a native of Tennessee, and 
a daughter of A. J. and Martha (Useny) 
Jordan, her people also having gone to Ten- 
nessee from North Carolina. 



In 1856 Mr. Houston and his wife came to 
Texas and located in Rusk county, where he 
followed farming until 1860. Then he re- 
moved to Wise county, this State, and until 
the war broke out was there engaged in the 
live-stock business. Moving his family back 
to Rusk county in the fall of 1861, he left 
them and entered the army. He enlisted in 
Company C, Colonel Norris's regiment, and 
served on the frontier of Texas, from the Red 
river to the Colorado. In 1863 they were 
reorganized into Colonel J. S. McCoy's regi- 
ment, and served on the frontier until the 
close of the war. 

After the war Mr. Houston engaged in 
freighting from Rusk county to Shrevesport, 
Louisiana, until 1871, when he came to Dal- 
las county. He took up his abode here in 
June of that year, and for three years rented 
land, after which he purchased his present 
farm. His home place comprises 220 acres, 
and besides this he owns a farm of 100 acres, 
all improved land and in a high state of cul- 
tivation. 

Mr. and Mrs. Houston are the parents of 
eleven children, all living, namely: Mary 
Laura, Salenia Jane, Amanda, Martha, James, 
Samuel, Henry W., Alice, Lyda, Bettie and 
Emma D. Mr. Houston is a member of tlie 
A. F. & A. M., Lancaster Lodge, No. 160, 
and also of the Chapter. His wife is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

ILLIS W. ROBERSON, a farmer of 
Dallas county, was born in Bienville 
parish, Louisiana, September 14, 
1852, a son of Lewis and Rachel (Andrews) 
Roberson. The father was a native of Ala- 
bama, but moved to Louisiana, where he 
died, September 28, 1862. The parents had 




694 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



six children, viz.: Willis, our subject; Will- 
iam, a resident of Van Zandt county; Lu- 
cinda, who died when young; Xaucy, wife of 
Jackson H. Creagle; and Green, also a resi- 
dent of Van Zandt county. After the death 
of the father the mother married James 
Darby, in May, 1869. 

Willis W. lived with his mother until 
twenty years of age, after which he rented 
land three years, and later bought a farm of 
175 acres of partly improved land. He now 
has this place under a good state of cultiva- 
tion, and also has a good liousc and barns. 
He was a poor boy when he commenced life 
for himself, but he has attended strictly to 
business, and now he can truly say the wolf 
has been driven from the door. 

Mr. Kobersou was married in 1872, to Miss 
Georgia Florence, who was born December 
17, 1855. (For history of Mrs. Roberson's 
family see sketch of D. Florence.) Mr. and 
Mrs. Roberson have had three children, viz.: 
David, born February 15, 1875; Julia, Octo- 
ber 29, 1878; and Ella, August 26, 1890. 
Both parents are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

iANIEL TITTERINGTON, farmer and 
stock-raiser, 214 Houston street, Dallas, 
Texas, is one of the prominent citizens 
of Dallas county, and has been identified with 
its interests since July 19, 1859. 

Mr. Titterington is a native of Kentucky, 
born in Christian county, May 28, 1828. 
His father, Adam Titterington, was born in 
Ireland, spent his early boyhood days in the 
north of England, and at the age of twelve 
years caine to America, landing in the United 
States a stranger and alone. He went to the 
mountains of Pennsylvania and was employed 
in herding hogs, using his leisure moments 



for study and thus obtaining a fair educa- 
tion; finally drifted into Kentucky, where he 
lived for many years teaching school and 
farming. He was married in Cumberland 
county, Kentucky, to Miss Catherine Smith, 
daughter of a Revolutionary soldier who 
fought under Washington, and who lived to 
be over 100 years old, dying in Kentucky. 
Her death occurred in 1837, and Mr. Titter- 
ington subsequently wedded her sister, who 
died in 1868. By his first wife he had eleven 
children, and by his second, two, the subject 
of our sketch being the fifth son and the 
ninth child, and being nine years old when 
his mother died. Adam Titterington died in 
1856, aged seventy-three years. 

Daniel was reared on the farm and edu- 
cated under the tutorship of his father. He 
remained at home until eighteen years of 
age, when he began to learn the wagon and 
carriage-making trade, and served one year. 
About this time the California gold fever 
broke out, and, like many another ambitious 
youth eager for adventure and wealth, he left 
his trade and crossed the plains to the new 
El Dorado of the West, making the journey 
with ox teams and landing in Sacramento 
September 15, 1852. He was successfully 
engaged in mining and lumbering there until 
1858, when he returned East and the follow- 
ing year located in Dallas county, Texas. 
During the late war he enlisted in Company 
I, Thirtieth Texas Mounted Troops, and 
served in the Indian Nation and in Arkansas 
until the close of that sanguinary struggle, 
after which he returned to Dallas county and 
continued his stock-raising and agricultural 
pursuits. To his first purchase, 341i acres, 
he has since added other lands and is now the 
owner of 1,301^ acres. 

Mr. Titterington was married in 1862 to 
Miss Catherine Bentley, a native of Danville, 



HISrORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



695 



Kentucky, daughter of James M. and Amanda 
(Carpenter) Bentley, natives of Kentucky, 
who came to Texas in 1852. They are the 
parents of three children: George A., of 
Paris, Texas; Dr. James II., a graduate of 
Bellevue Medical College, New York; and 
Jesse B., Dallas. 

Mr. Titterington is a self-made man. His 
present position of prominence and affluence 
is due to his own industry. He is a man of 
good judgment and sound business principles. 
Politically, he affiliates with the Democratic 
party. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., 
Tannehill Lodge, and of the Dallas Chapter. 
Mrs. Titterington is a member of the Chris- 
tian Church. 

fOSEPH O. RICKETTS.— The subject of 
this sketch has been identified with the 
interests of Dallas county, Texas, since 
1847. A brief biography of him is as fol- 
lows: 

Joseph O. Ricketts was born in Warren 
county, Kentucky, December 16, 1832, a son 
of Zedekiah and Margaret (Dews) Ricketts. 
His father was born and reared in Maryland, 
and in Virginia was married, Mrs. Ricketts 
being a native of the latter State. After his 
marriage he moved to Kentucky, where he 
engaged in farming, continuing there until 
1847, when he came to Texas, landing in 
Dallas county on the 5th of April. He came 
to Shreveport, Louisiana, by water, thence to 
Dallas by wagon. He located a headright 
ten miles south of Dallas, improved the prop- 
erty and lived thei-e until June 10, 1856, 
when his death occurred, at the age of sixty- 
three years. His wife died in 1878, aged 
eighty-two. They reared a family of eight 
children, three of whom still survive. This 
worthy couple were members of the Chris- 



tian Church, and were held in high esteem 
in the community where they resided. 

The subject of this sketch was reared on a 
farm and received his education in the sub- 
scription schools. He was fifteen years old 
when the family came to Texas. Here he 
assisted in improving their frontier farm, and 
continued to reside on the old homestead 
until after his mother's death. He was 
married September 27, 1876, to Miss Mary 
Ann Hustead, who was born in Clark county, 
Illinois, a daughter of Harrison and Pru- 
dence (Bartlett) Hustead. Her parents were 
natives of West Virginia. They went from 
there to Illinois, where they lived several 
years, and in 1845 came to Texas and settled 
on Duck creek, in Dallas county, having a 
homestead of 640 acres. Mr. Hustead after- 
ward moved to the vicinity of Lisbon, and 
here spent the rest of his days, and died in 
1852. After his marriage, Mr. Ricketts 
took his bride to the old homestead and lived 
there until 1884. That year he purchased 
his present property, twenty acres, where he 
has one of the most beautiful and attractive 
homes in the county. He is a member and 
an Elder in the Christian Church, and his 
wife is a Baptist. 

During the war Mr. Ricketts was in the 
Thirty-first Cavalry and served in Arkansas 
and Louisiana, participating in the battles of 
Prairie Grove, Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, 
and serving until hostilities ceased. 



tW. WINTERS has been identified with 
the interests of Dallas county since 
* 1867. He is a native of Tennessee, 
born near Nashville, August 6, 1816, a son 
of Moses and Elizabeth (Pool) Winters. His 
father was a native of Tennessee and served 



696 



HISTUBT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



as a soldier under General Jackson in the 
war of 1812. His crrandfather Winters was 
born in Englaud and was probably married 
in France, as his wife was a native of that 
country, and they caiue to this country pre- 
vious to the Revolutionary war, settling in 
Tennessee. The mother of our subject was 
a native of Georgia. Her father, Ephraim 
Pool, a Baptist minister, was a pioneer of 
Tennessee and a Revolutionary soldier. He 
was wounded in that war. 

When L. W. Winters was eleven years old 
the family moved to Illinois and located in 
St. Clair county. After living there four 
years they moved to Missouri, moving in 
1832 and on the day that General Jackson 
was elected President. They settled in what 
was then Greene county, and there the father 
continued his farming operations. In their 
family were eleven children. L. W. was the 
fifth born and is the only surviving member. 
The father died in Missouri, at the age of 
sixty-six years, and the mother at about the 
age of sixty. 

His father, a farmer, Mr. Winters was 
reared in the rural districts of Tennessee, 
Illinois and Missouri, and he resided with 
his parents until he was twenty-five years 
old. He was married in 1840, to Miss Emily 
Campbell, a native of Vermilion county, In- 
diana. She went to Missouri with her brother- 
in-law. By this union nine children were 
born, six lived to be grown and three still 
survive. Their nanies are as follows: Will- 
iam G. ; Elizabeth S., deceased; Emily, de- 
ceased; Steven L., who was killed in the 
army; Fanny, Thomas L. ; Louis, deceased; 
Joshua, deceased; and Stephen Campbell. 
In 1868 Mr. Winters came to Texas and 
settled near Lisbon, where he engaged in 
farming. His wife died in 1871. In Jan- 
uary, 1873, he married Zebie Ann McIIenry. 



Her maiden name was Jackson and she is a 
daughter of Jerry and Susan (Rice) Jackson. 
She came to Dallas county in 1861. By her 
former marriage she had five children, only 
one of whom is now living: Sidney 
McHenry. 

Mr. Winters owns 150 acres of land in 
Dallas county and eighty acres in Eastland 
county, this State. His home is near Oak 
Cliff, and he is regarded as one of the suc- 
cessful farmers and stock-raisers of his vi- 
cinity. Politically, he is a Democrat. Mrs. 
Winters is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. 

fOHN SIMPSON, a farmer and stock- 
raiser of Dallas county, postoffice Lis- 
bon, is a native of Ireland. He was born 
in county Meath, August 6, 1822, son of 
William and Jane (Shackleton) Simpson. 
When he was sixteen years old his father 
died, and three years later his mother passed 
away. The homestead in Ireland has been 
for many generations, and is to-day occupied 
by the Simpson family. After the death of 
his parents, the subject of our sketch settled 
on one of the farms that his father had rented 
and remained on it until he emigrated to 
America in the fall of 1849. 

In March, 1849, Mr. Simpson was married 
to Miss Margaret Ann Cox, a native of county 
Monaghan, Ireland, and a daughter of Will- 
iam and Sally (Young) Cox. Their voyage 
to New York comprised forty-five days, and 
from there they went directly West to Mar- 
quette county, Wisconsin, where Mr. Simp- 
son entered a tract of Government land. He 
improved that property and resided there un- 
til 1858, the year he came to Dallas county, 
Texas. Here he purcha.sed a partially iin- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



697 



proved farm of 340 acres, which he continued 
to improve and from time to time added to 
until he had a landed estate of 1,600 acres. 
His beautiful and attractive home, surrounded 
with shade and ornamental trees, is situated 
eight miles south of Dallas. 

Mr. and Mrs. Simpson have had seven chil- 
dren, viz.: Sally Jane, wife of John Gillis- 
pey, of Johnson county, Texas; William, who 
died October 27, 1886, at the age of thirty- 
five years; Robert Y., John, Margaret Ann, 
Ellen and Joseph. 



4^ 



^ 



M. BRADFORD, Postmaster of Mc- 
Nairy, Dallas county, Texas, has been 
' a resident of this county since March, 
1860. For many years he was engaged in 
agricultural pursuits, but is now retired from 
the active duties of farm life. 

Mr. Bradford dates his birth in Bedford 
county, Tennessee, February 26, 1815. His 
father, Theodrick F. Bradford, was born in 
Virginia, of English ancestry and a descend- 
ant of Governor Bradford who came to this 
country with the Pilgrims. His mother was 
a native of Tennessee, her ancestors having 
been residents of South Carolina. 

Reared on the farm and educated in the 
subscription schools of the period, Mr. Brad- 
ford remained with his parents until he was 
twenty-three years of age. He was married 
April 3, 1838, to Miss Charlotte Jones, wlio 
was born in Boston, Massachusetts, January 
81, 1819, daughter of Charles Jones by his 
marriage with a Miss Lucus, people of Eng- 
lish descent. He soon afterward moved to 
Chariton county, Missouri, where he was en- 
gaged in fanning for some years, subse- 
quently moving to St. Louis, where for ten 
years he acted as deputy sheriff. In the 



spring of 1860 he came to Texas and settled 
in Dallas county; first rented a farm and 
afterward purchased land of William Coorabes 
— one of the oldest places in the county. He 
bought forty acres, which he has divided into 
town lots. Six children were born to them, 
all of whom are deceased. His wife died 
August 22, 1879. For his second companion 
he chose Miss Nellie Luella Druse, whom he 
wedded January 24, 1888. She is a native 
of McHenry county, Dlinois, and came to 
Texas in February, 1886. Her parents, Druse 
and Antonnett (Bowen) Druse, were natives 
of New York and of French ancestry. 

Mr. Bradford's war record is a remarkable 
one. He enlisted in the Quartermaster's de- 
partment, under General Price, and served all 
through the war. For four years he neither 
slept a night in a house nor ate a meal in a 
house, and during that time did not take a 
dose of medicine. He has always enjoyed 
the best of health and is yet a strong and 
vigorous man. He received his appointment 
as Postmaster under President Cleveland's 
administration. 

W. SCRIPTURE was born in Norfolk, 
Virginia, August 7, 1843, oldest son 
® and child of Charles B. and Elizabeth 
F. (Wright) Scripture. His father was a 
native of New Hampshire, as also was his 
grandfather, they being of English descent. 
His mother was born in Norfolk, Virginia, 
daughter of William AVright, a sea captain 
who followed the sea all his life. Her 
brother, William Wright, was also a sailor, 
and while on a voyage in a sailing vessel the 
crew ran out of provisions. The sailors 
drew lots to see who should give up his 
life to sustain that of the others. Tiie lot 
fell to Mr. Wright. His life was sacrificed, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



and on the following day a ship came in 
sight. At the age of eighteen years, Charles 
B. Scripture went to Virginia and engaged in 
the mercantile business. He was there mar- 
ried, October 3, 1842, to the above named 
lady and in 1844 emigrated to Missouri. At 
Arrow Rock, Saline county, Missouri, he 
engaged in the wagon and carriage manufact- 
ure, supplying emigrants with wagons with 
which to cross the plains. He followed this 
business until 1855, when he moved to 
Howard county and turned his attention to 
the lumber business, continuing it until 1860. 
In 1862 the Federal soldiers burned his mill 
and lumber and surrounding buildings, con- 
sisting of a flouring mill, blacksmith shop, 
etc., to the amount cf $15,000. In 1864 he 
was forced to leave that part of the country 
and returned to his former home in Saline 
county. 

In 1867 Mr. Scripture came to Texas and 
located in Kaufman county. His coming 
here at that time was for the benetit of his 
health. In 1872 the family came to Dallas 
and engaged in the hotel business, running 
what was then known as the City Hotel, now 
the St. Cliarles Hotel. The parents died in 
Dallas, the mother, September 18, 1880, at 
the age of sixty-three, and the father, Sep- 
tember 15, 1883, aged sixty-six. Of their 
eleven children, six grew to adult age, four of 
them are in Texas and one is still in Missouri. 
Mrs. Scripture was a member of the Episco- 
pal Church. A. W. Scripture was only a 
year old when his parents moved to Missouri, 
where he was reared, assisting his father in 
his business, and receiving his education in 
the subscription schools. He remained with 
his parents until the l)reaking out of the late 
war, when in June, 1861, he enlisted as a 
member of William Brown's Company, the 
first cavalry regiment organized in Missouri, 



subsequently known as Colonel William 
Brown's regiment. He participated in many 
important engagements and served faithfully 
until the close of the war, being surrendered 
at Shreveport, Louisiana, May 26, 1865. 
After the war he returned to his home in 
Saline county, Missouri, and engaged in 
work at the carpenter trade, following that 
until 1869, when he turned his attention to 
farming. 

He was married, April 27, 1869, to Miss 
Melinda Jackson, a daughter of Thomas and 
Polly Ann (Marshall) Jackson. She was 
born in Missouri and her parents were natives 
of Kentucky. By this union one child was 
born, Clara. In 1873 Mr. Scripture came to 
Dallas county and purchased an unimproved 
farm of seventy-two acres of timber land, 
located four miles east of Dallas. This he 
cleared and on it resided until 1885, when 
he moved to Taylor county and purcliased 
1,096 acres of w'ild land. He improved the 
property and was extensively engaged in tlie 
stock business there for three years, after 
which he returned to Dallas county. He, 
however, still owns that laud. After coming 
back to Dallas county he bought his present 
home property, which consists of twenty 
acres, and here he is engaged in the dairy 
business. He keeps forty cows and dis- 
poses of his product in Dallas. 

Mrs. Scripture died March 8, 1872, and in 
1873 he was united in marriage with Miss 
Melissa Jane Moore, a native of Saline 
county, Missouri, and a daughter of William 
and Caroline (Chappie) Moore, who were 
among the first settlers of Saline county and 
were of German ancestry. By his second 
marriage Mr. Scripture had one child. Orrin, 
who died at the age of ten years. 

Mr. Scripture is, in the truest sense of the 
word, a self-made man. At the close of the 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



699 



war he had thirty cents in silver which he 
spent for liimself and comrades. He 
borrowed $20, to defray his expenses 
to Texas, and when he arrived here 
he had $1.80 left. By hard wor kand 
good management he has accumulated 
a fine property and is now in comfort- 
able circumstances. His political affiliations 
are with the Democratic party. Mrs. Scrip- 
ture is a member of the Christian Church. 



IHARLES E. GILBERT, editor and 
manager of the Times- Herald, of Dal- 
las, Texas, is a native of the State of 
Alabama, and a son of Love E. Gilbert, who 
was for many years an editor. The mother 
was Elizabeth Jackson, a native of Connecti 
cut, who died in 1861 in Alabama. The 
paternal and maternal grandfathers are buried 
in Texas, to wliich State the former came 
early in the '40s. After his death Love E. 
with his mother returned to Alabama. The 
maternal grandfather came to this State in 
1873, and died in Fort Worth. Charles E. 
Gilbert learned the printer's trade in his boy- 
hood, entering his father's office at the close 
of the war, when but ten years old; and after 
following the fortunes of that career for some 
time he came to Texas, in October, 1876, as 
soon as he was twenty-one, and in February, 
1877, became the editor of the Tablet, at 
Navasota, Texas. At that time there were 
two negroes in the Legislature, one in the 
Senate, two on the County Commissioners' 
Court, and in other positions. With tiie 
push and enterprise that has ever marked 
his career he became a warm advocate of 
white domination, and was largely instru- 
mental in securing a unity of purpose in that 
direction, and the negro was soon relegated 



to the rear in politics. The Tablet was one 
of the most fearless and certainly one of the 
ablest weekly journals of the State. 

After disposing of that paper in 1881, he 
went to Abilene, then a tented frontier town, 
and there established the Reporter, the first 
paper of the place, and in its columns he be- 
came an earnest champion of the develop- 
ment of the West and the protection of the 
farmer settler. The famous Land Lease and 
Enclosure laws were enacted about this time, 
for the protection of the settlers against the 
free-grass cattle-men. Mr. Gilbert saw that 
there was to be a "battle royal" between the 
small freeholders and the so-called "cattle 
barons," and he promptly threw his influence 
on the side of the farmers. It was a battle 
between a weak minority and the organized 
brains and capital of the most powerful 
organization Texas or the Southland ever 
knew; but notwithstanding these odds the 
battle raged fiercely and personal encounters 
were frequent. The Democratic State plat- 
form and Legislature were approved by 200,- 
000 majority over the State, and the Reporter 
gained a signal triumph in its section, and 
today its editor is held in high esteem, even 
by his whilom opponents, and in grateful re 
membrance by the farmer whose battle he so 
valiantly fought. Early in 1886 he came to 
Dallas and formed a connection with the 
Evening Herald, wliicii in 1888 was consoli- 
dated with the Evening Times under the 
name of Times- Herald, which still con- 
tinues. He directs and controls tiie policy 
of this paper, which is considered one of the 
best in the State. He is an admirable news- 
paper man and his progressive ideas are re- 
flected in every corner of his paper and its 
management. True to his life-long convic- 
tions, he is the tried and able ciiampion of 
the interests of the masses, especially the 



700 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



farming and laboring classes, and he is fear- 
less in his defense of any principle, what- 
soever its political creed, that is for the pub- 
lic good. 

He was married in Alabama, in 1877, to 
Miss Gertrude Wilson, whose father was the 
iirst white child born in Pickens county, and 
was afterward its first Representative in the 
Legislature. Mr. Gilbert is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and finds time, 
outside of the duties connected with his 
paper, to further the moral and educational 
welfare of the community in which he re- 



sides. 



--^^i^/l/^^d?/^/^^ 



jEDFAREN ROUTH, the senior mem- 
^ ber of the iirm of Routh & Stewart, is 
justly entitled to a space iu the record 
of the lives of the leading business men of 
Dallas county. He is a native of the county, 
born November 21, 1859, and is the youngest 
of a family of twelve children. His parents, 
George W. and Elizabeth (Rankin) Routh, 
were natives of Tennessee; the father was 
reared in that State, and emigrated to Texas, 
settling on Duck creek, near the present site 
of the village of Garland. Here he bought 
the headright to a section of laud of Abner 
Keen, and later added 300 or 400 acres of 
what was known as the Chris survey, to the 
purchase; here he lived until his death, 
which occurred in 1865; the mother passed 
away in 1860. Mr. Routh began life as a 
farmer boy, and, when old enough to assume 
the responsibilities, took charge of the affairs 
at home. He followed this occupation until 
the fall of 1887, when he came to Dallas 
city and opened a wholesale and retail prod- 
uce house, under the firm name of Routh & 
Lewis. In the autumn of 1888 Mr. Lewis 
retired, and was succeeded by A. L. Simpson, 



who remained a member of the Iirm for two 
years; he was in turn succeeded by Mr. 
Stewart, who is the present member of the 
firm. 

Mr. Routh was united in marriage, August 
10, 1880, to Miss Amanda J. Ramsey, a 
daughter of James Ramsey, of Garland, 
Texas. Mr. Ramsey has been prominently 
identiiied with various enterprises in the 
State for a number of years, and now resides 
near Rose Hill, Texas. March 27, 1885, 
Mrs. Amanda J. Routh was called from this 
life, leaving her husband and one child, a 
daughter, Maggie M., born June 10, 1881. 
Mr. Routh was married a second time. May 
2, 1888, to Miss Lucy A. Early, the fifth of 
a family of seven children born to John T. 
and America (Sousley) Early. Mr. Early 
was a native of Fleming county, Kentucky, 
and in 1878 removed to Collin county, Texas; 
here he lived until 1884, and then came to 
Dallas, where he still resides. 

Mr. Routh received his education in the 
common schools at Duck Creek and in the 
Lawrence Business College. Politically he 
attiliates with the Democratic party. Lie and 
his wife are members of the First Baptist 
Church of this city, and have given a liberal 
support to the society. 

fS HARP, of the firm of Haralson & 
Sharp, was born in Tipton county, Ten- 
" nessee, in S.'ptember, 1853, the second 
of the five children of J. R. and Mary (Shef- 
field) Sliaip, natives aho of Tennessee. His 
father, a farmer and miller, came to Texas in 
1880, with his family of three children. The 
mother of J. S. died in 1858, in Tennessee. 
Mr. Sharp came from west Tennessee to 
Dallas in 1880 and was employed by F. G. 





^^ ^ ^^.<aX^ 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



701 



Moore as a teamster for about eighteen 
months, and also delivered goods for a whole- 
sale store. In 1882 he engaged in general 
excavation work and in hauling sand and 
gravel for builders, etc. The firm of Haral- 
son & Sharp was organized in 1886, and they 
are engaged in general excavation and team- 
ing, running from twenty-five to sixty teams. 
While the Oak Cliff railway was in process 
of construction they ran a hundred teams, 
paying out as much as ^18,000 per month. 

In July, 1886, Mr. Sharp married Mrs. 
Domy Wliites, tiie widow of Edward Whites 
and daughter of Mrs. W. H. H. Brawley. 
Her father is deceased, and her mother resides 
in Dallas. Mrs. Sharp's daughter, Ida May, 
died in 1887, at the age of nine months. 

Mr. Sharp has taken an active part in poli- 
tics, voting with the Democratic party. In 
society he is a member of Dallas Lodge, 
Knights of Pythias. He and his wife belong 
to the Floyd Street Methodist Episcopal 
Church. They are exemplary iriembers of 
society and iuterested in every good work. 



:ILLIAM PERRY OVERTON.— It 

tl'lilft'P ^* '^^'''^ * privilege and pleasure to 
["-iflsS tlie biographer to record the geneal- 
ogy and career of one who is a source of 
pride to his county, a credit to his State, and 
an honor to his parents. Unless preserved 
by the historian, the hardships and depriva- 
tions endured by the pioneer, while not 
equal in intei-est to the Arabian Nights, 
may come to seem equally incredible; and 
the names of those men and women who 
pushed their way to the frontier, making 
the way for the advance of civilization, can- 
not be written too high among the honored 
of the earth. 

48 




In 1844, on the 28th day of November, 
the seventh actual settler of Dallas county, 
Texas, arrived in the person of William 
Perry (Overton, a native of Chariton county, 
Missouri, born February 2, 1822, and a son 
of Aaron and Rachel (Cameron) Overton. 
Aaron Overton, a Virginian by birth, was a 
son of Jesse and Elizabeth Overton, the 
mother a half-breed Cherokee. The Overton 
family were of English ancestry, and were 
members of the early Virginia colonies, tak- 
ing a prominent part in the Revolutionary 
war. The maternal grandfather of William 
P. Overton was John Cameron, of Scotch 
descent, who also did gallant service in the 
struggles of the American colonies for inde- 
pendence, before he was wounded while on 
courier duty. Being surrounded by Tories, 
he threw up his old coon-skin cap, crying, 
" Hurrah for King George !" and succeeded 
in galloping through the British lines! 

Aaron Overton was reared to the occupa- 
tion of a farmer in his native State, and was 
there married ; immediately after this event 
he started with his bride for the West, when 
tiie West was still east of the Mississippi 
river. For a time he resided in East Tennes- 
see, and then removed to the western part of 
the State. Not having reached the place he 
was seeking, he determined to push on to the 
limits of the frontier, and this he did, going 
to Chariton county, Missouri. There, in com- 
pany with his son-in-law, he opened the salt 
works, and followed the business for some 
time. About 1824 he disposed of his inter-, 
est in that place, and moved to what is now 
Jackson county, Missouri, where he was 
among the first permanent settlers. He 
located on a farm which he brought to a high 
state of cultivation before selling it. He 
next went to Independence, Missouri, and 
there l)uilt the first steam mill in Jackson 



702 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



county; he followed milling and agricultural 
pursuits in connection therewith for several 
years, improving a farm of 4,000 acres. 

In 1844 he determitied to make another 
change, and in company with his sons, C. C. 
and W. P. Overton, he came to Texas, mak- 
ing the jonrnej in primitive style with an ox 
team, and consuming two months' time. He 
located in Dallas county and took up a head- 
right where Oak Cliff now stands; there he 
built a horse mill, having a capacity of one 
hundred bushels of wheat a day; this was 
the first mill erected in Dallas county, 
and customers came a distance of 100 miles. 
Mr. Overton conducted this mill until 
1851, when he built a water mill, and two 
years later he built that is now known as the 
Honey Springs Mill; this he owned and 
operated in connection with agricultural pur- 
suits until his death. He made a trip to 
Missouri each fall until 1847, when lie 
brought his family to the Lone Star State. 
His death occurred in 1860, and at the age 
of seventy-six years; his wife survived him 
until 1874, when she, too, passed to the 
realm beyond; she had attained the age of 
eighty-seven years. Thus ended the lives of 
a useful man and woman; they were posses- 
sed of many excellent traits of character, and 
those virtues which win and hold the affec- 
tions. There were born to them twelve chil- 
dren, eleven of whom lived to rear families, 
and seven of whom still survive. 

William P. Overton, the ninth of the 
•family in order of l)irtli, passed his child- 
hood surrounded by the quiet influences of 
nature; his education was gained in the 
primitive log schoolhouse, where the children 
of the pioneer settlers were wont to gather 
to con the rule uf three and trace the English 
script with the ancient quill pen. In 1844 
he came with his father to Dallas county, 



Texas, and took up a headright adjoining that 
of his father; he built a house, made many 
valuable improvements, and devoted himself 
to agriculture and milling until 1850. The 
tide of emigration was still sweeping strongly 
to the Paciflc coast, carrying in its flow 
thousands of gold-seekers. lu the spring of 
1850, Mr. Overton joined the caravan cross- 
ing the plains, California being the destina- 
tion of the party; he went as far as El Paso 
with ox teams, and there traded the oxen for 
mules; the journey was begun April 21, and 
\vas completed September 17, the following 
autumn, the company arriving at San Diego 
on tliat date. Mr. Overton at ouce engaged 
in the search of the yellow dust, and for 
eighteen months devoted his energies to min- 
ing. In 1853, however, he traded his head- 
rigiit to his father for the Honey Springs, 
where he still lives. We find him again in 
Texas, carrying on a milling business at 
Honey Springs mill; this pursuit occupied 
him until 1866, when he returned to the 
vocation of his youtli, farming. 

He was united in the bonds of marriage, 
July 22, 1847, to Miss Martha Ann Newton, 
a native of Saline county, Missouri, and a 
daughter of William Newton; her father was 
a blacksmith by trade, and was employed in 
the Indian nation on Kohu river by Richard 
Cunnings, the Indian agent; he settled in 
Dallas county, Texas, in 1845. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Overton were born seven children, three 
of whom are living; Aubrey L., William W. 
and Mollie A.; Alonzo died January 22 
1880, at the age of twenty-six years; Cas- 
well died January 31, 1875, aged seventeen 
years. The mother of these children passed 
from the scenes of earth November 10, 1884. 
Mr. Overton's second marriage occurred July 
22, 1885, when he was wedded to Mrs. Jes- 
sie F. Price, a daughter of Henry C. Davis. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



703 



Mr. Davis was a native of Hampshire, En- 
gland, and of a good family, was killed on 
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad, at 
the age of seventy-three years. No man 
was more deservedly loved tlian Grandpa 
Davis. 

The home of this worthy pioneer was in 
early days the home of the weary traveler, 
the haven of the foot-sore and the weary. 
During the late war it was a hospital for sick 
and disabled soldiers; there a cordial welcome 
has always been for the needy or oppressed, 
and the hospitality of the host has only been 
bounded by the necessity of the occasion. 
The residence of Mr. Overton was erected in 
1853-'54, and the first frame house in the 
county; the timber was hauled from Pales- 
tine, Anderson county, Texas, and the entire 
structure is in an excellent state of preserva- 
tion. Mr. Overton is a member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his 
wife of the Episcopal Church. 



EMh- 



fF. WARREN, a fruit grower and gar- 
dener of Dallas, was born in Houston 
'* county, Georgia, in 1837, the fifth of 
ten children born to Frederick and Mary 
Ann (McCray) Warren, natives of New 
Haven, Connecticut, and North Carolina. 
The father served his time as an apprentice 
in tlie North, after which he went South 
and took a contract for building the court- 
house at Anson, North Carolina, and a few 
years later he emigrated to Houston county, 
Georgia, where he remained until his death, 
in November, 1867; his wife died in the 
same State, in 1859. Eight of their children 
still survive, viz.: William E., a resident of 
Houston county, Georgia; L. P., also a resi- 
dent of Georgia; J. N., of the same State, 



served two years in the late war; T. D. re- 
sides on the old farm in Houston county; 
J. F., our subject.; Harriet J., now Mrs. H. 
J. Clark, of Georgia; Julia Ann, now Mrs. 
Schathergood, of Georgia; Alice, the wife 
of Mr. Chun, also of Georgia. 

J. F. Warren was reared to farm life, and 
educated in the subscription schools of 
Houston county, (xeorgia. In December, 
1858, he went to Mobile, Alabama, where he 
was connected with the Mobile & Ohio Rail- 
road as conductor until 1872, and afterward, 
in 1873, he came to Dallas. Since 1874 he 
has been engaged in farming and fruit-rais- 
ing, having purchased a farm of thirty-three 
acres. He has since bought and sold land, 
but still retains the original thirty-three 
acres, which is in good state of cultivation. 
Mr. Warren was married in Sumter county, 
Alabama, in 1865, to Bettie C. Patton, a na- 
tive of that State and daughter of William 
A. and Harriet M. (Browning) Patton, the 
father a native of Morgan county, Georgia, 
and the mother of Kentucky. The parents 
were married in Greene county, Alabama, 
now Hale county, and in 1871 moved to 
Dallas county, whei'e the father died the 
same year, and the mother now resides at 
Oak Lawn. Grandfather Browning came 
to Dallas county, in 1871, where he died in 
March, 1891, at the age of ninety-two years 
and two months; his wife died in March, 
1885. Mrs. Warren died July 27, 1882, 
and w^s the mo.ther of 11 ve children: Clara 
McCray, boi-n August 24, 1866, married W. 
T. Harper, and died in Georgia, January 1, 
1889, at the age of twenty-two years, four 
months and seven days; William F., born 
August 29, 1868; Mamie S., born May 8, 
1875; Katie Elizabeth, November 15, 1881; 
and an infant now deceased. Mr. Warren 
was married in Dallas, December 19, 1889, 



704 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



to Mrs. M. A. Camp, a native of Alabama, 
and widow of Aaron C. Camp. Mr. and 
Mrs. Camp were married in Palestine, Texas, 
and in 1869 came to Dallas county., where he 
was engaged in farming and real-estate spec- 
ulations. He settled on land where the 
Texas Pacific now stands, was County Clerk 
of Anderson county several years, and died 
in January, 1881. They had a family of four 
children: Thomas L., an attorney of Dallas; 
Aaron, attending school; Aleck, also attend- 
ing school, and Mattie, at home. Mr. War- 
ren affiliates with the Democratic party, but 
is not active in politics. Socially, he is a 
member of the Masonic order, and relig- 
iously has been a member of the Baptist 
Church since 1863. 



C. WOLFF, attorney, Dallas, Texas, 
and one of the foremost retil estate 
I® men of that city, is a native of 
Charleston, South Carolina, his birth occur- 
ring there in 1832, on the lot at the corner 
of Meeting and Wentworth streets, on which 
is the artesian well. He is the youngest of 
four children born to Francis Anthony and 
Isabelle (McKay) Wolff. The father was a 
native of the Grand Duchy of Baden, Ger- 
many, but was educated in France. He 
served ten years under the first Napoleon. 
He left that country for America when a 
young man, first settled in New York, but 
subsequently moved to South Carolina, where 
he was married. 

Settling in Charleston, he carried on the 
saddler trade until his death, in August, 
1837. He was a member of the Masonic 
order, demitted from Summit Lodge, Paris, 
France. The mother survived him a number 
of years, her death occurring in Tippah county. 




Mississippi, in 1859. W. C. Wolfl" was 
reared on a farm after coming to Tippah 
county and received his education in the 
common schools of the same, and in the Bon- 
ham Academy of Texas. He came to Texas 
in April, 1854, and taught school for many 
years. In 1855, while teaching in Fannin 
county, Te.xas, he borrowed books and began 
the study of law, and was admitted to the 
bar at Paris, Lamar county, Texas, in 1859, 
beginning to practice the same year in that 
county. He read law in the office of Win. 
H. Johnson, in Paris, Texas, about one year. 
In 1860 he came to Dallas county, locating 
at Cedar Hill, and in connection with his 
practice taught school for some time. 

In 1861 he enlisted in Company D, the 
Third Texas Cavalry, Ross' brigade, for twelve 
months, but served through the entire war. 
He was in the battle of Oak Hill, Elk Horn 
or Pea Ridge and after that crossed the Mis- 
sissippi in the battle of luka. He was also 
in the battles, Corinth, Holly Springs, Hatchee 
bridge, those around Vickburg and in the 
Georgia campaign. He was in the battle of 
Murfreesboro and was in Forrest's corps. 
He received a gunshot wound at Rome, 
Georgia. From Tennessee Mr. Wolff went 
to Mississippi, near Yazoo city, where the 
brigade was furloughed and he oame home, 
beinc there at the time of the surrender. 
Afterward he taught school at Cedar Hill, 
Texas, and in 1867 moved to the city of Dal- 
las, which at that time had a population of 
perhaps 1,000, and here began practicing 
law. He formed a partnership in the Fed- 
eral Court with J. C. McCoy and they con- 
tinued together until 1871. Since then Mr. 
Wolff has been alone and is one of the oldest 
practicing lawyers in the the city. 

He was married in 1874 to Miss Elizabeth 
St. Clair, daugtiter of Rev. Michael and 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



705 



Nancy St. Clair. Mr. and Mrs. St. Clair 
came to Fannin county, Texas, in 1853, and 
the father followed his ministerial duties in 
the Baptist Church of this State. His death 
occurred in Hunt county, Texas, and his wife 
followed him to the grave in the same county 
a few years later. Mr. Wolff lost his excel- 
lent wife in December, 1876. His second 
marriage occurred in 1877, to Miss Dona 
Dealvero Bozarth, a native of Missouri and 
the daughter of John and Nancy H. (Roy) 
Bozarth, natives of Kentucky. Her parents 
came to Bosque county, Texas, in 1860, and 
subsequently moved to Dallas county, where 
the father followed the trade of miller. He 
died in Falls county, Texas; his wife died in 
Lancaster, Dallas county, Texas, in 1891. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Wolff have been born five 
children: Orienta, Dealvero, O. S. J^'owler, 
Wirt McCoy and Roscoe. 

Mr. Wolff takes some interest in politics 
and formerly voted with the Democratic party, 
but now has joined the People's party. He is 
the prime leader of the navigation of Trinity 
river and is one of the foremost in aiding 
all laudable enterprises. He is one of the 
early pioneers of Dallas city and Dallas 
county, and is the author of the famous book 
entitled " Magnitude in Order ," which em- 
braces original and reform thoughts. 

IDWARD r. TURNER is the ticket 
agent at Dallas, Texas, for the Texas & 
Pacific railroad, but was born in Ot- 
tumwa, Iowa, in 1855, a son of Samuel B. 
and Susan B. (Inskeep) Turner, both natives 
of Ohio and removed to Iowa in 1850 and in 
1869 to Texas, being pioneers of two States. 
The father has been a merchant throughout 
the greater part of his life and is still living. 
He and his wife became the parents of seven 



children, four sons and three daughters, of 
whom Edward P. was the youngest. 

He grew up in Ottumwa, Iowa, and in the 
public schools of that place he obtained a fair 
English education and at the early age of 
thirteen years began learning the trade of a 
telegraph operator, and after thoroughly 
learning the business secured a position at 
Cuba, Missouri, with the old Atlantic & 
Pacific Railroad. Later he came to Texas 
and became chief operator for H. M. Hoxie 
and still later served in the same capacity for 
the International, Gulf & Northern Railroad 
at Houston, in which capacity he continued 
for some time. Since that time he has acted 
as a ticket agent and has been with the Texas 
& Pacific Railroad at Dallas since 1880, in 
charge of three offices, one at East Dallas de- 
pot, one at Lamar street depot, and the city 
office on Main street. He has four assistants. 
He is well qualified for the position and 
is a courteous and obliging official, one of 
the most popular employees on the road. 
He adopted the motto, "No trouble to answer 
questions," in 1876, on his return from the 
Centennial at Philadelphia. He is known 
throughout the country as the originator 
of this motto in the ticket business. He 
also sells steamship tickets to all parts of the 
world, having the agency for twelve European 
lines, and has proven himself a wide-awake 
business man, keenly alive to his own in- 
terests, and well qualified to successfully fight 
the battle of life. He has been the owner of 
valualjle real estate in the city since 1880, 
and has an elegant and comfortable home in 
Oak Cliff. 

Miss Adella Kelsey, a native of Jefferson, 
Texas, became his wife in 1879 and by her 
he had four sons: Karl; Waldso, and lialph 
and E. P., Jr. He lost Karl at the age of one 
year. 



706 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY- 



Mr. Turner was brouglit tip in the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, but is not an active 
member. He is independant in politics and 
supports the man whom he considers best 
qualified for the position. He belongs to the 
order of Elks, the Dallas Club and the Fra- 
ternal Mystic Circle. 



fOSEPH H. STEWART, (^lerk of the 
District Courts, and also of the Four- 
teenth and Forty-fourth Judicial Courts, 
was elected to his present position in 1888, 
and re-elected without opposition in 1890. 
Prior to that time he served four years as 
Deputy District Clerk. 

Mr. Stewart was born in Orange (now Ala- 
mance) county, North Carolina, in 1846, the 
third of the family of John A. and Nancy 
(Thompson) Stewart, natives of North Caro- 
lina. His father was a farmer by occupation. 
He moved to Hempstead county, Arkansas, 
in 1851, and settled on a farm near Columbus, 
where he passed the remainder of hid life, and 
died in 1876. His wife died about 1874. 
Joseph H. was reared to farm life and was 
educated in the schools of Arkansas In 
1863 he enlisted in the Confederate army, 
and served until the war closed, being at 
Alexandria, Louisiana, at the time of the 
surrender. 

Returning to Hempstead county, Arkansas, 
he engaged as a clerk at Washington. From 
there he came to Dallas county, Texas, in 
1867, and located at Cedar Hill. At the 
latter place he was married, December 22, 
1867, to Miss Sarah A. Stewart, a native of 
Dallas county and a daughter of Samuel and 
Melinda (Jackson) Stewart, natives of North 
Carolina and Missouri, respectively. Her 
father went from North Carolina to Missouri, 



where he married, and in 1845 he and his 
wife came to Dallas county, Texas, and set- 
tled at Cedar Hill, on Ten-mile creek. Both 
died in Dallas county, the mother in 1866, 
and the father in 1868. Mr. Stewart re- 
mained on a farm one year after his mar- 
riage. He then engaged in clerking and 
merchandising in Cedar Hill; was Postmaster 
at that place for a number of years; and 
served as Justice of the Peace three terms. 
In 1884 he moved to Dallas. Socially, Mr. 
Stewart is a member of Cedar Hill Lodge, 
No. 39, A. F. & A. M. In 1888 his wife 
died. She was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church for many years, and was a 
most estimable woman. She left five chil- 
dren: N. M., A. R., S. L., James A. and I. 
B. Two of their children died in infancy. 

In 1891 Mr. Stewart was married, in Cedar 
Hill, to Miss Mary A. Rape, a native of Dal- 
las county, Texas, and a daughter of John 
Rape. Her parents, natives of Illinois, were 
among the early settlers of Dallas county, 
Texas. Her mother died at Itasca, Hill 
county, this State, in 1882. Her father is 
still living, at Cedar Hill. 

A. ORLOPP, the talented architec 
of the new courthouse of Dallas 
* county, was born in Brooklyn, New 
York, May, 26, 1859. His parents are M. 
A. and Harriet (Hail) Orlopp, both natives of 
Germany. The father has been a hardware 
merchant in New York city, Chicago, Cin- 
cinnati and Little Rock, Arkansas, at which 
latter place he has been living for the past 
twenty-three years. In Cincinnati he was 
connected with Tyler, Davidson & Co., the 
projectors of the fountain on Fifth, Vine and 
Walnut streets, about the time the fountain 




HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



707 



was built. The name was first spelled 
"Orloflf" and the father of our subject was a 
political exile from Russia and Grermanj at 
the same time that Carl Schnrz was exiled. 
He came to America, the land of the free and 
refuge of the oppressed. He is now a man 
fifty-nine years of age, and a member of the 
Masonic fraternity. His wife also is still liv- 
ing, having come to America with her parents. 
Mr. and Mrs. Orlopp were married in Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, in 1856. They had four chil- 
dren, namely: Henry, the eldest, is in Little 
Eock, Arkansas, in the cotton and oil business, 
married to Elizabeth Wright, and they have 
four children, Paul T., Harriet, Harry and 
Alexis; Norman died at the age of two 
years; our subject is the third child, and Paul 
A., residing in Cincinnati, connected with 
the Adams Express Company is the youngest 
child and is as yet unmarried. 

Our subject was educated in the United 
States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Mary- 
laud, graduating in June, 1881. After leav- 
ing the academy his time was occupied in 
civil engineering until 1884, making rail- 
road surveys most of the time, and during 
this time he was connected with the Pnited 
States Engineers. He took up the study of 
architecture in 1885 and has been engaered in 
it ever since, with headquarters at Little 
Rock, but lately he has changed his head- 
quarters to Dallas, Texas. He built the 
Scollard building of Dallas, on Main street, 
seven stories in height, which is one of the 
largest and most ornamental buildings in the 
city. The work on which he is now engaged 
is the building of one of the city schools. 
He was the architect of the courthouse and it 
is one of the finest of its kind in the 
country. 

He was married, in 1887, to Miss Jessie 
E. Culver, daughter of John Culver, of Little 



Rock, Arkansas. They have two children, 
the pride and joy of the household, Elizabeth 
and Helen. 

Mr. Orlopp is a member of the Elks. 

This gentlemen, whose biography is here 
so briefly sketched is one of the best work- 
men in his line that America has ever pro- 
duced. Posessed of an excellent education, 
he has perfected himself in his art and now 
stands pre-eminent in his profession. He 
has as high a standing as a gentleman as an 
architect, and is highly esteemed by his hosts 
of admiring friends. 

fZ. SHUFORD, one of the pioneer set- 
tlers of Dallas county, was born in 
* North Carolina, in 1850, the seventh 
of nine children born to Joe and Cynthia 
(Mooney) Shuford, also natives of North 
Carolina. The father was SherifiF of Gaston 
county, that State, for a number of years, and 
his death occurred in that county in 1855; 
the mother still resides in North Carolina. 

J. Z. Shuford, our subject, was reared to 
farm life, and educated in the public schools 
of Gaston county, North Carolina. He 
learned the carpenter trade in Lincolaton, 
same State, and afterward, in 1870, he 
came to Dallas, where he engaged in 
bridge building. He was in the employ of 
the Texas Pacific Railroad for about six 
years, and is now engaged in repairing and 
beautifying his place on Patterson avenue, 
where he owns six lots, 150 x 300 feet. 
Mr. Shuford also owns two other large build- 
ings, with plenty of ground and good flow- 
ing springs, situated one and one-half blocks 
from the Texas Pacific Railroad, and four 
blocks from* the city hall. He has taken an 
active interest in politics, voting with the 



708 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Democratic party. Socially he is a member 
of the Masonic order, and both he and his 
wife are members of tlie Episcopal Church. 

Mr. Shuford was married at Dallas, in 
1877, to Miss Kittie Patterson, a native of 
this county, and a daughter of eJudge J. M. 
and Sarah (Self) Patterson, natives of Ken- 
tucky. The parents came to Dallas at an 
early day, where they both still reside. Mr. 
and Mrs. Shuford have four children, namely: 
Earl Patterson, Carl Huett, Ardell, who 
died at one year of age, and Cameal. 

Both parents are members of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Chruch, on Patterson avenue, 
the most beautiful avenue of Dallas, named 
for Judge Patterson, who was one of the first 
Judges in Dallas and whose sketch appears 
elsewhere. 

W. SEBASTIAN, a farmer of Pre- 
cinct No. 3, Dallas county, was 
' ® born in Cherokee county, Georgia, 
May 22, 1838, a son of Edmond Sebastian, 
who was born in Wilkes county. North Caro- 
lina, in August. 1800. In 1825 he was 
mai'ried to Miss Pollie Ledbetter, and they 
had two children born to them in North 
Carolina: Nancy A. and Martha Jane. They 
afterward moved to Georgia, where two more 
children were born: Orlando and Elisha, and 
where two also died, Martha J. and Orlando. 
The mother died in 1835, after which the 
father returned to North Carolina, and while 
there was again married, in 1837, to Miss 
Mary A. Whiteside. He then returned to 
his farm in Georgia, where he remained until 
his death, which occurred in 1879, at the age 
of seventy-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Sebas- 
tian were the parents of eight children, 
namely: W. W. Sebastian, our subject; Ed- 
mond P.; Mary E., wife of William G. Field, 




who died leaving five children; J. P. was the 
next in order of birth; Elizabeth A., wife of 
P. H. Fife; Lewis H.; Columbus A.; Frank- 
lin P., who died when young; Elisha, who 
died on his way home from the army; Ed- 
mond P., who also served in the war, was 
badly wounded at the battle of Athens, Ten- 
nessee, being a member of his brother's com- 
pany (the subject), in 1864; William W. mar- 
ried Miss Melissa A. Stewart, January 6, 
1859, who was related to the Stewart that 
captured the great bandit of Kentucky and 
Tennessee. Mrs. Sebastian's father, Barnabas 
Stewart, was born in 1793, in Tennessee, and 
was married to Miss Susan Layraance about 
1818. He then moved to Illinois, where he 
remained one year, and in 1835 returned to 
Georgia, where he spent the remainder of his 
days. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart had eleven chil- 
dren, namely: James L. ; Mary E., wife of 
Jesse Jackson; Melissa A.; Margaret M., 
wifeof James F. Ramsey; Samuel L.; Frank- 
lin M.; Catharine, wife of John Terry. 

William W. Sebastian, our subject, enlisted 
in 1862, in the Third Confederate Regiment, 
as a private, and served about one year, when 
he returned home and raised a company, 
which was attached to Edmondson's battalion, 
Georgia troops. He went out as Captain, but 
was in command of the battalion the greater 
portion of the time, and was also on detached 
service. He was discharged at Kingston, 
Georgia, under General Wafford, after the 
close of the war, and came out without being 
captured or wounded, but was in many hot 
engagements. 

He returned to his home after the close of 
the war and was engaged in farming until 
his removal to Dallas county, Texas, Decem- 
ber 7, 1872. He rented land three years, and 
then bouplit a farm three miles south of 
Richards. He next bought 200 acres of land 



HItiTORY OF DALLAS QOUNTT. 



709 



wliei'e he now lives, to which he has since 
added until he now owns 640 acres, all of 
which is well improved. Mr. Sebastian has 
also been actively engaged in bujing and 
shipping cotton in connection with his farm- 
ing and stock-raising. He first commenced 
the stock- business with graded Durham cat- 
tle, but has now changed to the Holstein, of 
which he has a? line specimens as can be found 
in any State. He also has some blooded 
horses of the Hambletonian and Endower 
stock, which breeds command very high 
prices. Mr. Sebastian is one of the useful 
citizens of Dallas county, always keeping up 
with times in all kinds of improvements, and 
is charitable to the unfortunate of his neigh- 
borhood. 

Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian have had eleven 
children: Edmond B.; Mary S., wife of Cal- 
vin Taylor; Anna J., wife of Thomas M. 
Raney; Thomas P.; Dollie, wife of Charles 
Castle; Tennia; William F. ; Sidney J. and 
Walter E. One is now deceased, Hve are 
married and living in Texas and live are still 
with their parents. Mr. Sebastian has served 
several terms as Master of the Masonic order, 
Kichardson Lodge, No. 256, and has been 
Representative of his lodge in the Grand 
Lodge of the State of Texas, and both he and 
his wife are of the Baptist persuasion. 



(MMANUEL M. TILLMAN was born 
on the picturesque banks of the river 
Rhine, Germany, in March, 1841, and 
is the son of Jacob Tillman, a wine merchant 
who is still living in his native land, at the 
age of seventy-six years. The father is a 
man of fine mental attainments, and from a 
long line of ancestors inherited a strength of 
character and high sense of honor that are 



as truly admirable as they are rare. At an 
early age Emmanuel M. evinced a decided 
aptitude for the languages, mastering 
Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Ger- 
man and English. He also made a special 
study of chemistry, graduating from the cel- 
ebrated laboratory of Fresenius, the most 
noted chemist of die age. Heenteredthe Hei- 
delberg University, and was graduated in 
1865 with the degrees of M. A. and Ph. I). 
Through a long and active business career he 
has never lost his interest in the classics, and 
is probably without a peer in the South in 
linguistic attainment. To the excellent men- 
tal discipline of his youth he has added the 
culture that comes from extended travels 
both in this country and Europe. Upon emi- 
grating to the United States he located in 
Natchez, Mississippi, and engaged in the 
drug business. It was not long until he was 
chosen assistant State Geologist, with a lab- 
oratory at Oxford. At the close of a success- 
ful and satisfactory term he resigned on ac- 
count of ill health, and in 1871 he came to 
Dallas. From that year no name has been 
more closely connected with the moral, edu- 
cational, and material growth of Dallas than 
has Mr. Tillman's. His time, talent, and 
means have been freely given, and the result 
has been its own reward. 

He embarked in the wholesale grocery 
business, and with slight changes in the firm 
name he has continued uninterruptedly since 
the beginning of his residence in the place. 
He has met with serious reverses, losing every- 
thing by fire; but by strict economy and unre- 
mitting industry he paid 100 cents on the dol- 
lar, and re-established himself in a prosperous 
business. 

Mr. Tillman was married in 1873 to Miss 
Frances Hess, a native of Germany, and a 
woman of high mental order. They have 



710 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



five children living. The eldest, Sidney, is 
now abroad laying the foundation of an edu- 
cation that is to be finished in his native 
land. 

Our worthy subject is a thirty-second de- 
gree Mason, and is well-versed in the mys- 
teries of the order. He is one of the honored 
founders of the beneficent order, 1. O. F. B., 
which stands at the head of charitable organi- 
zations in the United States. He lias been 
one of the main supporters of the Synagogue, 
and has aideded very largely in bringing tlie 
congregation to its present flourishing condi- 
tion. For a long time he was a member of 
the City Council, and was one of its most 
active and able servants. He has always been 
deeply interested in the public school system, 
and has earnestly labored to elevate the stand- 
ard in this city. He has one of the most ele- 
gantly furnished homes in Dallas, where he 
dispenses a hospitality in every way worthy 
of the host. 

S. TOPPIN, contractor and builder, is 
one of the progressive and energetic 
'* business men of Dallas. He has been 
a resident of Texas since June, 1883, when 
located at Greenville, Hunt county, here he 
was very prominently identified with the 
building interest for a period of three years, 
coming in June, 1886, to Dallas. The first 
year of his residence here he did contract 
work, but afterward was employed as a 
jonrneyman until the last part of the year 
1888. He again took up contracting, his 
first shop being located on Main street be- 
tween Pearl and Preston. His rapidly in- 
creasingr business necessitated larger quarters: 
so he removed to 132 North Pearl street, 
where his shops are now located. Among 
the many buildings he has erected in Dallas 



raav be mentioned the residences of Judse 
Davis, Judge Charlton, Judge Morrison and 
Dr. Williams, at Oak Cliff, and many others 
in the city of Dallas, including the Dallas 
Lithographing building. The great building 
boom of Dallas was a busy time to Mr. 
Toppin; during that time he employed fifty 
men, exhibiting a fine executive ability and 
extraordinary business qualifications. 

The subject of this sketch was born in 
Rockingham county, Virginia, April 12, 
1860, and is the third of a family of six chil- 
dren. His parents were William H. and 
Regina (Dilinger) Toppin; the father was a 
native of Virginia and of English extraction; 
he was a carpenter by trade, and followed 
this calling through life. Both the father 
and mother were consistent members of the 
Lutheran Church; the mother passed from 
the scenes of this life in 1870, in her forty- 
first year, and the father survived her in Den- 
ison, Texas, until the fall of 1888, when he 
died, at the age of fifty-nine years. In his 
youth our subject was apprenticed to learn 
the carpenter's trade, and with the exception 
of three years has followed this occupation 
since early manhood. In 1870 he removed 
with his parents from Virginia to Middle- 
town, Indiana, and at that place gained his 
early education. His advantages in this di- 
rection, however, were very limited, and 
eighteen months cover the period he was in 
school. In 1883, he was swept by the tide 
of emigration to the great and growing State 
of Texas. He was united in marriage Nov- 
ember 3, 1877, to Miss Mary Wimmer, and 
of this union two children have been 
born; the elder is Leota N. and the younger, 
Elizabeth E. September 5, 1882, the mother 
died, and it was after this sad event that Mr. 
Toppin decided to remove to Texas. He was 
married a second time, December 23, 1887, 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



711 



to Mrs. Emma C. Fisk Crook, and one child 
has been born to them: Lena, whose birthday 
was November 3, 1888. 

Mr. Toppin is a member of Dallas Lodge, 
No. 44, L O. O. F. and of Queen City Lodge, 
No. 941, Knights of Honor. He is a man 
of social and genial disposition, is well-known 
for his correct business methods, and firm in 
his convictions of right and wrong. He 
has won an enviable position in Dallas county, 
and ranks among her most honored citizens. 



mROF. JAMES HENRY GILLESPIE is 

a son of one of the most eminent educa- 
tors of the South, William Paxton Gil- 
lespie, a native of Tennessee. His father was 
a teacher of the classics all his life, and for 
more than twenty-two years he was connected 
with Trinity University. He has retired from 
active work, and is now living quietly on his 
plantation. He married Mickia Lester, a 
native of Tennessee, and they had five chil- 
dren born to them, three of whom are still 
living. The mother died in 1867. James 
H. is the oldest of the family, and received 
bis education at Trinity University, where he 
took a thorough course of instruction. De- 
termining to follow the profession of his 
father, than which there is none higher, he 
was employed as a teacher in the public 
schools of Te.xas. In 1881 he connected him- 
self with Hill's College, and was principal of 
the business department for three years. At 
the expiration of that time he went to Tehu- 
acana, the seat of Trinity University, and 
took charge of the commercial department 
for three years and a half. He then came 
to Dallas and purchased an interest in Hill's 
Commercial College. This was in the year 
1888, and the year 1890-'91 shows an 



enrollment of 216. Six teachers are 
employed, each of whom is a specialist 
in his line, and the school has both 
a summer and a winter session. It is sup- 
ported by a patronage from Texas, Louisiana, 
and the Territories, having established a 
reputation as one of the most thorough and 
painstaking schools in the country. Prof. 
Gillespie's long years of experience have 
fitted him well for this responsible position, 
and he is maintaining the reputation as a 
worthy sou of his father. In politics he is 
a Democrat. 

Prof. Gillespie was married to Miss Jennie 
Hefner, a native of Colorado county, Texas, 
and four children have been born to them. 
Mrs. Gillespie was educated at Trinity Uni- 
versity. She and the Professor are worthy 
members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. 



4^ 



^ 



fRANCIS FENDRICH, one of the pop- 
ular and successful business men of 
Dallas, Texas, was born in Baltimore, 
Maryland, in 1829, the son of Joseph and 
Wilhelmina Fendrich, the father a native of 
Germany. The elder Fendrich, after reach- 
ing this country, settled in Baltimore, where 
he engaged in business, and where he lived 
until he received his final summons. The 
mother died in Baltimore. Their family 
consisted of five sons, only one besides 
our subject is now living, namely, John 
Fendrich, of Columbia, Pennsylvania. 

Francis Fendrich received his education in 
public schools of Baltimore, and when quite 
young embarked in the tobacco business with 
his brothers in that city. 

In 1855 he started a branch house in 
Evansville, Indiana, under the name of Fend- 
rich Bros. In 1865 he went to Lancaster, 



712 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Pennsylvania, to engage in a wholesale leaf- 
tobacco business. Here lie married Miss 
Mary E. Gable, dangliter of the Hon. John 
S. Gable, a wealthy and influential citizen of 
Lancaster. In 1871, he removed to Wiscon- 
sin, buying leaf there until 1877; then, com- 
ing to the Lone Star State, he settled in Dal- 
las, on Main street, and there he has remained 
up to the present, engaged in the wholesale 
and retail tobacco business. He is prob- 
ably the best posted tobacco man in tiie 
South. He has been in this business for 
nearly half a century, is a practical and ex- 
perienced man, thoroughly conversant with 
every detail of his business, is highly es- 
teemed for his many exemplary traits of 
character, promptness and reliability. When 
he first came to Dallas, Texas, he began in- 
vestinp; in rea! estate and now owns valuable 
property. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Fendrich have been born 
three children: Francis, who died in Wiscon- 
sin, in 1876; Ella, now Mrs. Dr. Coble; 
Nettie, at home. 

Mr. Fendrick joined the Odd Fellows 
organization in Baltimore, in 1849. In poli- 
tics he is strictly independent. 



^ 



^ 



ire|OSS BKOTHERS, Dallas, Texas.— 
1 William and Andrew J. Ross, who have 
been residents of Dallas county since 
1866, are the sons of David and Martha 
(Wallace) lioss. The father came to Texas 
in 1838, and made an extended trip across 
the country when it was unbroken, uninhab- 
ited prairie. He returned to Georgia, where 
he passed the remainder of his days. He 
died in 1849, and his wife survived until 
1860. They were an industrious, self-sacri- 
ficing couple, and were faithful to their du- 



ties as parents of a large family of children. 
William and Andrew J. emigrated to Texas 
in 1854, and settled in Smith county, where 
William opened a farm and planted the first 
orchard in that section of country. He also 
planted a vineyard, and was the first man to 
demonstrate the possibilities of this section as 
a fruit-growing center. His wines became 
widely known for their purity and delicacy 
of flavor, and he soon established a reputa- 
tion as the most successful horticulturist and 
wine merchant in the State. He has written 
many able articles on fruit culture, which are 
considered the highest authority. As before 
stated, he came to Dallas county in 1866, and 
established himself in the real-estate busi- 
ness. 

Andrew J. was a soldier in the late war, 
and when it was ended joined his brother in 
Dallas county. For a time they were inter- 
ested in some mercantile enterprises, but 
soon devoted their entire time to the real- 
estate business. 

William was married in Baldwin county, 
Georgia, to Miss Josephine Hill, a native of 
that State. She died in 1885, beloved by a 
wide circle of acquaintances. JNo children 
were born of this marriage. 

Andrew J. was married in 1859 to Miss 
Lightfoot, a descendant of the famous Revo- 
lutionary family of that name. They are the 
parents of four children: the oldest son 
is engaged in business in Arkansas Pass, 
Texas; one daughter is now Mrs. Maynor; 
the other daughter married Mr. Lanther, an 
attorney at Dallas; the fourth child died in 
infancy. 

The brothers have been members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church for half a cen- 
tury, and have contributed liberally of their 
means to its support. They are kind and 
courteous in manner, strictly honorable in all 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



713 



their dealings, citizens of whom Dallas county 
is justly proud. Ross avenue, one of the 
finest thoroughfares in Dallas city, is named 
in honor of these gentlemen. 



J. POTTER, one of the pii.neer settlers 
of Dallas county, was born in Kala- 
mazoo, Michigan, August 30, 1858, 
the sixth of eight children born to William 
and Catharine (Tolbert) Potter, the father a 
native of Oswego, Now York, and the mother 
of Kilkenny, Ireland. The latter came to 
New York when ten years of age, and after- 
ward removed to Michigan. The parents 
were married in Niles, Michigan, and after- 
ward settled in Kalamazoo county, Michigan, 
honored pioneers, and in 1877 they came to 
Dallas, where the father has been identified 
with the building interests since that time. 
They now reside on North Harvard street, 
this city. He is now seventy years of age, 
while his wife is sixty-five. 

S. J. Potter, our subject, was reared and 
educated in Kalamazoo until eighteen years 
of age, when he came to Dallas and engaged 
in the manufacture of cigars and tobacco. 
He has been identified with the cigar busi- 
ness since 1877 until a short time ago, 
and at one time his shop was located on Elm 
and Live Oak streets, and was the largest 
manufactory in the State. Mr. Potter was 
married June 3, 1883, to Anna Spencer, a 
native of Anna, Illinois, and a daugliter of 
William and Catharine (Shefley) Spencer, the 
father a native of county Kildare, Ireland, 
and the mother of Wiirtteinburg, Germany. 
The father came to Illinois when a young 
man, was married near Jonesboro, that State, 
and in the spring of 1878 he came to Dallas, 
Texas, and engaged in the livery business, 



and was also a veterinary surgeon. Both 
parents still reside in this city, the father 
now aged sixty-six years and the mother fifty- 
three. They had four daughters: Fanny, 
deceased; Mary, Jennie and Anna. Mr. and 
Mrs. Potter have four children: Lily, Robert, 
Daisy and Frankie. Mr. Potter takes an 
active interest in politics, voting with the 
Democratic party, and is now serving as 
Alderman from the Eighth Ward, filling the 
unexpired term of G. C. Cole. Socially, he 
is a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 70, Knights 
of Pythias. 

V^D. M. PATTERSON, son of Judge 
"fflL James M. Patterson and Sarah E. Pat- 
^^ terson, of whom a sketch appears else- 
wliere in this work, was born in Dallas, 
Texas, January 20, 1859. His parents were 
both natives of Kentucky, — came to Dallas 
county respectively in 1845 and 1846, — 
where they afterward married (October 5, 
1848). Judge Patterson, associated with 
John W. Smith, was the first merchant in 
Dallas. From 1854 to 1866 he was County 
Judge of Dallas county, giving entire satis- 
faction. Ed. M. Patterson, the sixth son of 
their eleven children, was horn, raised and 
educated in Dallas, where he still resides, 
commanding the respect and esteem of his 
fellow-citizens as fully as any man of his 
age. Possessing a handsome estate in this 
large and progressing community, and ful- 
filling in every sense the measure of good 
citizenship, he is regarded by those who know 
him most intimately as a model son, brother, 
husband and father. 

On the 27th of August, 1882, he married 
Antoinette Stoddard, of Comanche county, 
Kansas, she being a native of Buchanan 
county, Missouri, daughter of John S. and 



714 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Annie E. Stoddard, natives respectively of 
Maryland and Virginia. Mr. Stoddard was 
a well-known merchant in St. Joseph, Mis- 
souri, where he settled, after his marriage in 
Virginia, in 1854. He died in Baltimore in 
1864, and his widow is now the wife of Mr. 
C. C Pepperd, of Cleburne, Texas. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ed. M. Patterson have but 
one child, a lovely daughter, born in 1883 
and bearing the name of Ethel. 

Mr. Patterson has for years been engaged 
in the real-estate business, and has the re- 
spect and confidence of the community in 
which his family has resided for forty- six 
years, being honored for their integrity and 
fidelity to all social and religions obligations, 
and his friends have every right to expect 
that through life he will continue to reflect 
credit on the memory of his now venerable 
parents. 

He is a communicant of tlie Episcopal 
Churcii, and in politics an uncompromising 
Democrat. 

SASHINGTON C. BULLOCK, de- 
ceased, was born in Boone county, 
Kentucky, a son of John C. and 
Mary (O'Neal) Bullock. The father, a native 
of Maryland, moved to Kentucky when a 
young man, where he married Mary O'jSTeal, 
and a few years later went to Marion county, 
Missouri, wliere he and his wife both died. 
Washington C. Bullock was eleven years of 
age when his parents settled in Missouri, and 
he remained in that State until 1852, when 
he took a trip to California, but did not re- 
main long on the Pacific coast. After re. 
turning to Missouri he came to Texas in 
1855, settling on the south line of Dallas 
county, where he bought 320 acres of land. 
He sold this place in 1866, and purchased a 




tract of 480 acres lying between Denton and 
Grapevine creeks, in the northwest part of 
the county, fifty acres of which was im- 
proved. Mr. Bullock remained on this place 
until his death, which occurred October 6, 
1889, at the age of sixty-eight years, eight 
months and eight days. He was a successful 
farmer and stock-raiser, leaving at his death 
one of the best improved farms in the county, 
125 acres of which was under a fine state of 
cultivation, and the remainder in hay and 
pasture. 

He was married November 28. 1844, to 
Caroline, a daughter of George and Isabella 
(Ellis) Hunsaker, natives of Pennsylvania 
and Virginia respectively. The father settled 
in Union county, Illinois, in 1811, but moved 
to Knox county, Missouri, in 1841, wliere he 
died ten years later, at the age of ninety-seven 
years. The mother died in that county in 
1846, at the age of sixty-four years. Both 
parents were members of the Dunkard 
Church. Mrs. Bullock was born in Union 
county, Illinois, January 10, 1823, but re- 
moved with iier parents to Missouri when 
eighteen years of age. She is the fifth in a 
family of seven children, viz. : Catherine, the 
wife of Drake H. Rendleman, of Union 
county, Illinois; Mary, now Mrs. Samuel 
White, of Marion county, Missouri; Emma, 
who died unmarried; Sarah, who became the 
wife of Mr. Davie, but is now deceased; 
Ellen, deceased, was the wife of Mr. Imbler; 
and Susan, now Mrs. Andrew Hunsaker, of 
Washington county. Mr. and Mrs. Bullock 
bad the following children: an infant that 
died unnamed; Mary Isabella, who became 
the wife of Peter E. Rape, of Dallas county, 
and died iiere in 1872; Sarah Susanna, who 
died in September, 1887, was the wife of 
B. B. Howell, of Dallas county; John C, a 
resident of Young county, this State; Drake 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



715 



W., deceased in 1882; George T., a sketch of 
whom appears iu this work; Emma, the wife 
of "W. T. Hyder, of Denton county, Texas; 
Nancy Virginia, now Mrs. John W. Oliphint, 
of Tarrant county; Martha, wife of Jeff. D. 
Harrison, of Dallas county. The last men- 
tioned was married October 23, ISS-t, and 
now resides with her mother at the old liorae- 
stead. Mr. Bullock served his county as a 
Justice of the Peace for a number of years, 
and was always interested in everything re- 
lating to the good of the county and com- 
munity. Mrs. Bullock is a consistent mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. 



^1- 



fj. FLNNIGAN is the proprietor of a 
wall paper, glass, oil and paint estab- 
** lishment, and keeps constantly on hand 
a complete and comprehensive stock of goods, 
well calculated to suit the most critical taste. 
His place of business is located at 535 Elm 
street, and it is his aim to satisfy every cus- 
tomer, and upon tiiis sure basis he has de- 
veloped a large trade which, with its constant 
growth, is a reflex of the growth of Dallas. 
He takes contracts for painting in difl'erent 
parts of the State, and keeps on an average 
from twelve to fifteen men employed during 
the busy season who do their work in a 
thoroughly artistic maimer. Mr. Finnigan 
came to Dallas in March, 1877, and after 
learning the trade of a paper hanger, he en- 
tered the employ of K. Shields, and about 
1885 began contracting for himself, and the 
following year opened his present establish- 
ment. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, 
in 1852, to James and Margaret (Con ley) 
Finnigan, natives of the Emerald Isle, who 
came to America in an early day, and died 
when the subject of this sketch was quite 



young. In the city of St. Louis, J. J. Fin- 
nigan was partly reared, many of his youth- 
ful days being also spent in Marshall, Mis- 
souri, where he obtained a fair knowledge of 
the common branches. After following farm- 
ing in Saline county, Missouri, for some 
time, he came to Dallas, Texas, in 1877, and 
was here married two years later to Miss 
Mary Isabelle Trammell, daughter James 
Trammell, a native of Iowa, who became a 
resident of Dallas in quite an early day. He 
and his wife now reside in Millsap, Texas. 
After his marriage Mr. Finnigan settled on 
McKinney avenue, where he has a very com- 
fortable home. He and his wife are members 
of the Catholic Church, in which faith they 
are rearing their two children, Maggie and 
Mary J. Although Mr. Finnigan is not very 
active in politics, he usually votes the Demo- 
cratic ticket. Socially he belongs to the 
Catholic Knights of America. Mr. Finni- 
gan came to Dallas when it was only a fourth 
as large as it is at the present time, and con- 
sequently has witnessed the must of its growth 
and prosperity. He is a wide awake man 
of business, and is in every sense of the 
word a self-made man, for in his youth he was 
left fatherless and motherless and without 
means, but by his own efforts has successfully 
fought the battle of life. 



"-^^yxn/iy- 



-q/inr^^ 



M. HURT, a retired farmer of Dallas 
\ county, was born in Grayson county, 
I* Texas, in 1859, the eldest of three 
children born to James M. and Mattie L. 
(Douglas) Hurt, natives of Tennessee. The 
father was married in Osceola, Missouri, and 
about 1857 emigrated to Grayson county, 
Texas, settling in Sherman, where he was en- 
gaged as an attorney. He graduated at the 



716 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Law School of Lebanon, Tennessee, and after 
coming to Sherman he continued the prac- 
tice of law, and was prominent for many 
years in Grayson county. During the war 
he was Captain of a company in that county, 
and was in the Trans-Mississippi department, 
and at the close of that struggle he returned 
to Grayson county. He taught school for a 
number of mouths, and later resumed the 
practice of law, was Prosecuting Attorney of 
that county for seven years, was a noted 
criminal lawyer, and moved from Sherman to 
Dallas, in 1876. He is now Appellate 
J iidge at Tyler, Austin, and Galveston, and 
he and his estimable wife reside in Dallas 
city. They reared a family of three chil- 
dren, viz.: R. M., our suitject; E. S., who is 
editor and and proprietor of the Elgin Times^ 
also a practicing attorney of Elgin; and Lulu, 
the wife of P. M. Stine, District Judge of 
Clay county, Texas. 

R. M. Hurt, our subject, was reared and 
educated in Sherman, Texas, and at the age 
of seventeen years he engaged as stock man- 
ager for a large stock firiu in the Creek and 
Cherokee nation, which he represented three 
years, and also handled ranches for firms in 
Texas. After his marriage he settled at 
Choteau, Cherokee nation, and four years 
later he came to Dallas, where he engaged in 
the grain business, under the firm name of 
Everhart & Hurt, and continued the same 
until 1890. Mr. Hurt affiliates with the 
Democratic party, and has been a delegate 
from his ward to the Democratic County Con- 
vention, and was one of the judges in his 
ward on election day. He was married in 
Cisco, Eastland county, Texas, in 1884, to 
Lizzie McKee Evans, a native of Canada, and 
daughter of Dr. David and Elizabeth (Tur- 
ney) Evans, also natives of Canada. The 
father was a practicing physician, and his 



death occurred in Canada. The mother after- 
ward came to Stephens county, Texas, and 
then to Cisco, Eastland county, where she 
now resides with her children. Mr. and Mrs. 
Evans were the parents of five children, viz.: 
David, book-keeper for a lumber company at 
Fort Worth; John, a member of the firm of 
Logan & Evans, of Fort Worth; Belle, who 
married D. S. Williams, Postmaster at Cisco; 
Lizzie, the wife of our subject; Henrietta, 
now Mrs. H. E. Cunningham, of Palo Pinto, 
Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Hurt have had four 
children: James Mann, who died in 1889, at 
the age of three years; Earl E., and Eb D., 
twins; and R. L. 

R. SEARS, a retired farmer and stock- 
raiser of Dallas county, was born in 
® Allen county, Kentucky, in 1837, the 
fourth of nine children born to John and 
Frances (Hammett) Sears, natives of Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina. When a young 
man the father went to Kentucky, and in 
1851 to Dallas county, Texas, where he died 
in 1874, and the mother died about 1870. 
Mr. Sears took an active part in politics in 
the early history of the county, was an enter- 
prising citizen, and a member of the Baptist 
Church. Of their nine children, four are 
now living, viz.: G. R., our subject; Robert 
L., a resident of Collin county, Texas; Ann 
Frances, widow of John Burton, in Henri- 
etta, Clay county, Texas; and Samuel M., a 
resident of the same place. 

The subject of this sketch was reared to 
farm life, and received his education in the 
subscription schools of Kentucky, and also 
in those of Dallas, after which he farmed on 
the home farm. Li 1861 he enlisted in 
Company E, Third Texas Cavalry, for twelve 
months, at the close of his term of service 



^ V- 







nrsTOMr of n all as couihtt. 



717 



he re-enlisted in the same company and re,a;i- 
ineiit. He took part in tlie battles of Wil- 
son's creek, Elk Horn, and the iirst two 
years served in Arkansas and Missouri, and 
afterward was east of the Mississippi river. 
Mr. Sears remained until the close of the war, 
and was taken prisoner at Holly Springs, 
Mississippi, and later was paroled and sent 
home. He returned to Dallas county, where 
he bought fifty acres of land, which he sub- 
sequently improved. In 1872 he moved to 
Dallas, and took charge of the home farm, 
and he now owns ten acres just outside of the 
city limits, having sold the remainder of the 
farm in acre tracts. 

Mr. Sears was married in Dallas county, in 
1865, to Alta M. Smith, a native of Tennes- 
see, and a daughter of John W. and Susan 
Smith, also natives of Tennessee. Mr. and 
Mrs. Sears have five children: William, John, 
Claude, Alta and Georgie. Mr. Sears affili- 
ates with the Democratic party, and takes an 
active part in politics. 



^HARLES H. DURGIN, deceased, was 
an early pioneer of the Republic of 
Mexico, settling in 1842 in what is 
now Jefferson, Marion county, Texas, and 
later in San Antonio, thence to Dallas county 
in the spring of 1844. Heat once opened a 
dry-goods store at this point, which was the 
second to be opened in the city, and contin- 
ued in this business until his health failed 
some four years later, after which he traveled 
for some time. He was born in Springfield, 
Massachusetts, in 1821, being the second of 
seven children, three now living, born to 
Ezra and Tempa (Walter) Durgin, natives of 
the Bay State, who afterward became resi- 
dents of Rock county, Wisconsin. The father 

47 



died in Beloit, Wisconsin, during the Civil 
war, and the mother some ten or twelve years 
before in Rock county, that State. Charles 
H. Durgin was educated in Springfield, 
Massachusetts, and in Chicago, Illinois, and 
when a boy worked on the Illinois Canal, but 
after attaining his twenty-first year came to 
Texas. 

He was married in Dallas county, this 
State, in May, 1848, to Miss Elizabeth B. 
Thomas, their license being tlie first to be 
issued in that county, and they the first couple 
to wed. Mrs. Dnrgin's parents, John and Han- 
nah (Andes) Thomas, were born in Tennessee 
and Virginia respectively, but their union 
was celebrated in Seviersville, i^'evier county, 
Tennessee. Isaac Thomas, the grandfather, 
was a Tennesseean, and a Revolutionary sol- 
dier, as well as a soldier in a i.,imber of early 
Indian wars. John Thomas took an active 
part in the war of 1812, the Cherokee war, 
the Black Hawk war, and in the trouble with 
the Mormons. He was drawing a pension for 
services rendered in the war of 1812, wlien 
he died. He was a tiller of the soil, and in 
1833, settled at Independence, Jackson 
county, Missouri, but in 1844 moved to 
what is now Dallas county, Texas. He took 
up a headright of 640 acres, which he after- 
ward greatly improved. His daughter, Mrs. 
Durgin, now owns the part of the farm in- 
cluded in the old homestead, one of the best 
farms in the county. He took an active part 
in the political affairs of this section and was 
the first County Judge of Dallas county. He 
died about 1878, and his wife in 1875. They 
reared a family of nine children: Cynthia A., 
wife of William Juidvins, of this county; 
Henry, who died in Missouri, about 1841; 
Ellis E , who died in 1865 while serving in 
the Confederate army ; Alexander, who died 
in Dallas county; Elizabeth, (Mrs. Durgin); 



?f^'f 



7i8 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTY. 



John T., who died in Mexico, during the 
Mexican war; he and Alexander were both 
soldiers in the Mexican war; Jane, wife of 
Edward Hunt, died in Dallas, she was born 
in 1832, and died in 1856; Sarah A., wife of 
F. A. Sayre, resides at Bowie, Texas, and 
Eliza Jones, who died in Johnson county, 
Texas, in June, 1883. 

After his marriage Mr. Durgin settled in 
Dallas, and became the first Postmaster of 
the place, becoming also the first Deputy 
Clerk of the county. He always voted with 
the Democratic party, of which his sound 
views made him a leader. He was a mem- 
ber of A. F. & A. M., and the Episcopal 
Church, in which faith he died in 1852, his 
demise occurring at the age of thii'ty-three 
years, at New Haven, Connecticut. Since 
liis death his widow has been a resident of 
Dallas county, Texas, and is one of its most 
estimable ladies. She is highly intelligent, 
and at the present time is vice-president of 
the Pioneers' Association, a position she has 
ably filled since its organization. She has 
seen almost the complete developement of the 
city and county, for upon locating here Dal - 
las contained only two small houses, and 
within what is now the city limits there were 
only twelve families. She bore her husband 
one son, Charles M., who died at the untimely 
age of sixteen years. 



fOHN M. MERRELL.— This gentleman 
is one of the enterprising and prominent 
farmers of Dallas county. Biographical 
mention of him is as follows: 

Eli Merrell, his father, was born in Bun- 
combe county, North Carolina, October 29, 
1787. He arrived with his family in Texas 
in August, 184-4. Taking a headright under 



the Peters Colony, he improved a farm and 
lived on it until the time of his death, De- 
cember 26, 1849. He was married thrice. 
By his first wife he had ten children, of whom 
only one daughter is living — Nancy, who is 
now the wife of Mr. Horton and resides near 
Hawthorn, Parker county, Texas. She was 
the first white settler west of Fort Worth. 
His last wife was Mary A., nee McKay, 
daughter of Jeremiah McKay. Her father, 
a native of Shenandoah valley, Virginia, 
moved to Missouri at an early day, and died 
there. By this marriage Mr. Merrell had six 
children, namely: Oliva J., wife of W. D. 
Webb; Julia A., wife of John W. Wright; 
George C; Margarette E., wife of M. J. 
Dickinson, died in November, 1883; John 
M.; and Thomas A. Thomas A. was enijao'ed 
in ranching on the Rio Grande, and both he 
and his wife met their death there, December 
24, 1884, at the hand of Mexicans, who killed 
them for plunder. The mother of these chil- 
dren was born February 8, 1815, and is still 
living. She relates in a vivid and interesting 
manner many incidents of their pioneer days 
in this State. Eli Merrell served in the war 
of 1812, being Lieutenant of his company. 

John M. Merrell was born and reared in 
Texas, receiving only a limited education. 
Arriving at man's estate, he was united in 
marriage with Susan J. Swetman, daughter of 
Sidney and Susan (Hardin) Swetman of Ken- 
tucky. Her parents moved to Missouri, 
where they passed the remainder of their lives 
and died. Mrs. Merrell was born in Missouri, 
February 2, 1852. Their marriage occurred 
September 26, 1872. The eight children 
born to them are all living and are as fol- 
lows: Mary E., born October 25, 1873; Mag- 
gie M., September 19, 1875; Julia T., 
August 29, 1877; Lucy O., November 3, 
1880; Ada M., July 6, 1883; Thomas C, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



719 



January 26, 1886; John E., May 3, 1888; 
and Walter E., April 12, 1891. 

The land on whicli his father settled was 
after his death divided among the heirs, and 
is still all retained in the family. Mr. Mer- 
rell owns 222 acres of prairie land and 107 
acres of timber, 329 acres in all. Of this he 
has about 150 acres in cultivation, his prod- 
ucts being wheat, oats, corn and cotton. He 
has never had a total failure of all crops and 
has always had a plenty and some to spare. 

During the war, he enlisted, in 1864, at 
the age of seventeen, and as a member of the 
Nineteenth Texas Cavalry served till the war 
closed. His brother, George C, was all 
througli the war, was in many battles but was 
never wounded or captured. 

Mr. Merre'l purchased stock in the Alli- 
ance mill, and was one of the ten who had to 
saddle the debts. He was an enthusiastic 
member of the Alliance, believing as he did 
that it would promote the interests of the 
farmer and wage earner. He is, however, op- 
posed to the third-party move of the organi- 
zation, and thinks it can better promote its 
interest by keeping out of politics. He is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and also 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

L. HODGE. — Among the prominent 
men of Dallas, Texas, figures the 
* genial host of the Grand Windsor 
Hotel, of which he has been the proprietor 
since January, 1891. His father, Lyman 
Hodge, was a farmer and gave his individual 
attention to his farm. Both he and his wife, 
Sarah (Day) Hodge, are nativeb of Connecti- 
cut, but removed to Hampden county, Massa- 
chusetts, where they still reside, both aged 
seventy-five. They have been good, hard- 



working people and raised a family of eight 
children. The mother has been a member of 
the Congregational Church for many years. 

Our subject is the oldest son, being born 
in Hartford, Hartford county, Connecticut, 
August 13, 1842. He was educated in the 
public schools of Massachusetts and assisted 
his father on the farm for some years. He 
learned the cigar business and followed it for 
nine years, when he went on the road as a 
commercial traveler and followed that busi- 
ness for twenty-two years, making large sales 
all the time he sold goods. Although he was 
very young when he started out, only twenty- 
two, he was very successful. Part of the time 
he sold goods for himself and part of the 
time for others. In 1886 he changed his oc- 
cupation and engaged in the real-estate busi- 
ness in Dallas, having settled in that place 
six years before. He continued in that line 
of work until 1891, when he purchased the 
before mentioned hotel. It is the most pop- 
ular hotel in the city, having more tlian its 
portion of the Eastern travelers who find pleas- 
ant quarters with Mr. Hodge. 

The hotel is a very large one, having 225 
rooms, and is capable of accommodating 
several huudred guests. During 1891 he ran 
the McLeod House in connection with the 
Windsor, but rented the former one in June, 
1891, and now gives his entire attention to 
the (jrrand Windsor. He has a restaurant in 
connection with his hotel, run on the European 
plan, and it is presided over by his son, Harry 
Hodge, who is his only child. The restaurant 
has twenty-five rooms and is one of the finest 
in the city. The alile manner in which the 
son conducts the restaurant indicates that he 
has iuheriteJ a great deal of his father's push 
and enei'gy. 

Mr. Hodge was married in 1866, to Miss 
Eltha Hayes, a daughter of Milton and Alvira 



720 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Hajes of Granby, Hartford county, Connecti- 
cut. Milton died in 1865 and the mother 
in the same year, both being forty-live at the 
time of their death. Mrs. Hodge is one of 
seven children, of whom she is the fifth. 

This gentleman, who is the subject of this 
sketch, is a member of the Elks, K. of H., 
and Woodmen of the World, having served as 
Treasurer of the last named lodge for seven 
years, and tilled all the ofBces in the first 
named lodge. 

Mr. Hodge is a public-spirited man, but 
has too many business interests of his own to 
meddle in the political affairs of the town, 
county, State or Union. This does not, how- 
ever, prevent his lending his aid, financially 
and otherwise, to every enterprise calculated 
to advance the interests of the town. If there 
were more such men as Mr. Hodge in the 
State of Texas she would not only be the first 
in size, but the first in importance in the en- 
tire Union. 

^R. ROBERT HENRY CHILTON, a 

noted specialist in diseases of the eye, 
^^ ear and throat, occupies a leading place 
in the professional circles of Dallas county, 
and is entitled to a record in this history of 
those men who have assisted in developing 
the country. He was born in Cumberland 
county, Kentucky, in 1844, and is a son of 
J. Lewis and Martha (Freeman) Chilton. 
The parents were born in Virginia, and emi- 
grated to Kentucky in 1838, to engage in the 
occupation of farming. The mother died in 
1857, and the father live.l until 1889. The 
Doctor received his education in the common 
schools, and early in life developed remark- 
able aptitude for all literary and scientific sub- 
jects. Before he was twenty-one years of age 
he had mastered the science of medicine, and 



was in general practice. He was located in 
Louisville, Kentucky, and there began mak- 
ing a special study of the eye, ear and 
throat. While a resident of Louisville he was 
a member of the staff of the city hospi- 
tal, also a member of the Kentucky State 
Medical Society. He devoted himself to this 
branch of the profession with all characteristic 
thoi'onghness, and gained such skill in the 
treatment of the diseases of these organs 
that he was soon enabled to give his whole 
time to that specialty. In 1880 he removed 
to Dallas, Texas, where his success soon 
brought him a fine practice. There is prob- 
ably no specialist in the southwest with a 
more profound knowledge of his subject than 
Dr. Chilton. Since coming to Dallas he has 
erected one of the handsomest brown stone 
business buildings in the place, and has inter- 
ested himself in the general welfare of the 
city. He is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity and belongs to the Christian Church; 
is also a member of the American Medical 
Association, and of the Texas State Medical 
Association. He is modest and unassuming 
in his manners, and has that culture and re- 
finement which contribute so largely to the 
success of a physician. 

Dr. Chilton was married in 1874 to Miss 
S. A. Harrison, a Kentuckian by birth, and a 
former student at Hamilton College, Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky. One child, Bessie, was born 
to them in August, 1878. 

E. BOUCHE, a retired merchant of 
Dallas, was born in Baton Ronge 
'* Louisiana, July 17, 1849. He is the 
youngest in a family of three children, born 
to Bartholomew and Mary (Legendre) Bouche. 
his father being a native of France. Mr. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUJSTy. 



721 



Bouche's paternal ancestors emigrated to 
America at an early day, and identified them- 
selves with the settlement of the Southern 
States. His mother died in February, 1860, 
in her thirty-fifth year, and his father passed 
away in April, 1860, at the age of fifty-six. 
Deprived of parental care and training at an 
early age, the subject of our sketch was cast 
upon his own resources when quite young. 
He began life as s newspaper carrier ou the 
streets of Baton Rouge, and was thus em- 
ployed for eight months, carefully saving all 
the money he could in the meantime. He 
then accepted a position in the United States 
mail service as clerk in a military postoffice 
of that city, remaining as such two years. 
Next he learned the trade of baker, and was 
employed in that capacity three years. The 
following two-and-a-half years he was em- 
ployed in a dry-goods and grocery store. 
Changing his employment again, he began 
to learn the trade of a wheelwright, serving a 
full apprenticeship, after which he engaged 
in that business for himself. Three years 
from the time he began his apprenticeship, 
he came to Texas, arriving in the city of 
Dallas July 14, 1874, resuming the wheel- 
wright business here until he had accumu- 
lated sufficient means to open up a fruit 
and grocery store. In this enterprise he was 
successful, and after a reasonable length of 
time was enabled to retire from active busi- 
ness with an ample fortune. 

In 1872, Mr. Bouche was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Harriet Eingel. a native of 
West Baton Bouge. She was the third- born 
in a family of five children, and was left an 
orphan when quite young. She was a woman 
possessing many amiable traits of character, 
and was loved by all who knew her. Her 
death occurred January 17, 1879. She left 
\ one child, a daughter. Mr. Bouche was sub- 



sequently married to Miss Jennie E. Kendall, 
daughter of Elishaand Julia A. (Music) Ken- 
dall, her parents being natives of Georgia and 
Alabama. Her father died in 1879, and her 
mother is still living, being now a resident of 
Dallas. By his present companion, Mr. 
Bouche has one child, Julius E. 

Mr. Bouche's education has been gained by 
actual business experience ratiier than by 
school advantages. The last day he attended 
school was in Baton Rouge, and the city was 
at that time bombarded by Commodore Fara- 
gut's fleets. He is a devout Catholic, and 
his politics are those of the Democratic 
party. He is an earnest advocate of every- 
thing pertaining to the good of Dallas city 
and county, and is held in high esteem by 
all who know him. 

A. RUSH, one of the largest real-es- 
tate dealers in Dallas county, was born 
** in the State of Missouri in 1840, and 
is a son of William and Hattie (Campbell) 
Rush, natives of Kentucky. The parents re- 
moved to Missouri. In 1844 the father con- 
cluded to take a trip to Texas, and that jour- 
ney is shrouded in mystery. His fate is un- 
known, but it is more than probable that he 
was murdered by out-laws or slain in the Mexi- 
can war. When our subject was seven years 
of age, he went to Kentucky to make his 
home with his uncle. He remained there 
until 1861, when he came to Texas and en- 
listed in the Eighteenth Texas cavalry. He 
served until the close of the struggle, but es- 
caped without the grazing of a bullet. How- 
ever, he was twice taken prisoner, first at Ar- 
kansas Post, and then at Atlanta. After the 
surrender he went to Kentucky, and was en- 
gaged in the operation of a sawmill for some 



733 



HI STORY OF DALLAS COUNT F. 



time. He then came to Red River county, 
Texas, and took up the same industry. Dal- 
las county was the next scene of action, and 
for three years he had the entire manage- 
ment of the sawmill. In 1873 he deter- 
mined to turn his attention to agriculture, 
and purchase a tract of land that was des- 
tined to be of great value. It lies near the 
city of Dallas, and was cultivated as a plant- 
ation until 1890, when the city had reached 
such limits that sixty acres were laid out for 
a suburb of Dallas. It is known as North 
Oak Cliff, and in time will be one of the 
most attractive points of the city. The Oak 
Cliff Elevated Railway furnishes easy access 
to the city proper, and renders it one of the 
most convenient places of residence. Mr. 
Rush afhliates with the Democratic party, and 
stanchly snpports all the issues of that body 
He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South. In 1873 he was married to 
a native of Kentucky. 

fOHN HURST is numbered among the 
useful and wide- awake men of Dallas 
and has been identified with her inter- 
ests since 1879. In that year he came to the 
city to represent the Waters-Pierce Oil Com- 
pany of St. Louis, and served in that capa- 
city for seven years, after which he embarked 
in the same business on his own account. 
Although he began with limited capital he 
he has won a patronage which demands tive 
wagons to supply the retail trade which ex- 
tends throughout the city of Dallas and Oak 
Cliff. He has established a reputation for 
fair dealing and correct business methods 
which give him rank with the leadincr com- 
mercial houses of the place. 

Mr. Hurst was horn in "Wayne county, In- 



diana, January 12, 1888, and is the third of 
a family of fifteen children of Sanford and 
Elizabeth (Little) Hurst. The father was 
also a native of the Hoosier State, and was a 
farmer and stock-raiser. He was pi-omin- 
ently connected with the early settlement of 
Indiana, and was widely and favorably known 
as an agriculturist. His death occurred in 
1874; his wife survives him, and resides near 
the old homestead in Indiana. Our subject 
was reared to the occupation of a farmer, at- 
tending the common schools during the winter 
season. At the age of twenty-two years he 
left the parental roof, and setting his face to- 
ward the setting sun began a journey which 
ended in his final settlement in Texas; he 
first went to Christian county, Illinois, where 
he secured employment as a farm laborer; the 
following winter he worked at the cooper's 
trade, and his next move was to Ottumwa, 
Iowa; there he was engaged in agricultural 
pursuits, but did not remain long; he then 
tried his fortunes at Springfield, Illinois, 
where he worked at his trade; this business 
however did not meet his desires, and he 
again started in search of more lucrative em- 
ployment. We next find him in Kansas City 
where he secured employment with the Fort 
Scott & Gulf Railroad Company. After this 
experience he went to Humboldt, Kansas, and 
pre-empted a piece of land belonging to the 
Government; at the end of two years he sold 
out and went to St. Louis. Missouri, entering 
the employ of the Waters- Pierce Oil Com- 
pany. As before stated, he was with this 
company seventeen years, when he went into 
business for himself. 

Mr. Hurst was united in marriage in 1886, 
to Miss Theresa Corder, a daughter of Amos 
T. and Jane (Mansfield) Corder. Mrs. Hurst's 
father is a native of England and a boiler- 
maker by trade. He is a very fine mechanic 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOVNTY. 



733 



and has been employed by the English Gov- 
ernment at various times and also by large 
English syndicates. It was during his resi- 
dence in Spain, where he was doing an extra- 
ordinary piece of work in the shape of a float- 
ing dock, that Mrs. Hurst was born, in the 
year 1865. In 1884 her family emigrated to 
America; the mother died in 1890, Septem- 
ber 8, after which the father removed to 
Dallas where he has since resided; seven of 
the children survive. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hurst are the parents of one 
child: William Sanford, born May 2, 1888. 
Mr. Hurst affiliates with the Democratic 
party. He belongs to the I. O. R. M., Lodge 
No. 8. In all his relations with his fellow 
men he has followed those precepts which 
have brought their own reward, a host of 
stanch friends, and a name honored by all 
classes of citizens. 

fOSEPH A. CRAWFORD was born in 
Patrick county, Virginia, August 17 
1844, a son of Joseph and Ruth (Brad, 
field) Crawford. His father was born in 
Rockingham county. North Carolina, January 
19, 1808, and his mother, October 27, 1810. 
They were married there in 1831, subse- 
quently moved to Virginia, and settled in 
Patrick county. In 1846 they moved to 
Tennessee, and from there, in 1855, to Ala- 
bama. In the latter State the father died, on 
the 17th of April, 1871, aged sixty-three 
years. The mother died July 12, 1885, at 
the age of seventy-live. They had a fatnily 
of four children: James, deceased; Mary, 
wife of T. L. Crew; Thomas and Joseph A. 
When the war broke out the subject of our 
sketch enlisted, in 1861, in the Thirteenth 
Georgia Regiment, Jackson's Corps, and 



served till the war closed. He participated 
in twelve hard-fought battles, besides numer- 
ous skirmishes. The last engagement in 
which he took part was at Spottsylvania 
Court House, and there, on the 12th of May, 
1864, he was captured and sent to Fort Dela- 
ware prison, where he was held until the close 
of the war, being released on the 4th of May, 
1865. 

Mr. Crawford returned home, and on Sep- 
tember 29, 1866, was united in marriage with 
Miss E. J. Shelton, who was born in Blount 
county, Alabama, May 23, 1851. Her father, 
James Shelton, was born in 1829, and her 
mother, Mary (Bishop) Shelton, in Madison 
county, Alabama, in 1881. They were mar- 
ried in 1847, and are still living, in Alabama. 
They had ten children born to them, two of 
whom are deceased. Those living are as fol- 
lows: Pereh; E. J., wife of J. A. Crawford; 
Criss; Lucinda, wife of William Hood; Lena, 
wife of J. M. McDaniel; James, Joseph, and 
Louie. 

Mr. Crawford continued to live in Alabama 
until 1874, when he moved to Texas, and 
settled in Dallas county, where he now lives, 
sixteen miles east and south of Dallas. He 
first bought 160 acres of land, but has since 
added to his original purchase until he is now 
the owner of 312^ acres, all under fence. 
Of this 190 acres are being cultivated, and 
the rest is in pasture. His farm is well im- 
proved, and his property a very desirable one. 
His cultivated land is in the black prairie, 
and his house is built on the edge of the post 
oaks on sandy soil. Mr. Crawford has not 
only been industrious since he came to Texas 
but has displayed good judgment in the in- 
vestment of his earnings, having made most 
of what he now owns since he came to this 
State. 

Mr. and Mrs. Crawford have had ten chil- 



724 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



di-en: James, born March 14, 1868; Ruth, 
August 2, 1871; Mary, January 1, 1874; 
Bessie, born May 9, 1876; Thomas, July 20, 
1878; Joel, February 2, 1880; Lewis, Novem- 
ber 27, 1881; Lena, May 17, 1884; Charley, 
September 8, 1887; and Katy, August 10, 
1890. All are living except Bessie, who 
died October 5, 1877. Mr. Crawford is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church. 

In reference to his ancestors, it should be 
further stated that his paternal grandparents 
were Peter and Rachel (Christy) Crawford ; 
that his grandfather was a native of Mary- 
land and served in the Revolutionary war, 
belonging to the I)e Kalb Command, and 
taking part in the battle of Camden. 

sON. JAMES F. ROWLAND, Repre- 
sentative to the State Legislature of 
Texas, is well known throughout this 
section of the country, and it is with pleasure 
that we present a biography of him on these 
pages. 

Hon. James F. Rowland was born in Trous- 
dale county, Tennessee, in April, 1832. He 
is a son of Robert M. and Mary Kearby Row- 
land, natives of Tennessee. His grandfather, 
John Rowland, was born in North Carolina, 
of English descent, and his maternal grand- 
sire, James F. Kearby, was a native of Vir- 
ginia. The latter participated in the Florida 
war, and died in Tennessee, in 1854, at the 
age of seventy-two years. Robert M. Row- 
land moved with his family from Tennessee 
to Simpson county, Kentucky, and from there 
in 1854 came to Texas, settling in Dallas 
county. He was engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits all his life, and died in Texas, July 17, 
1881. His wife departed this life April 23, 
1875. The following named children were 



born to them, all of whom came to Texas: 
Elizabeth J., James F., Lydia T., Martha A., 
Mary S., Maggie L., William H., John W. 
and Robert A. 

James F. was reared on a farm, and has 
ever since given his attention to farming and 
stock-raising, displaying good judgment in 
the management of liis affairs and being uni- 
versally successful in his operations. He has 
been largely interested in the stock business, 
buying and selling for the markets. He re- 
mained a member of his father's family up to 
the time the war broke out. In 1861 he en- 
listed in Company C, Sixth Texas Cavalry. 
He served with true bravery all through the 
war; received three flesh wounds, none of 
them serious, however; was never taken 
prisoner. 

Returning home after the war, Mr. Row- 
land resumed his farming operations. June 
20, 1875, he married Miss Nancy E. Chris- 
tie, daughter of Sampson and Artemis (Curry) 
Christie, all of South Carolina. They came 
to Texas in 1852 and settled in Rusk county; 
subsequently located in Collin county, where 
the father died in 1868. Mr. and Mrs. Row- 
land have had five children: Mary E., born 
April 28, 1876, died in May, 1876; James F., 
October 19, 1877; John H., October 13, 
1880; William M., December 22, 1882, and 
Ross L., June 3, 1884. 

After his marriage Mr. Rowland settled 
on his farm of 160 acres. He has since pur- 
chased other lands and now owns 430 acres, 
having 250 acres under cultivation, his chief 
products being wheat, corn, oats and cotton. 
He also raises some stock. 

Mr. Rowland has always taken an active 
interest in the political affairs of the country; 
has sympathized and worked with the Grange 
and alliance organizations; and has always 
affiliated with the Democratic party. He is 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



725 



the present Representative of the Twenty- 
tir^t Legislature of Texas, and, while not a 
leader, he has helped to put through several 
ini])ortant bills, which measures have met 
with the entire satisfaction of his constit- 
uents. He is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, and he and his family are members of 
the Missionary Baptist Church. 



|AVID E. GROVE was born in Paris, 
Missouri, in 1840, a son of the Rev. 
Samuel Grove of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South, a native of Virginia, who 
had retired from the itinerant work of the 
ministry before his death in 1855. The mother, 
whose maiden name was Paulina E. Camplin, 
born in Kentucky, is still living, in Los 
Angeles, California. 

He was educated at Central College, Fay- 
ette, Missouri. Going to New Orleans when 
yet a boy, he went on the river. In April, 1861, 
he enlisted in the Third Louisiana Volunteer 
Infantry. The first general engagement of his 
command was at Oak Hills (Wilson's Creek) 
and at the second Elk Horn (Pea Ridge) he 
was left a prisoner on the battle field and 
thought to be mortally wounded. He 
escaped, returned to Natchitoches parish, 
Louisiana, and was elected Sergeant-at-Arms 
of the Louisiana State Senate at Shreveport, 
the then State capital. Before his wound 
had healed, he returned to active service as 
executive officer of the Confederate ram 
Queen of the West, which had been pre- 
viously captured from the United States 
forces. He was again badly wounded and 
with all other survivors captured at the de- 
struction of the Queen in a gunboat fight near 
Morgan city, Louisiana, in April, 1863. 

Recovering and escaping in the fall of 



1863, Captain Grove for awhile commanded 
a light battery operating with the cavaliy in 
lower Louisiana. Later he was assigned to 
the command of a detail of secret service 
scouts whose especial object, while in no 
sense the work of spies, was to secure all the 
information possible of the enemy's move- 
ments, forces, etc., as well as the supervision 
of securing medical supplies and surgical 
instruments for the Confederacy. This force 
operated in a quiet way from Vicksburg to 
the Gulf to the entire satisfaction of his su- 
periors. In this service Captain Grove was 
more than once wounded and captured but 
was each time so fortunate as to escape; never 
being exchanged during the war. 

At the close of the war he returned to the 
river, and as clerk, pilot or captain, was on 
the river for seven years. In 1872 he came 
to Dallas and established the first large plan- 
ing mill and operated it until it was destroyed 
by fire in 1875. The fire resulted in his 
financial embarrassment and assicfnment. but 
as evidence of the opinion of him held by the 
business community, his creditors accepted 
the assignment as two days afterward he was 
appointed freight contracting agent by the 
Texas & Pacific Railway with headquarters 
at Dallas. He remained in railroad service 
for ten years, filling the positions of freight 
contracting and traveling agent, claim agent, 
in charge of fuel and tie department, division 
and general road master, train master, division 
superintendent and superintendent. 

Seeing no chance of further promotion he 
left railroad service in 1886 and entered that 
of the Liverpool & London & Globe Insur- 
ance Company as their special agent and ad- 
juster. He now has charge of their interests 
as State agent for Western Louisiana, Texas, 
and the border towns of the adjoining States 
of Mexico. 



726 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




Captain Grove is a member of the Knights 
of Honor and the Masonic fraternity. While 
taking a warm interest in public affiars he 
has never filled a public office in Texas ex- 
cept serving one term as member of the City 
Council of Dallas. 

He was married in 1871 to Adele E. Wag- 
gaman, a native of New Orleans. They have 
three children living: David E., Jr., Bessie 
Tompkins and Madeline. 



Ifeff Ft. FISHER, merchant, West Dal- 
las, Texas. — It is universally con- 
i* ceded that the distribution of food 
products constitutes the most important factor 
in the long list of city's industries, and, such 
being the case, the grocer must be accorded 
the palm of the most important contributor 
to the development of this fact, his wares 
covering almost every article of daily con- 
sumption known to man. This branch of mer- 
cantile activity is admirably represented in 
Dallas by the popular and well known estab- 
lishment of W. R. Fisher, located in West 
Dallas. Mr. Fisher was born in Cambria 
county, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1836, and 
his parents, Andrew and Mary Margaret 
Fisher were natives of Germany, where they 
were reared and married. The parents came 
to the United States iu 1830, located in 
Pennsylvania, and of the sixteen children 
burn to their union, fourteen grew to mature 
years. The father was a farmer and contin- 
ued the occupation until his death, when 
eighty-one years of age. The mother died 
in 18C>3. at the age of lifty-six years. 

W. R. Fisher assisted his father on the 
farm until fourteen years of age and then 
learned the cabinetmakers trade, serving an 
apprenticeship of two and a half years with- 



out compensation except his board. After 
this he worked at the carpenter's trade in 
Kentucky for one year and then began tilling 
the soil. About this time the Civil war 
broke out and Mr. Fisher went to Virginia, 
where he enlisted in the Fourty-lifth Vir- 
ginia Battery, and served principally in Vir- 
ginia and Tennessee. At the second battle 
of Winchester, Virginia, 1864, he was taken 
prisoner and confined in the Delaware prison 
for nine months, and three months after 
General Lee surrendered. After the war he 
engaged on the Virginia & Tennessee rail- 
road, repairing bridges, building section 
houses, etc., until December, 1867, when he 
came to Texas. He first located at Houston, 
followed his trade for nine months and then 
came to Dallas, where he rented land and 
raised one crop. For three years after this 
he followed his trade in Dallas, and on the 
1st of July, 1869, he was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary Ann Coombs, a native of Dal- 
las county and the daughter of J. N. Coombs. 
Following his marriage Mr. Fisher continued 
his trade and shortly afterward purchased 
seventy acres of the old Coombs homestead, 
giving $5.00 per acre. Less than a year later 
he sold it for $17.00 per acre and purchased 
a partially improved farm in Tarrant county, 
160 acres for $1,200, which he cultivated for 
three years. Returning to Dallas county he 
moved on the farm where a part of West 
Dallas now stands, it being a part of his wife's 
estate, began clearing, and farmed the same 
until 1889, when he engaged in the grocery 
business, in connection witli his farming and 
real-estate business. The most of his farm 
is now cut up into lots. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fisher had three interesting 
children: Edward Lee, of Dallas county; 
Brillia Alice, of Tarrant county, and Willie 
L, in Dallas. Mr. Fisher lost his wife by 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



727 



death, July 28, 1873, and his second raar- 
riasje was two years later, to Miss Maggie 
Proffett, a native of Tennessee who was 
reared in Missouri by Isaac Boran. This 
union resulted in the birth of three children, 
one now living: Harry. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher 
are members of the Church of Christ. Mr. 
Fisher is a self-made man and all his property 
has been obtained hy the sweat of his brow. 
He deserves much credit for his enterprise 
and progress. 

E. FLirPEN, real-estate dealer and 
ranchman, was born in Lauderdale 
''^ county, Tennessee. Flippen is a depot 
on the Newport News & Mississippi Valley 
Railroad, named for Benjamin McFlippen, 
al)0ut forty miles from Memphis. The date 
of our subject's birth is March 24, 1846. His 
parents were Benjamin and Eliza (Caldwell) 
McFlippen. The father was born in Knox 
county, Tennessee, January 1, 1819, of good 
old Virginia parentage; is an extensive 
farmer and stock-raiser in Tennessee, being 
the best known man in the county, where he 
has lived for about lifty years. He furnished 
four soldier sous in the late war, three under 
General Forrest and one under General 
Bragg. This gentleman is now seventy-three 
years of age, and has been a prominent mem- 
ber of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church 
for over fifty years, and has been an Elder in 
the same for a number of years. His wife, 
who died in 1873, was born in 1823, in 
Smithland, Kentucky, and was a member of 
the same church as her husband. She came 
from one of the best families in Kentucky. 
She was a true, good woman, tilling all the 
relations of life as only a Christian person 
could, being a true and faithful wife, devoted 
mother and kind neighbor and friend, and no 



words can speak her praise too warmly. Her 
parents were natives of North Carolina. 
Benjamin McFlippen had nine children, five 
still living, three sons and two daughters 
One brother and two sisters of our subject died 
when quite young. Bird, the oldest member 
of the family, was in the Tennessee infantry, 
was wounded and captured at Mission Ridge, 
and died in Rock Island prison, aged thirty 
years. He slumbers in an unknown grave 
that the family have never been able to dis- 
cover. The next one was Ben, Captain of 
Company F, Fifteenth Tennessee Cavalry, 
Steward's regiment, Kneely's Brigade, and 
Forrest's Division of Cavalry. He served 
through the war, being First Drill- Master of 
the First Tennessee Heavy Artillery; was in 
the siege of Fort Pillow and first siege of 
Vicksburg. but resigned his command in 
1863 at Chickamauga, returned home and 
raised his company of cavalry, serving 
through the remainder of the war, surrender- 
ing with Forrest at Gainesville, Georgia, in 
May, 1865. He is still living near Memphis, 
engaged in the mercantile and niilling busi- 
ness. His wife was a Miss Nelly Keaton, 
whom he married in 1865, at Buena Vista, 
Mississippi. They have two children, Robert 
and Ben; the latter, about twenty-two years 
of age, is now the cashier of the Newport 
News & Mississippi Valley Railroad at Mem- 
phis. Mrs. Ben Flippen died and her hus- 
band married again, this time a sister of the 
first wife, Miss Keaton. They have no chil- 
dren. The third son of Benjamin Flippen 
was William H., who participated in the late 
war as a private in the artillery mentioned 
above, at Fort Pillow, when he returned 
home sick, and after recovering joined his 
brother's cavalry company, in which he 
served until the close of the war. He is 
married and has a large family; is residing 



728 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTY. 



on his farm, near Ripley, Tennessee. His 
wife was Miss Callie Campbell, of Chickasaw 
county, Mississippi. The two living sisters 
of our subject are Ellen, wife of K. B. 
Davidson, and Fanny, wife of Mr. Stone, 
both living in west Tennessee, near where 
they were reared. 

Our subject was reared in the country 
schools of Tennessee. He enlisted in March, 
1863, in his brother's company of cavalry, 
and served in that company until the close of 
the war. He was taken prisoner in north 
Mississippi, and was retained as a prisoner in 
Memphis, but escaped and returned to his 
company. His horse was killed under him 
at Memphis, Tennessee, during the war, and 
he had some narrow escapes, but never was 
hit with bullet, wliile his three brothers were 
all wounded. He now feels that the war is 
over, and accepts the result as best for our 
country and times. The black belt of north 
Texas is his adopted home, the garden spot of 
the United States, where all the four princi- 
pal crops of tlie United States — corn, wheat, 
oats and cotton — grow side by side in the 
same held, and one can scarcely tell which 
the country or climate is best adapted to. 

After the close of the war he went to 
Egypt, Mississippi, and engaged in the mer- 
cantile business for thirteen years, when he 
disposed of his business to William Busha- 
man & Co., and came to Texas, January 5, 
1881, landing in Dallas, where he has re- 
mained, in and near, ever since, engaged in 
mercantile pursuits and stock-raising, in 
which he has been successful in every way. 

Mr. Flippen was married in 1878, to Miss 
Nannie Gates, daughter of J. N. Gates, a 
planter of Mississippi, who now resides at 
Huutsville, Alabama. 

Mr. and Mrs. Flippen liave a family of 
four children, namely: Edwin E., Jr., Edwina, 



McNeuton and May Blanche. Mr. jjnd Mrs. 
Flippen are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church South, and Mr. Flippen was 
formerly a member of the Tannehill Lodge, 
Dallas, and was one of the charter members 
of the Oak Cliff Lodge of Masons. Our 
subject is a Democrat in politics, as was his 
father before him, after the dissolution of the 
Whig party. Mr. Flippen has seen many 
changes in this part of the country. In 1871 
to 1873 he went hunting and killed buffaloes 
where Wichita Falls now stands; rode horse- 
back from Shreveport, Louisiana, 180 miles, 
to get into the State of Texas, as there were 
no railroads then. He has gone by stage 
from San Antonio to Austin in a day, ninety- 
six miles. At that time the Indians were in 
the majority and had matters pretty well 
under their control from Wise county north 
and west. 

Mr. Flippen has been a useful, thriving 
citizen of Dallas county, doing all that lay 
in his power, by the use of money and per- 
sonal influence, to extend the material inter- 
ests of the county. He is an extensive land- 
owner, having a large interest in some 
ranches. He is a typical southern gentle, 
man in manners, has a pleasing address, and 
is energetic in all the affairs with which he 
has become conversant. 

fM. B E I L H A R Z, stone contractor, 
whose yards are located on Hawkins 
® street and Pacific avenue, has been in 
business here fur himself since 1887. He 
built the Club house and did the stone work for 
most of the business buildings, as the Scol- 
lands building, the Texas bank, Thomas Bro- 
thers' building, besides many residences, as 
those of Simpson M. Dilley, etc. He is now 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



729 



putting in the stone work for the W. J. Temp 
brewery, and the Security, Mortgage and Trust 
building. He employs on an average fifteen 
stone cutters, three setters and fifteen laborers. 

Mr. Beilliarz was born in Wlirttembnrg, Ger- 
many, in 1860, the second of the eleven chil- 
dren of Jacob and Margaret (Siegway) Beilharz, 
natives of Wiirttembei-g and still living there. 
His father has been a teacher by profession. 
As he grew up young Beilharz learned the 
trade of a stone cutter in his native city and 
became the foreman of a stone-yard. He 
served in the German army about two and 
one-half years. He came to Dallas in 1883, 
and was employed as a journeyman stone- 
dresser until 1887, when he embarked in the 
business on his own account. On political 
issues he votes independently. He is a mem- 
ber of Dallas Lodge, No. 70, K. of P., and of 
the Uniformed Rank, Division No. 18, and 
of the K. of H. 

In March, 1888, in Dallas, he married 
Miss Laura Frichot, a native of Dallas county 
and a daughter of C. D. and Susan (Ball) 
Frichot. Her father was a native of France, 
and mother of Switzerland, and they came to 
Dallas county about 1861, and are both 
deceased. Her father was a brick manufac- 
turer. Mr. and Mrs. Beilharz have one child, 
Theodore. 

P. CROSS, contractor, builder and 
mason, of Dallas, is the pioneer in lay- 
■'* ing cement walks in this city. From 
1883 to 1890 he was a member of the firm of 
Gill &, Cross. This firm has put down nearly 
all the pavements in Dallas, and it is also the 
manufacturer of artificial stone for house 
trimmings, etc. 

Mr. Cross was born in Jefferson county, 
Kentucky, May 1, 1836, the younger of the 



two children of Jeremiah and Cecilia (Scott) 
Cross, natives of Kentucky. His grandpar- 
ents were natives of Virginia. The family 
trace their genealogy to General "VVinfield 
Scott. Jeremiah Scott passed his life in Jef- 
ferson county, Kentucky, dying there in 1870, 
at the age of sixty-five years. His wife, born 
in 1808, is still living on the old homestead 
where she was born. Mr. Cross, whose name 
introduces this sketch, was brought up to 
farm life in his native State, finishing his 
schoool days at Louisville, that State, and 
learning his trade there. In 1859 he went to 
Memphis, Tennessee, where he worked at his 
trade. 

In March, 1861, he enlisted in the Fourth 
Tennessee Cavalry as a private, and partici- 
pated in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, 
Missionary Ridge and in the entire campaio-n 
of Atlanta, Georgia, returning with Hood to 
Tennessee. December 18, 1864, he was 
taken prisoner at Nashville, and confined at 
Fort Delaware until the next year. He was 
elected Lieutenant of Company C, of the 
Fourth and Twenty-ninth Regiments, consoli- 
dated and called the Fourth Tennessee In- 
fantry. 

After the war he returned to Kentucky, 
and then to Memphis. He was married in 
the latter city, to Miss Lily Gardner, a native 
of Kentucky, who afterward died, at Memphis. 
December 25, 1876, Mr. Cross was again 
married, this time to Lucy A. Horton, widow 
of Enoch Horton, a native of Tennessee and 
a daughter of John C. and Rosa (Clements) 
Lanier, who were born in Tennessee and 
came to Dallas county in 1843, and afterward 
moved into the town of Dallas. Mr. Lanier 
was Justice of the Peace for many years and 
also Deputy County Clerk. His death oc- 
curred in 1852: his wife had died in 1845, in 
Dallas. Mr. Cross has occupied his present 



730 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



residence on South Harwood street since 
1881, at which time the street was unim- 
proved. He has seen ahnost the entire 
growth of his chosen city, Dallas, with a 
sort of paternal interest, and he has taken an 
active part in every good public enterprise. 

Mr. Cross is a Democrat, but takes no 
active part in the political machinery. In 
early life he was a Whig. He is the Master 
of Dallas Lodge, F. & A. M.; was first ini- 
tiated into Freemasonry at Louisville, Ken- 
tucky. He is also a member of the order of 
the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Cross is a 
member of the Lamar Methodist Episcopal 
Church. She has a daughter by her former 
husband, now Mrs. Josie (). Horton, of 
Midland, Texas. 



^ 



^ 



fj. DICKEY, M. D., physician and sur- 
geon, was born in Illinois May 4, 
® 1854, in Kidgvvay, Gallatin county. 
His parents were Finis E. and Lucy A. 
(Jackson) Dickey, both natives of Illinois. 
The father, born September 23, 1826, was a 
farmer and met his death while digging a 
well, which caved in on him, killing him 
instantly, as several feet of earth fell upon him 
and he was smothered. The accident oc- 
curred October 31, 1853. His wife was born 
May 16, 1832, and died in May, 1861. 
Their marriage occurred July 14, 1853. 

Our subject commenced the study of 
homeopathy in May, 1876, with Dr. E. J. 
Elirman, of Evansville, Indiana. He gradu- 
ated at Pulte Medical College, of Cincinnati, 
Ohio, March 4, 1879. Booneville, Indiana, 
was the place where he first opened an office, 
in the same month of his graduation. He 
carried on his practice of medicine and was 
the leading homeopathic physician of that 



section until he was obliged to give up the 
hard work on account of his failing health 
and seek a milder and more genial climate. 
After some time spent in Chicago, taking 
special instruction in oriticial surgery, he 
located in Dallas, in January, 1885, and began 
the practice of rectal diseises as a specialty. 
About three years later he took up the treat- 
ment of hernia and has been wonderfully 
successful in his treatment of these trouble- 
some diseases. 

The Doctor was married, August 24, 1876, 
to Miss A. E. Melvin, daughter of Orrisou 
Melvin,of Ridgway, Illinois. They have one 
child, Ernest, born in 1880, a promising lad. 
Mrs. Dickey is a member of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church, but the Doctor has not 
united himself with any religious denomi- 
nation. Dr. Dickey takes little interest in 
politics. He has quite an extensive practice, 
which comes from many of the distant coun- 
ties. He is a good citizen and has won many 
warm and admiring friends for himself in the 
city of his adoption. 



C. DARWIN, contractor and builder, 
Dallas, Texas, took up his abode in 
** Dallas county in 1873. He tii'st set- 
tled in precinct No. 7, and engaged in farm- 
ing and gardening, which he continued until 
1886, when he came to Dallas. Since that 
time he has been engaged in contracting and 
building. 

Mr. Darwin was born in Rhea county, 
Tennessee, in 1843, the youngest in a family 
(^f fourteen. His parents, James A. and 
Bathia W. (Clements) Darwin, were natives 
of South Carolina and North Carolina re- 
spectively. In early childhood they moved 
with their parents to Tennessee, where they 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



731 



were subsequently married. His father passed 
his life on a farm in Tennessee, and died there 
in 1872, aged seventy-six years. He was a 
soldier in the war of 1812, and participated 
in the battle of New Orleans on the 8th of 
January, 1815. Mr. Darwin's mother passed 
away in 1873, aged seventy-five. The sub- 
ject of our sketch was reared on a farm in 
his native county, and received his education 
in the subscription schools. He was making 
preparations for college when the war came 
on. He enlisted in the First Tennessee Le- 
gion, Sixteenth Battalion, General Pegram's 
brigade, being on scouting duty most of the 
time. He participated in several battles and 
was wounded near Chattanooga, Tennessee. 
After tlie war closed Mr. Darwin returned 
to Tennessee and engaged in farming in Rhea 
county one year, after which he taught school. 
In 1867 he went to Yell county Arkansas, to 
attend to his brother's business, who lived 
there before the war, but died in Texas dur- 
ing the war. That year he was married there 
to Miss Ellen E. Evans, a native of Neshoba 
county, Mississippi, and a daughter of Thomp- 
son and Hannal) (Wilkinson) Evans, the for- 
mer a native of North Carolina and the latter 
of Coffee county, Tennessee. Her father went 
to Tennessee when a young man, and there 
married. He sulisequentlj moved to Missis- 
sippi, and in 1866 to Yell county, Arkansas^ 
having been engaged in farming in these 
States, He died in Arkansas November 27, 
1870. His wife is now a resident of Dar- 
danelle, Arkansas, and is seventy-five years 
of age. After his marriage Mr. Darwin re- 
turned to Rhea county, Tennessee, engaged 
in farming, and remained there until 1873, 
when he came to Dallas county, as above 
stated. Although not an otKce-seeker Mr. 
Darwin lias taken an active interest in politi- 
cal matters, affiliating vrith the Democratic 



party. He is a member of the Mountain 
Creek Lodge, No. 511, A. F. & A. M., hav- 
ing served as Master of that lodge. He is a 
member of tiie Knights of Labor, and also of 
the Farmers' Alliance. Both he and his wife 
are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. They have six children: Eunice M.; 
Mary Jane, wife of J. H. Bishop; Bellela; 
Ada A.; Alice F. and Pettie E. They also 
have four children deceased: James A., who 
died in 1873, aged two years; Jesse B., who 
died September 13, 1880, when only six 
weeks old; Willie Clay, January 2, 1883, 
at the age of seven months; Infantine, died 
February 25, 1886. 

Mr. Darwin is a public-spirited and enter- 
prising citizen, and is deeply interested in 
the growth and development of Dallas. He 
is now a candidate for Justice of the Peace 
in precinct No. 1, Dallas county, which em- 
braces all of the city of Dallas and six voting 
precincts outside the city limits. 

^^TLLIAM YOUNG HUGHES, a fruit 
\ V V farmer and horticulturist of Dallas 
1"=^^ county, was born in Spencer count}', 
Kentucky, in 1831, the second in a family of 
twelve children born to Elijah and Permelia 
(Wells) Hughes, natives cf Kentucky. The 
parents both died in their native State, the 
father in May, 1860, and the mother in No- 
vember, 1865. The Hughes family are of 
Welsh descent. William, our subject, was 
reared to farm life and educated in the sub- 
scription schools of his native county, and 
later commenced farming for himself in Ken- 
tucky. He came to Collin county, Texas, in 
1860, and engaged in distilling at Piano, and 
in 1877 he came to Dallas, which he has 
since made his home. He bought a farm of 



732 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



thirty acres, of which ten acres is now de- 
voted to peaches, plums, pears and apples, 
and one acre to small fruits. In March, 1862, 
Mr. Hughes enlisted in Company B, Captain 
E. Gano's squadron, which, after reaching 
Kentucky, was formed into a regiment called 
the Third Kentucky Cavalry, commanded by 
General John Morgan. Mr. Hughes was 
with that regiment in many raids, was taken 
prisoner near Syracuse, Ohio, in 1863, and 
confined as a prisoner of war nineteen months 
and twenty days at Camps Chase and Douglas. 
He was afterward transferred to Ross' Brig- 
ade, and was at Piano, Texas at the time of 
the surrender. 

Mr. Hughes was married in Kentucky, in 
1866, to Mary Ann Wigginton, widow of 
William T. Wigginton, and daughter of 
Stephen and Lucinda (Tucker) Bid well, na- 
tives of Kentucky. The father was a farmer 
by occupation, and remained in Kentucky 
until his death, which occurred in 1874, and 
his wife died in the same State, in 1872. The 
Bidwells are of English descent, and early 
settlers of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes 
have four children: Jennie L., Thomas Col- 
iiiau, Mattie May and Harrison Gilbert. 
Socially, Mr. Hughes is a member of the 
Farmers' Alliance, and in Kentucky was a 
member of the Masonic order, and the I. O. 
O. F., Worth Lodge, No. 90. Religiously, 
both he and his wife are members of the 
Missionary Baptist Church of Pleasant View. 



4^ 



^ 



fHOMAS A. SKILES came from Ken- 
tucky to Texas in the fall of 1855, 
making the journey with ox teams and 
locating near where he now lives. Soon after 
his arrival he purchased a tract of 420 acres 
of land and commenced at once the work of 



improving a farm. He made rails, fenced 
and broke forty acres of land, and the follow- 
ing season seeded it all to wheat. The first 
year he paid $1 a bushel for corn for bread 
and feed for his stock. As the years rolled 
by he added to his original purchase and ex- 
tended his farming operations. At one time 
he owned about 1,000 acres of land. After 
living on his first farm twelve years he moved 
from it to his present location. He has sold 
and given away land until he now has only 
240 acres. On this he is engaged in general 
farming and stock-raising. When he came 
to this State he had some means, and brought 
with him eight or ten mares for breeding; is 
still interested in raising horses, and also 
raises mules. 

Mr. Skiles was born in Warren county, 
Kentucky, September 2, 1821, was reared on 
a farm and received a fair education. His 
father, Henry Skiles, was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and was of German extraction. He 
lived and died in Kentucky, departing this 
life at the age of eighty-four years. His 
wife, nee Elizabeth Hamilton, also passed 
jiway in Kentucky. They were the parents 
of the following named children: John C, 
Martha, William, Henry, Sarah, Thomas A., 
Joseph and Andrew. Sarah and Thomas A. 
are the only ones now living, and they reside 
near each other. 

Thomas A. Skiles was married in Ken- 
tucky, April 23, 1851, to Miss Priseilla C. 
Hamilton, daughter of Samuel and Jane 
(Edgar) Hamilton, all of Kentucky. A 
brother of Mrs. Skiles' mother is a noted 
Presbyterian minister of Nashville, Ten- 
nessee. Following are the children born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Skiles: Everett H., born June 
27, 1852; Henry T. and Samuel E. (twins) 
born April 8, 1854; Mary E., born July 21^ 
1855; John W., born July 10, 1858; Em- 





"fl^YVli^v^^ 




/-•^ -^-^ ' ' 





t^ 





-^/"e^^ 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



733 



met A., born January 1, 1860; and Liz- 
zie, born September 4, 1868. Mr. Skiles 
and his family are all members of the Cnm- 
berland Presbyterian Church. 

Durins the late war Mr. Skiles was en- 
gaged in teaming two years, hauling pro- 
visions. He then bought a steam flouring 
mill and ran it for the benefit of the war 
widows. This mill was located near Rock- 
wall. Soon after tl)e war closed he sold it 
and returned to the farm, since which time 
he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
Politically, he is a Democrat. 



^ 



^ 



IfSON. F. N. OLIVER, Mayor elect of 
Oak Cliff, in one of the most hotly con- 
tested elections perhaps ever held in the 
city, was born in Florence, Alabama, Febru- 
ary 17, 1848, a son of Prof. Daniel and Jane 
(Ross) Oliver, the former a native of Devon- 
shire, England, and the latter of Scotch par- 
entage, of Hickman county, Tennessee. The 
father was born in 1782, and came with his 
parents to America when eight years of age. 
He was a teacher and surveyor by occupation, 
having taught the high school of Florence, 
Alabama, prior to the establishment of the 
Wesleyan University. He was highly edu- 
cated, was a graduate of Yale College, and 
for several years filled the chair of mathe- 
matics in that institution. General S. A. M. 
Wood, Colonel W. B. Wood, the latter a 
Colonel of the Si.xteenth Alabama Regiment 
in the late war, and the former Brigadier 
General, and George Karsner of P'lorence, 
were all pupils of his. His de^th occurred 
in 1874, and his wife died at the home of our 
subject in Lewisville, Texas, October 20, 
1889, aged seventy-seven years. They were 
the jiarents of eleven children, seven of whom 

48 



are still living, and our subject is the eighth 
child in order of birth. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
Florence, Alabama, and at an early age 
learned the printing business. In 1874 he 
issued the first daily in Denton, the county 
seat of Denton county, called the " Denton 
Heview." He also founded the " Lewisville 
Neadliffht," in 1881, which he conducted 
five years, and while in that city was elected 
to the office of Justice of the Peace (running 
both the court and paper together for five 
years). Eight years later he resigned his 
position, sold the Headlight, and removed to 
Pilot Point, to establish a paper there. Mr. 
Oliver remained in that city two years, and 
then, with Mr. T. L. Marsalis became to Oak 
Cliff, which was before the public sale of the 
Oak Cliff lots. He built an office and founded 
a paper in a wheatfield. The Oak Cliff Sun- 
day Weekly, opening with an issue of 10,000 
copies, and continued the publication three 
and a half years, until the city had attained a 
population of 5,000. During this three and 
a half years Mr. Oliver also traveled for the 
interests of the Texas State Fair and Dallas 
Exposition. He has been a member of the 
Press Association for eleven -years; is a 
charter member of the National Press Asso- 
ciation, which organized in New Orleans at 
the time of the Centennial Cotton Exposition; 
has been a member many times of important 
committees of the Texas Press Association, 
and at various times a delegate appointed to 
the National Association. He was one of 
a commission of three appointed by Governor 
Ross, to locate the State Orphan Asylum of 
Texas, in 1887, which was founded at Corsicana 
and is one of the crowning educational charities 
of Texas. He has been school trustee, and 
helped organize the Oak Cliff school com- 
munity; his associate members being G- M- 



734 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Baker, manager of the Western Union Tele- 
graph, and the retiring mayor, Hugh F. M. 
Ewing of Oak Cliff. 

Mr. Oliver was married at Cold Springs, 
Texas, December 13, 1868, to Miss Mary E. 
Cogburn, a daughter of David and Elizabeth 
Cogburn, early settlers of Walker county, 
Texas. Our subject, his vpife and eldest son 
Ben, organized the first Sunday-school in this 
city, January 1, 1888, and also the first church 
of Oak Cliff, the First Methodist Episcopal 
Chui'ch South, which now numbers 20U mem- 
bers. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver have had eight 
children: Charlie Lee, deceased, at the age 
of thi-ee and a half years; Mabel Clair, at the 
age of one and a half years; Ben F., who is 
making electricity a special study; Frank 
Lee, Claudie, Mabel, Coke and Clifton. Our 
subject and his wife and two sons are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South, and the parents are also members of 
the Knights and Ladies of Honor in the Oak 
Cliff Lodge. Mr. Oliver erected the first 
business house in Oak Cliff, the oflice of the 
Sunday Weekly, and printed the first news- 
paper in Texas ever printed upon paper 
manufactured in this State. The mill is lo- 
cated in Oak Cliff, and is known as the Texas 
Taper Mill Company, Lang & Wharton pro- 
prietors. Our subject is a hard working 
man, has done much in the interests of his 
city, and is one of her public-spirited, enter- 
prising and most valued citizens. 

fHOMAS C. COOPER, grain and com- 
mission merchant, Dallas, Texas, dates 
his birth in Mobile, Alabama, October 
16, 1854. He landed in Houston, Texas, in 
November, 1872, and since that time has 
been a resident of this State. 



Mr. Cooper's parents, Ferdinand J. and 
Julia E. (Wiieeler) Cooper, were born in 
Louisiana and South Carolina respectively. 
The father was at one time Sheriff of Mobile 
county. Subsequently he engaged in the 
mercantile business. He was well known as 
an upright citizen in every way worthy of the 
confidence which was reposed in him repeat- 
edly by the people. He was born in 1813, 
and died in 1860. The mother was born in 
1817, is still living, has her powers of body 
and mind well preserved, and makes her home 
with her son, Thomas C. She is the only sur- 
viving member of iier father's family. Ot 
her nine ciiildren only three are living. Her 
daughter, Mary L., is the wife of Colonel O. 
C. George, and lives in Pilot Point, Texas. 
Mrs. Cooper is a member of the Baptist 
Church, as is also her husband. 

Tiie subject of our sketch received his edu- 
cation in Alabama. By the death of his 
father, he was thrown upon his own resources 
at an early age. At fourteen he began learn- 
ing the business of railway agent and tele- 
graph operator and he followed that business 
for a number of years. For the past fifteen 
years he has been a lumber dealer and grain 
and commission merchant, being fairly suc- 
cessful. He came to Dallas in 1886, and has 
since made his home in this city. 

Mr. Cooper was married January 18, 1880, 
to Miss Emma C. Smith, daughter of W. O. 
and Mary J. Smith, of Falls county, Texas. 
Her father died on the day of her marriage, 
aged fifty-one years, his death resulting from 
a complication of diseases. Her mother 
died in 1885, aged forty-six years. Mrs. 
Cooper and an only brother, James B. Smith, 
are the only ones of tiie family now living. 
The latter is a passenger conductor on the 
Houston & Texas Central Railroad. He resides 
in Waco. To Mr. and Mrs. Cooper five chil- 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



7H5 



dreii have been born, two of whom died in 
early childhood. Those living are Willie 
May, Lou Eva, and Thomas James, acred re- 
spectively twelve years, nine years, and four 
months. Both he and his wife are members 
of the Congregational Church. 

Mr. Cooper is a member of the Woodmen 
of the World, Camp No. 1, and is manager 
of its local board. In his church, in business 
circles, and in the community at large, Mr. 
Cooper is higiily regarded. He has been an 
active worker in the ranks of the Republican 
party, ever seeking to secure the best men to 
to serve in official capacity, but has never as- 
pired to political honors himself. 



-^ 



=»?*^ 



fOHN C. JACOBS, a well known citizen 
of Dallas county, Texas, was born in 
Newark, Ohio, May 4, 1835. His father, 
Dr. E. A. Jacobs, was born in Vermont, De- 
cember 8, 1811, the youngest of tlie seven 
sons born to his parents.. They believed in 
the old adage that the seventh son had to be 
a doctor. Although he at tirst protested he 
finally acceded to their wishes, and at the 
age of sixteen years went to New York city 
and began the study of medicine under the 
instructions of Dr. Dudley. While in New 
York city he was married to Miss Sarah 
Cowed, a native of London, England. They 
were married in 1832, and their union was 
blessed with five children, the subject of our 
sketch being the oldest. Next came Sarah, 
who is now tl^g v^ifp of Rev. E. V. Butler 
and lives ii^ Young county, Texas; Caro- 
line M. is deceased; E. A. Jacobs resides 
near liis brother John C. Their mother died 
in ^'■kansas, March 20, 1848, and after her 
death Dr. Jacobs took his children East and 
left them with their uncle and aunt in New 



York and Vermont. He returned to Arkan- 
sas and the following year, 1849, wedded 
Miss Susanna J. Robertson, who bore him 
six children, viz.: Amanda; Mary C, wife of 
William Mitchell; George, Fred Q., August- 
us, and Edwin R. Mary C. and George were 
drowned during a great storm on the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

John C. Jacobs remained in the East 
three years, after which, in 1851, he went to 
Michigan, where he remained two years and 
learned iiis trade, that of general mechanic. 
From Michigan he came to Texas, landing at 
JeflTerson on the 5th of July, 1853. Fie 
first settled in Hopkins county and lived 
there one year, then Rockwall county. In 
the latter county he met Miss Ruth Ann 
Mills and was united in marriage with her 
June 25, 1857. In 1859 they moved from 
thereto Dallas county. He bought ten acres 
of land and built a house and shop on it, and 
in this county he has since resided. For 
thirty-five years he worked at his trades and 
during that time accumulated considerable 
means. He has owned about 300 acres, but 
has now sold ofF all except 200 acres. His 
farm is well improved with good buildings, 
etc., and he is in easy circumstances. 

On the 12th of March, 1862, Mr. Jacobs 
enlisted in the Thirty-first Texas Cavalry, and 
served till the close of the war. From expos- 
ure incurred during the war he lost his health, 
and is still a sufferer. 

Mrs. Jacobs' father, E. C. Mills, was born 
in Ohio in 1805, and her mother, nee Sarah 
Hunter, was born in 180G, their marriage oc- 
curing December 27, 1826, They had seven 
children born to them, of whom Ruth Ann 
was the fifth, her birth occurring October 4, 
1835. Her father was married to his second 
wife. Miss Elizabeth Collins, November 3, 
1842, and his third marriage occurred in 1854, 



736 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




to Mrs. Martha Stnrdivant, nee Divers. 
By each of his three companions Mr. Mills 
had seven children. He died June 22, 1871, 
at the age of sixty-six years. 

Mr. and Mrs. John C. Jacobs have had 
seven children, namely: Edward A; Lydia C, 
wife of J. F. Tinsley; J. C, deceased; Charles 
E. ; Clara Isabell, wife of Henry Smith ; James 
N.; andPhilia A. 

Mr. Jacobs and his wife are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

H. H. BRALEY, a prominent and 
early settler of Dallas county, came 
® here in 1871 and located on the line 
of Dallas and Ellis counties, where he en- 
gaged in farming. 

Mr. Braley was born in Iredell county, 
IS'orth Carolina, in 1841, the second in the 
family of live children of S. S. and Catherine 
L. (Gouger) Braley, natives of North Caro- 
lina. They were married in Rowan county, 
that State. The father was a blacksmith by 
trade. At an early day they moved to Bed- 
ford county, Tennessee, and a year later to 
Marshall county, Mississippi, where they re- 
mained three years. In December, 1848, 
they settled in Ouachita county, Arkansas, 
Mr. Braley following the trade of gunsmith 
at Camden. From there they moved to La 
Fayette county, Arkansas, and thence to Fan- 
nin county, Texas, in 1856. He bought a 
farm north of Honey Grove, and on it the 
family resided until 1871, when they came to 
Dallas county. The father's death occurred 
in this county, January 13, 1873. The 
mother survived him some years, her death 
occurring in the city of Dallas in 1888. 

The subject of our sketch spent his child- 
hood days in Tennessee, Mississippi and Ar- 



kansas, and received his education in the 
schools of Ouachita county, in the last named 
State. Fie was fifteen years of age when his 
parents came to Texas and settled on a farm 
in Fannin county, and since then he has been 
engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

Mr. Braley was married in Anderson 
county, Texas, in 1873, to Miss Mary E. 
Hatter, a native of Lincoln county, Ken- 
tucky, and a daughter of John C. and Do- 
rinda (Milligan) Hatter. Her father was 
born in Virginia in 1817, and her mother in 
Kentucky in 1816. At the age of six years 
the former went with his parents to Ken- 
tucky, and there, April 11, 1839, he was 
married. In 1849 he moved to Dallas county, 
Texas, and settled on a farm in the southern 
part of the county. He bought land and im- 
proved a farm here, and on it he and his wife 
passed the rest of their lives, she dying July 
3, 1872, and he in 1883. Five of their chil- 
dren lived to be grown, and four are still 
living, namely: George, who is married and 
lives in Lancaster, Dallas county; John S. is 
married and settled at Sherman, Texas; Mrs. 
M. E. Bralej', who is married and resides in 
Dallas; and James H., married and residing 
in Lancaster. After the death of her mother, 
Mrs. Braley's father was married again, and 
by his second wife had two children, Vere 
and Samuel, who reside near Milford. 

After his marriage Mr. Braley settled in 
the southern part of the county, and there 
resided until he came to the city of Dallas. 
He opened up and improved a farm in the 
southern part of Dallas county, and also 
owns land in various other parts of the 
county. Since 1883 he has made his home 
in Dallas, and has been engaged in the real- 
estate business, buying, improving and sell- 
ing property. He improved his home place, 
and besides this owns valuable property on 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



737 



Live Oak, Main, Commerce and Allen streets; 
the last mentioned is his home. 

Mr. Braley is a public-spirited and enter- 
prising citizen. In his political views he is 
independent, voting for men and measures 
rather than party. In the late war he was a 
soldier in the Confederate army. Enlisting 
in Craven's company, Robert Taylor's regi- 
ment. May 22, 1862, he served until the war 
closed, participating in a number of im- 
portant engagements. He received a gun- 
shot wound through the wrist, which dis- 
abled him for life. After being in hospital 
ninety days, he came home on a furlough; 
was finally put on the retired list, and when 
the war closed was discharged. He and his 
wife have both witnessed the growth and de- 
velopment of this part of Texas, and have 
done their part in helping to advance the 
best interests of the vicinities in which they 
have resided. Following are the children 
born to them: Hardy, who died January 4, 
1876, aged ten months and twenty-six days; 
Henry, born December 20, 1876; Frank, born 
December 31, 1878, died October 22, 1880; 
Lem, born September 10, 1881; Nellie, born 
September 4, 1888. Mrs. Braley is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. 

p. COCHRAN, of Dallas county, 
was born in Greene, now Folk, 
* county, Missouri, in January, 1841, 
the third in a family of six children born to 
William M. and Nancy J. (Hughes) Cochran, 
natives of South and North Carolina respect- 
ively. The father went to Murray county, 
Tennessee, at an early day, where he engaged 
in the mercantile business, at Columbia, and 
also clerk in a bank. He moved to Mis- 
souri in 1840, and three years later to Dal- 




las county, Texas, whei-e he took up a claim 
in precinct No. 2, and tilled the first prairie 
land in this county, also raising the first 
wheat. He took an active interest in the 
early history of the county, and was the first 
County Clerk and Representative of Dallas 
county. His death occurred April 7, 1853, 
and his wife survived hira until about 1871. 
Grandfather John Cochran, a native of the 
north of Ireland, came to New York and par- 
ticipated in the Revolutionary war, after 
which he settled in South Carolina, and later 
in North Carolina, where he subsequently 
died. 

W. P. Cochran, our subject, was reared to 
farm life and educated at the McKinzie Col- 
lege. He came to this county March 27, 
1843, and in 1861 enlisted in Company C, 
Sixth Texas Cavalry, and served until the 
close of the war. He was in the battles of 
Pea Ridge, Corinth, luka, Holly Springs, 
and in the forty-six days' fight before Atlanta. 
He was paroled in 1865 and sent to Dallas, 
Texas. He now owns the old homestead of 
420 acres, which is in a good state of cultiva- 
tion. Mr. Cochran takes an active part in poli- 
tics, voting with the Democratic party, and 
has served as a delegate to the county con- 
ventions. Socially, he is a member of James 
A. Smith Lodge, No. 395, which was char- 
tered in 1874, and has held the ofiice of Dis- 
trict Deputy Grand Master in his order. Re- 
ligiously, both he and his wife are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Coch- 
ran Chapel, which was named in honor of Mr. 
Cochran's father, and of which the former is 
one of the trustees. 

Mr. Cochran was married in Hill county, 
Texas, January 30, 1867, to Miss A. M. 
Lawrence, a native of Marshall county, Ten- 
nessee, and daughter of D. T. and Ann B. 
(Bachman) Lawrence, natives of North Caro- 



738 



SISTOBF OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



lina and Tennessee. The parents settled in 
Hill county, Texas, in 1857, where the father 
died in February, 1867, and the mother in 
1872. Mr. and Mrs. (Jochran have had nine 
children, seven of whom survive: Nanna A., 
John D., A.rchelans, Mary A., James P., Wil- 
lie L. and Ada M. Mr. Cochran has seen 
the full growth and development of Dallas 
from a cabin to a city of about 40,000 in- 
habitants, and has always taken an active in- 
terest in everything for its good and aided in 
all public enterprises. 

tH. McDADE, contractor and builder, 
Dallas, has been in business here since 
^'^ 1871. He was born in Richmond county, 
Georgia, ten miles west of Augusta, on Big 
Spirit creek, October 9, 1832, the first of 
thirteen children born to Captain John and 
Eliza (McTyre) McDade, he having six sisters 
and six brothers, all natives of Georgia. His 
father was a planter and proprietor of saw 
and grist mills on Big Spirit creek, Rich- 
mond county, Georgia. His parents passed 
their lives in Georgia, and were buried on 
the homestead of Holland McTyre, his 
grandfather. He was for several years en- 
gaged with the Adams and Southern Express 
companies, till 1861. 

From this date to 1865 he was with the 
Confederate army in Georgia and Florida, 
then the army of Tennessee from Missionary 
Ridge to Atlanta, Georgia. He was wounded 
at Peach-Tree creek (or Jones' Tannery), 
near Atlanta, Georgia. Disabled by his 
wound and cut off by the enemy from his 
command, he attached himself to Captain 
Robert Allen's command of cavalry, where 
he remained to the close of hostilities. He 
then engaged with the National Express 
Company until its demise; next the Southern 



Express Company from Mol)ile, Alabama, to 
Cairo, Illinois: afterward he carae to Texas. 
In 1871 he came to Dallas city, his present 
home, in whose material interest he has ever 
taken an active part. 

He has long been well and favorably 
known here as a citizen, mechanic, a Con- 
federate Democrat, and a member of the 
First Baptist Church. 

— ~^'^*^^+:-*5;*-— — 

PATRICK W. LINSKIE was born in 
,!• county Galway, Ireland, in 1848, and 
^ when six months of age his parents 
crossed the sea to America, settling in New 
Orleans. Here they were both stricken with 
yellow fever, and died. Patrick received his 
education in New Orleans and then went to 
Rapides parish, where he was living at the 
time of the breaking out of the civil war. He 
was only fourteen years age, but he enlisted 
in Texada's Cavalry, and served with marked 
distinction urtil the surrender. When hos- 
tilities ceased he returned to New Orleans 
and engaged in the undertaking business, 
which he carried on with success until 1873. 
He then removed to Dallas, Texas, and em- 
barked in the same line at the corner of 
Main and Harwood streets; the frame build- 
ing first occupied has been replaced by a fine 
brick edifice, and the patronage has grown to 
immense proportions. Mr. Linskie is the 
official undertaker for the Hebrew and Roman 
Catholic population of the city. He has the 
most complete establishment of the kind in 
the South, and is well fitted both by native 
tact and a thorough training for the duties of 
the business. He is a master of the process 
of embalming, which he studied in St. Louis 
and Cincinnati. 

Mr. Linskie was married December 19, 
1876, to Miss Emma E. Sanderson of Mis- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



739 



souri; she removed to Texas in 1873; they 
are the parents of two sons, Robert, aged ten 
years, and Gerald, aged five. Our subject is 
a member of the Knights of Pythias, Lodge 
No. 8, and belongs to the Elks and Red Men. 
He is a member of the Roman Catholic 
Cluirch, and has occupied the same pew for 
the past seventeen years. Politically he af- 
filiates with the Democratic party. He has 
been an Alderman, and was one of the most 
efficient officers of the Water- Works Company. 
He has built one of the most elegant homes 
in the city on Harwood street, and is enjoy- 
ing the results of many years of honest labor. 



HARRISON R. PARKS was born in Ellis 
county, Texas, in 1849, and is a son of 
George C. and Christina (Kockett) 
Parks. His father was a native of Indiana, 
and emigrated to Texas in 1847. He settled 
near Red Oak, Ellis county, and pre-empted 
640 acres of land, which he converted into a 
fertile, productive farm. Harrison was the 
oldest child, and in his childhood was sur- 
rounded by rural scenes of more than ordi- 
nary beauty. The family continued to live on 
the homestead until 1874, when they removed 
to Waxahachie. The father was appointed 
Judge of Ellis county, and held the position 
six years. In 1879 he went to California, 
and died while in that State. He was a local 
politican of some note, and for a great many 
years was County Commissioner. For fifty 
years he was a member of the Masonic order. 
His wife passed away some years before his 
death. They had six children, one of whom 
died in infancy. One son died in Houston, 
Texas, while in the service of his country. 

The subject of this notice was reared to 
farm life, and enjoyed the advantages afforded 



in the private schools. Later he took a college 
course, and when he had finished his studies 
he entered upon his business career as a clerk 
in Waxahachie. In 1873 the firm that em- 
ployed him suffered from a disastrous fire, 
and he was forced into another channel. He 
took up the insurance business and has since 
been engaged in active soliciting. He estab- 
lished several agencies, and in 1884 came to 
Dallas and went into the same business under 
the firm name of Parks & Sherman; they repre- 
sent six leading companies, and draw their 
patronage from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas 
and Indian Territory. They have done an 
enormous business, and establisiied a reputa- 
tion for the most honorable dealing. They 
have very few lawsuits, and conduct their 
business according to the safest methods. 

Mr. Parks was married in 1871, to Miss 
Laura Patterson, a native of Arkansas. One 
daughter was born to them, named Minnie. 
The mother died in 1882, and Mr. Parks was 
married again to Miss Jettie Patterson, a 
sister of the first wife. Three children were 

born of this union: Nellie, Mary and . 

They occupy an elegant residence in Dallas, 
and are surrounded by many of the luxuries 
of life. 

Mr. Parks affiliates with the Democratic 
party, and is a strong supporter of all the 
issues of that body. 



fN. BAKER, an insurance agent of 
Dallas, was born in Caldwell county, 
" Kentucky, August 20, 1862, a son of 
Owen Ross and Julia (Lindsay) Baker, na- 
tives of Kentucky. The mother is a daugh- 
ter of Lancetot Lindsay of Kentucky, and a 
niece of the late Associate Justice of the 
Supreme Court of Texas, Levingstone Lind- 



740 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



say of La Grange, who were first cousins of 
the Honorable Alexander H. Stephens of 
Georgia. The fatiier is a practical and 
thorough farmer, has held the office of Sheriff 
two terms, was Circuit Clerk two terms. 
County Clerk one term. County Commis- 
sioner of public roads three terms, Post- 
master eight years, having resigned that posi- 
tion, and is at present one of the Republican 
delegates from the first Congressional Dis- 
trict of Kentucky to the National Republi- 
can Convention, Minneapolis. He was a 
Union man during the war, although he 
owned a few slaves, which were liberated. 
For many years he has been a Deacon in the 
Baptist Church, and his wife is also a life- 
long member of that church. Socially, Mr. 
Raker is a Freemason. The parents reared 
a family of six children, four of whom still 
survive, viz.: Peter, of Kentucky; Cora, wife 
of M. S. Hague, of Tennessee; Gertrude, wife 
W. A. Samson, of Denton, Texas; J. N., our 
subject; and Franklin and Eugenia each died 
at the age of about fourteen years. Mr. Baker 
enjoys the confidence of all who know him, 
and is a very popular man. It is a notable fact 
that, although he has been a pronounced Re- 
publican in politics, he has held the county 
offices above referred in a Democratic county. 
In each place he won success and accom- 
plished great good, shared the views of ad- 
vanced thinkers, and was in thorough sym- 
pathy with the progress of the county on 
every line of advancement. A manly char- 
acter only could have inspired such confidence, 
and a faithful serviceonly could have resumed 
its continuance, as is seen by his re-election 
to each oflice. 

J. N. Baker, the subject of this sketch, 
was educated in what is now known as Prince- 
ton Collegiate Institute, then Princeton Col- 
lege, where he completed his course in 1882. 



He has been in the insurance business ever 
since, first with the Equitable, of New York, 
then the New York of New York, and is now 
special agent for the State of Texas and In- 
dian Territory. He has succeeded well in 
this enterprise, and stands among the first in 
the business. Mr. Baker is also president 
of the White Republican League Club of 
Dallas. 

fB. LOCJCKS, a retired contractor and 
builder of Dallas, was born in Louvain, 
" Belsjium, in 1829, the eldest of three 
children born to Peter Joseph and Theresa 
(Pirouet) Loucks, also natives of Belgium. 
The father, a contractor by occupation, came 
to Texas in 1856, and in 1858 moved to Fort 
Worth, Texas, where his death occurred in 
1860; the mother died in Belgium. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in his 
native country, where he also learned the 
carpenter and joiner's trade. At the age of 
twenty- six years he came with the French 
colony to Dallas, first settling on the line of 
Tarrant county, where he imdertook to form 
a settlement on Mountain creek, called New 
Louvain. He then went to Fort Worth, 
Texas, and engaged at his trade, but in 1867 
returned to Dallas. In 1863 Mr. Loucks en- 
listed in the Confederate service, in Company 
F, Waller's Battalion, and served two years. 
He was in many battles and at the close of the 
war returned to old Mexico, where he en- 
gaged in contracting and building. He 
eracted a tine residence on tlie corner of Will- 
iam Tell and Floyd streets. Mr. Loucks 
takes an active interest in politics, voting 
with an independent party, he has been 
Alderman of the First Ward three terms, 
and resigned on account of moving out of the 
ward. He also served two terms as Schoo^ 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



741 



Director. Socially, Mr. Loucks is a member 
of Tannehill Lodge, Ko. 52, A. F. & A. M., 
of Dallas Chapter, No. 48, Dallas Command- 
ery. No. 6, and the Knights of the Golden 
Kule. Mrs. Loucks and family are members 
of the Episcopal Church, and Mr. Loucks is 
a member of the Catholic Church. 

lie was married in Weatherford, Texas, in 
1867, to Miss Mary Desmet, a native of 
Belgium, and a daughter of Dr. Henry and 
(Stye) Desmet, natives of Belgium. They 
came with the French colony to this State in 
1855, but botli are now deceased. Mrs. 
Loucks died in 1869, and in 1870 he married 
Miss Louisa, a daughter of John and Mary 
(Rogers) Tenison, natives of Ireland and 
Pennsylvania respectively. The parents came 
to Dallas in 1868, and both are now deceased. 
Mr. and Mrs. Loucks have four children: 
Minnie, Anna, Josie and Mary. 



-^^i/znyb- 



--^ 



■'ifmn^^ 




^ AJOK ALEXAN DER C. LEMMON, 
a real-estate agent of Dallas, Texas, 
SiS?^ located in Dallas, in 1889, coming 
hence from Jefferson city, Missouri. A brief 
sketch of his useful and eventful life may be 
summed up in the following: Major Lemmoii 
was born in Paris, Henry county, Tennessee, 
June 13, 1838, eldest of three children of 
William H. and Nancy Amanda (Hughes) 
Lemmon. His paternal ancestors came to 
this country from Germany about the middle 
of the last century and settled in Pennsyl- 
vania. His great-grandfather, John Lem- 
mon, and two brothers coming together. John 
married and remained in Pennsylvania, but 
the brothers found permanent homes in Mary- 
land and South Carolina; John was a soldier 
of the Revolution, and upon the termination 
of hostilities moved with his family to Green 
county, Kentucky, where ho settled on and 



improved a line farm upon the banks of 
Green river, and known far and wide as 
Lemmon's bend: here he reared a large family 
of children, the greater portion of whom sub- 
sequently became pioneer settlers in the new 
States and Territories. His family was noted 
for Biblical names, as we find Abraham, Isaac, 
Jacob, John, Peter, James, Daniel and 
Rndian among the sons, while the same was 
true of the Christian names of the daughters. 
Major Lemmon's grandfather, Isaac Lemmon, 
born in Kentucky in 1781, was married to 
Elizabeth Edwards Moore, a daughter of 
Captain Moore who commanded a company 
in the famous General Morgan's command. 
The late John A. Moore, who died at Lee's 
Summit, in Jackson county, Missonri, in 
1886, at the advanced age of ninety-one 3'ears, 
was her oldest brother. 

Isaac Lemmon, a soldier of the war of 
1812, was with General Jackson at the battle 
of New Orleans, and died on the return be- 
fore reaching home; he left four children: 
William H., Sarah (Allison), John and Isaac. 
W. H., the father of the subject of this sketch 
was born in Green county, Kentucky, De- 
cember 27, 1807, and though but a child he 
soon became charged with the care and sup- 
port of the mother and family. Leaving the 
ancestral homestead at the age of seventeen, 
the family moved to Henry county, Tennessee, 
where W. H. learned the carpenter and cabi- 
netmakers' trade, which he successfully pur- 
sued for several years. On August 17, 1837, 
he was married to Nancy Amanda, youngest 
daughter of the late Archelaus Hughes of 
Williamson county, Tennessee; in the fall of 
1839, he emigrated to Polk county, Missouri, 
and engaged in farming and stock-raising, in 
which he continued to the close of his life. 
In 1862, he was made a military prisoner, 
and confined at Springfield, Missouri, where 



743 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



he contracted a severe fever, doubtless induced 
by exposure to the noxious effluvia attendant 
iipon prison life and hard labor upon the 
Ibrtiiications then being erected for the de- 
fense of the city, the labor being chiefly per- 
formed by military prisoners, who like Judge 
Leintnon had been arrested and imprisoned 
upon the charge of sympathy with the Re- 
bellion. At length he was released that he 
might find better quarters during his illness. 
On gaining freedom he met his old friend, 
Hon. J. J. Weaver, who kindly took him to 
his own home, procured medical aid and dis- 
patched for his wife in Polk county; but his 
disease proved fatal: he died August 31, 1862 
in the presence of his wife and friends. Judge 
Lemmon was prominent in the politics of his 
county, and served as a judge of the county 
court from 1856 to 1860, he was also a con- 
sistent member of the Christian Church. 

Major Lemmon's maternal ancestors were 
from Wales, and settled in Virginia and the 
Carolinas at an early day; they were active 
participants in the Revolutionarj' struggle. 
Archelaus Hughes, his maternal grandfather, 
was a prominent citizen of Williamson and 
Henry counties, Tennessee, and the father of 
a large family. His eldest sou, Arch M. 
Hughes of Dresden, was a lawyer and poli- 
tician of prominence in the Western district, 
and was once defeated for Congress by John 
W. Crockett, son of the noted Davy Crock- 
ett, shortly following his death at the Alamo. 

The brothers A. M., Joseph B., and Brice 
Hughes all died in Tennessee, leaving fami- 
lies. William P. (Buck), died in Missouri a 
few years since, and Dr. Samuel P., the 
youngest of the brothers, from the latest ac- 
counts was living in the Indian Territory. 

The maternal grandmother, Nancy (Martin) 
Hughes, was a daughter of General Joseph 
Martin of Virginia, a gallant officer of the 



Revolution, who was the first agent to the 
Cherokee Indians appointed by President 
Washington. Some illegitimate Indian chil- 
dren born to him during his sojourn among 
the Indians, were by him educated in one of 
the best colleges of New England, these half- 
breeds took General Martin's name and after- 
ward became prominent and wealthy citizens 
of the Cherokee Nation. 

Major Lemmon was raised upon a farm and 
received his education in the common schools 
of Polk county, and the Southwest Male and 
Female College of Springfield, Missouri, of 
•which Charles Carlton, now of Bonham, 
Texas, was president. He began teaching in 
the public schools of his county, at the age 
of sixteen, and continued in the profession, 
except while at college, until the breaking 
out of the war in 1861. His sympathies being 
strongly with the South, he was among the 
first to volunteer from his county in the ser- 
vice of the Missouri State Guard, under 
General Sterling Price, enlisting as a private. 
He was upon the organization of the Fifth 
Regiment, General Rains' division, elected 
and commissioned Major of said regiment, 
J. J. Clarkson being Colonel, R. W. Crawford 
Lieutenant Colonel, and M. W. Buster, now 
Mayor of Weatherford, Adjutant. The late 
Colonel John M. Stemmons of Dallas was 
also an officer of that regiment. Major Lem- 
mon participated in the battles of Oak Hill 
where his horse was killed under him; Dry 
Wood and the skirmishes and siege of Lex- 
ington. His regiment being six-months 
troops, in the winter of 1861-'62, he re- 
cruited and organized a company for the regu- 
lar Confederate service, and was chosen its 
Captain and assigned to the Confederate re- 
cruiting corps at Springfield, then under 
command of Colonel Henry Little, and sub- 
sequently transferred to the recruiting force 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



743 



under command of General Slack, who was 
killed at the battle of Pea Ridge; after his 
death, the brigade was commanded by Gen- 
eral Frank M. Cockrell, and did service in the 
Trans-Mississippi department, Colonel James 
McCown of Warrensburg being the Colonel. 
In the battle of Corinth, October the 4th, the 
subject of our sketch lost his right arm while 
gallantly charging the enemy's breast-works, 
and was subsequently assigned to the com- 
mand of the militai-y post at Montevallo, 
Alabama, which position he held until the 
surrender. 

After the war he was engaged in the mer- 
es o 

cantile business at Montevallo, Alabama, for 
three years. From, that time until October, 
1889, when he came to Dallas, Texas, he was 
variously engaged at different places. In 
1869, he returned to Polk county, Missouri, 
where he taught school and farmed; was 
principal of the schools at Bolivar, Missouri, 
County Clerk for five years; Commissioner 
of Schools one year, and Revenue Clerk in 
the State Auditor's oflice at Jefferson City, 
Missouri, four years; President of the West- 
ern Boot and Shoe Manufacturing Company, 
at Jefferson City; has devoted much time to 
newspaper work, having been a regular cor- 
respondent for the Kansas City Times, and 
St. Louis Post Dispatch, and local editor of 
the Jefferson City Daily State Times. He 
was elected official Reporter of the State 
Senate of Missouri, in 1887, and re-elected 
at the special session of the Senate in June 
following, and again re-elected in 1889. He 
has always been identified with the Demo- 
cratic party, and has ofttimes been delegate 
to State, Congressional and other conventions 
of the party. 

Major Leramon was marn-ied December 
21, 1865, at Montevallo, Alabama, to Miss 
Louise J. Nabors, a native of that State, and 



youngest daughter of the late Colonel James 
M. and Caroline (Henry) Nabors, natives 
respectively of North Carolina and Tennessee. 
Colonel Nabors frequently represented Shelby 
county, Alabama, in both houses of the Leg- 
islature; he raised a large family of children, 
only two, however, are living, Mrs. Leramon 
and the eldest brother; John Henry Nabors, 
an extensive planter near Mansfield, Louisi- 
ana; the late Rev. Ezekiel Nabors of Pasca- 
goula, Mississippi; and James M., Jr., who 
died of yellow fever at Shreveport, in 1873, 
were brothers of Mrs. Lemmon; Mrs. Paro- 
lee McHenry, a lady of culture and literary 
talent, late of Mansfield, Louisiana, was a 
sister, as were the first wives of the Rev. 
U. B. Philips, pastor of the Methodist 
church, at Kaufman, Texas, and the Rev. 
W. G. Perry, of one of the Texas confer- 
ences. Her father died in 1852, and her 
mother at Summerfield, Alabama, in 1858. 
She was a lineal descendant of Patrick Henry, 
the orator of Revolutionary times. Her 
grandfather. Captain Henry, died in Chero- 
kee county, Texas, before the war. Mrs. 
Lemmon was educated by her kinsman and 
guardian, French Nabors, of Alabama, at 
Prof. Samuel's private school, at Talladega, 
and the Judson Female College, of Marion, 
Alabama, graduating from the latter in 1865. 
To Major Lemmon and wife, eight children 
have been born, two died in infancy, and A. 
C, Jr., a bright intelligent lad of twelve 
years, after ten months' severe illness from 
rheumatic hip-joint trouble, died in great 
peace on April 11, 1892, since this sketch 
was written. The living are: William 
Campbell, the eldest, of the real-estate firm 
of Mahana & Lemmon, 711 Main street, 
Dallas; Walter Scott, a lawyer and member 
of the well-known law firm of Russell, 
Cooper & Lemmon, 309 Main street, Dallas; 



744 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



Bertie Amanda, and Eulalia Louise, students 
at the Dallas high school; and James Wil- 
fred, the youngest, aged ten years. 

When he came to Dallas in the fall of 
1889, he engaged at once in business with the 
real estate firm of Leopold & Lemon; after 
the dissolution of the firm, he continued in 
business alone until February 23, 1891, when 
he suflered a partial stroke of paralysis of 
the right side, which lias ever since disabled 
him from active business. 

Socially he is a member of Trinity Lodge, 
No. 198, and Ridgely Encampment, No. 25; 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with 
which order he has been connected for a quarter 
of a century, having held many important posi- 
tions therein, and represented his lodge in the 
Grand Lodges of Alabama, Missouri and 
Texas; he is a Deputy Grand Master of the 
Ancient Order of United Workmen, and a 
Past Chancellor of Amity Lodge, Knights of 
Pythias, Dallas. He is a strong believer in 
religion, and a member of the Southern 
Methodist Church, and resides at No. 318, 
Cole avenue. His only sister, Nancy J. 
Leinmon, ayoung lady of fine intelligence, 
died at the age of eighteen, in 1860. Her 
death was a very happy one, and produced a 
marked effect upon the remaining members 
of the family ever afterward. His mother, 
now in her seventy-fifth year lives with him 
and his only brother. Captain William H. 
Lemmon, corner Lemmon and Cole avenues, 
in the north part of the city. 



iENJAMIN E. TORBERT, member of 
the city police force of Dallas, settled 
in this county, January 21, 1872. He 
was born in Upson county, Georgia, June 17, 
1845, the seventh in a family of eleven chil- 
dren. His parents were Lemuel and Martha 



(Glanston) Torbert. His father, a native of 
Tennessee and a farmer by occupation, was 
closely identified with the settling and im- 
proving of the locality in which he lived. 
His death occurred in 1870, at the age of 
sixty-nine years. Mr. Torbert's mother died 
in 1853, leaving a large family to mourn her 
loss. 

Our snbject began life as a farmer boy, and 
was engaged in agricultural pursuits until he 
reached his majority. He was united in 
marriage with Miss Millie Aven, August 22, 
1866. She was the daughter of James and 
Rebecca (Rodgers) Aven. Her father was 
reared on a farm in Tennessee, and sub- 
sequently moved to Georgia, becoming one 
of the pioneers of that State. His death oc- 
curred there, June 1, 1882, at the advanced 
age of seventy-two years. Her mother died 
in 1881, in her sixty-second year. They left 
a large family. Of their children only five 
are now living, and all, save Mi's. Torbert, 
reside in their native State. 

When Mr. Torbert arrived in Dallas 
county, he had only $15 in money. Rent- 
ing a farm he at once went to work in earnest, 
but at the end of three years he was driven 
from the farm by the invasion of grasshop- 
pers that infested this locality at that time. 
Moving to the city of Dallas, he was variously 
employed for some time. In 1882 he ac- 
cepted a position on the city police force, 
and has been retained in that capacity ever 
since. 

During the war he served in the Confeder- 
ate army. In 1862 he enlisted in the six 
months' service, after which he joined the 
Woodson Guards of the Thirty-second Geor- 
gia Regiment, and served until the close of 
the war. He took part in numerous engage- 
ments, and was slightly wounded in the left 
side. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



745 




Mr. Torbert is a member of the Dallas 
L(xlge, No. 1,570, K. of H. He and his wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South. Their union has been blest 
with three children, whose names are as fol- 
lows: Aven J., born July 18, 1867; Jeffer- 
son J., born February 19, 1869; and Ina M., 
March 3, 1883. 

K. HENSLEY, bookkeeper for T. 
^ _ ^ L. Marsalis, was born in Texas, 
l*"§BTj'* Columbia county, September 3, 
1849. His parents were Captain W. E. and 
Mary (Thompson) Hensley, who came to 
Texas in 1831 from Edinburgh, Johnson 
CDunty, Indiana. The father was a native of 
Kentucky, the mother of Tennessee. They 
were married in 1823. The father was a 
merchant and trader at Columbia, Texas. 

Captain Wm. E. Hensley, then a young 
man (we get this information from the Hon. 
John Henry Brown, wliose memory serves 
him well in reference to old settlers), came 
from Indiana to Texas in 1830 and was an 
educated surveyor. He settled on the upper 
Navidad river and was a member of the first 
convention ever held in Texas, October 1, 
1832. This was an important convention 
and ignored by liistorians because the records 
were lost, as were those in 1833; but Mr. 
Brown, the historian, is in possession of an of- 
ficial record of its proceedings, as will appear 
in his history of Texas now in the hands of 
the publishers. Captain-Hensley was an ac- 
complished surveyor and did splendid and 
accurate work between San Antonio and 
Nueces river. He was also a fighter and 
often repelled the attacks of roving bands of 
Indians, in one case killing tiiree Indians and 
repelling the attack on his camp on the Eio 
Frio. Travis, the liero of Alamo, was a mem- 



ber of Captain Hensley's family at San Felipe 
in 1834-'35. Captain and Mrs. Hensley 
were his ardent friends. His last farewell in 
leaving for the Alamo was always tenderly 
remembered by them. Travis and his band 
fell on the 6th of March, 1836. A baby was 
born to them eleven days later and it was 
named Travis. In 1874 the baby, Travis 
Hensley, died in Dallas, leaving a widow and 
son who yet reside in this city. 

Captain Wm. R. Hensley proved himself 
to be a man of honor, intelligence and patri- 
otism. As a surveyor in the South and the 
western wilds he had no superior. When the 
Mexican war began in 1846 he was patriot- 
ically engaged in sustaining the American 
cause. He then became a merchant in Port 
Lavaca, controlling great wagon trains to 
Mexico, and 1849 died with cholera in La- 
vaca, lamented by the whole people as a 
brave, enlightened and patriotic man. The 
writer of this knew him through the last 
twelve years of his life, and now as a man of 
truth dare not say less, and he might say 
much more, in his praise. But few died with 
the cholera at Port Lavacca, but many at 
Indianola. He had just returned from a trip 
to New Orleans, where it is thought he con- 
tracted the disease. His wife died in 1873, 
at the age of sixty-live years. She was a 
noble woman and in every way worthy to be 
the wife of this brave, honored and patriotic 
man. These parents had six children, viz.: 
Alexander, Addie, Alford and Travis, all of 
whom died in Dallas; Mary, and William, 
our subject. 

Mr. Hensley was educated at Lavaca at 
common and private schools. He learned to 
keep books while with his brothers Alex- 
ander and Travis, and has been in that busi- 
ness all his life. He came to Dallas in 1873, 
and returned to southern Texas, returning to 



746 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Dallas two years since. He was married Janu- 
ary 10, 1872, to Miss Lizzie Womack, daughter 
of T. B. Womack of Victoria, Texas. Her par- 
ents are both living, her father at the age 
of sixty-six and her mother at the age of 
sixty. There are three living children, viz.: 
Mrs. Hensley, Jesse, and Travis, a girl. 
William died at the age of eighteen years. 

Our subject has two children living and 
two deceased. The living are: Fannie, with 
the J. B. Watkins Mortgage Company, girl 
clerk, stenographer and typewriter. She is 
efficient in her line and is doing good service. 
Thomas, office boy for Elliott & Price. 
Mrs. Hensley is a member of the Episcopal 
Church. Mr. Hensley is a member of the 
K. of H., and is a worthy and well-to-do 
citizen, whose friends are as numerous as his 
acquaintances. 

W. DOOLITTLE, one of the leading 
I. merchants and proprietors of the 
"Arcade" at Dallas, Texas, is a native 
of Utica, New York. His parents were Lloyd 
and Sophia (Stowe) Doolittle, the former a 
native of New York State, the latter of Eng- 
lish birth and parentage. The father was a 
wholesale merchant and grocer, dying in 1854, 
aged forty-two; the mother died some six 
six years latter, aged forty-three. She was a 
devoted, earnest Christian woman, greatly 
beloved and highly respected for her many 
virtues. Her membership in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church dated back to her young 
womanhood, and she lived a life that left an 
impression for good on the hearts of many a 
poor Btruggler for light. She and her hus- 
band had seven children, our subject, and 
Sarah Elizabeth, wife of Lewis W. Land, resi- 
dent of Cohoes, New I'ork, being the only 
surviving ones. 




Our subject lived in New York city for 
many years, engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness. He then came South, to Memphis, 
Tennessee, about 1870, and engaged there in 
the same pursuit for fifteen years. He came 
to Dallas, Texas, and started the A.rcade, under 
tlie firm name of Doolittle, Simpson & C >., 
Nos. 312, 314, 316 Elm street. They are 
importers and jobbers of china, pottery, fancy 
goods and notions. The other partners in 
the firm are H. S. Simpson and A. E. Bate- 
man. Their building is 50x90 feet, with 
three floors, all filled with goods. They also 
have an adjoining building, 25x80, three 
stories high. In addition to this they have a 
warehouse on Pacific avenue, 50 x 90, one 
story high. In addition to their china and 
pottery they always carry a full line of hand- 
kerchiefs, hosiery, towels, notions, toys, glass- 
ware, tin- ware, queens- ware, wooden-ware, 
willow- ware and all kinds of fancy household 
goods. In all they have ten departments 
and at present employ forty- one clerks, which 
number is doubled during the busy season. 
Their sales amount to over $200,000 an- 
nually. They have the largest business of 
this kind in the city, and they do both a 
wholesale and retail business. 

In 1879 Mr. Doolittle was married to 
Mary V. McNamara, daughter of John and 
Elizabeth McNamara of Memphis, Tennessee. 
Mrs. Doolittle is a member of the Catholic 
Church and is a devoted mother and wife. 
She is a woman of many accomplishments 
and attaiments. 

Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle have seven bright 
and interesting children, namely: Sarah Edna, 
Anna Burough, Edwin Wallace, Elizabeth 
Sophia, Albert Lloyd, Edith Marie and Henry 
Simpson. 

Mr. Doolittle is a member of the Masonic 
order, blue lodge, chapter and commandry. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



747 



He is one of the most enterprising and public- 
spirited of the merchants of this city, being 
in thorough sympathy with the progress 
of the country in every line of advancement. 
His life furnishes a good example of what 
determination and perseverance can accom- 
plish when joined with strict integrity of 
character. 



^ENNIS P. MAHONEY, Superinten- 
dent of the City Water Works of Dal- 
las, was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1846- 
His father was an extraordinarily tine gentle- 
man who came to America in 1850, landing 
at Boston. Mr. Dennis F. Mahoney lived 
seven years in Boston, attending school. In 
1857 he went to New Orleans, where he 
further pursued his studies, and also learned 
the trade of boilermaker. At the beginning 
of the war he enlisted in Company K, Four- 
teenth Louisiana Infantry, Confederate States 
of America, and under General Magruder 
participated in the peninsular campaign. At 
an engagement at Sharpsburg, Maryland, he 
was severely wounded and consequently dis- 
charged from service. He returned home, 
and after his recovery went to Mexico and 
joined the Austrian army, as a member of 
Dupan's band, and had many exciting adven- 
tures during those perilous times under 
Maximilian. He left Mexico but a few days 
prior to Maximilian's capture, went to Phil- 
adelphia and thence returned to New Or 
leans and worked at his trade of boilermak- 



ing. 



From 1870 to 1884 he was engaeed in 



the cotton trade, and then came to Dallas, 
as superintendent for the Dallas Elevator and 
Compress Company, and continued in their 
employ until 1890, when he was chosen by 
the City Council as Superintendent of the City 
Water Works, the duties of which position 



he is now fulfilling with signal ability. The 
works already comprise forty-nine miles of 
mains, with a capacity of 6,500,000 gallons 
in twenty-four hour.s. He has been Aider- 
man of the second ward of this city, and dur- 
ing his term of office he was extremely vigil- 
ant of the people's rights. On national 
questions he is a Democrat, pure and simple. 
Has been active in labor organizations, being 
noted as a cool and sagacious counselor. He 
has a cosy residence at Oak Cliff. 

Mr. Mahoney was married in 1867, to 
Miss Margaret O'Connor, a native of Savan- 
nah, Georgia, and they had seven children 
that are now living. Mrs. Mahoney was a 
faithful wife and mother and died in 1889. 
In June, 1891, Mr. Mahoney married Miss 
Mary C. King, of La Fayette, Indiana. He 
is a member of the Church of the Sacred 
Heart, Catholic. 



—^>yxn/h' 



~^l/inn^^ 



fE. BEEMAN, one of the successful citi- 
zens of Dallas county, was born in this 
* city, in 1854, the eldest child of Will- 
iam H. and M. E. (Dye) Beeman, natives of 
Illinois and Kentucky respectively. The 
father came with his parents, John and Emily 
Beeman, to Dallas in 1842, where he took 
up a headright, on a part of which the city 
of Dallas now stands, and both he and his 
wife still reside in this city. Our subject 
was reared and educated in Dallas, where he 
also learned the blacksmith's trade, which he 
followed continuously until 1882. In that 
year he was elected Marshal of East Dallas, 
also Assessor and Collector three terms, and 
in 1886 he was again elected City Marshal, 
having held that office from 1882 to 1889. 
In that year the two municipal governments 
united, making it all the city of Dallas. 
Mr. Beeman was the first and last City Mar- 



748 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



shal of East Dallas. After his marriage he 
settled on Elm street, and in 1890 he bought 
a good residence on the corner of Kentucky 
and Residence streets, and also owns property 
on Kentucky street, which lie rents. 

He was married in this city, in 1876, to 
Miss Annie E. Russey, a native of Tennessee 
and a daughter of B. F. and Elizabeth (Par- 
ker) Russey, the former a native of Virginia 
and the latter of Tennessee. The father fol- 
lowed fanning aud stock-raising until after 
his removal to Dallas, in October, 1874, when 
he engaged in the manufacture of brick. The 
mother died in Tennessee, in 1862, and the 
father died in Dallas city, in March, 1889. 
Mr. and Mrs. Beeman have had three child- 
ren: Emmett Martin, Robert Earl and Eva 
Lena. Mr. Beeman is identified with the 
Democratic party, and during his adminis- 
tration as City Marshall he saw hard service, 
having been in six shooting affrays, and at 
that time had a large area to look over. 



^ 



S. RANDALL is the proprietor of 
Randall's Cafe and Hotel at Dallas, 
Texas, which establishment, since its 
inception in June, 1880, has been the Mecca 
of the traveling public, for the excellence of 
its cuisine and its home-like and convenient 
appointments, make it a most desirable stop- 
ping place. The entire management of the 
house indicated the fact that intelligent and 
careful direction is exercised; and it is to the 
administrative ability of Mr. Randall that the 
position maintained by this house as a first- 
class European hotel is due. Mr. Randall 
was born in Delaware city, Delaware county, 
Ohio in 1848, the third in a family of twelve 
children born to Paul and Phoebe Ann (Wat- 
kins) Randall, the former a native of New 



York and the latter of Knox coiinty, Ohio. 
After his removal to Ohio Paul Randall was 
married, and engaged in the boot and shore 
business in Delaware, of which city he and 
his wife have been residents for over half a 
century, and where they still reside. 

E. S. Randall was reared and educated in 
Delaware and in 1864, enlisted from that town 
in the three-months service in Company D, 
Ohio National Guards, at the end of which time 
he was honorably discharged. He then enlisted 
in Company C, One Hundred and Eighty-sixth 
Ohio Infantry, and was mustered into service 
at Columbus, Ohio, being quartered during 
his three-months service at Arlington 
Heights, Washington, District of Columbia. 
During his service in the West he was quar- 
tered at Columbus, and Nashville, Tennessee, 
and Dalton, Georgia. He was mustered out 
of the service at Nashville, September 18, 
1865, and returned to Delaware, Ohio. Later 
he received an appointment to the West Point 
Military Academy but remained there only a 
short time. Upon leaving his native State he 
went to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1867 and for 
about ten months thereafter kept a restaur- 
ant, continuing to follow the same calling at 
different points along the Union Pacific 
railroad as far west as Nevada. In 1869 
he came to Mason county, Texas, and 
joined the Texas frontier force, in protect- 
ing the frontier from Indian depredations, 
which calling received his attention for one 
year. Two years were then spent in Austin, 
Texas, in the restaurant business, after which 
he was in Galveston for a short time. 

In this city he was married, in 1879, to 
Miss Lila M. Thackaray, a native of that 
city, and a daughter of Joseph Thackaray, a 
Pennsylvanian, his wife being a Texan of Ger- 
man descent. Mr. Thackaray became a resi- 
dent of Galveston in 1836, where he success- 




ife^ a^^c^^ ^ .^^j,^ 




HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



749 



fully followed merchandising until his death 
in 1877. His widow is still living in Gi-alves- 
ton. In 1880 Mr. Randall settled perma- 
nently in Dallas and has devoted his attention 
to his present business, in the raanaojement 
of which he has shown excellent judgment. 
He is a Democrat politically and is a member 
of John A. Dix Post of the G. A. R. He 
belongs to Dallas Lodge No. 1,570 of the K. 
of H. and Dallas Lodge No. 71, Order of 
Elks. He and his wife are the parents of the 
following children: Irene, Phoebe, Louise, El- 
wood, Ermer Gray. Mr. Randall has seen 
a great change in Dallas since locating here, 
fur the growth of the city has been made since 
that period. He is interested in the progress 
of the place and aids all enterprises of a 
worthy nature with influence and money. 

-^^^^■^^^^^^^^^^ 

lENERAL GEORGE FREDERICK 
ALFORD. — An eminent historian and 
statesman of Texas, was born on the west 
bank of the Mississippi river, in the old 
Spanish-French town of New Madrid, Mis- 
souri, August 4, 1836, and is one of the 
earliest and most widely known pioneers of 
Texas, having emigrated to that young Re- 
public when it was in the throes of revolution 
with Mexico, in April, 1837, during the 
darkest days of its desperate struggle for sep- 
arate nationality. He is a son of Colonel 
George G. Alford, a native of Cayuga, Sen- 
eca county. New York, born June 19, 1793, 
reared on Lakes Chain plain and Cayuga, 
New York, served as Lieutenant of Artillery, 
under General Winiield Scott, during the 
second war of independence witii Great Brit- 
ain, in 1811-'13, and participated in the 
battles of Queenstown Heights, Lundy's Lane 
and other battles. He was the son of George 

48 



Alford, Sr., born March 10, 1763, and Bet- 
sy Hulbert, born February 12, 1765, to whom 
were born twelve children: Sally, Heman, Pol- 
ly, Elijah, George G, Rebecca, Amanda, John 
Mallory, Ethan Allen, Johnson H., Lucinda 
and Fanny. He was a cousin of General 
Ethan Allen of Revolutionary fame, the hero 
of Ticonderoga, Colonel Alford's grandmother 
and General Ethan Allen's mother being sis- 
ters. They were the daughters of Judge Mal- 
lory. In 1815 he moved, with his father's 
family, to Detroit, Michigan, then an obscure 
and remote frontier Indian village, making 
the trip in a small sail vessel, which was 
wrecked at what is now the great city of 
Cleveland. 

In 1819 he moved to New Madrid, Mis- 
souri, the former capitol of the Spanish prov- 
ince of Louisiana, about the time of the adtnis- 
sion of the Territory of Missouri into the 
Federal Union, un<ier the terms of the Mis- 
souri Compromise Act, which came so near 
dissolving the Union. Here he successfully 
engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1821 he 
married Miss Jeannette Lesieur, a sister of 
Hon. Godfrey Lesieur, one of the oldest and 
wealthiest French settlers of that section, 
who died, leaving him one daughter, Jean- 
nette. About 1829, Colonel Alford married 
Miss Ann Bartield, who was born May 9, 
1807, daughter of Judge Frederick Bartield, 
of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, born in 1757, 
and Sarah Castellae, born January 21, 1738, 
a descendant of Governor Badger, of North 
Carolina, and the mother of the subject of 
this sketch. He accumulated a handsome 
fortune for that period, served his district in 
the Legislature of Missouri, and proved him- 
self a wise and popular law-maker. 

In 1835, the revolution against Mexico was 
inaugurated in Texas; and filled with the 
old martial spirit of 1812, and with the love 



750 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY- 



of liberty, which it inspired, Colonel Alford 
went to Texas, joined the immortal band of 
patriots, under General Sam Houston, and 
participated in the heroic struggles, which 
finally culminated, April 21, 1836, on the 
historic field of San Jacinto, in the annihila- 
tion of the Mexican Grand Army of Invasion, 
and the capture of the Commander-in-Chief 
and President of Mexico, General Lopez de 
Santa Ana, self styled the Napoleon of the 
West. 

The far-reaching effects of this extraordi- 
nary battle were, perhaps, greater than those 
of any other ever fought on this continent, 
resulting in the addition of almost one-half 
of the present territory of the United States 
(exclusive of Alaska], Texas, New Mexico, 
Arizona, California, Utah and Colorado. 

Soon after the battle of San Jacinto, Colo- 
nel Altord was sent, by the provisional govern- 
ment of the embryo republic, to New Or- 
leans, for military supplies for the famishing 
soldiery of Texas. Here he loaded two ves- 
sels, and returning on one of them, the brig 
Julius Csesar, he was captured by the Mex- 
ican blockading fleet, under command of 
Captain Jose V. Matios of the Mexican brig 
of war General Teran off Galveston harbor, 
the two vessels and cargoes were confiscated, 
and the captives incarcerated in a loathsome 
dungeon in Matamoras, Mexico; and Colonel 
Alford and his brother. Major Johnson H. 
Alford (who was returning to Texas with 
him), were condemned to be shot, the usual 
mode of execution in Mexico. During this 
imprisonment, General George F. Alford, 
the subject of this sketch, was born. Through 
the interposition of General Andrew Jackson, 
then President of the United Stales, who was 
a personal friend, the condemned captives 
were finally liberated. Colonel Alford re- 
turned to Missouri, settled up his business af- 



fairs, and in April, 1S37, moved his family 
and slaves to Texas, first settling in the old 
Spanish pueblo of Nacogdoches, and later 
in Crockett, capital of Houston county, on 
the organization of that county. Here he 
engaged in planting, in mercantile pursuits, 
and as Judge of the courts, until his death, 
which occurred April 1, 1847, his wife hav- 
ing preceded him on February 10, 1847. His 
death was universally deplored all over the 
young State, which he had served with such 
distinguished Spartan heroism. 

General George F. Alford is one of a fam- 
ily of seven children: Jeannette, Hulbert, 
Mary, George, Ann, Albert and Emma, two 
only of whom are now living, the other sur- 
vivor being Captain Albert Nelson Alford, a 
prominent merchant of Will's Point, Van 
Zandt county, Texas, who was born in his 
father's plantation at Alford's Bluff, Trinity 
county, Texas, September 6, 1841. The 
General spent his early school days with 
children many of whom have since attained 
the highest eminence in the social and polit- 
ical world. Among these were Colonel 
Thomas P. Ochiltree, a former member of 
Congress from Texas; Rosine Sterne, now 
Mrs. Ryan, one of the Columbian Exposition 
Commissioners; Colonel James B. Likens, 
one of the most illustrious members of the 
Texas bar; Adelaide McCord, afterward the 
famous Adah Isaacs Menken, the erratic 
beauty, wit, poetess, songstress, magnetic 
actress and Morganatic Queen of one of the 
small German kingdoms; Marcellite Thorn, 
the wife of Commodore William Garner, the 
millionaire merchant prince of New York, 
both of whom met a tragic death in New 
York harbor, in 1876, by the capsizing of 
their splendid yacht, Mohawk, and who left 
three orphan daughters, the youngest of 
whom, Florence Josephine, recently became 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



751 



the bride of Sir William Gordon-Cuinming, 
of London baccharat notoriety; and Lncy 
Holcomb, one ot" the most beautifnl women 
of modern times, who, in 1856, married the 
historic Colonel Pickens, then a member of 
Congress from South Carolina, afterward 
United States Minister to Russia during the 
administration of President Buchanan, and 
later Governor of South Carolina. In 1858. 
a little blue-eyed, golden-haired daughter 
was born to them in the imperial palace of 
Romanoff, St. Petersburg, to wliom the Em- 
press Catharine became God-mother, and 
who conferred up(»n her the unique name 
Douschka, sweet little darlinjj. This inno- 
cent, little child, in April, 1861, held in the 
arms of General Beauregard, touched off the 
first gun that was fired at Fort Sumter, in 
Charleston harbor, and whose reverberations, 
in their far effects, still resound around the 
civilized world and will for a thousand ages. 
On the death of General Alford's parents, 
when yet scarce ten years of age, he was taken 
back to ins native town, New Madrid, Mis- 
souri, and placed in school by his maternal 
aunt, Mrs. Mary C. Maulsby; but the monot- 
ony of country school life was not to be long 
endured by a youth of his spirit, inured as he 
was to wild, frontier freedom; and, impa- 
tient of restraint, he found his way, at the 
age of twelve years, to the semi-savage In- 
dian tribes of the far western wilds, where he 
remained nearly three years, adopting their 
language, customs and costume, and acquir- 
ing their skill and endurance in the chase and 
in woodcraft. At the age of fifteen he again 
became restless, and the desire for farther ad- 
venture was so irresistible that he left the 
Indians, with whom he had been so long as- 
sociated, and started, with a single pony, 
across the trackless plains, thousands of miles 
for the new El Dorado of California. The 



journey consumed six months, from April 19 
to October 16, most of it entirely alone, 
through hostile tribes of Indians, who would 
have scalped him but for his daring and in- 
genious concealment by night, under banks 
of sand and sage brush, traversing trackless 
wilds and barren deserts, climbing mountain 
heights, and often suffering for food and 
raiment, and entirely dependent, for daily 
subsistence, upon such wild game as his skill 
with the pistol could provide. A journey to 
the Pacific in the days of the Argonauts, con- 
suming six months of ceaseless peril and 
privation, can scarcely be .appreciated by 
those of the present day, who make the same 
trip in a palace car in four days. 

On his arrival in Shasta, California, bare- 
footed, bare-headed, and practically naked, 
his boyisli heroism, energy and self-reliance at 
once commended him to the warm friendship 
of Dr. Thomas W. Dawson, Clerk of the 
courts, who gave him food and clothing, and 
appointed him Deputy Clerk, which position 
he held until June 26, 1856, when he re- 
turned to Texas, with a handsome fortune for 
a boy not yet twenty years of age. On Feb- 
ruary 16, 1857, he was married, at New 
Madrid, Missouri, to Miss Annie Marie 
Maulsby, one of his former schoolmates, a 
daughter of Hon. H. P. Maulsby, one of the 
pioneer judges of that district. Their l)ridal 
tour was a trip to AYashington city, where 
they witnessed the inauguration of President 
James Buchanan and vice-president John i). 
Bracken ridge, on March 4, 1857; thence to 
Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Ni> 
agara Falls, through Canada to Detroit, and 
thence to tiieir new home at Palestine, Texas, 
where the General and his I)rother, Hulbert 
M. Alford, engaged for some years in mer- 
cantile pursuits. In January, 1859, they 
moved to their large cotton plantation, at 



753 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Alford's Blnff, Trinity county, and in the 
fall of that year the General was elected one 
of the judges of that county, an office which 
he resigned, on the breakincr out of tlie war 
between the States, and espoused the cause 
of the Confederacy, although primarily op- 
posed to the ordinance of secession, as long 
as it was a debatable question, believing, with 
Governor Sam Houston, that resistance to 
Federal aggression upon the rights of tlie 
States should be made inside, and not out- 
side, the lines of the Union. He was three 
times a member of the Texan Legislature, rep- 
resenting the Ninth Senatorial District, com- 
posed of the counties of Anderson, Houston 
and Trinity; and bore a conspicuous part in 
the stirring political drama, enacted during 
the Civil war and the period of reconstruc- 
tion, or destruction, rather, which followed it. 
In 1866, he resigned his seat in the Legisla- 
ture, moved his family to Galveston, and en- 
gaged extensively in the wholesale trade cot- 
ton factorage, banking and foreign exchange; 
became one of the most successful business 
men of the Southwest; actively identified with 
every leading public enterprise of the day, and 
amassing a large fortune. The financial panic 
of 1873, the numerous failures which fol- 
lowed it, and the heavy decline in cotton and 
freight, seriously embarassed him, and dur- 
ing his long absence in Europe his house was 
forced to suspend, in August, 1875, with 
liabilities of about a third of a million dol- 
lars. His creditors, after a thorough examina- 
of the affairs of the firm, acquitted him 
of any blame for its downfall, and proposed 
a settlement of fifty cents on the dollar, 
with his own time in which to pay it. 
This generous offer he peremptorily de- 
clined, insisting on the payment of every 
dollar, principal and interest. After a 
heroic struggle of nine years, during which 



he sold and appropriated to the payment of 
his firm's indebtedness his homesteads in Mis- 
souri, Staunton, Virginia, and Galveston, all 
exempt by law, he at last succeeded in accom- 
plishing this herculean feat, and discharged 
in full every dollar of his own and his firm's 
indebtedness, principal, interest and cost, 
refusing to accept an abatement of one cent, 
thus perpetuating a record for commercial in- 
tegrity which is almost without a parallel in 
any age or country. 

In August, 1877, having retired from 
active business in 1875, he moved his family 
to Dallas, where he has since lived, in an 
elegant and spacious modern mansion, on an 
elevated terrace fronting the park, in a grove 
of beautiful forest trees, surrounded by all 
the comfort and luxuries of modern civiliz- 
ation, and respected and honored as the 
synonym of commercial integrity and moral 
grandeur. 

His time is congenially devoted to looking 
after his large real-estate interests in Texas 
and Chicago, his banking stocks in Dallas, 
and his silver and lead mining interests in 
Mexico: and his leisure hours are devoted to 
the cultivation of his literary and esthetic 
tastes. He is a writer of exceptional merit, 
strong, vigorous and incisive, and occasion- 
ally dallies with the gentle muses. His pen 
pictures of pioneer scenes and dramatic in- 
cidents in the early history of Texas, Cali- 
fornia and the Indian tribes, stand without 
a rival, and are extensively reproduced in all 
the leading literary journals of the country. 
His frequent contributions to current litera- 
ture are eagerly sought by the daily press of 
all the great cities. 

Although eminently qualified, by a ripe 
experience, a cultured and well trained 
mind, wealth, genial manners and an at- 
tractive and magnetic personality, to adorn 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



753 



official station, he has no desire whatever for 
political proferment, preferring the c Jiuforts 
of his home, the love of his family and 
friends, the respect and confidence of his as- 
sociates, and the pleasures of his extensive 
library to all the glare and glitter and glory 
of feverish official life. For thirty-six years, 
he has traveled extensively, and always with 
intelligent watchfulness of surroundings, 
through all the States and Territories of the 
Union, Mexico, Central and South America, 
the West India Islands, Canada and Europe, 
and his mind is a rich store-house of valuable 
information and authentic history. His con- 
tact with cultured people of all nations, 
has given him a breadth of culture and liber- 
ality of thought that few people ever attain. 

No matter, though as a brave and adven- 
turous youth; or as a pioneer, struggling 
with adverse conditions; or as a chivalric 
soldier of fortune, cheerfully sharing the 
privations of his comrades; or as a legislator, 
grappling with the vexatious problems grow- 
ing out of the Civil war; or as a banker, 
handling his millions, calm, sagacious and 
just; his social, genial, traits of character 
shine out pre-eminent, and he is at all times, 
and under all conditions, the stanch, tried, 
true, generous friend to humanity. Although 
he takes no active part in the partisan 
political contests of the day, his well matured 
opinions carry great weight wherever his 
honored name is known (and that is far be- 
yond the limits of Texas), and his able and 
exhaustive articles, on subjects of national 
interest, finance, trade relations, domestic 
and political economy, mining, the arts and 
sciences, humor, jurisprudence, etc, are read 
with great interest, and meet with extensive 
popular approval. 

General and Mrs. Alford are the parents of 
ten children, six of whom are living: four 



sons, Albert, George, Eugene and Allen; 
and two daughters, Hallie and Linda. The 
eldest daughter was married November 15, 
1881, and has three children. The eldest of 
them, a little, fair skinned, golden-haired, 
blue eyed granddaughter, is named Douschka, 
(Annie Linda) after the daughter of Gover- 
nor Pickens, whose wife, Lucy Ilolcomb, was 
the General's early playmate and companion. 
His youngest daughter, Linda D., was mar- 
ried to Dr. Milton M. Edmonson, August 
30, 1892. 

General Alford has been a Democrat all 
his life, a member of the Masonic fraternity 
since 1857, and of the Masonic Grand Lodge 
of Texas for more than a third of a century. 



^ENRY PRINGLE, proprietor of a 
IlilD ®^'oo'^ ^^ Main street, Dallas, Texas, 
"i^As has been a resident of Dallas since the 
fall of 1871, having settled here when this 
city was a mere hamlet. He at first engaged 
in the restaurant business, and later opened a 
saloon. In 1872 he turned his attention to the 
grocery business and continued that until 
1875. Closing out his grocery at that time, he 
returned to the saloon business, continuino- 
the same until 1880. Then he opened a feed 
store at the corner of Elm and Sycamore 
streets. Since 1881 he has been ensjaored in 
his present busines on Main street. 

Mr. Pringle was born in Rostock, Meck- 
lenburg-Schwerin, Germany, July 2, 1846 
the oldest child of Carl Pringle and his wife. 
Ills parents were born, passed their lives and 
died in Germany. At the age of thirteen 
years Henry went to St. Petersburg and there 
entered ujion the seafaring life as cabin boy, 
touching the various ports of England, Scot- 
land, Norway and Sweden, going as far north 



754 



HISTORY OF DALLAS VOUNTT. 



as ships cro, and when he was sixteen landed 
at New York. He returned to Scotland in 
1861 but came back to New York the follow- 
ing jear. Landing in this county during the 
war, he at once enlisted his services for the 
Union. He became a member of Light Pol- 
don Company, known as the Fourteenth ^evf 
York Cavalry, which was consolidated with 
the Eighteenth New York Cavalry. He en- 
listed for three years or during the war. At 
one time he was under fire for twenty-four 
days. He received four gunshot wounds, 
and was confined to the hospital at New Or- 
leans for some time. After his recovery he 
returned to his company and was engaged 
principally in Louisiana and Mississippi, be- 
ing mustered out of the service at San An- 
tonio, Texas, in November, 1865. From 
there he went to Galveston, where he re- 
mained three years. In 1867 he had the 
yellow fever and came near losing his life. 
He was in Marlin two years. In 1871, as 
above stated, he located in Dallas. 

In 1875 Mr. Fringle was united in mar- 
riage with Emma Miller, a native of Saxony, 
Germany. Her father, Paul Miller, passed 
his life and died in Germany. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Fringle have been born four children; 
Henry Julius, Charley, Clara, Emma and 
Alfred. 

Mr. Fringle votes with the Democrat party, 
but is not an active politician. He is a mem- 
ber of the following organizations: Engine 
Company, No. 1, Volunteer Department; 
F. & F. Benevolent Association of Dallas; 
Dallas Lodge, No. 44, I. O. O. F. ; Ridgely 
Encampment, No. 25, I. O. O. F.; Dallas 
Lodge No. 70, K. of P. ; Uniform Rank, No. 
18, K. of P.; Queen City Lodge, No. 191, 
K. of H.; Cornet No. 5, Chosen Friends; 
and the George H. Thomas Post, No. 6, G. 
A. R., Dallas. Aside from his other vocations, 



Mr. Pringle has been engaged in the real- 
estate business to some extent. He owns the 
house in which he does business on Main 
street. He is practically a self-made man. 



[OL. R. R. LAWTHER, proprietor of a 
feed store on Main street, Dallas, was 
born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, 
in 1836, the youngest of seven children born 
to James and Jane (Hood) Lawther, the for- 
mer a native of Scotland. When a boy he 
moved with his parents to Belfast, county 
Antrim, Ireland, where he was educated for 
the ministry. He was married in that city, 
and at the age of thirty-tive years he came to 
America, settling in Warren county, Penn- 
sylvania, where he engaged in farming. In 
1841 he removed to Armstrong county, same 
State, where he died, in the fall of 1865; the 
mother died in the same county, in 1869. 

Colonel R. R. Lawther, our subject, re- 
ceived a common-school education, and spent 
two years as clerk in a store at Newburg, New 
York, and later went to Muscatine, Iowa, 
where he remained three years. After hig 
marriage he removed to Jefferson City, Mis- 
souri and embarked in the grocery busine^, 
and was at that place at the breaking out of 
the late war. In April, 1861, he enlisted 
in the firstcompany of State Troops organized 
at Jefferson City, and was with this company 
until after the battle of Lexington, when he 
was assigned as Adjutant to Gates' Regiment. 
After the reorganization at Springfield, Mis 
souri, Mr. Lawther was elected Major of the 
Third Missouri Cavalry, remained at Spring- 
field during the winter, and then fell back to 
Elkhorn Tavern, or Pea Ridge. Major Law- 
ther, at the battle of Pea Ridge led a charge, 
captured a battery, and was promoted Col- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



755 



ouel by General Van Dora. He was then sent 
ti) Ricbinoiid, tlience to Arkansas, next East 
of the Mississippi river with Greneral Price 
and Van Dorn, and assisted in fortifying 
Corinth. After falling back from that city 
Colonel Lawther was sent to the Western De- 
partruent to take charge of Missouri Troops, 
and was servinsr under General Hindman when 
he was taken prisoner near Batesville, Ar- 
kansas. He was carried to Jefferson City, 
after a short time to the Gratiot street prison, 
St. Louis, thence to Alton penitentiary, two 
months later to Camp Chase, Ohio, from which 
place he was exchanged and sent to City 
Point, Virginia, where he received orders 
from the Secretary of War to report to E. 
Kirby Smith at Shreveport, Louisiana. He 
was next ordered to report to General Price, 
and assigned to take command of the Tenth 
Missouri Cavalry, served under General Mar- 
maduke on his raid in Missouri and Kansas, 
and at the close of the war he surrendered at 
Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1865. Colonel 
Lawther at once located in Galveston, Texas, 
and was engaged in the wholesale grocery 
business until 1877, when he removed to 
Brenham and followed the same business until 
coming to Dallas in 1885. The same year 
he opened up a grain, hay and feed business, 
which he has since continued. 

He was married in Muscatine, Iowa, in 
1857, to Miss Ellen E. Hoopes, a native of 
Covington, Kentucky, and a daughter of J. 
J. and Amanda Hoopes, the former a native 
of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Kentucky. 
The mother died in Muscatine county, in 1889, 
and the father still resides in that county. 
Mr. and Mi"s. Lawther have live living chil- 
dren and two adopted, viz.: Harry P., a grad- 
uate of the law college at Charlotte, Virginia, 
is Alderman from the Seventh Ward, and a 
practicing attorney for the Equitable Mort- 



gage & Loan Company; .Joseph; Anna; Fred- 
die, wife of Thomas Beggs, a contractor of 
Dallas; William Preston, Riynund Ralston 
and Paul Warner. Mr. Lawther votes with 
the Democratic party, and is AlJerman from 
the Sixth Ward. He is a member of the 
Second Presbyterian Church, and has bean an 
Elder in Dallas and Brenham churches for 
fourteen years; Mrs. Lawther is also a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church. Colonel 
Lawther is a man of broad liberal views in 
regard to State and national politics and 
firmly believes that Dallas, Texas, will become 
the commercial center of the great South- 
west. 

.i^EORGE W. CRUTCH ER, real estate. 
Bankers' and Merchants' National Bank, 
was born in Harrison county, Ken- 
tucky, in 1849. His parents are Granville 
and Rebecca (Dawson) Crutcher; both 
natives of Kentucky. The father was a Ken- 
tucky farmer of taste and public spirit for 
many years, and a fine stock-raiser as well. 
He came with his family to Dallas city in 
1876 and has been a resident here ever since. 
He is now retired, at the age of seventy-four 
years. His wife's age is seventy-two years; 
both are members of the Christian Church 
and are as highly respected as they are widely 
known. 

They have a family of seven children, all 
of whom are living, viz.: William A., a far^ 
mer of Ellis county, Texas, his wife was 
Susie Renick, of Bourbon county, Ken- 
tucky; Rev. John H., a graduate of Ken- 
tucky University and a minister of the 
Christian Church for the past ten years: his 
wife was Miss Mary Barr; our subject; 
Lucile, wife of W. S. Wall, residing in Cyn- 



756 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



thiana, Kentucky, of which city Mr. Wall is 
Mayor; Frauk M., residing in Dallas and a 
member of the firm of Cratcher Brothers: he 
married Miss Florence Jennings, of St. Louis; 
James D., an attorney of Dallas: his wife, 
Stella Jackson, of Austin, Texas; Charles F., 
member of the firm of Crutcher Brothers, in 
real estate. 

Our subject was educated at the common 
schools of Kentucky and the Kentucky Uni- 
versity. He came to Dallas in 1875. Before 
he came to Dallas he taught in the Commer- 
cial College of Kentucky University for two 
years. He was District Clerk for some one- 
half dozen counties in West Texas for two 
years, 1877 and 1878, then returned to Dallas. 
He was elected and served as Alderman two 
terms, and was elected Mayor of East Dallas 
in 1876, serving three terms in said office. 
His administration was a clean one and 
was characterized by economy, and at the 
same time advocated permanent improve- 
ments and an advanced policy. He made a 
popular and useful ofiicer. In 1881 he 
became manager of the very extensive land 
business of Mr. J. S. Dougherty, a position 
which he held from 1881 to 1888. In that 
latter year he became a member of the real- 
estate firm of Crutcher Brothers. 

Our subject was married February 4, 1876, 
to Miss Lenora Lawrence, daughter of Judge 
Lawrence, of Belton, Texas. Our subject 
and wife's home has been blessed in the birth 
of six children, viz.: Harry Ward, Pauline, 
Lura, Tom Granville, Daisy Helen, and 
Edith. Both parents are members of the 
Christian Church. Our subject is a member 
of the Masonic order, also the Knights of 
Pythias. 

In politics our subject affiliates with the 
Democratic party. Mr. Crutcher is public- 



spirited in his views and a worthy and highly 
esteemed citizen. 

The Crutcher Brothers were established 
first as Crutcher & Crowd us, in 1884: 
afterward Crutcher Brothers & Aikius. In 
1887, Mr. Aikins retired from that firm, and 
the other members, F. M., C. F. and G. W. 
Crutcher, formed a co-partnership, which 
has been very successful in real-estate trans- 
actions and operations of all sorts. Mr. F. 
M. Crutcher, senior member, is a Notary 
Public; 0. F. Crutcher is a surveyor — oc- 
cupations that give them especial advantages 
in the negotiation and sale of real estate, city 
and country — and Mr. G. W. Crutcher super- 
vises their department of western lands. 

Crutcher Brothers are engaged in buying 
and selling real estate, in loaning money and 
negotiating loans, in collecting, in renting 
property, in rendering for and paying taxes 
on lands in any part of Texas, and in man- 
aging estates. They have a great deal of city 
and country property listed with them, and 
have sold Western, Texas and Panhandle 
lands for the past ten years. Persons having 
relations with them will find them thor- 
oughly posted and entirely reliable. 



-«fe 



3-«' 



fHOMAS B. TROTMAN, the genial 
^/jpj). commercial traveler for a Chicago house, 
dealing in shoes, is worthy of mention 
in the history of this county. He was born 
in Huntsville, Alabama, September 29, 1847. 
His parents are John B. and Maria A. (Clop- 
ton) Trotman. The former was born at Dan- 
ville, Alabama, June 28, 1812. He removed 
to Huntsville in 1836 and was a merchant of 
that city under the firm name of Trotman & 
Nance, and remained there until 1875, doing 
a large and very successful business until the 



HI8T0R7 OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



757 



war. He moved to Dallas in 1875 and has 
been an honored resident ever since. He has 
retired from active labors and is now living 
with the subject of this sketch, having reached 
the age of eighty. He has been a prominent 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
for over sixty years and is also a Royal Arch 
Mason. His estimable wife is also still living, 
aged seventy-four years, and has been his de- 
voted and faithful wife for forty-six years. 
She too is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. They have had four children, 
Thomas B., our subject; John W., commer- 
cial traveler, died in Dallas, June, 1877; he 
married Florence Adelia Hawkins, daughter 
of Mrs. P. A. Hawkins of Dallas; their only 
child is Willie Adelia. TuUie Ola, wife of 
George K. Merriwether of Dallas, is the ne.xt 
child, and their children are, Hattie, Sarah 
and George K. The fourth child is Hattie, 
wife of Fred Manget of St. Louis, and their 
family consists of Hattie, Fred, Tullie, Felice, 
Paul and Jessie Estelle. 

Our subject was educated in Huntsville 
until he was fourteen, when he engaged in the 
drug business for two years as clerk. In 1864 
he joined Company F, Fourth Alabama Cav- 
alry, under General Forrest, and was dis- 
charged at Gainesville, May 4, 1865. He took 
part in the battles of Mississippi, Tennessee, 
Georgia and Alabama, serving as a private 
through the war. He was never wounded or 
taken prisoner. He stood the service well, be- 
ing on raid duty as cavalryman. During the 
latter partof the war the command fought Wil- 
son's raid from Plantersville, Alabama, to Ma- 
con, Georgia: also were in the fight at Colum- 
bus, Georgia. After his discharge Mr. Trot- 
man remained in Mississippi on business until 
September of the same year, when he returned 
home and attended school for one year. He 
then clerked for two years, when his father 



formed a partnership with him in the grocery 
and fui-niture business, under the firm name 
of Trotman & Son, at Huntsville, Alabama. 
Here they did a successful business, until 
1874, when they failed and our subject went 
to St. Louis, and, moving his family to Dal- 
las, began to travel for Shryock «fe Rowland 
until May, 1877, when he engaged with 
Appleton, Noyes & Company, a wholesale 
shoe house, at St. Louis. They failed in 
January, 1879, and he went to Galveston, 
Texas, and traveled for P. T. Willis & Brothers 
until 1889. From 1889 to 1891 he engaged 
in real-estate business in Dallas, but the old 
life on the road had more attractions for him 
and he entered the commercial line again, 
traveling for a Chicago house — Selz, Schwab 
&Co. 

He was married in 1871, to Henriett 
Cooper, daughter of J. AV. aqd E. H. Cooper 
of Huntsville, Alabama. Both her parents 
(Mr. and Mrs. Cooper) are still living. They 
have eight children, of whom Mrs. Trotman 
is the oldest. The next child is Louisa, wife 
of W. M. Green, living in San Antonio, 
Texas,; Lawrence married Eliza dauo-hter of 
Rev. George W. Price of Nashville, Tennes- 
see, and is a prominent attorney of Hunts- 
ville, Alabama; Joe married Miss Winter of 
Georgia, a niece of Mrs. H. L. Clay of Hunts- 
ville, Alabama; William T. resides in Hunts- 
ville, Alabama; Carroll, married a daughter 
of Dr. Goodyear of Memphis, where Carroll 
and his wife reside; Cornelia and Alene are 
the two youngest of the family and the for- 
mer is an artist in the true sense of the word 
while the latter is an accomplished young 
lady in other ways. These two are still of 
the home circle. 

Our subject and wife have three children. 
Thomas, aged fifteen; Henrietta, aged twelve, 
and Louisa, aged six, — bright, promising little 



758 



HISTOIiY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ones. Ijoth parents are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Churcli South. Our 
subject is a member of the Masonic chapter. 
He is a worthy, good citizen and a thorough 
gentleman, pleasing in address 'and as a citi- 
zen is highly respected by all who know him. 



^. 



El* 




D. HE NDERSON, one of the active, 
pushing, enterprising citizens of 
[® Oak Cliif, Alderman for that beauti- 
ful city, mayor pro tern, of the town, also 
chief cotton clerk in the office of the general 
freight aaent, of the Texas & i-*acilic railroad at 
Dallas, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, 
November 10, 1842. His parents are William 
and Elvira Ann (Williams) Henderson, natives 
of Ireland and Virginia, respectively. The 
father came to America when he was about 
twenty-two years old, in 1837. Foraperiod 
of his life he was a merchant in Memphis, 
Tennessee, then was made vice-president 
of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, 
of New Orleans. He was subsequently 
connected with the Home Fire Insurance 
Company, of New Orleans. He now lives 
a retiredlife atBeloxi, Mississippi, aged sev- 
enty-six. His faithful wife diedwhen only 
thirty-six. Our subject is the older in a 
family of two; the other is his sister Josie, 
wife of John Barktey, resident of New 
Orleans, of the firm of John Barkley and 
Co., sugar dealers. 

W. D. Henderson was educated at the 
Fourth District Boys' High School at New 
Orleans, completing the course in 1861. He 
enlisted in the same year in the Fifth Com- 
pany of Washington Artillery, of New Or- 
leans. This was a most celebrated com- 
mand, having been organized in 1845. His 
first service was with the army ol' the Tennessee 



at the battle of Shiloh; then at Corinth, Mis- 
sissippi; next at Guattanooga, Tennessee, 
where he was pro noted to thi clerkship of 
theChief Purchasing Commissary of the Army 
of Teune-isee, when not twenty years of age. 
The position was one of responsibility and 
trust and gives evi le ici of tha hi'h esteo.n 
in which he vvas held. While he was soi-ving 
in this capicity, the army pissei through 
Kentucky, having battles under General 
Bragg. They tojk in the battles of Mum- 
forJiville, Perrjville and B.irdst)\vn, where 
they inaugiiratei a Confederate Gjvernir. 
On the reorginizttion of the C-).n nissiry, in 
1864. he returned to the ranks and was in 
the siege of Atlanta for nearly thirty days, 
and later was under General Hool at the 
battles of Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee, 
the second battle at Murfreesboro, and 
prior to this the bittle at Tonjsbjro a-rl 
Lovejoy station. After the NishviUe battle 
the array went to Greenboro, North Carolina, 
where he surrendered with General Johnston. 
The war closing Mr. Henderson became a 
partner in a company under the firm name 
of Jackson, Kilpitrick & Eeui^rsoa, at New 
Orleans and continue i with them for four 
years, when he went to California, returning 
to Galveston, Tjxas, after an absei^jo of six 
years. In a fevv months he male his way to 
Dallas, and in 1886 engaged with the Texas and 
Pacific Railroad, in his present position, where 
he has remained ever since, giving great satis- 
faction by his able service to t le vi?A. Hj 
was elected Alderman of Oak Cliff, April 5, 
1892, and has since been elected Mayor pro 
tem. He is chairman of the school commit- 
tee and is an important factor in the educa- 
tional affiirs of the city. He is aLs ) chiir- 
man of the committee on municipal records, 
and is on two other important committees, 
being keenly alive to the interests of Oak 



HISTORY OP DALLAS C0UNT7. 



759 



Cliif. His towns-people demonstrated their 
appreciation of liis services to the city by 
giving him a heavy vote at that election. 

Mr. Henderson was married, October 20, 
1868 to Miss Maggie Boyle, a daughter of 
James and Elizabeth Boyle, of county Kil- 
kenny, Ireland. Mrs. Henderson is a lady of 
culture and refinement, and of extensive read- 
ing and travel. She had six years of most 
successful experience in the Galveston 
schools and also taught in Dallas. 

Mr. and Mrs. Henderson have had six 
children, Josie B., who completed a course of 
study at Sam Houston Normal Institute, 
Huntsville, Texas, nnder the State appoint- 
ment of Senator R. S. Kimbrongh. Stella 
was elected as the railroad boys' candidate to 
Eminence College, Kentucky, and grad- 
uated therefrom, obtaining the medal for 
scholarship; Jessie May, their first child, 
died at an early age; and Katie, the third 
child died when fourteen years of age. The 
brothers, Lucien G. and Roy, are quite young. 
Both parents and their daughters are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Hen- 
derson is a member of K. of P. and takes 
interest in politics, being in sympathy with 
the Democrats. 

The surroundings of their family residence 
at Oak Cliff points to the taste, culture and 
refinement of its owners. 

;R. F. S. DAVIS, physician and surgeon, 
and a prominent citizen of Dallas, is a 
native of Indiana, Clay county, born 
October 25, 1858. His parents are Dr. A. 
P. Davis and Iva J. (Elkins) Davis, the latter 
a native of Kentucky and the former of New 
York. The father was a physician and re- 
sided in Terre Haute, Indiana, two years; 



also practiced in Illinois for a time. Is a 
graduate of the Rush Medical College, 
Chicago, and practiced in Vigo and Craw- 
ford counties, Indiana, later in Edgar county, 
Illinois, going there from Indiana in 1872. 
He came to Texas in 1877 and located at 
Corsicana, where he had a splendid practice, 
which he managed well until his health 
failed, when he sold out to his partner. Dr. 
Fisher. He then went to New York, took a 
special course in ophthalmology, came to 
Dallas in the spring of 1880, and this has 
been his home ever since. He has had a 
large practice, both general and special. The 
past four or five years most of his time has 
been spent in a special line. His age is about 
fifty-seven years; his wife's age is about fifty- 
nine years. 

They have four living children, namely: 
Eliza J., wife of George King: they reside 
in Dallas; F. S., our subject; William W., 
residing in Corsicana; his wife was Mabel 
Brooks: in business he is a trader, and quite 
successful; Dr. E. E. Davis, the youngest of 
the family, is a resident of Dallas: his wife 
was nee Emma Drake. 

Our subject received his literary education 
at Paris, Illinois, at an academy conducted 
by Prof. Hurty, who is quite an educator in 
that portion of the State. He read medicine 
under his father, and graduated in 1883 at 
the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago. 
He located in Dallas after graduation in the 
spring of 1883, and has been a continuous 
practitioner here ever since. He has had a 
very good practice, which has increased from 
year to year. He is a member of the State 
Medical Association of Texas. The Doctor 
is genial, pleasant and of a social nature, 
which makes his acquaintances his friends. 

He was married November 10, 1887, to 
Miss Mary Hill, daughter of Waid Hill. He 



760 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



and his wife are old residents of Dallas, well 
and favorably known among a large circle of 
acquaintances. They came from Tennessee, 
but were natives of Georgia. Mrs. Dr. Davis 
is the younger of a family of two children; 
the other is Dr. William L. Hill, residing in 
Salt Lake City, Utah. He is a young man 
of good habits, well read, a hard student and 
a young man of much promise. He is also 
a graduate of the Hahnemann College, Phila- 
delphia. 

The home of our subject and wife has been 
blessed in the birth of one child — Raymond 
Hill. Both parents are members of the 
church — the Doctor of the Christian Church, 
and the wife of the Baptist Church. They 
are both very active and devout members, 
taking an active interest in all the different 
departments of church work. 



(LAllENCE W. GANG, a progressive 
and reliable business man of Dallas, 
Texas, and president of the Estado 
Land and Cattle Company, was born in Tar- 
rant county, this State, April 18, 1858, and 
is the son of General R. M. and Mattie J. 
Gano, early settlers of the Lone Star State. 
In 1865 the General removed with his family 
to Kentucky, where the subject of this sketch 
lived until 1876. He was educated at Beth- 
any College, West Virginia, at which he 
graduated in the class of 1876. Since then 
he has been located in Dallas, where his first 
business e.xperience was in real estate with 
his father and brother, the late John T. Gauo. 
In 1882 General Gano retired, the business 
being continued by the Gano brothers. On 
November 2, 1891, John died, since which 
time the business has been continued as be- 
fore, his widow, Mrs. Clara B., as survivor of 



her husband's estate, continuing as partner. 
In 1884 the Estado Land and Cattle Com- 
pany was organized by the father and two 
brothers, with headouarters in Dallas, iiaving 
a paid up capital of $2U0,000, and which has 
proved very successful, reflecting great credit 
on the enterprise of the projectors. Besides 
being president of this corporation, Mr. Gano 
is also vice-president and director of the 
Bankers' and Merchants' National Bank of 
Dallas, which has a capital stock of $500,- 
000. He is also a director of the Bankers 
and Merchants' Bank Building Company, 
which has a capital stock of $200,000. He 
is a director of the Cavinal Mining Company, 
dealing in lands in the Chicaksaw Nation, 
with headquarters in Dallas; and is a promi- 
nent member of the Dallas Board of Trade. 

He was married November 10, 1886, to 
Miss Eugenia Lowe, a native of the Lone 
Star State, and a daughter of Judge T. J. 
Lowe, an eminent jurist of Guthrie, Oklaho- 
ma. She is a graduate of the Female College 
at Staunton, Virginia, is a thorough scholar, 
an accomplished musician, and especially 
noted as a vocalist of exceeding sweetness and 
power. They have had one child, Elizabeth 
Frances, a demure little lady of five, who 
made her entrance on life's busy scene Au- 
gust 20, 1887. 

Although not a wire-pulling politician and 
fire-eating demagogue, Mr. Gano takes au 
active interest in public affairs of importance, 
frequently participating in the conventions 
of his party. Both Mr. Gano and his worthy 
wife are earnest and useful members of the 
(jentral Christian Church of Dallas, to the 
support of which they liberally contribute. 

Mr. Gano possesses sterling qualities of 
mind and heart which, aside from his dis- 
tinguished family connections, would make 
him a representative man of any community. 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNT 7. 



761 



Of business ability and tact, of a progressive 
disposition and of unimpeachable integrity, 
he is calculated to make his way to success 
amid the good wishes of his fellow-men. 

fOHN JACKSON was born in Devon- 
shire, Eugland, February 25, 1834. He 
received his education there, and at the 
age of fourteen years came with his father's 
family to America. They made the voyage in 
a sail vessel, were nine weeks on the sea, 
landed at New Orleans some time early in 
June, and there took steamboat for Shreve- 
port. At the latter point they bought three 
yoke of oxen and wagons and started for 
Dallas county, being from June till October 
in reaching their destination. They had much 
difficulty in driving the oxen and were also 
delayed by sickness and death, the youngest 
of the family dying at Mount Pleasant; extra 
expenses thus incurred, doctor's bill, etc., 
amounted to $1,000. Reaching their destina- 
tion, the father took a homestead claim under the 
Peters Colony, and they all began the work of 
developing a farm. Many interesting incidents 
of their pioneer life might here be recounted 
had we space. Mr. Jackson remained with 
his father until 1857. He himself had pre- 
empted 160 acres of land and had proven up 
on it; so in 1857 he married, settled down 
and commenced improving his farm. Soon 
the war came, and in 1862, feeling it his duty 
to enter the service of his adopted country, 
he enlisted in William Jackson's, (his brother) 
company, and was with the forces that oper- 
ated in the Indian Nation and in Arkansas; 
saw some skirmishing but was in no regular 
battles, nor was he ever wounded or captured. 
He was in active service six months, and was 
discharged on account of sickness. Besides 



Captain Jackson, our subject also had another 
brother in the war, Frank Jackson, who was 
wounded at the battle of Elk creek, his skull 
being fractured by the explosion of a shell. 

About 1867 Mr. Jackson resumed farming 
and stock-raising, and as the years rolled by 
prosperity rewarded his earnest etforts, he 
added to his original holdings and became the 
possessor of a large estate. He has given a 
farm to each of bis children and still retains 
640 acres. His homestead with its attractive 
residence and surroundings forms one of the 
most beautiful rural places in the county. 
While he is engaged in general farming, 
raising wheat, oats, corn and cotton, he also 
gives much attention to stock, having on his 
farm a thoroughbred stallion. 

In 1857 Mr. Jackson jnarried Miss Mary 
C. Perry, who was born in Illinois, February 
17, 1836, daughter of Westren and Sarah 
(Noble) Perry, natives of Illinois and Indiana 
respectively. They settled in Texas in 1846. 
By this happy marriage six children were 
born, viz.: Viola, November 26, 1857, died 
August 29, 1859; John P., October 27, 1859; 
William F., July 26, 1862; George A., May 
8, 1865; Charles E., December 28, 1867; and 
Andrew, July 23, 1870. After lingering for 
years with consumption, the loving wife and 
mother passed away in April, 1886. In 
March, 1887, Mr. Jackson wedded Miss 
Eleanor M. Guy, who was born in England, 
April 80, 1857. She came to America with 
some friends and settled in Texas, April 25, 
1882. Her mother died before she came to 
this country; her father is still living in Eng- 
land. By his second marriage Mr. Jackson 
has one child; Mary A., born December 7, 
1887. He and his wife are church members, 
she being an Episcopalian and he a Mission- 
ary Baptist. Politically, he is a Democrat. 

Mr. Jackson's father, John Jackson, Sr., 



762 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



was born in Devonshire, England; was reared 
on a farm in his native country and was all 
his life identified with farming interests. Be- 
coming); dissatisfied with England, and, being 
always an earnest advocate of republican in- 
stitutions, he was induced through the infiu- 
ence of Mr. Peters to emigrate to America. 
The expense of bringing his family to this 
country, and the sickness and death already 
referred to, exhausted the most of his means, 
and when he reached his destination he had 
to begin life at the bottom and work his way 
up. With the efficient aid of his sons he was 
soon on the way to prosperity, and success 
crowned his efibrts. He was born in 
1806, and died here at his home in May, 
1866. His widow is still living and is hale 
and hearty. She was born in 1806, daughter 
of George Amery. She and her worthy hus- 
band underwent many of the trials and hard- 
ships of pioneer life, yet were pleased with 
their adopted country. While he passed 
away many years ago, she still lingers and 
notes with pleasure the prosperity of her 
children. 

fR. PALMER, D. D. S., real-estate dealer 
in the Bankers and Merchants' Bank 
' building, was born in Wilson county, 
Tennessee, August 26, 1829. His parents 
were Henry D. and Martha (Angeuille) 
Palmer, natives of South and Nortii Carolina 
respectively. The father was in the war of 
1812 and was on the way to the battle of 
New Orleans with the Tennessee troops at 
the time it occurred. He served throucrh 
the war as a private and would not receive 
any recompense for his services to the Gov- 
ernment. He was a minister, first in the 
Presbyterian and then in the Christian 
Church. He preached in Tennessee, Ken- 



tucky, Indiana and Illinois, being well 
known in the ministry of his church and was 
considered a leading man. He never took 
any part in politics, except in 1848, when he 
was a member of the Constitutional Conven- 
tion for the State of Illinois. He was after- 
warJ solicited to run for Governor, but re- 
fused. He was a man of strong character, 
and was a devout Christian, being known 
everywhere as Father Palmer. He died in 
1863, at Eureka, Illinois, aged eighty-nine. 
He was in the ministry for over fifty years, 
and during that time brought many hundreds 
into the church, besides settling many serious 
disputes in church and State. His wife died 
some years later, about 1870, aged eighty- 
five. She was a member of the church from 
childhood, was eminently a domestic woman, 
the mother of sixteen children, fourteen of 
whom she raised to mature years. Of this 
family, two sons and four daughters are still 
living, and they reflect their mother's piety. 
Her character was a well rounded one; she 
was not demonstrative, but constant and firm, 
her faith being founded on principles that 
were well studied and conscientiously fol- 
lowed out all her beautiful life. The oldest 
child that grew to maturity was Dr. A. B. 
Palmer, who settled in Dallas county, Texas, 
in 1852. He died in 1874, aged sixty-five, 
having practiced until his death. He resided 
in what is now Do Soto, Dallas county. He 
left one son. Dr. William Palmer, a resident 
of Ellis county. The daughters are: Mrs, 
Robert Daniels, wife of a prominent farmer 
of this county; Mrs. Dr. T. II. Stuart, of 
De Soto. Three of the family were doctors, 
our subject, A. B. and II. D., of Kansas City. 
Our subject was educated, professionally, 
at St. Louis and Baltimore, in dentistry and 
medicine, and practiced them both, the for- 
mer for twenty-five years. He came to Texas 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



763 



in 1865 and settled in Palestine, Anderson 
county, where he practiced for some years 
and then came to Dallas, in 1887. Since his 
arrival here he has been engaged in the real- 
estate business. 

He was living at Fayetteville, Arkansas, 
■when the war broke out, and he enlisted in 
the C. S. A., as a private iu 1861, but when 
the company was organized he was made 
First Lieutenant, and afterward promoted to 
be Captain. He was wounded and retired 
in November, 1864. After his return home 
he was elected to the State Legislature, in 
the fall of 1864, and received all but four of 
the votes, and^there were nine candidates; so 
it was a high compliment to his popularity 
and true worth. He did not know that he 
■was a candidate until he received his certifi- 
cate of election, which he has yet, printed on 
Confederate paper. As the enemy captured 
Little Rock before they met, and afterward, 
when the war was over, they were not allowed 
to meet, the election was an empty honor. 

The Doctor is Grand Protector to the 
Knights and Ladies of Honor, and is devot- 
ing most of his time to the interests of this 
order in Texas. He holds the highest ofEce 
in the State, and has been representative to 
the Supreme Lodge of the United States for 
eight years. In this he feels that he is doing 
great good. It is a benevolent order and is 
of great benefit to the members. His posi- 
tion is a serviceable one and very much to 
his taste. The order numbers ^bout 75,000 
members and is rapidly increasing. It has 
paid out more than $7,000,000 up to the 
present time, paying about $1,000,000 per 
year, and is now fifteen years old. There are 
about 120 lodges in the State, and it is the 
first benevolent lodge that took women in on 
an equality with the men, and trial has 
proven them to be three per cent, better 



than the stronger sex in matters of this kind. 

Our subject was married at Macomb, Illi- 
nois, in 1856, to Miss Ann Augusta Brook- 
ing, daughter of Major T. A. Brooking, of 
Richmond, Virginia, and son of Chief Justice 
Brooking, of Virginia. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Palmer are worthy 
members of the Christian Church, of which 
the Doctor was Elder for many years before 
coming to Dallas. Mrs. Palmer is a native 
of Kentucky, and has proven herself a good 
true wife to a worthy husband. 

Dr. Palmer is a worthy, good citizen, and 
lends his influence to what he considers the 
best welfare of the city. He is a man well 
fitted for the office he fills, and his work 
reflects his recognized ability. 



fOHN STUDEBAKER WITWER, Post 
master of Dallas, was born in Lancas- 
ter county, Pennsylvania, June 11, 1850' 
a son of George Witwer, also a native of 
Pennsylvania, and a minister of the gospel 
for thirty-five years. His maternal ancestors 
were the Studebakers, whose represeutatives 
at South Bend, Indiana, are the greatest 
manufacturers of wheeled vehicles in the 
world. Postmaster Witwer being a nephew of 
the Studebaker Brothers. They were 
remotely of German origin. Rev. Witwer's 
labors were in Ohio, Indiana and Missouri, 
and therefore our subject's life was one of fre- 
quent change. At the age of twenty he 
came southwest, and located for a brief pe- 
riod at Kosse, Texas, and in 1872 came to Dal- 
las, where he established himself in the wagon 
and buggy business. Although serving as 
Postmaster he still continues a successful busi- 
ness. Mr. Witwer has been identified with 
the business, educational and political inter- 



■264 



HISTORY OF DALLAS OOITNTT. 



ests of the city, having been a member of the 
City Council, member of the School Board 
andnow one of the directors of the State Na- 
tional Bank, of Dallas. 

Mr. Witwer has always been a conservative 
Republican and was a delegate from his dis- 
trict to the Republican National Convention 
in Chicago in 1884. A thorough knowledge 
of the city's needs in her public service, 
gained by a twenty years' business career, and 
his splendid chararter and good standing with 
the people of Dallas pointed to his selection 
as the head of the postal department here. 
His selection for this office and his manner 
of conducting the same are ample proof of 
his qualifications for this important position. 
His commission from President Harrison 
bears date of July 19, 1889, and he entered 
upon the duties of the position September 16» 
following. As Postmaster he has given 
entire satisfaction to the public and the man- 
agement of the otiice is thorough and system- 
atic. He is a man of good intellect and busi- 
ness tact, has a natural business ability and 
energetic disposition that will mark his way 
to success. 

On August 16, 1871, he married Miss 
Florence C. Buck, of LaPorte, Indiana. 
They have four children, two sons and two 
daughters. The family is connected with 
the Second Presbyterian Church. 

Our subject is the oldest of a family of 
twelve children, whose names are as follows: 
Rebecca Frances, wife of Daniel Sell, who 
died at the age of twenty years, leaving two 
sons, George and Clement; Leah is the wife 
of Joseph Kopsey, who is draftsman for 
the Studebakers in Chicago; Maria Ada 
is the wife of John Mohler, of Joliet, Illinois: 
Mr. Mohler is foreman of the Joliet Manufac- 
turing Company; Timothy Wilbur is cashier 
and confidential clerk for Studebaker Brothers 



in Chicago; George M. is occupying an impor- 
tant position at South Bend, with Studebaker 
Brothers: Clement S. is superintendent of 
the Joliet Manufacturing Company at Joliet, 
Illinois; Daniel V. died in infancy ; Edwin S. is 
employed and holding a responsible position 
with Studebaker Brothers at South Bend, 
Indiana; Dora died in infancy; Jacob Frank 
and Harvey are in the wagon and buggy busi- 
ness at Joliet, Illinois. 

Rev. George Witwer died October 1, 1886, 
at the age of sixty-two years. His wife is 
still living, at the age of sixty-three years. 
Rev. Witwer was a minister of the gospel 
for thirty-five years, in the German Baptist 
Church. 

Mr. Witwer's wife's parents were Alvin 
and Alvira (Wadsworth) Buck. The Wads- 
worths were of the same family, of Revolu- 
tionary fame. Alvin Buck was one of the 
pioneer settlers of LaPorte county, Indiana, 
having moved from Massachusetts after his 
marriage to LaPorte county early in the 
thirties. He was a farmer and dairyman. 
He died October 19, 1881, at the age of 
eighty-three years. His wife is still living, 
at the age of eighty-two years. Although 
she has been blind for many years she is a 
remarkably healthy and happy woman. 

James and Dexter Buck are farmers and 
capitalists. Mrs. Buck has been a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church almost all 
her life. Her husband was one of fourteen 
children and she was one of twelve children. 

Mrs. John S. Witwer is the youngest of six 
children, all of whom are living, namely: 
Lydia, who lives with her sister, Mrs. Edson; 
Cleantha, wife of David Edson who resides 
in Missouri; De.xter is married to Miss Hat- 
tie Cartwright and resides in LaPorte, Ind- 
iana: he is a retired merchant; James is mar- 
ried to Celia Oder and resides in LaPorte, 





St^ 




BISTOBY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



76.-. 



Indiana: he is a fanner and capitalist; Joseph, 
unmarried and a farmer. Ella Alvira, our 
subject's oldest cliild, is the wife of F. G. 
Claiborne, acting cashier of the Central 
National Bank, of Dallas. Walter Clare, 
the second, is collector for the North Texas 
National Bank; Mary Louise and John Wilbur 
are attending school in the city. 



^ 



^^ 



lcp,ON. WILLIAM LAFAYETTE 
THOMPSON, attorney, Dallas, Texas, 
— Lonisiania has given to Dallas, Texas, 
many estimable citizens, but she hfiS contrib, 
nted none more highly respected, or, for the 
conscientious discharge of every duty in every 
relation of life, more worthy of respect and 
esteem, than the subject of this sketch. He 
was born in Greensburg, Louisiana, October 
1, 1838, and was sixth in order of birth of 
seven children born to Alexander and Doror 
thea Pryor (Womack) Thompson, natives re- 
spectively of Georgia and Louisiana. The 
parents were married in the last nan^ed State 
and there passed the remainder of their days, 
the mother dying abougt 1847 and the father 
in 1852. The latter was a planter by occu- 
pattion and followed that successfully all his 
life. 

Hon. William L. Thompson was reared on 
the plantation and received his literary edu- 
cation at Florence, Alabama, gratuating with 
the class of 1859. He subsequently entered 
the Low School at New Orleans, and gradu- 
ated from that institution in 1861, after 
which, in the same year, lie enlisted at New 
Orleans in Company G, Fourth Louisiana 
Infentry, as private for one year. He partici- 
pated in the battle of Shiloli and after that 
engagement and reorganization of the regi- 
ment he joined the Point Coupee Battery, 

60 



Company B, with which he remained until 
the close of service, participating in all the 
battles of north Mississippi, viz.: Corinth, 
Fort Pemberton, Baker's creek and Jackson. 
After the battle of Baker's creek he retreated 
with General Loring to Jackson, Mississippi, 
and was in the six or seven days' light at that 
place. He was also in the battle at Baton 
Rouge. Mr. Thompson was sent on detached 
service to East Louisiana, and surrendered at 
Clinton, Louisiana, in 1865. 

He immediately returned to St. Helena 
parish and engaged in the practice of law. 
In 1868 he was elected to the State Senate 
under the reconstruction acts of Congress, 
represented five parishes and served four 
years. In 1874 he moved to Texas, located 
in San Antonio, and practiced his profession 
until elected to the Legislature from Bexar 
county. He was reelected and at the ex- 
piration of his term was appointed by Presi- 
dent Cleveli^nd special inspector of customs. 
He located on the lower Rio Grande, served 
twelvp months, and was then transferred to 
El Paso, Texas, his district extending over 
New Mexico and Arizona. He was sent with 
two special agents of the Treasury Depart- 
ment to the principal mining district of Old 
Mexico to investigate the Mexican ore ques- 
tion. Being relieved from the Federal ser- 
vice, he located in Dallas, Texas, and resumed 
the practice of law. There he has resided 
ever since. 

Mr. Thompson was married in St. Helena 
parish, Lonisiania, to Mi:*s Neanie Andrews, 
August 15, 1865, a native of East Feliciana 
parish, Louisiana, and the dangliter of Elisha 
and Eliza (Jackson) Andrews, the father a 
native of South Carolina, and the mother of 
Tennessee. Her grandfather, Thomas Jack- 
son, was in the Revolutionary war with 
Marion. Mr. Andrews moved from South 



70(J 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Carolina to Louisiana at an early daj and be- 
came a very wealthy planter. He died in 
the latter State in 1863 and his wife survived 
him until 1873. Mr. Thompson lost his wife 
in San Antonio, Texas, in 1883. To them 
were born four children: J. Wheat, married, 
and resides at San Antonio, Texas, is now 
clerk in the United States army; Batie, now 
Mrs. Charles J. Grant of Dallas, Texas; 
Lettie E., wife of D. P. Wheat, an attorney 
of Ueaumont, Texas, and Hei'bert Andrews, 
who is now fourteen years of age. Socially, 
Mr. Thompson is a Royal Arch ilason, is a 
life member of St, Helena Lodge, No. 96, 
St. Helena parish, Louisiana, and he is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
Soutii. He is an Adjutant of Sterling Price 
Camp, Confederate Veterans of Dallas, Texas, 
and is also Adjutant General of the United 
Confederate Veterans and Chief of Staff of 
Lieutenant General W. L, Cf^bell of the 
Trans-Mississippi Department, United Con- 
federate Veterans. 

|UDLEY G. WOOTEN, attorney at law, 
Dallas, the senior member of the law 
tirm of Wooten & Kimbrougli, was born 
in Missouri, in June, 1858, a son of Thomas 
D. and Henrietta (Goodall) Wooten, natives 
of Kentucky. Asa surgeon, his father stands 
at the head of the profession in the State. 
Having acquired considerable fame as such 
previous to the war, he was placed on the 
staff of Generals Price and Bragg, as medical 
director in the army of the Confederate States 
of America. At the close of the war, in 
1865, he came to Texas and practiced in Paris 
until 1876, when he went to Austin, where 
he is still in active practice. At the opening 
of the State University, in 1888, he was 



chosen president of the Board of Regents, 
and he has placed that richly endowed insti- 
tution in a position of prominence. Texas 
is proud of the services of such a man, in 
such a capacity. 

The Doctor was born March 6, 1830. His 
wife was born in 1834. They are well and 
favorably known as worthy, good people, and 
life-long members of the Baptist Church. 

Mr. D. G. Wooten, whose name heads this 
sketch, one of the seven living children of 
the above mentioned eminent physician, re- 
ceived a thorough classical education and 
graduated at Princeton, New Jersey, College, 
in 1875, with the degree of A. M., with high 
honors, although the youngest in his class. 
Afterward, for a year, he was a Fellow at the 
Johns Hopkins University, at Baltimore, and 
then took the law course at the University of 
Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson, and 
graduated with the class of 1878, with the 
degree of LL. B. as well as takingr the two 
highest honors of the university. He began 
the practice of law at Austin, where he was 
prosecuting attorney four years. He came to 
Dallas in 1888, and at once took rank as one 
of the leading members of the bar. While 
his reputation has been made as a criminal 
lawyer his native acumen is best shown in 
the more subtle questions of civil law. A 
citizen who is amply competent to testify on 
the matter says, with reference to Mr. 
Wooten: "He is a ripe scholar, an eloquent 
advocate, and a profound lawyer. Without 
being an aspirant for public honors, he has 
taken a deep interest in public affairs, and 
has done valiant service on the great issues 
of the day." 

Mr. D. G. Wooten is a member of the 
Knights of Pythias and in politics a Demo- 
crat. He is one of the rising young men of 
the South, and a genial, cultured gentleman. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



767 



Our subject is the oldest of a family of 
seven children: Etta, the second, is the wife 
of Hon. R. W. Lightfoot, residing at Paris, 
Texas; Stella is wife of W. J. Bailey, Esq., 
of Fort Worth, Te.\as; Maude is the wife of 
Judge Robert tl. Johnson, County Judge, 
residing at Fort Worth; Tommie, the young- 
est daughter, is a gi'aduate of the University 
of Texas, class of 1890. She is quite lit- 
erary in taste, much of a lady, and still of 
the home circle; Goodall II. and Joseph, the 
two youngest of the family, are both gradu- 
ates of the University of Texas, classes of 
189l-'92 respectively. The former is assist- 
ant State Chemist, and is a young man of 
much promise. The two sons are preparing 
fur the profession of medicine. 

Mr. Wooten married Miss Carter, a daugh- 
ter of Colonel Carter, who was one of the 
immortal band who made the historic Pick- 
ett's charge at the battle of Grettysburg, the 
turning battle of the great Civil war, and he 
went down in that action. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wooten had two children, both of whom are 
deceased; and Mrs. Wooten died in 1887. 
He was remarried, to Mrs. M. A. Sellers, at 
Dallas, December 2, 1891. She is from an 
old Mississippi family, from Kemper county, 
who are well and favorably known throughout 
the State. 

In the great political campaign between 
Judge George Clark and Governor J. S. 
Hogg, 1892, Mr. Wooten, prior tp the nomi- 
nating convention at Houston, in August, 
1892, took a very prominent part '^ stumping" 
the State for Clark. \Xq established a repu- 
tation on all sides s,s the foremost orator in 
the Stale, and his speeches throughout the 
State were acpepted as models of argument, 
rhetoric, ;^nd impassioned eloquence. His 
paraphrase of Phillips' " Napoleon" applied 
to Governor Hogg, is one of the triumphs of 



campaign oratory, and perhaps has never 
been equaled in the political literature of the 
country. When in the Houston Convention 
he refused to join the " bolt " organized by 
the Clark men, but remained in the regular 
convention, acting as a member of the com- 
mittee on platform. In that capacity he 
presented and eloquently advocated a minority 
report, intended to prevent the repudiation of 
the National Democratic platform. Failing 
in this, he tiled a written protest absolving 
himself from obligation to support the nomi- 
nees, and withdrew from the convention. At 
the Lampasas Convention, June, 1892, he 
was unanimously elected Presidential Elector 
for the State at large on the Cleveland ticket 
and canvassed the State. 



A. -ERWIN, retired attorney of Oak 
Cliff, has a pleasant and comfortable 
* home at the corner of Tenth and Craw- 
ford streets. He has been a resident of the 
Lone Star State since 1848, his first residence 
within its borders being in Cherokee county. 
He was born in Bedford, now Marshall 
county, Tennessee, in 182Q, the youngest of 
eleven children born to John K. and Hannah 
B. (Bishop) Erwin, natives of North Carolina, 
in which State they were married, emigrat- 
ing soon softer to Bedford county, Teimessee, 
where they settled on a farm. The father was 
a soldier in the Revolutionary war, altliough 
very young, and was under the care of his 
father, who was an active participant in that 
struggle. Grandfather Bishop also was a 
Revolutionary soldier and was killed while in 
the service. J. R. Erwin remained in Bed- 
ford coimty, Tennessee, and there died on the 
farm on which he tirst settled on coming 
to the State December 23, 1859, at the age 



T68 



BISTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



ofeightj-six years. His wife was born in 1777 
and died in Bedford county, Tennessee, in 
1851, on the old home farm in Tennessee. 

S. A. Erwin was brought up on the farm. 
At the age of seventeen years he left home to 
enter college at Jackson, Maury county, Ten- 
nessee, where he remained three years. After 
leaving college he commenced reading law in 
Murfreesboro, and in 1843 was admitted to 
the bar, after which he established himself at 
Lebanon, Tennessee. In 1846 he enlisted 
under Captain Milton A. Haines at Nash- 
ville, for the Mexican war, and his company 
became a part of the regiment commanded by 
Colonel Jonas E. Thomas. After one year's 
service his health failed, and after a short 
time spent in Mattaraoras he returned to 
Tennessee, in 1847. He at once resumed the 
practice of law, but decided to make a change 
of location, and accordingly came to Rusk, 
Cherokee county, Texas, of which he was one 
of the pioneers. He was married here, April 
27, 1848, to Elizabeth J. McKee, a native of 
Maury county, Tennessee, and a daughter of 
Thomas and Frances (Stone) McKee, the for- 
mer a native of South Carolina and the latter 
of Virginia. Mr. McKee was taken to Ten- 
nessee in early boyhood, there grew up and 
married and followed the occupation of farm- 
ing: until his removal to Texas in 1846. Here 
he resided ou a farm until his death, which oc- 
curred in the fall of 1865, his widow having 
died in 1863. After his marriage Mr. Erwin 
settled in Rusk, Texas, and there practiced 
law until 1856, when he abandoned his pro- 
fession to engage in farming and stock-rais- 
ing, dealing in tine stock, in Cherokee 
county. He in time became the owner of a 
large plantation and cultivated some 300 
acres. In 1876 he moved to Limestone county, 
Tehuacana Hills, where Trinity University is 
located, for the purpose of educating his chil- 



dren, and while there three of his sons gradu- 
ated from that institution, of which he was 
for some time a trustee. 

His children are as follows: William Scott 
is married and a farmer of Tehuacana Hills, 
Limestone county; Sarimella C. is the widow 
of F. W. Beaty and resides at Tehuacana 
Hills; Fannie also resides there and is the 
wife of John H. Forrest; Floretta E. resides 
at Oak Cliff, Dallas county, Texas, and is the 
wife of Dr. E. J. Hallum; Cornie E. is the 
wife of John M. Hallum, a farmer of Ander- 
son county, Texas; John T. resides at Tehu- 
acana Hills, farming; Robert L. is married 
and resides in Dallas, being bookkeeper for 
the Dallas City National Exchange Bank; 
and James P., who is special agent for the 
Dallas Mortgage Company. 

Although formerly a Whig in politics Mr. 
Erwin is now an independent, refusing to 
wear the collar of the dominant party of his 
State. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., 
the I. O. O. F. and he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church 
and have been active in church work. Dur- 
ing over forty years' residence in Texas they 
have seen many changes, and Mr. Erwin has 
aided largely in its progress and develop- 
ment. 

APTAIN WILLIAM HUGHES LEM- 
MON, of the real-estate tirm of Bowser 
& Lemmon, Dallas, Texas, was born 
February 25, 1840, in Polk connty, Mis- 
souri, near the present town of Morrisville. 
His parents, William H., Sr., and Nancy 
Amanda (Hughes) Lemmon, natives respect- 
ively of Green county, Kentucky, and Will- 
iamson connty, Teimessee, were married near 
Paris, in the latter State, August 17, 1837. 
In the autumn of 1839 they emigrated to 



HISTORY OF D^iLLAS COUNTY. 



769 



Missouri, the eldest child, A. C. Letninon, 
being then about eighteen months of age, and 
settled on Sac river in Polk county, where he 
improved a valuable farm, which was occu- 
pied as the family homestead until 1872. 
The father was a practical farmer and stock- 
grower, and somewhat prominent in local 
politics, and served as County Judge of his 
county from 1856 to 1860, elected by the 
Democracy, of which party lie was always a 
strong adherent. He died at Springfield, 
Missouri, August 31, 1862, the result of ex- 
posure while confined as a citizen prisoner 
for sympathy with the South. The mother 
still survives and resides with her son. Cap- 
tain Lemmon; she is now in her seventy-lifth 
year. The subject of this sketch was reared 
to farm life, and educated in the schools of 
Polk county and Carleton's College at 
Springfield, Missouri, of which the Rev. 
Charles Carleton, now president of Carleton's 
College at Bonham, Texas, was president. 

Captain Lemmon commenced life as a 
teacher in the public schools of southwest 
Missouri in 1858. In the spring of 1861 he 
assisted in organizing the first company 
organized in his county for the Southern 
army, and was elected its First Lieutenant, 
Captain Frank Mitchell being in command. 
The late Colonel Charles H. Nichols, of Dal- 
las, was subsequently Captain of said com- 
pany. It was known as Company C, of 
Colonel J. J. Clarkson's Fifth Regiment 
Missouri State Guards, of which the Cap- 
tain's brother, A. C. Lemmon, was Major; 
Colonel M. W. Buster, of Weatiierford, 
Texas, was Adjutaut; the late Colonel John 
M. Stemmons, of Dallas, Couimissary of 
Subsistence; and their fellow-townsman, Col- 
onel W. L. Williams, was a Lieutenant. In 
the winter of 1861-'62 he was elected First 
Lieutenant of Captain A. C. Leinmon's 



company, D, Fifth Missouri Confederate In- 
fantry. He was with General Price at the 
battles of Wilson's Creek, Dry Wood, Lex- 
ington, Elkliorn and Farmington, and the 
evacuation of Corinth, Mississippi; and later 
on he organized and was elected Captain of 
Company A, Jackman's cavalry regiment, 
and was with it in all of its many engage- 
ments till the close of the war, when he 
located in Dallas county, Texas, and again 
engaged in teaching, chiefly in Dallas and 
Tarrant counties. 

He traveled for the agricultural implement 
house of Di M. Osborne & Co. for several 
years, until in 1876, when he formed a co- 
partnership with O. P. Bowser in the hard- 
ware and agricultural implement business in 
the city of Dallas, which business they con- 
tinued until 1887. In that year they in- 
vet^ted largely in Dallas city and farm prop- 
erty, giving special attention to Bowser & 
Lemmon's North Dallas and Oak Lawn ad- 
dition to the city of Dallas, which at present 
constitutes a large portion of the present 
limits of the Eighth Ward of the city. Cap- 
tain Lemmon's beautiful suburban home, 
" Elmwood," located on the line of the North 
Dallas Electric Railway, at the corner of 
Cole and Lemmon avenues, on which he has 
devoted much labor and expense to add to its 
comfort and attraction, is one of the finest in 
the city. He is largely interested in the 
North Dallas Improvement Company and 
the Dallas Guarantee and Investment Com- 
pany property, of 1,5U0 acres, adjoining the 
city. Captain Lemmon has for years been 
one of the leading, enterprising men of Dal- 
las, and has always been prouiptly at the 
front to assist every laudable improvement 
or enterprise for the advancement of Dallas. 
He has an abiding faith in her future, and 
believes that she will yet be a great com- 



770 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



inercial center, and eventually the chief city 
of the great Southwest; hence lie has always 
contributed liberally of his time and money 
to advance her interests. 

Captain Lemmon was married on the 27th 
day of February, 1867, in Dallas county, to 
Miss Mattie A. Knight, second daughter of 
O. W. and Serena (Hughes) Knight, both 
natives of Tennessee, where the parents were 
married, removing to Texas in 1844, and 
settled on what has ever since been known as 
the Knight farm, near Cedar Springs, and 
but a few miles from Dallas. The father re- 
sided there until his death, which occurred 
in 1868. He was an honorable Christian 
gentleman, and highly respected and beloved 
for his many noble and generous traits of 
character. Hon. G. M., Epps G., Robert E. 
L. and A. J. Knight, of Dallas, and William 
H. Knight, of Hillsboro, Texas, are brothers 
of Mrs. Lemmon; while Judge Burford, Dr. 
A. M. Cochran, John Field, of Dallas, Ben 
Cannon, of Arlington, Texas, and Captain J. 
J. Mallard, of Kusk, each married sisters of 
hers. Her mother, Mrs. Knight, lives with 
the family of Captain Lemmon. In 1882 
the subject of this notice was called upon to 
mourn the death of his beloved wife, after 
quite a short illness. Si.x children, the fruit 
of this union, are living: Nannie Laura 
(Mrs. Williamson), Rena Amanda, Mary 
Kate, William C, Jr., Mittie Lee and Eppie 
Knight, and grandchild Mattie Lemmon, 
with his mother and mother-in-law William- 
son, constitute his family. His only sister, 
Nancy Jane Lemmon, died in Missouri of 
typhoid fever, July, 1860. Captain Lemmon 
is an Elder and an active worker of the First 
Christian Church of Dallas, with which con- 
gregation he has for years been connected. 
Politically he has always been actively iden- 
tified with the Democratic party, having fre- 



quently attended as a delegate its State, dis- 
trict, county and city conventions, and has 
served as chairman of the Democratic execu- 
tive committee of the city of Dallas through 
some exciting campaigns. He is a member 
of James A. Smith Lodge, A. F. & A. M., 
and also a member of the Knights of Honor. 
Captain Lemmon is one of the enterprising 
and public-spirited citizens of L^allas, and is 
keenly alive to her best interests. He is a 
worthy and intelligent citizen, such as gives 
character to a community. 



fM. STEERE, assistant general freigh 
agent of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa 
' Fe Railroad, was born in Providence 
cQunty, Rhode Island, November 8, 1844. 
His parents were Arnold and Amey D. 
(Hutchinson) Steere, also natives of Rhode 
Island. Arnold's father, John Steere, was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary war. The family 
trace their ancestry back to those of that name 
who came over in the May Flower, and both 
the Steere and Hutchinson families are of New 
England stock, and related to a good race on 
both sides. Our subject's father died in Sep- 
tember, 1844. He was a farmer by occupa- 
tion, was extensively known, was highly re- 
spected, and was a man of strict integrity. 
His wife is still living, at the age of four 
score years and five. Her home is in Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island. She has been a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Church since her early 
girlhood days, is an excellent woman, and her 
friends areas numerous as her acquaintances. 
Besides being a member of an unusually 
esteemed family, she has endeared herself by 
noble traits of person and character to a host 
of friends. She has marked abilities and 
ennobling traits of character in her line, and 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



771 



her Christian profession is the spiritual pro- 
gram of a refined yet simple and natural life. 
These qualities, vitalized by ambition, have 
drawn about her a wealth of rare love and 
hope, the rounding out of a devout Christian 
character. She lives like one who goes on a 
journey, expecting to renew the joys of a well 
spent life in a better country. Mr. and Mrs. 
Arnold Steers were th^ parents of seven chil- 
dren, as follows: Adaline E., wife of Ellery 
C. Arnold of Laramore, North Dakota: her son, 
Horace \!'., is a member of the North Dakota 
Assembly, and editor of a Republican paper 
at Laramore; Addie C. and Emma are hdr 
other children, and tlie former is a graduate 
of Grand Forks Seminary, Dakota; Charles 
W., a resident of Oakland, California, wAh 
married to Rebecca Mowry, and they have 
one child, Eva; Albert A., resides in North 
Dakota; Frances E., wife of George E. Mc 
Kenzie; Nellis L. married Maria Albee, and 
tliey have one child, Earle; Rose A., at home; 
and J. M., our subject. In this immediate 
family there was not a death in forty years^ 
ending in 18901 

J. M. Steere enlisted February 14, 1862, 
in the First Rhode Island Cavalry, which 
served in the Army of the Potomac. He par- 
ticipated in the engagements of Cedar Mount- 
ain, Kelly's Ford, second battle of Bull Rnn 
and Chantilly. Before the battle of Antietam 
he was taken sick with typhoid fever, was 
taken to Alexandria Hospital and was dis- 
charged at Fort Schuyler, New York. In 
company with bis brothers, Charles W. and 
Nellis L., he returned home, but in 1864 
again enlisted in the Third Rliode Island 
Cavalry, and served in the Department of 
the Gulf until the close of the war. Mr. 
Steere was in no battles during his last ser- 
vice, and was Regimental Commissary Ser- 
geant of his regiment. In the fall of 1805 



he engaged as secretary of the Missouri Iron 
Works for one year, was next engaged in 
traveling for a commission firm, and in 1876 
was appointed agent for the Canada Southern 
Fast Freight Line, stationed at St. Louis. In 
1885 he was appointed general agent for the 
Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe road. Mr. Steere 
entered the railroad service as contractinuf 
freight agent on the Canada Southern Fast 
Freight Line, from December 1, 1876, to No- 
vember 16, 1884, was agent of the same line; 
from December 1, 1876, to 1880, was also 
foreign freight agent of the Merchants' Dis- 
patch Transportation Company; November 
25, 1884, to January 1, 1886, was general 
agent of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe, with 
residence at Dallas; and since January 1, 
1886, assistant general freight agent of the 
same road. He has been in the service for 
sixteen years, with only the two companies. 
Mr. Steere was married Christmas day, 
1866, at St. Louis, to Miss Fannie M. Baker, 
a daughter of Captain W. C. and Mary C. 
W. Baker. The father died in 1882, and the 
mother now resides in Wichita, Kansas, ased 
sixty -eight years. The parents had four chil- 
dren: Fanny M., now Mrs. Steere; Hattie M., 
wife of W. H. Mears of Peoria, Illinois; Ed- 
na, wife of W. H. Maxwell of Wichita, Kan- 
sas; and Jackson B. Mr. and Mrs. Steere 
have three children: Rosie, Mamie C. and 
Charles W. The latter is employed as clerk 
for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad 
Company. Mrs. Steere was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South, and her 
death occurred at Fort Worth, March 24, 
1886, aged thirty-nine years. She was a de- 
vout Christian woman, and her life was 
devoted in making people happy, in which 
she had few equals. Her memory will long 
be cherished for many Christian virtues and 
excellent traits of character. 



HI STOUT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Mr. 8teere was again married, to Mrs. Mary 
C. Reynolds, daughter of Dr. Emory A. 
Allen, at her home in Randolph, Massachu- 
setts, June 20, 1892. She is a most estimable 
and winsome lady of culture and refinement. 
She is a native of Massacluisetts. 

Mr. Steere has held the office of Exalted 
liutler of the Elks of Dallas, is also Post 
Commander of George 11. Thomas Post, No. 
6, Grand Army of the Republic, is a member 
of Kirkwood, Missouri, Lodge, No. 484, of the 
F. & A. M., and of tlie lioyal Arcanum. He 
is a public-spirited citizen, such as gives 
character to a community. 



*f. 



4@^ 



^ 



jLEXANDER COCKRELL, deceased, 
was born in Kentucky, June 8, 1820, a 
son of Joseph Cockrell, a native of Rus- 
sell county, Virginia. When ayoungmanthe 
father moved to Kentucky, and when our 
subject was four years old, he moved to 
Johnson county, Missouri, where Alexander 
was reared and where his mother died when 
he was yet a child. His fatlier died in the 
same county, in 1838, after which he went to 
the Indian Nation and engaged in the stock 
business for a contractor of that country. 
He remained there until entering the Mexi- 
can war, under Colonel McCullough, and 
served until its close. Mr. Cockrell was at 
Monterey with dispatches during that battle, 
where he was kept for three weeks, after 
which he came to Dallas and engaged in the 
stock business. After his marriage he took 
a claim of 640 acres of the Peters Colony, 
situated ten miles west of Dallas, where he 
engaged extensively in the stock business, 
and also freighted from Houston, Jefferson, 
Shreveport and other points with ox teams. 
He followed this from the spring of 1848 to 



the winter of 1852, and in the latter year he 
sold his stock and purchased John Neely 
Bryan's headright of the city of Dallas, 
and in 1853 moved to this city and engaged 
in the brick business and various other oc- 
cupations. Mr. Cockrell gave employment 
to all ti)e young men who came to the coun- 
try at that time, was a benevolent and enter- 
prising man, and respected by all who knew 
him. He also built the first bridge across 
the Trinity river, and in an early day ran a 
ferry boat. 

He was married September 9, 1847, to 
Miss Sarah Horton, and they had live children : 
Morgan, who died an infant; Aurelia E., the 
wife of Mitchell Gray, who died February 
28, 1872; Robert 13., who died May 21, 1886; 
Frank M. and Alexander. Mr. Cockrell de- 
parted this life April 3, 1858, and his widow 
April 26, 1892. He left a large estate, 
which was managed and successfully handled 
by his widow. At her death she was 
Beventy-three years of age and has been a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
since her childhood. 

fAMES W. McMANUS, manager for B. 
F. Avery & Sons, is a native of Toronto, 
Canada, where he was born in 1854. At 
the age of fourteen he began learning the 
trade of carriage building in Wellington 
Square, Canada. 

After thoroughly mastering the business 
he located in Michigan and spent some years 
in Lansing, Jackson, Owosso, Detroit and 
Howell; then he spent a brief season in St. 
Louis, and in 1878 came to Texas, k>cating at 
Houston and then in Dallas, as a represent- 
ative of the Weir Plow Company, of Mon- 
mouth, Illinois. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



773 



In this line liis success was so marked that 
when the business was merged into that of 
The J. B. Simpson Carriage Company, he 
was appointed manager of the combined in- 
terests. 

When tlie old and well known firm of B. 
F. Avery & Sons of Louisville, Kentucky, 
decided to open a branch house in Dallas and 
include vehicles with their popular line of 
implements, Mr. McManus was selected as 
their manager. They represent the Hacine 
Wagon and Carriage Company, Racine, Wis- 
consin, and the Henney Buggy Company, 
Freeport, Illinois, and other well known lines. 

Their business is both wholesale and retail, 
and is carried on at the corner of Lamar and 
Commerce, in a large and commodious brick 
building, and is conducted on the basis of 
integrity and fair dealing, such as has marked 
their career of over half a century, and pa- 
trons may rely upon their representations of 
goods sold. 

Mr. McManus is a model citizen, quiet 
and unassuming, but exceedingly popular; 
he is a consistent member of the Presbyterian 
Church, and politically is a Demt)crat. 

He was married in March, 1880, and has 
one of the coziest homes in Oak Cliif. 

fOHN H. DANIEL, a farmer and stock- 
raiser of Precinct No. 1, Dallas county, 
was born in Garrard county, Kentucky, 
in 1826, the second of twelve children born 
to Edmond and Frances (Herndon) Daniel, 
natives of Virginia. The parents were both 
reared in Kentucky, and in 1835 they went 
to Missouri, where the father improved a farm. 
His death occurred in Monroe county the 
same year, and the mother afterward moved 
to Dallas county, where she died, in 1880. 



Grandfather Edmond Daniel, a native of Vir- 
ginia, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, 
and was wounded in the battle of Brandy- 
wine, and died some years later from the ef- 
fects of the wound. The Daniel family are 
of Scoth-Irish descent, and were early settlers 
in the Colonies. 

John H., our subject, was reared and edu- 
cated in Monroe county, Missouri, where he 
also aided in opening up and improving the 
home farm. At the age of twenty years 
he came to Texas, and later enlisted in the 
Mexican war, under Captain Kinzy, and after 
reaching the Rio Grande he enlisted under 
Captain Witt. In 1849 Mr. Daniel bought 
120 acres of land, which he improved, and 
later built a good house, and he has since 
added to the original purchase until he now 
owns 220 acres, all of which is under a good 
state of cultivation. In 1863, in Dallas county, 
he enlisted in Stratton's company. Stone's 
regiment, for twelve months, or until the 
the close of the war. He participated in 
many skirmishes, and was discharged in 
Louisiana, after which he returned to Texas. 
Mr. Daniel takes an active interest in poli- 
tics, voting with the People's party, and has 
held the office of Constable of his township 
and is now one of the School Trustees. Soci- 
ally, he is a member of Tannehill Lodge, 
No. 52, A. F. & A. M., of Dallas, and also of 
the Farmers' Alliance. 

He was married in this county, December 
6, 1849, by Parson James A. Smith, to Re- 
becca Ray, a native of Illinois, and daughter 
of Robert and Mary (Denton) Ray. In 1847 
the parents came to Texas, settling in Dallas 
county, where the father was engaged as a 
farmer and blacksmith. He died in Cook 
county, Texas, in 1889, and his wife in Dallas 
county, about 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel 
have had thirteen children, nine of whom 



774 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



survive, namely: W. R., a resident of Harde- 
man county, Texas; T. B., of the same county; 
Mary F., wife of George II. Alexander, 
County Commissioner of Hardeman county; 
B. F., at liome; E. W., a resident of Dallas; 
S. P., of Creer county, Texas; C. A., a mem- 
ber of the police force at Dallas; Mattie J., 
at home; Arthur Ellis, also at home. 



^ 



Ef 



fB. HENDERSON, retired stock farmer 
of Harrison county, Texas, resides atthe 
® corner of Twelfth and Grand avenue, 
Oak Cliff. He was born in York county? 
South Carolina, May 26, 1817, and was the 
eldest of sixteen children, ten sons and six 
daughters born to the union of W. B. and 
Mary (Barry) Henderson, natives of the 
Palmetto State also. The parents were of 
Scotch origin and belong to the early families 
of South Carolina, the ancestors emigrating 
to this country from Scotland at a period 
antedating the Revolution. W. B. Hender- 
son was a farmer and in 1832 moved 
to Georgia, where he remained one year 
among the Indians. In 1833 he moved 
to Cherokee county, Alabaina, and settled on 
a farm which he cultivated until his death 
in 1872. After his death the mother came 
to Harrison county, Texas, in 1875, and 
died itil887, at the advanced aged of ninety- 
four years. 

J. B. Henderson was reared to farm life 
in South Caroliin, but moved from there 
to Georgia with his parents and thence to 
Alabama. He was married at Greenville, 
South Carolina, in 1841, to Miss Nancy J. 
Berry, a native of that city and the daugh- 
ter of Rev. Nathan and Mai-y (Hiett) 
Berry, natives also of Greenville, South 
Carolinii. Her father was a Baptist minis 



ter and he and wife were both descendants 
of early families of South Carolina. He died 
in that State, in 1840, and his wife in the 
same State, in 1857. Grandfather Hender- 
son participated in the struggle for indepen- 
dence. After his marriage J. B. Henderson 
settled in Georgia, but moved from there to 
Cherokee county, Alabama, where lie en- 
tered a large tract of land and immediately 
commenced improving it. In 1856 he moved 
to Tippah county, Mississippi, improved a 
farm, and remained there two years, when he 
moved with team to Pulaski county, Arkan- 
sas. He followed farming there for three 
years and then located in Columbia county, 
Arkansas, where he made his home for an- 
other three years. In 1867 he moved to 
Mount Pleasant, Titus county, Texas, opened 
up a farm near that town and also l)ecame 
the owner of considerable real estate in 
Mount Pleasant. From there he moved to 
Harrison county in 1871, followed farming, 
and later engaged in line stock-raising, prin- 
cipally Jersey cattle. He still owns a large 
farm in that county. During the war he 
was in the Commissary Department, and had 
the contract for furnishing all Confederate 
soldiers west of the Mississippi river with 
beef. After the war he supplied the Federal 
soldiers at Mount Pleasant with beef until 
they left Texas. Mr. Henderson takes some 
interest in politics, and he and Mrs. Hender- 
son are worthy members of the Presbyterian 
Church, both having been members of the 
same for many years. 

To their marriage were born eleven chil- 
dren, eight now living: W. B., a traveling 
salesman for Orr Lindsay, of St. Louis, 
Missouri, in 1861 he enlisted in Garland 
county, Texas; in the First Arkansas Infantry, 
and was promoted to the rank of Adjutant 
Major; he surrendered in Lee's army in 1865; 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



775 



he is married and resides in Mai-sliall, Texas; 
James N., married, is a farmer and stock- 
raiser of Harrison county: Texas, he was a 
member of the Engineer Corps for three 
years, and served until the cessation of hos- 
tilities; John A., single, is receiving agent 
of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, 
Dallas; Andrew L., married, is a farmer of 
Harrison county, Texas; Ella, wife of J. C. 
Mow, resides at Oak Cliff, and her husband 
is Station Agent of the Missouri, Kansas & 
Texas Railroad, Dallas; Nannie is the wife 
W. C. Lane, an attorney of Marshall, Texas; 
Muggy, wife of W. B. Wynne, an attorney 
of Wills Point, Texas; Hattie Lee resides at 
home, and is abstract clerk in the Missourii 
Kansas & Texas Railroad, Dallas; Mary 
died in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1863; 
Sallie, wife of C. H. Shilling, died in Texas 
in 1876; and Fannie, wife of Frank Howard, 
died in Harrison county, Texas, in 1879. 
Mr. and Mrs. Henderson passed their golden 
milestone of life September 16, 1891, and 
the principal part of their lives have been 
spent on farms on the frontier. They have 
twenty-two grandchildren. Both are honored 
and respected by a host of warm friends, and 
may the sunset of their lives be cloudless. 

AMU EL N. BRAS WELL, Justice of 
the Peace for Precinct No. 1, Dallas, 
was born in Georgia, January 23, 1827, 
a son of Samuel Braswell, a farmer who was 
born in North Carolina and removed to 
Georgia at an early day. Both the parents 
died in Georgia. Mr. Braswell, the youngest 
of four children, received his education in 
excellent private schools and became a suc- 
cessful teacher in his native State; read law 
and began practice in Barnesville, Georgia. 



In 1858 he moved to this State, settling in 
Mount Pleasant, Titus county, where he was 
in 1866 elected State Senator, to represent 
the Eighth district. This being the first elec- 
tion after the war, he took an active part in 
the stirring scenes incident to reconstruction. 
In 1871 he moved to Corsicana, this State, 
and finally, in 1874, to Dallas In 1886 he 
was elected Justice of the Peace for Precinct 
No. 1, this county, and served with such 
fidelity that he was re-elected in 1888 and 
again in 1890. He is noted for the equity 
of his decisions and promptness in the execu- 
tion of business. The "Judge," as he is called, 
is one of the old-school Southern gentleman, 
— honest, affable and able. He has been a 
member of the Masonic order for forty years, 
and an active member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church for twenty- five years. Politi- 
cally he is a Democrat of the Jacksonian 
school. 

He was married in Georgia, to Miss Mary 
A. Anderson, and they have living four chil- 
dren and two grandchildren — all in this State. 



ff J. BEKKERS, proprietor of a sa- 
loon on Elm street, Dallas, was 
® born in Belgium, in 1859, thesecoud 
son of J. J. Bekkers and Cleraentee (Van 
Grinderbeck), natives of Belgium. The father 
was an artist, and was a director of drawing 
and anatomy for many years. He was chair- 
man of the committee that organized the 
French colony that came to Dallas in 1853 
under the management of Mr. Considerant. 
Mr. J. J. Bekkers took an active interest in 
the general government of the colony in Dal- 
las county, but always remained in his native 
country, where he died, in 1872. His wife 
still lives in that country, and is a pensioner 
of the Beltrian Government. 




776 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



W. J. Bekkers, our subject, was reared in 
the city of Louvain, Belgium, where he served 
six years as a volunteer in the regular array, 
and was Sergeant Major of his regiment. 
After leaving the service, in 1879, he came 
direct to Dallas county, Texas, where he en- 
gaged in the barber business, and in 1885 
embarked in his present occupation. Mr. 
Bekkers votes with the Democratic party, 
but is not active in politics. Socially, he is 
a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 70, K. of P., 
of Division No. 18 Uniformed Rank, K. of 
P., and was also a volunteer member of the 
Fire Department. His lather was Grand 
Master of the Masonic order of Belgium, and 
was always an active Mason. Mr. Bekkers 
has witnessed a great change in the city of 
Dallas since its organization, and has always 
taken an active interest in everything pertain- 
ing to its good. 

fAMES C. ARNOLD, Chief of Police of 
the City of Dallas, was born near Wel- 
lington, Morgan county, Georgia, April 
29, 1851. His parents were W. B. and 
Martha B. (Bostwick) Arnold, bothjiatives of 
Georgia. His father was a merchant at 
Social Circle, Walton county, Georgia, at the 
commencement of the war, and enlisted in 
the Confederate service as private and served 
until the war closed, mostly on the coast of 
Georgia. He was a supporter of Brecken- 
ridge and Lane in the presidential race in 
1860, and a strong advocate of State rights, 
and has been for many years a prominent 
member of the Baptist Church, and is living 
near Madison, Morgan county, Georgia, farm- 
ing. He was born August 31, 1820. 
Martha B., his wife, was born August 24, 
1824, and died August 15, 1854, a mem- 



ber of the Baptist Church from early child- 
hood. There were born to these parents 
seven children, three of whom died at an 
early age. John H., the oldest, at the com- 
mencement of the war, enlisted for six 
months defending the coast of Georgia, but 
later joined the Fifty-third Georgia Regi- 
ment, and served under General Longstreet 
until the time of his death, December 26, 
1862. William T., the second son served in 
the Second Georgia Regiment during the 
war, and is still living, and lias been for ten 
or twelve years District and County Clerk of 
Sabine county, Texas; Emma D. Arnold, 
their daughter, sister of our subject, the wife 
of M. A. Parker, is living in Atlanta, Georgia; 
Mr. Parker served in tlie Fifty-third Georgia 
Regiment during the war under Longstreet. 
James C. Arnold, whose biography we 
give, was raised in Morgan and Walton coun- 
ties, Georgia, went to school at Social Circle 
and old Fair Flay, same State, and left his 
home for Carroll county, Mississippi, on the 
14th of February 1866, and there worked on 
a farm for P. H. Echols, W. A. Gayden & 
Colonel J. D. McLemore, and in December, 
1869, came to Texas to Doctor R. S. McLe- 
more (a son of Colonel J. D. McLemore), 
who owned Camp's Ferry, on Sabine river, in 
Upshur county, and lived with him until 
1871, when McLemore sold the ferry to A. 
Ferguson & W. L. Wilburn: he was then in 
their employ until the fall of 1872; he 
then went into partnership with E. B. 
Winn in supplying contractors with beef. 
The contractors were building the tirst four- 
teen miles of railway from Longview west; 
he then went from there to Fort Worth ex- 
pecting to be engaged in the same business, 
but the railroad suspended operations west of 
Dallas. He then followed the grocery business 
for a time, connecting himself with the firm 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



777 



of Connell, Arnold & Co. at Fort Worth: he 
remained there for a short time. He closed 
out and came to Dallas in Api'il, 1874, and 
has been a resident of Dallas ever since. 

He was then engaged in different voca- 
tions of business until November 5, 1874, 
when he was appointed on the police force 
of the city of Dallas under General W. L. 
Cabell, Mayor, and June Peak, Marshal. He 
served as patrolman and mounted officer un- 
til 1879, when he was appointed Deputy City 
Marshal under W. F. Morton who was then 
the City Marshal. In June, 1881, he was 
appointed City Marshal, vice W. F. Mor- 
ton resigned, and then an election was 
ordered to fill the unexpired term of W. F. 
Morton, at which election he was chosen and 
held the position of City Marshal and Chief of 
Police ever since that time by virtue of an 
election and the choice of the people of Dal- 
las up to the present time. During these 
periods of elections for Chief of Police of the 
city of Dallas from 1881, up to the present 
time, he has had only three opponents, and 
at the last city Democratic convention, which 
was held April, 1892, he was the unanimous 
choice of that convention as the nominee of 
the Democratic party for the office, and was 
elected without opposition This is his nine- 
teenth year as a member of the police force, 
and during all these years of service both 
as a subordinate and an official, his acts have 
been for the fullfillment of the law without 
endangering life or limb to those violating 
the law, which was his sworn duty to have 
executed. By and under his jurisdiction as 
Chief of Police, there have been from the in- 
cipiency of his office np to the present time 
48,225 arrests made, showing that the 
members of the police force, under his man- 
agement and supervision, have been faith- 
iul to their trust. He is ready, quick and 



genial in his manner, cool and clear-headed, 
and hia wonderful success in dealing with 
men is due to these qualifications, together 
with the courage displayed by him in his of- 
ficial capacity in arresting many desperate 
criminals and violators of the law. He is a 
member of the following charitable and bene- 
ficent orders: Masonic, K. of P., I. O. O. F., 
and the Elks. 

He was married in 1871, to Miss Callie 
Staples, daughter of David W. and M. A. 
Staples of Talladega, Alabama. He has al- 
ways borne an enviable reputation both as a 
citizen and an officer of the law, and the acts 
of his past life have always been commendable 
wherever he resided. 



fAMES W. GURLEY, D. D. S., M. D., 
was born in South Carolina, September 
18, 1840, and is a son of Martin A. 
Gnrley, a descendant of one of the oldest 
Southern families. Mrs. Gnrley's maiden 
name was Isabella Youngblood, which is also 
an honored name of the South. 

The Doctor is the oldest of a family of 
seven children, and until his twelfth year was 
trained in a private school. He was partially 
paralyzed, caused by sciatica, at ten years of 
age. At the age of twelve years he was in- 
duced to accompany a squad of Georgia gold 
miners to California. He sailed from New 
York city for the Pacific coast in January, 
1852, in the steamship El Dorado, which 
was sent out by a bogus company. This 
company sold their tickets to San Francisco, 
but had no connecting steamer on the Pacific; 
hence all passengers who were landed on the 
Isthmus at the mouth of the Chagres river 
were compelled to pay extra for their transit 
across the Isthmus to Panama, there to find 



778 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



that they had been deluded by false represen- 
tations of this bogus company. The most of 
them were moneyless, with no means of pro- 
ceeding further. Our subject was one of six 
thousand in this terrible condition. At this 
juncture C. K. Garrison »fe Co., of New York, 
and bankers in Panama, were fitting out every 
available vessel, coal hulks and other unsea- 
worthy crafts for passenger vessels bound for 
San Francisco. Among the number was a 
bark, Clarissa Andrews, on which he sailed 
under the following circumstances: While 
ho was at Panama he had no money, and 
went to the American Hotel and engaged as 
errand boy. The maladies among the trav- 
elers were terrible, people were dying off by 
the hundreds with yellow fever, smallpox and 
other terrible diseases. At the American 
Hotel he remained two days. The second 
day he found a ])urse containing nearly five 
liundred dollars. This he took to the clerk 
of the hotel, as an honest boy would. It was 
about eleven o'clock, a. m. After dinner the 
authorities of the hotel gave him his dis- 
charge. He does not know, but can give a 
guess, what became of the money. 

Soon after leaving the hotel he met a 
Portuguese sailor with whom he had become 
ac(|uainted while on the steamship El Dorado, 
and the latter was then employed as one of 
the crew to sail the bark Clarissa Andrews to 
San Francisco. Tlie sailor asked him if he 
had a dollar. "Not a dollar in the world," 
was the reply. At that moment he thought 
of a pair of boots which he left at the hotel. 
These he procured, sold them for a dollar, 
and was "fixed." The sailor then told him 
to follow him. The bark was lying at anchor 
four miles from shore. This dollar was to 
pay his passage on a small boat which landed 
him in due time at the bark. During the 
passage to the bark the sailor laid a plan 



before the passengers by which they could 
smuggle "this boy" on board the bark. The 
plan was successful. 

As soon as all the passengers were aboard 
a clamor was set up as to the unseaworthiness 
of the bark. This was quieted only by the 
American consul making a casual examina- 
tion and pronouncing her seaworthy. There 
was no time lost in weighing anchor and 
putting to sea. The captain and crew, hav- 
ing California as their destination, made up 
their minds never to put into J)ort on the 
way for fear of the vessel being condemned; 
hence they made preparations for a long voy- 
age, carried with them a still for obtaining 
fresh water from salt water, etc. The voyage 
was long and tedious, being sixty-live days 
from Panama to San Francisco. There were 
400 steerage passengers, twelve cabin passen- 
gers and tlie officers and crew. They had 
eighteen deaths on the way, and our subject 
came near dying with Isthmus fever, with 
which he had already suffered nearly four 
weeks, and on arriving at San Francisco he 
was not able to walk ashore. 

Here he was, a boy, sick, in a strange place, 
without an acquaintance, a friend or a dollar. 
The Portuguese sailor, whose name he never 
learned, shook his hand, bade him good-bye 
and said: "15oy, 1 hope you will make a for- 
tune in California and go home with plenty 
of gold." Our subject was taken to tlie hotel 
and was there taken care of by the late John 
Flood, the millionaire, who was then a plas- 
terer in San Francisco. The same aided Mi'. 
Gurley in obtaining a situation as assistant 
bookkeeper in the old Niantic Hotel, corner 
of Sansome and Merchant streets. 

After remaining there one year he sought 
his fortune in the mining district, remained 
there two years working in the mines, but 
was not successful. He then made up his 



HI8T0BT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



779 



mind to return to San Francisco. On his 
way he stopped in Sacramento, and there he 
obtained a situation in a drug house with 
Gates Brotliers, which he held four years. 
Dr. Gates, being a dentist, induced Mr. Giir- 
ley to take that as a profession. He had 
access to iiis library and office and put in his 
evenings in study and practice. He then 
practiced in merchandising and speculation 
for several years. Finally, in 1864, he entered 
regularly into the practice of dentistry in the 
lower part of Shasta valley. He remained 
there six months and then traveled through 
Oregon and Idaho, practicing until Septem- 
ber 1, 1866, when he left Boise City for 
Philadelphia, to attend the dental college, 
sailing from San Francisco September 21. 
They were twelve days on the' voyage to 
Greytown, at the mouth of the Nicaragua 
river. The connecting steamer, which sailed 
from New York, was caught in the equinoc- 
tial gales raging on the Atlantic coast at that 
time. She was so disabled that she had to 
return for repairs to New York. This left 
our bubject in Greytown. Two weeks the 
company took care of their 1,400 passengers 
at their own expense. He was among the 
cabin passengers and was nicely cared for. 

The connecting vessel on which Dr. Gurley 
took passage became disabled and short of 
coal, and found it necessary to put into the 
Charleston harbor. South Carolina, in view 
of repairs and fuel. There several hundred 
passengers, our subject among the rest, left 
the steamer and took rail for different points. 
The Doctor then went to search for his par- 
ents, who had not heard from him since the 
opening of the war, as it will be remembered 
all communications were cut off. He found 
them living in another county, their old 
home all swept away by the ravages of war; 
his mother and two brotliers were dead, and 



the living were in abject poverty. There he 
found a place to spend a part of his money 
in assisting the father and family. Placing 
them in a comfortable condition he proceeded 
to Philadelphia and attended the Pennsyl- 
vania Dental College, graduating therefrom 
in the class of 1866-'67, with the highest 
honors of the class. He then practiced in 
New Jersey and Pennsylvania for one year, 
and went to Anderson, South Carolina, in 
1868. He practiced there, and in that year 
married Miss Julia Fant, daughter of O. H. 
P. Fant, one of the worthiest and most hon- 
ored citizens of that county (Anderson). In 
1872 he entered the Maryland University of 
Medicine, graduating in the class of 1873-74, 
with the title of M. D. After graduating he 
located in Atlanta, Georgia, and practiced 
there until 1884, and then removed to Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, early in 1885, and practiced 
there five years, coming to Dallas in 1890, 
where he has built up a large and increasing 
practice. It should have been mentioned 
that after graduating in dentistry he took 
special instructions in the manufacture of 
continuous gum work and the art of carving 
porcelain teeth, preparing himself to take a 
position with Dr. Evans, of Paris, France, 
who was then dentist to the Emperor. The 
illness of Dr. Gurley's father, Martin A. 
Gurley, prevented him from doing the same. 
As a physician and surgeon the Doctor has 
been eminently successful, successfully per- 
forming some of the most delicate operations 
on the eye, ear, nose and throat. 

Our subject's father was a tailor by trade. 
He stood well among his acquaintances. He 
took part in the war of 1812, and received a 
pension, both for his own services in said war 
and for his father's (John Gurley) services in 
the Revolutionary war, the latter fio-htino' 
under General Francis Marion. The father, 



780 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Martin A., died at the age of ninety-six years, 
in 1869. He and his wife were devout and 
life-long members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Cliurch. His wife died during the war, aged 
about forty-five years. Of their seven chil- 
dren only four are yet living, viz.: Our sub- 
ject, the oldest; Henrietta, widow of Frank 
Allen, residing in South Carolina; Pleasant 
and Duncan, the younger brothers, reside 
there also. 

Our subject and wife's liome has been 
blessed in the birth of six children: Alice, 
wife of Frank Dickason, of Dallas, — Delphine 
is their only child; Eugenia, Bessie, Lulie 
and James are of the home circle; Millie, the 
second child, died at the age of two years. 
Mrs. Gurley and daughters are members of 
the Baptist Church. 

Probably there is no other dentist in the 
South who has had such thorough and scien- 
tific training in his profession as Dr. Gurley. 
He has been a close and careful student, and 
takes pride in keeping fully abreast with the 
times in all the tnethods of treatment and 
scientific discoveries. 

fOHN S. BALLARD, has been a resident 
of Dallas county, Texas, since 1857. 
Mr. Ballard was born in Charleston, 
Virginia, in 1823, the youngest in the family 
of nine children of John and Phebe (Berry) 
Ballard, natives of Virginia. His father, a 
farmer by occupation, emigrated in 1825 to 
Boone county, Kentucky, and settled on a 
farm. He spent the rest of his days there, 
and died in 1859. His wife passed away in 
1850. John S. was reared in Boone county, 
Kentucky, and received his education in the 
subscription schools of that place. In 1846 
he went to Shelby county, Indiana, and 



was employed as clerk in a store. About 
18J:9 he went to Carthage, Rush county, 
Indiana, and in 1851 to Henry county 
(Knightstown); in 1850 was married there, to 
Miss Sarah Elizabeth Goble, a native of Henry 
county, Indiana, and a daughter of Ebenezer 
and Sallie (Ferguson) Goble, natives of Ohio. 
They lived in Indiana until they came to 
Dallas, Texas, the father coming in 1856, and 
the mother in 1857. He died in 1863, and 
she in 1868. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ballard 
settled in Henry county, where they lived 
until 1857, when they came South and located 
near Lancaster, Dallas county. Mr. Ballard 
bought prairie land, improved it, and lived 
on it until coming to Dallas in 1861. He 
settled on Carter street, and engaged in the 
milling business, being a miller by trade. He 
also learned the trade of millwright. He 
erected the Terry Mills in 1863-'64, known as 
the City Mills. In 1867 he built a large mill 
in Dallas and continued milliner some three 
or four years longer. After that he turned 
bis attention to carpenter work, contracting 
and superintending. He built the first three- 
story brick building in Dallas. In 1887 Mr. 
Ballard moved to his present residence at Oak 
Cliff; he owns eight acres of well improved 
and valuable property. He has taken an ac- 
tive interest in political and municipal mat- 
ters. He is a Democrat; has served as Alder- 
man for the Second Ward nearly four years. 
Socially, he is a member of Dallas Lodge. 
No. 44, I. O. O. F. He has passed all the 
chairs in both the Subordinate Lodge and 
Encampment. He and his wife are both 
members of the First Methodist Episcopal 
Church of Dallas. Followincr are the names 
of the children born to them: George S , who 
is married and resides at the corner of Seventh 
and Ewing streets. Oak Cliff, is engaged in 



->««kVJR:. 







9m^iu^^^.^- 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



781 



the wholesale hat business in Dallas; Butler 
E., who died in Dallas county at the age of 
nine years; John M., who died at Oak Cliff 
in February, 1891, left a widow and two chil- 
dren; Addie, widow of Beverly L. Stem- 
inons, has two children: Bessie S., and 
Beverly E. 

Mr. Ballard is one of the representative 
citizens of Oak Cliff, and is held in high es- 
teem by all who know him. 

lOLONEL MARTIN WILLIAM 
MANN, one of America's most loyal 
citizens, was born in Gangrehweiler, 
Ehein, Bavaria, Germany, in 1830, and is a son 
(if Johaiin Adam Mann, also a native of Ger- 
many. His father was a contractor, and died 
in the Fatherland, in 1863. There were four 
sons in the family, and three of them emi- 
grated to America, namely: Va|entine, who 
resides in Missouri; Philip, in Indiana, and 
our subject, in Texas. The Colonel received 
a good education in Germany, b,ut believing 
the New World had more in store for him 
than his native land, at the age of eighteen 
years he sailed away, leaving the beloved 
home of his youth and his relatives and 
friends who were very dear to him. He 
stopped at New York city for eighteen 
months, where he wqrked at the trade of 
marble cutting, which he had learned in his 
own country. He then started out from home 
and for several years traveled extensively over 
the United States. When the Civil war 
broke o\^t he enlisted in the Twelfth Illinois 
Volunteer Infantry, April 17, 1861. He 
went to Cairo, Illinois, and was mustered out 
Augiist 1, 1861. August 14, 1861, he 
ye-enlisted, joining Company E, Second Illi- 
nois Light Artillery, and was soon active 

51 



in the service. He participated in the bat- 
tles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh 
and the siege of Corinth. At Shiloh he was 
wounded. He was in the siege of Vicksburg, 
and was afterward transferred to the Gulf 
Department. He saw some fighitng in the 
last year of his enlistment, and was mustered 
out at Springfield, Illinois, September 29, 
1864, as First Lieutenant. When peace had 
been declared he engaged in business at 
Clinton, Missouri, which he continued until 
1874. In that year he came to Texas, and 
located at Brenham, where he established 
himself in the marble business. He con- 
ducted this very successfully until August, 
1890, when he disposed of his interests at 
Brenham and removed to Dallas. 

Colonel Mann is an active member of the 
G. A. R., which he joined March 16, 1868. 
He is a member of Camp Lyon Post, St. 
Louis, Missouri, but since coming to Texas 
has been a member of a post here. He was 
a delegate to Milwaukee in 1888, and March 
5, 1890, he was elected Commander of the 
Texas Department, G. A. R., by a unanimous 
vote. He has the oversight of fifty-seven 
posts, of which 1,695 comrades constitute 
the membership. He is devoted to this 
organization, giving it much of his time and 
attention. He belongs to Graham Lodge, 
No. 20, A. F. & A. M., in which he has 
been Worshipful Master three terms; to 
Brenham Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M., for 
which he has been High Priest two terras; 
of Brenham Commandery, No. 15, K. T., of 
which he has been Eminent Commander; of 
Hellah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Dallas, 
and he is also an active member of Trinity 
Lodo'e, I. O. O. F., of Dallas. He has been 
a Kepublicau from the organization of the 
party. Was one of the Trustees of the pub- 
lic school, is a Trustee of Blinn Memorial 



'782 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT 7. 



Methf dist Episcopal College, and is a mem- 
ber of tlie Methodist Episcopal Church. 

He was married in 1868, to Miss Annie 
E. Weiss, a native of Pennsylvania. They 
have no children. 



PR. J. S. LETCHER, one of the leading 
])hjsicians of Dallas county, and a 
highly respected citizen of Dallas, dates 
his birth in Coosa county, Alabama. 

His parents, J. D. and Martha A. 
(Bozeman) Letcher, natives of x\labaina, were 
married about 1836, are now honored pioneers 
of that State, and have reached the advanced 
age of eighty-si.x and seventy-eigiit years re- 
spectively. Mr. Letcher has been engaged in 
agricultural pursuits all liis life, and by his 
honorable and upright course has won the 
confidence and respect of all who have known 
him during these years. The Bozeman family 
was composed of four sons and three daugh- 
ters. Of the former, only Nathan, the cele- 
brated gynecologist of New York, is living. 
Mrs. Letcher's sisters are Elizabeth, wife of 
General Bulger, of Alabama; and Martha, 
widow of a Mr. McKinney, of Milam county, 
Texas. Following are the children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Letcher: Dr. Francis M., of Cross 
Keys, Alabama, married Claudia Canton, and 
has seven children: Susie, wife of Dr. W. R. 
Chapman, resides on a farm in Monroe 
county, Alabama, two of their four children 
being doctors; Hattie, wife of Henry Davis, 
died at the age of fifty years, leaving six chil- 
dren; Elizabeth, widow of K. King, lives in 
Rockdale, two of her six children being doctors ; 
Mattie, wife of A. H. Pylant, died, leaving 
ten ciiildren, two of the daughters having 
married doctors; Nathan G. died at the age 
of thirty-three years, unmarried; John D., 
Jr., a large stock-dealer, of Jones county, 



Texas, was first married to Miss Neighbors, 
and after her death to Miss Zellner, having 
four children by his present wife; Dr. J. S., 
the subject of our sketch; Lulu, wife of J. H. 
Hughes, Burnet, Texas; and James Talbert, 
an attorney at Lampasas, Texas, who died at 
the age of thirty, unmarried. For fifty-six 
years Mr. and Mrs. Letcher have traveled 
life's pathway together, sowing the seeds of 
kindness that have long since ripened into a 
fruitful harvest. Tliey are Hfe-loug members 
of the Baptist Church. 

The subject of this article received his lit- 
erary education in Cross Keys, Alabama, and 
began the study of medicine there under the 
direction of his brother. Dr. Francis M., a 
physician of prominence at that place. He 
then entered the Medical Department of the 
University of New Orleans in 1870, and gi'ad- 
uated at the Medical College of Alabama in 
1872. He practiced medicine in Milam 
county, Texas, eleven years, in Lampasas six 
years, and since 1889 has been at Dallas. In 
1883 he atteded Bellevue Hospital Medical 
College, in 1884 took a post graduate course 
at the Post Graduate Medical College in New 
York, and in J888 attended the Polyclinic in 
New York, thus fi^rther preparing himself 
for ills life work. In the practice of his pro- 
fession he hag been vpry successful. He is 
medical examiner and referee for several pro- 
minent insurance companies of the East. 
While in Lampasas he was president of the 
First National Bank, which position he re- 
signed when he moved to Dallas. 

Dr. Letcher was married in 1876 to Miss 
M. M. Oxsheer, daughter of Honorable W. 
W. Oxslieer and his wife, nee Martha Kirk, 
natives of Tennessee and for over fifty years 
residents of Milam county, Texas, the former 
seventy- eight and the latter sixty-eight years 
of age. Mr. Oxsheer has represented his dis- 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



783 



trict in the Legislature several times. He is 
a surveyor of much experience. He and 
George Erath and George Green, of Milam 
county, established most of the county lines 
west of the Brazos river. The three children 
of Mr. and Mrs. O.xsheer are F. G.. an exten- 
sive stock-raiser, of Colorado, Texas, who 
married Mary Beal and has seven children: 
Viola, wife of H. F. Smith, a merchant of 
Cameron, Texas, has six children; and Mrs. 
Letcher. The Doctor and his wife have 
three children, Oakey, Elma and Ann. 

Dr. Letcher is prominently connected with 
the Masonic fraternity. He has served as 
"Worthy Master of the blue lodge, and is 
also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter; is 
a K. of P. as well. In politics, he is a Demo- 
crat. He and his wife are both members of 
the Baptist Church. 

ti CRADDOCK, capitalist and real estate 
'ji dealer, is one of the progressive busi- 
V ® ness men of Dallas, and is entitled to 
the following space in this record of tiie 
county's leading men. He is a native of 
Henry county, Alabanja, born October 10, 
1847, and is a soi; of Joseph P. and Jane 
(Byrd) Craddock, natives of New York and 
Virginia respectively. The father was a 
plai^ter f<nd owned s, number of slaves before 
the war. He died in 1867, and his wife 
passed away in 1863. When our subject was 
sixteen years of age he enlisted in the Con- 
federate service, and participated in the siege 
pf Atlf^nta and numerous skirmishes and 
iqiuor engagements, in the fall of 1864 his 
pompany was disbanded, after which he went 
^;q Mobile, and was there transferred to the 
fourth Tennessee Battalion. April 9, 1865, 
he was captured and taken to Ship Island, 



where he was held three months; he was 
then taken across the river to Meridian, and 
thence to Vicksbnrg, where he was liberated. 
He returned to his father's farm in Alabama, 
and remained there until 1870, when he re- 
moved to Bosque county, Texas. lie went 
into business, but became dissatisfied and 
sold out, coining to Dallas in 1875. He em- 
barked in the liquor trade, and later added 
a wholesale department, which he developed 
into one of the largest wholesale houses in 
the city. In 1887 he sold this interest to 
Mr. Swope and Mr. Mangold, retiring from 
commercial life. Afterward, however, he 
opened a real-estate office, and has taken 
stock in various corporations in the city. He 
is ever ready to give a cordial support to 
those movements which are calcnlated to 
benefit the entire community, and has con- 
tributed his share to all laudable enterprises. 
Mr. Craddock received his education in 
the common schools of Alabama, and the ad- 
vantages offered in those early days were not 
by any means equal to those of the present 
time; he worked on the farm dnring the 
summer season, and in the winter devoted 
his time to his books. The breaking out of 
the Civil war, however, put an end to all 
such pursuits. In 1873 he was united in 
marriage to Miss Nannie E. Legg, a daughter 
of James M. and Mattie (Smith) Legg, na- 
tives of Alabama. Mr. Lew was a large 
planter in Alabama, but believing the oppor- 
tunities greater further west, removed with 
his family to Arkansas in 1852; he purchased 
an improved farm in Clark county, and re- 
sided tiiere until 1868, when he moved to 
Johnson county, Texas; there he lived a re- 
tired life until his death, which occurred in 
February, 1886; his wife survived him only 
seven days. The wife of our subject was 
called to her final rest March 8, 1887, leaving 



784 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



her husbauil and three children: two daugh- 
ters Birdie and Jimmie, and a son, Lawrence. 
Mr. Craddock was married a second time, 
December 16, 1891, to Miss Mattie Y. Long, 
a native of Georgia. Mrs. Craddock is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church. 

Politically, Mr. Craddock is identified with 
the Democratic party. He holds a member- 
ship in Dallas Lodge, No. 44, I. (). (). F., in 
Cceur de Lion Lodge, No. 8, Knights of 
Pythias, and is also a member of the 
Knights of Honor. 



M 



^ 



jBRAHAM HART, a farmer and stock, 
raiser of precinct No. 1, was born in 
"^ Guilford county, North Carolina, in 
1822, the eldest of ses'en children of Jacob 
and Elizabeth (Huffiance) Hart, natives also 
of North Carolina. The father emigrated 
from his native State to Sangamon county 
Illinois, in 1830, later to Christian county, 
and in 1844 came to Dallas county, Texas, 
settling and breaking ground where the city 
of Dallas is now situated. It is the farmer 
who must lay the foundation for the thou- 
sands who later on will leave the farm, and 
enter the active, pushing, professional and 
commercial world, and help to move the car 
of progress in the onward course to greater 
possibilities. He died in this county in 1847, 
and the mother survived until 1883. 

Abraham, our subject, was reared and 
educated in Sangamon county, and in 1844 
he came to this county and took up 640 acres 
in his father's name, located near the city. 
He sold this land in 1853, after which he 
bought eighty-three acres of unimproved land 
where he now lives, of which he has improved 
ninety-nine acres. In 1863 Mr. Hart enlisted 
in Colonel Stone's regiment. Captain Strat- 



ton's company, and served until the close of 
the war. He was in the Bayou tight, was 
taken prisoner at Bourbon Bayou, and after- 
ward was exchanged and sent home. He was 
married in this county, in 1848, to Miss 
Elizabeth Ray, a native of Illinois, and a 
daughter of Robert and Mary (Denton) Ray, 
natives of Kentucky. The parents moved to 
Illinois in an early day, and in 1846 to Dal- 
las county, Texas, where the father died in 
1883, and the mother in 1877. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hart have had eleven children, nine of whom 
survive, namely: Mary Ellen, wife of William 
Cartwright, of Denton county, Texas; Jane, 
wife of Robert Bethnrura, of Dallas county; 
Robert Henry, who resides in this county; 
Douglas, also of this county; Frank, of 
Gieer county, Texas; Electa Ann, wife of 
John Curtis, of -Rockwall county; Edward, 
a resident of this county; John, at home. 
Politically, Mr. Hart is a Democrat, and so- 
cially a member of the Farmers' Alliance. 

UTLER COMPANY, manufacturers of 
brick in Dallas, were organized as a firm 
in 1883. Their works have a capacity 
of 30,000 a day, and they run on an average 
nine montiis in a year, employing about 
twenty hands. They make a No. 1 hand- 
made brick, and keep constantly on hand a 
full line of all grades. 

P. J. Butler, of the above firm, is also a 
general contractor. He came to Dallas in 
the spring of 1873, and at first was foreman 
for Leonard Brothers, brick manufacturers 
and contractors. He was born in Ireland, in 
1846, the youngest of eight children of John 
and Catharine (Minehan) Butler, natives also 
of the Emerald Isle. His mother died in 
1870, and his father in 1874. Mr. Butler 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



785 



grew up to years of maturity in his native 
land. In 1867, lie emigrated to A.merica, 
the land of oppoi-tunity, stopping fiist at 
Troy, New York, where he commenced his 
trade as bricklayer and builder. Then he 
proceeded to Milwaukee and Sparta, Wiscon- 
sin, Dubuque and Independence, Iowa, thence 
with his brother to St. Louis, and to Yicks- 
burg. Little Rock, and finally to Dallas, where 
lie has since erected many important build- 
ings, as the Merchants' Exchange, Pacific de- 
pot, Blankeuship & Blake's wholesale house, 
five stories, 50 X 200; Schoellkopfs building 
(same size), the Ursuline Convent Academy, 
Mr. Gill's building on Elm street, 50 x 200, 
Sanger Brothers' building, and many others. 
As to polities, Mr. Butler votes with the Re- 
publican party, bnt is not active in its coun- 
cils. He and his wife are members of the 
Catholic Church. 

He was married in St. Louis, June 17, 
1874, to Catharine Hefferman, a native of 
that city, and they have six children living, 
as follows: Mary Thei-esa, boarding at the 
convent; Margery, attending the Bryant 
school; and A¥illiam Joseph, Ellen, Catha- 
rine and John. 



■^^lyuui/- 



^S~ 



"i/inn^^ 



L. PEACOCK, of the firm of Peacock 
& Shirley, paint and paper supply store, 
No. 153 Main street, Dallas, has been 
engaged in his present business since 1884. 
Mr. Peacock was born in Muscogee county, 
Georgia, December 31, 1846, the third in a 
family of seven children of Levi L. and Mary 
(Lamb) Peacock. His father was a native of 
England, came with his parents to this coun- 
try and settled in Virginia, and from there 
moved to Georgia, where he followed the life 
of a planter. His mother was of German 
descent and was born in Georgia. When the 



subject of this sketch was a boy his parents 
moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where, in 
1864, they died, their deaths occurring only 
a day or two apart. In Montgomery Mr. 
Peacock was reared, receiving his education 
in the schools of that city. During the war 
he served as a member of Company G, Sixty- 
fourth Alabama Regiment, doing provost 
duty. 

At Atlanta, Georgia, in 1871, Mr. Peacock 
married Miss Sadie Fisher, a native of that 
State and a daughter of Professor Fisher, 
who for many years was professor of music 
in the Macon University. He was a native 
of Germany. His death occurred in Atlanta 
about 1868. After his marriage Mr. Peacock 
settled in Nashville, Tennessee, from which 
place he subsequently came to Texas and lo- 
ated in Dallas. He had learned the painter's 
trade in Montgomery, and upon his arrival 
here, in 1875, at once engaged in that busi- 
ness. He and his partner now employ from 
ten to twelve men and are doing a thriving 
business. 

Politically, Mr. Peacock is a Democrat. 
He is a public-spirited citizen, and ever since 
he took up his residence here has been iden- 
tified with the best interests of the place. 
He has been a member of the School Board 
for two years, and as such has been actively 
interested in educational matters, and has 
been closely connected with the building of 
three new schoolhouses. These were erected 
in 1891, at a cost of $25,000 each, are located 
in the south, east and north parts of Dallas, 
and are known as McKinney Avenue, San 
Jacinto and Cedar Lawn schools. Mr. Pea- 
cock is prominently associated with the fol- 
lowing organizations: Tannehill Lodge, No. 
52, A. F. & A. M., being Treasurer of the 
same; Dallas Chapter, No. 47, R. A. M., of 
which he is Treasurer; Dallas Commandery, 



786 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



No. 6; Hella Temple; Dallas Lodge, I. O. 
O. F., No. 44, of which he is a trustee and 
member of the building committee; and of 
the Original Encampment of I. O. O. F., 
being Treasurer of same. He and his wife 
are both members of the Baptist Church. 
They are the parents of eight children: Willie 
L., Eugene, Horace, Jewell, Elva, Jacob, Les- 
lie, Charlie and Leona. 



^ 



II!^()YAL A. FERRIS is one of the live, 
^ energetic business men of Dallas, Texas^ 
)roniising well for the future. For 
many years he was well known as a success- 
ful banker, and is one of the directors, as 
well as second vice-president of the National 
Exchange Bank of this city. 

He was born on the 8th day of August, A. 
D. 1851, in Jefferson, Texas, then a flourish- 
ing town, situated at the head of navigation 
on the lakes which lead into Red river, near 
Shreveport, Louisiana. He is the eldest son 
of Judge J. W. Ferris, of Waxahachie, Texas, 
who has been a leading and prominent law- 
yer of north Texas for over forty years. 
Judge Ferris, the father, is known as having 
creditably occupied several important posi- 
tions in the State, such as member of the 
Legislature, Judge of the District Court, 
member of the Constitutional Convention 
of 1875, and Commissioner with four others, 
to revise and codify the laws of the State. 
The mother of Royal A. Ferris is a native of 
the State of Kentucky; her maiden name 
was Mattie J. Ci-ow; she was born and reared 
In Floydsburg, Oldham county, Kentucky. 
Her father, Andrew D. Crow, was one of the 
Kentucky volunteers who fought against the 
British army, under General Jackson at New 
Orleans, and aided in securing the great vic- 



tory which ended the war of 1812. After 
the battle he was honorably discharged, and as 
a footman he sought his way, as best he could, 
through a vast wilderness, inhabited by Indi- 
ans, back to his old Kentucky home. He was 
prosperous and prominent among his neigh- 
bors, living to the good old age of eighty- 
four years, loved and honored by all who 
knew him. His name, Andrew, was trans- 
mitted to the grandson, the subject of this 
sketch. 

Li the fall of 1854, Judge Ferris removed 
with his family from Jefferson to Waxaha- 
chie, Texas, then a small town, located near 
the clear, crystal waters of Waxahachie creek, 
and in the heart of a rich agricultural prai- 
rie country. Here health came back to the 
family, followed by continued and increasing 
prosperity. It was here that Royal A. was 
principally reared and educated. In the school 
room he was apt and quick to learn, standing 
generally at the head of his classes. His 
education was completed at the Kentucky 
Military Institute, located at Farmdale, near 
Frankfort, Kentucky, which was then under 
the skillful superintendence of Colonel R. T. 
P. Allen. His advancement and proficiency 
as a student was very marked, especially in 
mathematics, bookkeeping and the sciences. 
He left the institute quite a favorite witii the 
teachers and his associates. 

Returning to his home in Texas in 1870, 
he took employment at once in the private 
banking house of Ferris «& Getzendaner, his 
father being the senior member of the firm. 
For a time, he there discharged the duties of 
both cashier and bookkeeper. In 1875, 
the father retired from the bank in favor of 
his son. Royal A., whereupon the name of 
the firm was changed to Getzendaner & Fer- 
ris, the son becoming the junior member. 
From 1875 to 1885, a period of ten years, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNrT. 



787 



til is banking iionse, under the skillful man- 
agement of W. H. Getzendaner and Royal A, 
Ferris, as well as by honest and fair dealing 
with all persons, grew and prospered beyond 
expectation. It commanded the confidence 
of the entire business public, and its finan- 
cial standing was unsurpassed by any other 
bank in the State. 

It so happened that the track of the Hous- 
ton & Texas Central railroad in Ellis county 
was located eleven miles east of Waxahacliie, 
the county seat; and there began to be agi- 
tated the question of moving the courthouse 
and jail to some point on the railroad. It 
became necessary, therefore, to put on foot at 
once the construction of a tap railroad from 
Waxahachie. A charter for the purpose was 
obtained from the Legislature, and Royal A. 
Ferris was principally instrumental in bring- 
ing to a successful termination the building, 
equipping and running of the Waxahachie 
Tap railroad, which was made to connect the 
town of Waxahachie with the Houston & 
Texas Central railroad at Garrett. He went 
to the Eastern cities, taking with him the 
sul)sidy bonds granted by the city to the 
amount of $63,000, and sought to enlist rail- 
road capitalists in the enterprise. Failing in 
this, he, together with Jeremiah Riorden, 
took the contract to build, equip, and operate 
the road upon the same terms offered to 
others. By the skillful management of Royal 
A., all financial difiiculties were overcome, 
and the road was completely equipped and 
operated to the satisfaction of all parties, a 
complete triumph for Waxahachie. The Tap 
railroad proving to be a success, it very soon, 
by purchase, went into the hands of the Hous- 
ton & Texas Central Railroad Company. 

He was also chiefly instrumental in the 
organization of the Waxahachie Real Estate 
& Building Association, and was a large 



stockholder in it. This company purchased 
the grounds formerly occupied by the old and 
popular Rogers Hotel, and constructed 
thereon a large block of brick buihlings, the 
second story of which was utilized for a hotel, 
bearing the name of the Rogers House, in 
honor of Major E. W. Rogers, who was the 
original founder of the town. This property 
still belongs to the company, and proves to 
be a good investment. 

In 1885 the private bank of Getzendaner 
& Ferris was merged into a National Bank, 
named the Citizens' National Bank of Waxa- 
hachie, with a paid up capital of $100,000. 
Royal A. F'erris being a stockholder. It was 
about this time, however, that ambition led 
him to seek a larger field of operations. A 
very flattering offer was made for him to 
take charge of the Exchange Bank of Dallas, 
Texas, and manage its business, allowing him 
to i)ecorae owner of a specified interest. The 
offer was accepted, and Royal A. Ferris be- 
came a citizen as well as an active business 
man of the young and growing city of Dallas. 

Under his management, the Exchange Bank 
of Dallas greatly flourished, and continually 
grew in the confidence of the public. He 
became owner of a large share of the stock; 
and the charter from the State having but a 
short time to run was abandoned. In its 
stead, and under his direction, the National 
Exchange Bank of Dallas was chartered and 
organized, with a paid up capital of $300,000. 
In this l)ank also he was, and continues to be, 
a large stockholder; has been a director from 
the date of its organization, was its first vice- 
president, and managed the bank the first 
year. Heavy oflice work and close confine- 
ment began, iti time, to wear manifestly upon 
his liealth and constitution, so tliat in 1888 a 
change became necessary. He therefore re- 
sijjned as an active working official, continu- 



788 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ing, however, to serve as one of the directors, 
and to fill the position of second vice-presi- 
dent. It may be justly said, without derogat- 
ing from others, that the National Exchange 
Bank of Dallas is indebted to Royal A. Fer- 
ris as much as to any otiier one person for 
its prosperous condition and present high 
standing in commercial circles. 

After giving up office work in the bank, 
the street railway plants of Dallas commanded 
his attention. He obtained a controlling 
interest in the companies owning and operat- 
ing the Main street and the San Jacinto 
street railway lines. At his suggestion and 
under his direction a consolidation was ef- 
fected between those companies and the com- 
panies owning other lines, so as to form one 
company under the name of the Dallas Con- 
solidated Traction Railway Company. He 
became president of the company in 1889, 
and has filled the position ever since. The 
increasing demand for street railway service 
in a new city, rapidly widening out in every 
direction, caused the company to enter largely 
upon railway construction, until they now 
own and operate about thirty miles of street 
railway, located upon the most important 
streets of tlie city. It is believed and ex- 
pected that che early growth and development 
of the city will, in the near future, fully 
justify the adventure. It has, in any event, 
already contributed very largely to the city's 
advancement and prosperity; and the presi- 
dent of the Dallas Consolidated Traction 
Railway Company merits this day, and doubt- 
less will receive, the commendation and sup- 
port of every true friend of Dallas. 

Mr. Ferris is classed as an active, public- 
spirited man. He assisted largely in setting 
on foot the Texas State Fair and Dallas Ex- 
position, and is one of the directors at 
this writing. Other enterprises might be 



named in which he has taken an active part. 

In fraternal circles he also occupies a 
prominent place. He is Past Grand Chan- 
cellor of the Knights of Pythias; is also a 
member of the I. O. O. F., Lodge No. 80, 
at Waxahachie, Texas; and was once its rep- 
resentative to the Grand Lodge of the State. 

On December 13, 1882, he was most 
happily married to Miss Lulu Brown, daugh- 
ter of John T. Bi'own, then of Atlanta, Geor- 
gia. She was a beautiful, highly accom- 
plished lady, and possessed of many loval)le 
qualities. She was also an exemplary mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. 
In less than one year from the marriage, 
when returning with her husband from a 
pleasure trip to Kentucky, she was overtaken 
by I'atal illness on the way; and she had 
barely reached the loving arms of parents and 
friends at home when cruel, relentless death 
came and snatched her away. This was a 
sad, sad blow to the devoted husband ! The 
wound then made has scarcely healed as yet. 

The leading traits in the make-up of Royal 
A. Ferris are, an active, vigorous brain, quick, 
clear perception, honesty of purpose, strong 
will power, good executive ability, and 
genial good nature. He is yet in his prime. 
What he has accomplished in the past is a 
forecast of what may be expected in the 
future. 

,R. BENJAMIN L. RAWLINS, a ris- 
ing young physician of Dallas, was born 
in Dallas county, Texas, July 30, 1867, 
son of Roderick D. and Henrietta C. (Jacobs) 
Rawlins, a sketch of whom follows near by. 
The Doctor attended school in Dallas. He 
read medicine for several years under the 
tutelacre of the late celebrated Dr. Morton, 
well and favorably known as an eminent 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT F. 



789 



physician of Dallas. He received his medi- 
cal ediicatioti at the University of Pennsylva- 
nia, graduating in May, 1889, since which 
time he has been successfully engaged in the 
practice of his profession. He is medical 
examiner for the Equitable Life and the Fi- 
delity Mutual Insurance Companies, andis a 
member of Dallas County Medical Society 
and the Texas State Medical Association. 
He has identified himself with the Christian 
Church, but takes little interest in political 
matters. 

|KB HOLT, M. D., a successful physician 
and surgeon, proprietor of Holt's San- 
* itai'ium, corner of Eighth street and 
Lancaster avenue. Oak Cliff, is a native of 
Upshur county, Texas. 

His parents, L. E. and Elizabeth (Parker) 
Holt, were both natives of Bedford county, 
Tennessee, where they were both raised and 
married. They came to Texas in 1848. The 
father farmed for two years and then 
turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. 
He moved to Fort Worth in 1849 and there 
continued the mercantile business until the 
war opened, when he was obliged to dis- 
continue. He and his brother-in-law, Daniel 
Parker, built the third store in Fort Worth, 
located on the corner of Main street and the 
public square. That building is still stand- 
ing. 

Tlie father took part in the late war, en- 
listing" at an early date and served as a private 
until the war closed. He was captured while 
detailed to take care of some wounded sol- 
diers in northern Kentucky. He was soon 
after paroled, returned home and was soon 
exchanged and returned to the service. He 
has been in John H. Morgan's command, 
and while at home tlie command was captured 



in Ohio and disbanded. He served the re- 
mainder of the time under General Gano's 
command west uf the Mississippi. 

After the war he engaged in agricultural 
pursuits, which he continued during his act- 
ive life. He is now retired and resides in 
Wheeler county with his daughter, Almeda 
Holt, aged sixty-eight years. His wife died 
in 1878, at the age of fifty-two years. They 
were both members of the Christian Church. 

Our subject is the oldest of three children, 
all living. The second is Almeda, wife ot 
J. S. Holt, residing on a farm in Wheeler 
county. 

Daniel, the youngest, is living in Shackle- 
ford county, on a stock farm. His wife was 
nee Nettie Myers. 

Onr subject received his literary education 
at Fort Worth and Birdville, Texas. He 
studied medicine under Dr. J. D. liay of J'ort 
Worth. He attended a medical course at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, and then practiced for nine 
years. In 1884 he attended medical college 
at Indianapolis, — the Physio- Medical College 
of Indiana, — graduating therefrom in 1885. 
He then resumed practice at Bedford, Texas, 
remaining one year, from there going to Chico, 
where he practiced three years, then to Weath- 
erford, where lie practiced for three years, 
then removing to Oak Cliff, his present lo- 
cation, in April, 1892. He opened a sani- 
tarium, where the outlook for his business 
is very promising. He treats every kind of 
disease that flesh is heir to, except contagious 
or infectious diseases. His business has 
been on the increase ever since his advent to 
the city. 

He was married on October 3, 1877, to 
Miss Fannie Campbell, daughter of H. W. and 
N. F. Campbell, of Louisiana, Missouri. 
The Doctor and Mrs. Holt have one child, — 
Campbell, — who is still living. The wife 



790 



HI8T0B7 OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



died February 15, 1884, aged twenty years; 
was a member of the Christian Church. The 
Doctor's second marriage was September 6, 
1885, to Miss Ellen Bumpas, daughter of 
John Bumpas, one of the pioneers of Dallas 
county, coming here at an early date. 

Both the Doctor and his estimable wife are 
members of the Christian Church. He is a 
member of the American Association of 
Physio- Medical Physicians and Sftrgeons. 
Dr. Holt contributes to the Physio- Medical 
Journal of Indianapolis, also to Sanative Med- 
icine of Westerville, Ohio. 

The Doctor is well read in the school of 
medicine in which he practices, his skill is 
acknowledged throughout the country, and it 
has brought him a large practice. In poli- 
tics he supports the principles of the Demo- 
cratic party, although he is no politician, 
the cares of his profession pressing upon him 
too heavily for that. 



D. RAWLINS, of the firm of Moore 
& Rawlins, dealers in building ma- 
V* terial, 271 Elm street, Dallas, Texas, is 
a native of Greene county, Illinois, born June 
10, 1842. His parents were Pleasant King 
and Lydia (Heaton) Rawlins, natives respect- 
ively of Indiana and of Pennsylvania, and 
early settlers of Illinois. The mother was a 
widow and had two children when she mar- 
ried Mr. Rawlins, and by him she had six 
children, viz. : Alexander, a merchant of Lan- 
caster, Texas, married Georgia Rogers, Alma, 
being their only child; R. D., the subject of 
this sketch; John S., of Hutchins, Texas; 
Mary, wife of J. H. Ellis, resides on a farm 
near Lancaster; Lucy, wife of James I. Lav- 
ender, Lancaster, and Benjamin, deceased. 
The mother is a resident of Lancaster, and is 



now seventy-six years of age. She has been 
a devoted member of the Christian Church 
for many years. She is an estimable and 
most agreeable lady, having many dear friends 
among the old time residents of Dallas 
county. 

R. D. Rawlins spent his early life on a 
farm, and was engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits until 1872. Since that time he has 
been variously employed. In 1878 he was 
elected Tax Assessor, and served four years, 
and previous to that time served four years 
as Deputy County Clerk. 

In the fall of 1861 Mr. Rawlins enlisted 
as a private in Company F, Sixth Texas 
Cavalry, Ross's Brigade, and served about 
three and a half years. He participated in 
many of the leading engagements of the war, 
but was never wounded or taken prisoner. 

After the war he was engaged in the of- 
ficial capacities already referred to, and for 
some years has been enterested in his present 
business. They have a large and growing 
trade, deal in doors, sash, blinds, moldings, 
lath, lime, cement, plaster, mixed paints, fire 
brick and clay, and manufacture stone flues 
and sewer pipe. 

Mr. Rawlins was married in 1866 to Miss 
Henrietta C. Jacobs, youngest of the seven 
children born to Elder Lewis Jacobs, of the 
Baptist Church, the others being Mary, 
Anna, Eliza, Fanny, Mattie and Alice. Mr. 
and Mrs. Rawlins, have four children, 
namely: Dr. Benjamin L. ; William H., 
married Miss Lallah Martin, of Fort Worth, 
and has one child, Lucile; Leola V., who is 
heinsr educated at Columbia, Missouri, and 
Bertha Lee. Mrs. Rawlins is a member of 
the Christian Church. 

Mr. Rawlins is one of the worthy citizens 
and respected pioneers of tlie county. He 
has experienced many of the inconveniences 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



791 



connected with frontier life in Texas, has 
overcome obstacles and surmounted difficul- 
ties, and is now ranked with the most sub- 
stantial men of his county. He is a member 
of the Knights of Honor, and in politics is a 



Democrat. 



-^yi/i^^'l/^A^ 



fAMES G. SAIMS, M. D., was born in 
the city of Belfast, Ireland, in the year 
1888, and is the fifth of a i'amily of nine 
children. In 1840 his parents, Sweip and 
Mary (Vance) Saims, emigrated to America 
with their children, and settled in the Susque- 
hanna valley in Pennsylvania; there they 
lived until 1856, removing then to Asheville, 
North Carolina. The father was a linen 
maker by trade, and after coming to this 
country he built a linen and woolen factory, 
which he operated for several years; disposing 
of this interest he removed to Covington, 
Georgia, and built another large cotton and 
linen mill, with a flouring mill attached; here 
he conducted a large and important business, 
which was ended by the war; the entire plant 
was burned by Sherman on his march to tlie 
sea. The mother of our subject died in 1863, 
and the father survived her one year. 

Dr. Saims was in Tennessee at the begin- 
ning of the Civil war, and remained there 
until the proclamation of Jefferson Davis. 
Being in sympathy with the North, he started 
to go through the Union lines, but was taken 
prisoner, and detained in the jail at Cleve- 
land, Tennessee, for three months. At the 
end of that time he was released and furnished 
with a pass to Cumberland Gap; tlience he 
■went to Louisville, Kentucky, and to Nash- 
ville, Tennessee; there he has detained sev- 
eral months, and in August, 1863, he was 
commissioned by Andrew Johnson to organ- 
ze a company for service; this he did, and 



was then cotnmissioned First Assistant Acting 
Surgeon, a position he held until compelled 
by a most painful accident to resign. In 
mounting a spirited horse he was thrown and 
severely wounded. After two weeks he sent 
in his resignation, and at the end of five 
months he was able to resume his duties. 
He went to Nashville, and was employed in 
the Revenue Department until he was honor- 
ably discharged in April, 1863. 

His early education was acquired from any 
available source, and later he took a course 
at Sand Hill Academy, six miles from Ashe- 
ville, North Carolina, finishing his literary 
studies at Norwood College, Asheville. He 
took his first course of medical lectures at 
Atlanta, Georgia, and was graduated from 
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. 

After the war was ended, he began the 
practice of his profession at Scottsborough, 
Alabama, but continued there only a short 
time. He next went to Jasper, Tennessee, 
and thence to Dunlap, Tennessee, and thence 
to Chattanooga; in this city he resided until 
1876, when he removed to Alvarado, Texas; 
here he practiced two years, going at the 
end of that time to Lancaster, Texas, where 
he remained only one year. About this time 
his health failed and he went to Hot Springs, 
Arkansas, for medical treatment. After his 
restoration he settled in Perryville, Ar- 
kansas, and resumed his professional work. 
At the end of two years he came to Dallas, 
where he has since resided, devoting his time 
and attention to professional labors. He is 
now Surgeon on the United States Pension 
Board for the Dallas district. 

Dr. Saims was married to Miss Minerva 
A. Larkin, a daughter of Henry Larkin of 
Franklin county, Tennessee. Mr. Larkin was 
a Presbyterian minister; his death occurred 
in 1864. The Doctor and his wife have had 



793 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



born to tliein three children, and after these 
little ones were added to the household the 
mother lost her mind, and was pronounced 
incurably insane. Dr. Saims was married a 
second time, January 23, 1880, to Mrs. Wal- 
ters, a daughter of Thomas Howell, a mer- 
chant of Lancaster, Texas, who died in 1879. 
Dr. Saims is a member of Olive Lodge, 
No. 75, and is Surgeon of George H. Thomas 
Post, G. A. R. He affiliates with the Ke- 
publican party. He represented Franklin 
county, Tennessee, in the Legislature of that 
State one term, from 18(35. He is one of 
the leading members of the medical profes- 
sion in Dallas county, and is a liberal sup- 
porter of home industry. His wife belongs 
to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 



^^ 



^•^-^ 




M. C. H I L L, a farmer and stock- 
raiser of Dallas county, was born in 
I* Franklin, Simpson county, Ken- 
tucky, April 5, 1846, the sixth in a family of 
ten children born to Isaac and Pauline (Car- 
ter) Hill, natives of Virginia and Tennessee. 
The father, a mechanic by trade, was married 
in Tennessee, and in an early day located at 
Franklin, Kentucky. lu 1861 he started for 
Texas and died en route at Shreveport, Lou- 
isana,in September,and the motherand young- 
est daughter, Amanda, also died about the 
same time, from fever contracted en route. 
Our subject and his sister, Mrs. C. G. Gra- 
cey, were then left alone, but were taken care 
of by their brother-in-law, J. P. Goodnight. 

In 1862, in Dallas county, Mr. Hill en- 
listed in Company K, Ninetenth Texas Caval- 
ry, for three years, or during the war, and was 
confined principally in Arkansas and Mis- 
souri. He was also in the Red River cam- 
paign in Louisiana, and at the close of his 



service he returned to Dallas county and fol- 
lowed teaming about four years. In 1871 
he engaged as clerk for Uhluran & Co., 
where he also remained four years, and in 
May, 1875, Mr. Hill engaged in the whole- 
sale and retail grocery business. In Novem- 
ber, 1882, he was elected County Clerk of 
Dallas county and served until 1888, since 
which time he has been engaged in breeding 
fine stock. He has a large stock ranch of 
3,000 acres in Dallas county, where he is 
principally engaged in breeding trotting 
horses and mules, and also in raising graded 
shorthorn cattle. He has opened up Fair- 
view addition to this city, has made many 
profitable investments in land iu Dallas, and 
is one of the directors in the American 
National Bank, of this city. In August, 1885, 
Mr. Hill bought a lot and built a fine resi- 
dence on Guston avenue, where he now 
resides. Politically, he votes with the Dem- 
ocratic party, and in 1877 was elected Alder- 
man of this city, which position he resigned 
after one year. Socially, he is a member of 
Tannehill Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in which 
he has passed all the cliairs; of Dallas Chap- 
ter, No. 47, R. A. M.; of Dallas Comman- 
dery, No. 6, and of the K. of P., Cceur de 
Lion Lodge, No. 70. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Hill are members of the East Dallas Baptist 
Church. 

Mr. Hill was married in Ellis county, 
Texas, in July, 1875, to Lena Bullard, a 
native of Missouri, and daughter of Jolm 
Bullard, a native of Tennessee. Mrs. Hill's 
mother, 7iee Parmelia Hodges, was a native 
of Tennessee, and died about 1858, in Mis- 
souri. The father afterward emigrated with 
his slaves to Ellis county, settling first near 
the Louisana line in Texas, and later near 
Waxahachie, where he bought land. He 
died at the home of Mr. Hill in Dallas, in 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



793 



October, 1876. Onr subject's father was 
prominent in political matters, in Kentucky 
and served as an officer for many years. He 
was well and favorably known, and was a 
church member, though not very active; his 
wife was a cjiurch member from girlhood days 
and was a good and excellent woman. 



M. SCRIPTURE, 214 Houston street, 
Dallas, forms the subject of this biog- 
li'' raphy. He has been identified with 
the best interests of Dallas county since 1872, 
and is justly entitled to representation in this 
volume. 

K. M. Scripture was born in Saline county, 
Missouri, January 6, 1850. His father, 0. 
B. Scripture, was a native of New Hampshire. 
His grandfather, Charles Scripture, died in 
New Hampshire in 1885, aged ninty-seven 
years. They were of Puritan ancestry. At 
the age of eighteen years C. B. Scripture 
went to Norfolk, Virginia, and there in 18-11 
was married to Miss Elizabeth Wright, a 
native of that place and a daughter of Captain 
Wright, who was lost at sea, and who was a 
member of a family of seafaring people. Mrs. 
Scripture was educated in Boston. In 1844, 
Mr. and Mrs. Scripture emigrated to Mis- 
souri and settled in Saline county, where he 
followed the milling business, both flouring 
and lumbering. During the war, in 1863, 
he was burned out, and all of his property 
destroyed. Previous to this he had been 
engaged in the manufacture of wagons. In 
1868 he came to Texas and located in Elmo, 
where, in 1873, the family joined him. In 
1873 they took up their abode in Dallas, and 
in this city the parents passed away, the 
father dying August 15, 1883, at the age of 



sixty-five years, and the mother in 1880, aged 
sixty- one. 

After coming to Texas, R. M. Scripture 
engaged in the mercantile business at Dallas 
and at Denton for about eight years, follow- 
ing this business until 1890, and in connec- 
tion with it has also been farming. He has 
a landed estate of 700 acres. He was married 
October 2, 1878, to Miss Fanny E. Horton, a 
daughter of James Horton, of whom mention 
is made elsewhere in this work. They have 
had six children, two of whom are living: 
Blanch O. and Reginald M. 

Mr. Scripture is a member of the K. of P., 
R. L. of H. and K. of H. Politically he is a 
Democrat. 

BaR R. HUGHES, a mail carrier, of East 
Dallas, was born in middle Tennes- 
I'-^sji^^ ® see, Murray county, in 1850, the 
eldest of five children, born to William H. 
and Zuleka (Kittrell) Hughes, natives of 
South and North Carolina. The father, who 
was educated for a Methodist minister, was 
married at Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, and 
in the fall of 1852 he came to Dallas county, 
settlincr in Precinct No. 1, where he bought 
and improved a farm, and also followed the 
ministry. He assisted in building the 
Cochran Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and later moved into the city of Dallas. 
During the war he was Presiding Elder of 
this and adjoining counties, and is now sta- 
tioned at Pilot Point, Texas. In 1882 Mr. 
Hughes laid out Hughes' addition to the city 
of Dallas, which contained about nine acres, 
and was located in the eighth and ninth 
wards. 

The subject of this sketch, W. R. Hughes, 
was reared to farm life, and educated in the 
schools of Columbia. Tennessee, In 1852 




794 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



he came to Dallas county, and in 1885 was 
appointed mail carrier of East Dallas, which 
position he has since filled. He has taken an 
active interest in politics, voting with the 
Democratic party, and socially is a member 
of the Knights of the Golden Eagle. He has 
witnessed the complete growth of Dallas, and 
has always taken an active interest in every- 
thinu; for the good of the city and county. 
Mr. Hughes was married at Farmers' Branch, 
in 1887, to Miss Belle Gilberts, a native of 
Dallas county, and a daughter of S. H. and 
Julia (Richey) Gilbert, natives of Mississippi 
and Tennessee. They came to Dallas county 
at an early day, settling at Farmers' Branch, 
where the motlier died in 1881, and the 
father in 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have 
one child, William Gilbert. Mrs. Hughes is 
a member of the Methodist Church. 

fHOMAS WILKINSON. Chief of the 
Fire Department of Dallas, was born iu 
Alexandria, Virginia, in 1886, but was 
brought np in Maryland. On the maternal 
side he belongs to the old family of Oldham 
of Baltimore. In that city he learned the 
trade of foundryman and machinist, and 
afterward followed his trade at Baltimore 
and Cumberland, Maryland. In 1876 he 
he came to Dallas, where he was soon chosen 
a member of the Fire Department. In Balti- 
more he had been a member of the old 
Volunteer Fire Brigade, that was one of the 
■foremost in the United States. It was in that 
company that he learned those lessons which 
have made him one of the most efBcient of 
chiefs. He was promoted to his present posi- 
tion in 1887. Under his control the Dallas 
Fire Department stands first in the South and 
West. He has a total of forty-four assistants, 



and a more willing and alert band of firemen 
it is impossible to find. Mr. Wilkinson sleeps 
constantly at his post, and the fireman must 
be a rapid mover who gets into action quicker 
than he. He attends the annual meetings of 
the National Association of Fire Engineers 
of the United States, and keeps abreast with 
the times. The chief officers of the Fire 
Department are the chief, assistant chief, city 
electrician and six captains. The steauiers 
and outfit are the best and kept in perfect 
condition. She stations are models of neat- 
ness, and taken all together Dallas has reason 
to be proud of its Fire Department. 

Mr. Wilkinson has been a Freemason for 
twenty-six years a member of the K. of H. 
and also is a Knight of Pythias, and a mem- 
ber of the Uniformed Rank, K. of P. He has 
also been a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church from his youth. 

He married October 4, 1859, Miss Caroline 
Wilson. The Wilson family is one of the 
oldest and most favorably known families in 
Maryland. Her parents are Edward and Eliz- 
abetli Wilson. The home of our subject and 
wife has been blessed in the birth of seven 
children, four of whom are living. 

The only son and youngest of the family 
died unnamed at the age of seven days. 

The others in order of their births are: 

Susan Elizabeth, who married Edward Long. 
She died at the age of nineteen years. 

Eliza J., wife of Zane C. Hinkle. They 
reside on a farm, in Allegany county, Mary- 
land. They liave two children. 

Ettie May, wife of Edward Daniels. They 
reside in Dallas. Frank is their only living 
child. 

Emmn. their fourth child, died in Dallas, 
at the acre of fourteen. She was a most inter- 

o 

esting child, loved and respected by a host of 
friends and acquaintances, 



niaroRT of dallas coujsty. 



795 



Annie M., wife of W. D. Mitchell. They 
reside in Dallas. Their two living children 
are Carrie and Laura. Thomas, the only son, 
is deceased. 

Nora L. is the wife of James Scliool field, 
superintendent Electric Light & Power Com- 
pany of Dallas. Their two living children 
are: Jessie and Lillie May. They have two 
sons deceased. 

Mr. Wilkinson's mother, Mrs. Edward 
Wilson, died when the former was six years 
of acre. Mrs. Wilson's maiden name was 
North, daughter of Squire John North. The 
latter raised Mrs. Wilkinson after the death 
of her mother. 

Our subject's father was Thomas Wilkinson. 
who was born in England and came to Amer- 
ica with his parents, Thomas and Jane (Scott) 
Wilkinson, when he was eight years of age. 
He served an apprenticeship of five years as 
foundryman and machinist in Baltimore. 
He was presumed to be one of the best me- 
chanics the State of Maryland ever produced. 
He was a natural genius and mechanic. He 
moved to Cumbei'land, Maryland, and there 
went into the foundry business, in which he 
remained seventeen years, then purchased and 
moved to a farm in the same county and 
there died, December 31, 1877. He was born 
in 1810. 

Our subject's mother was Susan E,. Oldham. 
She was a cousin of Bishop Roberts, of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Her mother 
was a cousin of Reverdy Johnson. Susan R. 
died November 18, 1884, aged eighty years. 
She was a devout Methodist from early child- 
hood. Her parent's house was the home of 
the Methodist Episcopal ministers for more 
more than half a century. 

Our subject is the third in a family of five 
children, namely: 

Joseph, the oldest, died at four years of age. 



Angelina P., was the wife of Henry Keller; 
both are deceased. Charles T. is their only 
living child. 

George W. died in the Federal army. He 
was in the first battle of Bull Run. He died 
in 1861, from diseases contracted in the army. 
He was commissioned Lieutenant. He died 
at Hagerstown, Maryland, at the age of 
twenty-two years. 

Eliza J., wife of David R. Beall of Cum- 
berland, Maryland. Both are still living. 

Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson is the second in a 
family of four children. She is a most 
worthy and deserving woman, a lady of cul- 
ture and good mental attainments. She 
joined the church in early life, and lovingly 
has continued its communion ever since. 

Maria, the oldest, married Jonathan Dicken. 
The latter is deceased. Her second marriage 

o 

was to Owen Willison. They reside in 
Davis, West Virginia. 

Susan, the third child, is the wife of Ben- 
jamin Robertson. They reside in Cumber- 
land, Maryland. He was a member of the 
Second May land United States Volunteer In- 
fantry. He served as private four years. 

Elizabeth, the next, is the wife of Summer- 
field Hendrickson. They reside on a farm 
near Hazen, Allegany county, Maryland. 

Mrs. Wilkinson has been anoflicer in the W. 
C. T. U., also in the W. R. C. for so:ue time. 
She is prominent and active in all church 
work in its various organizations and is on 
several committees at present writing. 

James Oldham, oursubject's maternal grand- 
father's brother, was a Lieutenant in the war 
of 1812. Our subject has been president of the 
Fire Relief Association of Dallas Fire Depait- 
ment since its organization in 1885. This 
organization has done great good among the 
firemen of the city. It is in a flourishing con- 
dition at present writing, having a surplus 



796 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTY. 



in the treasury of $900. John North (Mrs. 
Wilkinson's grandfather) was in tlie war of 
1812 as private. Benjamin Wilkinson our 
subject's uncle was is the Mexican war and 
was killed at Point Isabel. 

As a man and citizen, Mr. Wilkinson is 
held in high esteem for this strict integrity 
and sterling qualities of head and heart. 

fOHN V. HUGHES, a prominent busi- 
ness man of Dallas, and president of 
the Hughes Bros. Manufacturing Com- 
pany, 717 south Ervay street, is a native of 
Mecklenburg county, Vii'ginia, born October 
17, 1858. His parents are Dr. F. E. and Mary 
Elizabeth (Veneble) Hughes, the father a 
native of Kentucky, the mother of Virginia. 
Dr. F. E. Hughes is the founder of the inanu- 
facturiug house that bears his name. He 
emigrated from Kentucky to the Lone Star 
State, in 1850, locating at Indianola, where 
he practiced his profession very successfully 
for a period of twenty years, with the excep- 
tions of a short residence in Virginia, and 
during the late war. In August, 1872, he 
moved to the flourishing young city of Dal- 
las, leaving a large and lucrative practice, 
besides having charge of the marine, city and 
county hospitals. He was quarantine phy 
sician of Matagorda bay, and by the request 
of the Governor of Texas, assisted by his 
nephew, Dr. H. K. Leake, he formulated the 
quarantine laws of the State, which were 
passed by the State Legislature; subsequent 
to which, at the suggestion of Dr. L. A. Ed- 
wards. Medical Director and Surgeon of the 
United States Army, stationed at San Antonio, 
he submitted his views on national quarantine 
and board of health to Surgeon General 
Barnes at Washington, District of Columbia, 



which met with the views of that high func- 
tionary, and were by him brought to the at- 
tention of the United States Congress and 
became a law, which has been the means of 
almost totally excluding yellow fever from 
this Government from that date. The old 
gentleman takes great pleasure in showing 
to his friends the files of this correspondence, 
which he has carefully preserved. 

Locating in Dallas, he at once entered on a 
large and laborious practice, which in the 
course of eight years so impaired his health 
that he was compelled in 1880 to retire. 
Having a natural fondness for chetnistry and 
hygiene, he decided to teach his sons the art 
of combining and manufacturing pure and 
healthful food and beverages, in which he 
has most admirably succeeded. He is now 
nearing the dead line of the psalmist, and has 
retired from business upon ample means with 
which to spend the evening of his life in 
comfort, and in counseling and gladdening 
the hearts of his children and numerous 
grandchildren. As an honored citizen and 
worthy pioneer, Dr. Hughes deserves and re- 
ceives the respect of all who know him, and 
is held in high esteem for his many excellen- 
cies of character. 

Mr. J. V. Hughes was educated at South- 
western University, Georgetown, Texas. He 
went into the mercantile business soon after, 
and of late years has been connected with the 
manufactory whicii bears his name. They 
tnanufacture baking powder, extracts, cider, 
ales, mineral water, clarine, fruit preserves, 
jellies, fruit butters, fruit vinegar, relishes, 
cordials, bitters and ground spices. They ac^t 
on the principle, and a very true one too, that 
Texas can manufacture goods of equal quality 
and as low, if not lower, in price than their 
JSlorthern brothers. Their goods being manu- 
factured in Texas, are sold principally in the 



M 




'TPI A^-T-r-^^.^^ ^ 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



797 



Southern States. If parties can get equal 
value for their investment, then wiiy not pat- 
ronize home industries? Why should any 
one send his money North or in any other 
direction, when he can get goods of equal 
value at home? This is a question every 
Dallasito siiould answer: Why not patronize 
home industries? 

Mr. Hughes was married in 1885, to Miss 
Anna Laura Curl, daughter of John and 
Julia Curl, the latter a daughter of Judge 
Taylor, an Englishman very honorably noted 
in early Texas history. He was one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Texas Inde- 
pendence. He was a noted man and worthy 
in his day. Mr. Hughes has four cheery 
children who are the joy and pride of the 
household. Their names are: Henry Curl, 
Ethel, Julia and Anna Laura. Mrs. Hughes 
is a member of the Catholic Church. Mr. 
Hughes has been identified with tiie growth, 
development and progress of the city dur- 
ing all his mature years, and ig now one of 
its prominent and prosperous citizens. 



ff M. HOWELL, proprietor of the Dallas 
Nursery and Greenhouse, has been 
"^ prominently identified with the horti- 
cultural interests of Texas for some years, 
and by his siiperior knowledge and experience 
in tljis branch of industry has gained an en- 
viable re])utation. 

Mr. Howell was born in Jefferson county, 
Tennessee, August 2, 1849, the youngest of 
a family of ten children. His parents, Patton 
and Nancy (Routh) Howell, were natives re- 
spectively of I^no.x and Jefferson counties, 
Tpeni^essee. His father was an edge-tool and 
wagon manufacturer, and followed that busi- 
ness all through life. In 1868 he emigrated 

62 



to North Carolina, and from there to Ala- 
bama, where his death occurred, in 1868. 
The mother died in Tennessee, in 1857. In 
those States the subject of this sketch was 
reared, receiving the most of his education in 
Alabama. He learned the carpenter's trade 
and worked at it for some years. In 1870 
he came to Texas, an employe of a nursery 
lirm, and since that time has been engaged 
in the horticultural business here. He first 
spent one year in Collin county, and from 
there came to Dallas county. He located in 
the city of Dallas in 1872, and, under the 
firm name of Howell & Thomas, started a 
nursery on McKinney avenue, the first nurs- 
ery in this county and about the first in 
northern Texas. They continued on McKin- 
ney avenue until the fall of 1877, when they 
were eaten out by grasshoppers. In 1882 he 
established his present business, beginning 
with fruits of all kinds, and about 1887 add- 
ing the greenhouse. His first plant was only 
10x20 feet; he now has about 6,000 feet of 
glass. About fifty acres are devoted to fruit, 
and altogether he has 243 acres, all under a 
good state of cultivation. 

Mr. Howell was married in March, 1877, 
to Julia Routh, a native of Collin county, 
Texas, and a daughter of Rev. Jacob and Lo- 
demia A. (Campbell) Routh, natives of Ten- 
nessee. Her father, a Baptist minister, came 
to Collin county, Texas, in 1852, and settled 
near Piano on a farm. He made that place 
his home until the time of his death, in 1879. 
Her mother still resides on the old homestead 
there. This union has been blessed with the 
birth of five children, namely: Naimie Paul- 
ine, Roy Patton, Lee Morgan, Earle Ragan 
and John Marion. 

At one time Mr. Howell was editor of the 
horticultural department of the Farm and 
Ranch, in Dallas, and suggested the organi- 



798 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



zation of the Horticultural Society of the 
State of Texas. In that organization he has 
taken an active interest. He has served as 
Treasnrer of the Central Texas Horticultural 
Society, and is now President of the State 
Horticultural Society. Recently he has been 
appointed chief of the horticultural exhibit 
of Texas at the World's Fair in Chieacro. He 
has attended many of the different horticult- 
ural meetings throughout Texas, aiid has fre- 
quently addressed them. 

In politics Mr. Howell has also taken an 
active part, afhliating with the Democratic 
party. In 1874 he was Alderman from the 
Second Ward of Dallas; represented the 
Eighth Ward from 1889 to 1891; served as 
a member of the School Board in 1888. 

Mrs. Howell is a member of the Baptist 
Church. 

^ILLIAM H. LEWIS, Sheriff of Dallas 
county, was born in Georgia, the son 
of E. B. Lewis, who was a native of 
South Carolina and a farmer. William II. 
was reared in the latter State a,nd educated 
in the public schools, completing his course 
in the iiigh school at Anderson, South Caro- 
lina. At the age of sixteen years he came to 
Texas, and for awhile was employed on a 
farm; next he was in the employ of the Texas 
Pacific Railroad Company, and next was 
Deputy Assessor, appointed by R. D. Raw- 
lins. He was continued in office as. Sheriff 
until 1886; was then Constable for Precinct 
No. 1 for a short time, but the same year 
was elected Sheriff of Dallas county on an 
independent Democratic ticket, by a majority 
of 800, and two years later he was re-elected 
by 3,200 majority! and again in 1890, he was 
the first man ever elected in Dalla'^ county to 
the third term. He has in his employ eleven 




men, and probably no office in the State is 
conducted with greater satisfaction to the 
public. Politically he is a stalwart Demo- 
crat. He is unmarried, is a Knio-ht of 
Pythias, a Knight Templar, and a member 
of the order of Elks. 



^ 



^ 




ILLIAM H. BOALES, a farmer and 
stock-raiser of Dallas county, was 
born in Christian county, Kentucky, 
in 1820, a son of James and Elizabeth (Brad- 
shaw) Boales, natives of Ireland. The father 
left his country in an early day, and after 
being twelve months on the water he landed 
in New York, then went to Christian county, 
Kentucky, where he engaged in farming. 
William H. was reared in that county, and 
aided in opening up the home farm. In 1853 
he came to Dallas county, Texas, and bought 
144 acres of partly improved land, north of 
Dallas, which he has since improved, and the 
whole place is now under a good state of cul- 
tivation. 

Mr. Boales was married in Kentucky, in 
1850, to Parmelia Gordon, a native of Chris- 
tian county, and a daughter of William and 
Louisa Gordon, early pioneers of Kentucky. 
Mr. and Mrs. Boales have four living children, 
viz.: Mary Jane, now Mrs. William Ferris, of 
Brownsville, Texas: Mr. Ferris is deputy 
Sheriff most of the time; Katie, wife of 
Jacob Waymer, of Dallas; Elizabeth, now 
Mrs. V. Boales, of East Dallas, and Hiram 
H., a resident of this county. The mother 
died in 1870, and in 1878 Mr. Boales married 
Esther Santifer, a native of Mississippi, 
who came to this county in 1879. By this 
union there is one child, Willie. Mr. Boales 
has taken an active part in politics, voting 
with the Democratic party, and, religiously, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



799 



is a Deacon of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church: his wife is a member of the Baptist 
Chiircii. For twenty years Mr. Boales knew 
many men in and about Dallas, but since 
then times have changed. He never aspired 
to office but attended strictly to the best 
interests of his farm. On his coming to Dal- 
las deer and antelope were plentiful and at 
night would come up and sleep with the cows. 



T. HAWPE, a progressive farmer and 
stock-raiser of Precinct No. 1, was 
I-** born in the city of Dallas, Dallas 
county, Texas, in 1852, and is the seventh 
of a family of children of T. C. and Electa 
(Underwood) [J awpe, natives of Georgia and 
New York respectively. At an early day the 
father removed to Tennessee, where he was 
married, and in 1845 he came to Dallas 
county, and here his wife died. He took up 
a tract of 640 acres near Rylie, and made 
some improvements on the place. Later he 
sold out and went to Dallas city. He soon 
became prominently connected with local 
politics, and served as Mayor of Dallas city, 
as Sheriff and Clerk of the county, and as 
Justice of the Peace. When the war broke 
out he raised a regiment in Dallas county, 
and served as Colonel two and a half years. 
He was killed in Dallas city, in August, 
1865. He was one of the most enterprising 
and energetic of men, and was possessed of 
the qualities of mind that settle countries, 
found cities, and establish governments. His 
wife survived him until January 29, 1876. 

The subject of this notice was reared and 
educated in Dallas. He was trained to the 
occupation of a farmer, and has followed that 
calling all his life. He owns a small tract of 
land near Dallas, which he has improved, and 



it is now in a high state of cultivation. 
Mr. Hawpe was married in Dallas county 
in 1876, to Miss Laura E. Sypert, a native of 
the county, and a daughter of James and 
Nancy (Thompson) Sypert. Her parents 
were natives of Tennessee, but removed to 
Eastern Texas in 1842. Ten years later they 
came to Dallas county, and first located in 
the city of Dallas. Afterward they removed 
to a farm in the county, where they passed 
the remainder of their lives. Both passed 
away in 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Hawpe are the 
parents of six children: Nannie Lou, Zula, 
Ada Ethel, Electa, George A., Cora, and the 
last a boy, Raymond Grigsby. They are 
members of the Christian Church, and stand 
high in the social circles of the county. They 
have witnessed many changes in the country, 
and have largely assisted in the development 
of many of the most worthy enterprises of 
the county. Mr. Hawpe has never taken an 
active interest in politics, but has not failed 
to discharge his duty as a loyal citizen by ex- 
ercisina; his right of suffras^e. He adheres to 
the principles of the Democratic party, and 
is a member of the Farmers' Alliance. 



Sf^ 



PJ^ARRY L. KYLE, M. D., of Dallas, 
W\ was born in Madison, Jefferson county, 
"^Is Indiana, August 16, 1846, a son of Dr. 
James W. and Sarah (BantzjKyle, the former 
a native of Rockingham county, Virginia, 
and the latter of Indiana. In his younger 
days the father was an itinerant minister of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the Ken- 
tucky Conference. Later, he engaged in the 
study of medicine, and graduated at theLTni- 
versity of Kentucky about the year 1850, 
his principal instructor being the late Dr. 
Samuel Groce, Professor of Surgery in that 



800 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



college. The Doctor and his wife were 
widely known and universally respected as 
pioneer settlers. They were devout and 
worthy members of the Methodist Church, 
and their names were associated with many 
circumstances connected with early Method- 
ism in their locality. The father removed 
to Indiana about 1849, settling at Paris, 
where he was engaged in the drug business 
for a time, and during the last twenty-five 
years of his active life he practiced medicine 
at North Vernon. He is still living, an hon- 
ored resident of that city, aged about seven- 
ty-six years. His wife died there in 1857, at 
the age of twenty-nine years. They were 
the parents of four children; Harry L., our 
subject; Kate, wife of W. S. Pratiier, Mayor 
of North Vertion for several years. She 
died in 1882, aged twenty- eight years, 
leaving two children: Harry Lee and Walter 
W.; Thomas W., the next in order of birth, 
resides in California; and Edwin Y. married 
Miss Jennie Reed, of Lexington Kentucky. 

Harry L. Kyle was educated in the public 
schools of North Vernon, in the Seminary 
at Hanover, and the Franklin College, at 
Franklin. He studied medicine with his 
father four years, and later, in the spring of 
1866, graduated at the Cincinnati College of 
Medicine atid Surgery. He practiced in his 
native town for over three years, and then, on 
account of ill health, went to Edgetield Junc- 
tion, Tennessee, and a few months later came 
to Texas, landing in Dallas county, January 
24, 1871, Dr. Kyle was engaged in practice 
at Frankfort, in the northern part of the 
county, until 1890, when he came to this city. 
While in Indiana he was examined in sevei-al 
insurance companies, and since his residence 
in this State he has met with good success. 

He was married on Christmas eve, 1878, 
to Miss Carrie M. Harper, a daughter of 



Major John E. Harper, of Denton county, 
Texas. He now resides at Pilot Point, with 
his wife and family. They reared ten chil- 
dren, seven of whom are now living, Mrs. 
Kyle being the eldest in the order of birth. 
She is a member of the Baptist Church, and 
her husband of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. He has been a member of the 
Masonic order for the past twenty years, and 
has filled many of the offices of the lodge, 
such as Senior and Junior Warden, Secretary, 
etc. In addition to his unquestioned profes- 
sional skill, the Doctor is a gentleman of 
kind and genial disposition and courteous 
manner, which gains him sincere friends in 
whatever community his lot is cast. 

EORGE FULLER, a gardener of West 
Dallas, is a native of the village of 
Wickham, Cambridge, England, and a 
son of George and Hannah (Johnson) Fuller, 
the former a native of Wickham, Cambridge, 
and the latter of Isleham, Cambridge. The 
parents came to Canada in 1877, and they 
now reside in the province of Ontario, where 
the father is a plain old English farmer. The 
parents had eleven children: Ann, wife of 
Thomas Palmby, of Ontario, Canada; John- 
son, a resident of Hardin county, Iowa; 
Ellas, of Ontario, Canada; George, our sub- 
ject; Maria, married and living in Hardin 
county, Iowa; Martha, now Mrs. John Fuller, 
of Hardin county; Ruth, deceased; Mina, 
wife of William Baily, of Iowa; Lizzie, now 
Mrs. Thomas Stephens, of Dallas; and Eliza, 
deceased. 

George Fuller, the subject of this sketch, 
was born May 3, 1845, and was reared and 
educated in his native country. In 1874, 
he came to America, and in 1874 to Texas, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



801 



settling in Bryan, where he resided until 
August, 1877. The next year and a half he 
was engaged in gardening in Dallas, and 
afterward bonght about four acres in South 
Dallas, where he engaged in that occupation 
on his own account. He subsequently sold 
this and bought seven acres in West Dallas, 
where he now resides. 

Mr. Fuller was married in England, No- 
vember 5, 1869, to Emily, a daughter of 
Uriah and Mary Howlett. Mrs. Fuller, a 
native of the village of Wickham, Cam- 
bridge, is the youngest of three children now 
living: Mary, now the wife of Samuel 
Sutherville, resides on the Isle of Ely, county 
of Cambridge, England; and Eliza is the 
wife of James Dennis, and resides in the vil- 
lage of Wickham. Mr. and Mrs. Fuller have 
had four children: Zephaniah, who was born 
in England, died in Bryan, this State; Bur- 
nas, also deceased in Bryan; and May and 
Ada were bora in Dallas, where they still 
reside. 



H. JENKINS, proprietor of a saloon 
at No. 159 Main street, was born in 
V* Dallas county in 1860, the ninth of 
ten children born to William and Cynthia 
(Thomas) Jenkins, natives of Alabama and 
Tennessee respectively. The parents were 
married in the latter State, and in 1845 came 
to this county, where the father took up a 
headright. His death occurred in Dallas 
county in November, 1871, and tlie motlier 
still resides on the old homestead. 

The subject of this sketch was reared to 
farm life to the age of fourteen years, after 
whicli he came to Dallas and engaged in the 
drug business for Dr. Cochran. In 1879-80 
he was Deputy Postmaster at Dallas; in 
1881-'82 was engaged as mail agent for the 



Texas Pacific & International Railroad; from 
1882 to 1887 was traveling salesman for L. 
Craddock, a wholesale liquor dealer; and in 
1887 he began his present business. Mr. 
Jenkins was also Foreman of the Volunteer 
Fire Department for about six years. Polit- 
ically, he votes with the Democratic party, 
and socially, is a member of the Independent 
Order of Red Men. He has been identified 
with the interests of Dallas since fourteen 
years of age, and has always taken an active 
part in everything for the good of the city 
and county. 

EORGE WILKINS, D. D. S., Dallas, 
Texas, was born in the State of North 
Carolina, in 1856, and is a son of George 
and Elizabeth (Crantield) Wilkins, who were 
descended from English ancestors. In his 
youth he went to Indiana, and there grew to 
maturity, attaining an excellent standing as a 
thoroughgoing young business man. His 
tastes naturally inclining to a profession, he 
took a course of medical lectures in Indian- 
apolis. During this time he developed a 
considerable mechanical genius, and turned 
his attention to dentistry. He studied with 
Dr. Haskell, of Chicago, and after a thorough 
course he began the practice of the pro- 
fession. In 1878 he came to Texas and 
practiced in some nf the leading cities of the 
State. After ten years he had attained a 
reputation for skill and conscientious deal- 
ings that placed him in the front ranks of the 
profession. He removed to Dallas, where he 
was soon established in business. He has 
ever been an industrious student, and has 
made some discoveries and improvements in 
the methods of treatment and filling of teeth 
which have been adopted by the profession. 
He has a well-equipped laboratory in which 



802 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



he employs men of ability and experience, 
and turns out some of tbe most perfect pro- 
ductions He is one of the numerous ex- 
amples of what may be expected from Young 
America, and he is certainly deserving of tlie 
reward he is daily receiving. He is wholly 
absorbed in his professional and scientific 
studies, and gives little thought to political 
questions. 

Dr. Wilkins was married in May, 1881, to 
Miss Reavis, of North Carolina, a lady of 
unusual abilities. Slie is an active member 
of the Baptist Church. 

J. MAMN, a contractor and plasterer 
of Dallas, was born in Mnhlenburg 
® county, Kentucky, January 10, 1851, 
the eldest of live children born to J. B. and 
Sally Ann (Ingram) Mann, natives of Vir- 
ginia. The father was married in Kentucky, 
where he had settled in an early day, and a 
short time afterward removed to Henry 
county, Missouri, in 1876 to Dallas county, 
and in 1878 to Williamson county, Texas, 
where he still resides. The mother died in 
Henry county, Missouri, in 1871. Our sub- 
ject was reared to farm life in Marion county, 
Illinois, and learned his trade in Sedalia, 
Missouri, and followed the same for some 
years. He came to Dallas in 1877, and fol- 
lowed farming in that county, near Lancas- 
ter, one year, after which he returned to Se- 
dalia and followed his trade. In 1886 he 
came again to Dallas, where he has since 
been engaged in contracting. Among his 
principal buildings are the Kimply, Dargan 
and Scollard, and among the principal resi- 
dences may be mentioned those of T. E. 
Eakin, Colonel William J. Keller, J. S. Moss, 
C. B. Gillespie, Judge McCormick, Colonel 



J. B. Simpson, John E. Myer, and many of 
less note. Mr. Mann uses the Acme cement, 
which is the hardest plaster known, and he 
was the iirst to use a car-load of lime in 
Dallas. 

He was married in Windsor county, Mis- 
souri, in 1871, to Miss Mary Susan Blanch- 
ard, a native of Kentucky, and daughter of 
M. D. and Catharine (Browning) Blanchard, 
natives of Kentucky. The parents settled at 
Deep Water, Henry county, Missouri, where 
they now reside. Mr. and Mrs. Mann have 
had four children: Bertha; Freddie, who died 
in 1885, at the age of nine years; Katie 
Belle, who died at the age of fourteen 
months; and an infant, deceased at the age of 
ten months. Mr. Mann votes with the 
Democratic party, and takes an active in- 
terest in politics. Socially he is a member 
of Tannehill Lodge, No. 52, A. F. & A. M.; 
Dallas Chapter, No. 47, R. A. M.; Cceur 
de Lion Lodge, No. 8, K. of P., in which he 
is Past Chancellor; Cffiur de Lion Division, 
No. 5, Uniformed Rank, K. of P. 



ENERAL JOHN S. GRIFFITH, the 
subject of this sketch, was born in Mont- 
gomery county, Maryland, June 17, 
1829, and is a son of Michael B. and Lydia 
R. (Crabb) Griffith, natives of Maryland. 
The maternal grandfather was General Jere- 
miah Crabb of Annapolis, Maryland. The 
parents of John S. removed to Missouri in 
1835, and in 1839 went to San Aumistine, 
Texas. The father was not successful in busi- 
ness, so that our subject received a limited 
education, and was early in life thrown upon 
his own resources. There were six children 
in the family, of whom he is the third-born, 
and they received the greater part of their 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



803 



instruction from their mother in the evenings 
when they were gathered around the pine- 
knot tire after the day's work was done. 
John S. was trained to agricultural pursuits, 
but in 1850 he secured a position as clerk 
with John A. Winn in San Augustine, Texas, 
and continued there for twelve months. He 
was then ready to go into business on his 
own account, and for five years he carried on 
a thriving and profitable trade. He then 
disposed of this business, and invested in a 
stock ranch in Rockwall county, and removed 
thence in 1859, which he managed until the 
begining of the Civil war. In 1861 he en- 
listed in the Sixth Texas Cavalry, and was 
made Lieutenant Colonel in the start. In 
1863 he returned to his home from ill health, 
and was elected a member of the Legislature 
to represent Kaufman, Van Zandt and Hen- 
derson counties. In the same year he was 
appointed Brigadier General by Governor 
Murrah, and organized a brigade of Texas 
State Troops and held the position until the 
close of the war. He was again sent to the 
State Legislature, representing Kaufman, 
Van Zandt, Rains and Wood counties. In 
1876, he removed to Terrell, Kaufman county, 
Texas. He came to Dallas county in the 
year 1889 and located in Oak Cliff, 
where he has since been engaged in farming 
and the real-estate business. He made large 
investments in Oak Cliff, and has been one 
the most stanch supporters in founding 
this beautiful suburb. 

General Griflith was married December 18, 
1861, to Miss Emily Simpson, a daughter of 
John J. and Jane M. Simpson. She was born 
in Nacogdoches county, November 28, 1834, 
when Texas was under Mexican rule. Ten 
children were born of this union, three of 
whom are living: William C, Augustus B., 
and Emma, the wife of M. C. Roberts of Ter- 



rel. William C. is the father of four chil- 
dren, and Augustus B. has one child. 

General Griffith is a member of Redland 
Lodge No. 2, A. F. & A. M. and and also 
belongs to the chapter and commandry; pol- 
itically he is a Democrat of the most ardent 
type, and zealously supports all the true is- 
sues of Democracy. And as a result of strict 
business habits, and the expenditure of an 
energy that acknowledges no failure, he has 
acquired a large amount of property, and is 
still residing in Oak Cliff, Dallas county, 
Texas, and is respected and esteemed by all 
who know him for his candor and integrity. 



D. MOXLEY general agent of the 
Washington Life Insurance Company, 
* of New York for northern Texas, was 
born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, August 
5, 1855, a son of Richard S. and Mary T. 
(Davidson) Moxley, natives of Virginia and 
Baltimore. The father was cashier for many 
years of the Louisville National Bank, was 
well known over the entire State, and was a 
resident of Louisville for about fifty years. 
He was one of the builders of the First Pres- 
byterian Church, and later an officer in the 
College Street Presbyterian Church. His 
death occured in February, 1887, at the age 
of sixty-seven years. His widow still resides 
in Louisville, aged sixty-five years. Mr. 
Moxley was a man of good business qualifi- 
cations, of the strictest integrity and was as 
highly respected as he was widely known. In 
him the truest and purest type of religious 
life were united. 

R. D. Moxley, the eldest of four children, 
was educated in the public schools of Louis - 

his 
years. He then en- 



ville, and was engaged in the bank with 



father for about eight 



«04 



EI STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



gaged with tlie insurance company with 
which he is still connected. His work is al- 
together in Texas, and he represents one of 
the best companies in this line of business. 
Mr. Moxley was married in February, 1892, 
to Miss Leonard, a daughter of Mr. Leonard 
of New York city. Mr. and Mrs. Moxley 
are both members of the Presbyterian 
Church. 



11^' J. A. BROWN, the first Jndge of Dal- 
las city, was born in Marion county, 
" Kentucky, February 2, 1855, the 
eldest of seven children born to Jerry M. and 
Lucy J. (Nash) Brown, natives of Kentucky. 
The parents were married in their native 
State, and in 1859 came to Dallas, where the 
father worked at the blacksmith's trade. In 
1861 he enlisted in Colonel T. C. Hawpe's 
regiment, and was with his company until 
1863, when he was detailed to come to Dallas 
and take charge of the Government shops, and 
was so engaged until the close of the war. 
Jerry Brown was elected Sheriff of this 
county in 1866, for two years, but after a 
short service was removed on account of be- 
ing an obstruction to reconstruction. He 
was again elected in 1869, for a term of four 
years. His death occurred in November, 
1879, and the mother now resides in Los 
Angeles county, California. Grandfather 
T. J. Nash came to this county in 1852, and 
settled on a farm in Precinct No. 4, which 
he improved. He was a member of the Se- 
cession Convention in 1860, was County 
Commissioner eight years; and his death oc- 
curred about 1881; his wife died in 1873. 
The father of our subject owned the land 
where the Windsor hotel is now located, and 
in 1866 he bought the old Darnell home- 



stead on Columbia, between Jefferson and 
Market streets. 

T. J. A. Brown, our subject, was reared in 
the city of Dallas, and educated at the Ken- 
tucky University, at Lexington, Kentucky, 
two years. After tinishing his education he 
returned to this city and read law under the 
tutelage of Judge Coombes and John J. Good, 
and was licensed to practice law March 4, 
1876. He formed a partnership with Colo- 
nel Nat. M. Burford, which continued until 
about 1887. Mr. Brown served two years as 
City Judge, two years as City Recorder, one 
year as Mayor, pro tem. was Alderman 
from April, 1886, to April, 1887, and from 
April, 1889 1o 1891 as City Judge. 

He was married in this city, in 1883, to 
Miss Ada Smith, and they have two children, 
— T. J. A. and Mabel. Mr. Brown has 
always been prominently identified with this 
county, ai.d has witnessed the growth of 
Dallas from a population of 250 to its pres- 
ent magnitude. Socially he is a member of 
the order of Red Men at Dallas, and politi- 
cally is identified with the Democratic party. 

ELLIS COOMBES, Jr., was born in 
Johnson county, Texas, November 23, 
1863, and is a son of Judge Ellis 
Coombes. When an infant he was brought 
to Dallas county and was reared in Dallas, 
receiving his education in this city and in 
Ad Ran College, Thorp's Spring, Texas. 

Mr. Coombes was married, September 1, 
1881, to Miss Susie L. Hudson, a native of 
Johnson county, Texas, and a daughter of J. 
B. Hudson, now of Somervell county, this 
State, who cainc from Kentucky to Dallas 
county at an early day. After his marriage 
Mr. Coombes engaged in farming in Dallas 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



805 



county, where lie has continued in agricult- 
ural pursuits with the exception of three 
years spent in Ellis county. He settled on 
his present farm in 1888. To thera live 
children have been born: Gano, William, 
Iva, Mina, and Benjamin F. He and his 
wife are members of the Christian Church, 
and his political relations are with the Demo- 
cratic party. 



lEORGE A. KNIGHT, United States 
Marshal for the Northern District of 
Texas, was born in the State of New 
York, where he passed his childhood and 
youth. He made the most of his educational 
opportunities, and what was lacking in train- 
ing has been made up to him by that less 
gentle teacher, experience. At a comparative 
early age he began steamboating on the Ohio 
river, and continued the business for many 
years. He filled the position of clerk and 
pilot, and was made Captain before leaving 
the river. He became thoroughly familiar 
with the Ohio from its source to its mouth, 
and had many narrow escapes from dangers 
incident to river life. 

At the beginning of the Civil war he en- 
listed in the One Hundred and Eighty- 
eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and 
carried liis musket through three years 
of active service in camp and lield. He trod 
his weary way through long inarches, and 
participated in battles and sieges, passing 
into dangers and trials that are not met out- 
side the battlefield. Upon the expiration of 
his term of enlistment he joined the 
One Hundred and Eighty-eight Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, and served until the 
surrender. He was never wounded and was 
never in the hospital. He was promoted 



successively to the rank of Captain, and 
afterwards served on General Van Cleve's 
Staff as Assistant Adjutant General. After 
the close of the conflict he returned to steam- 
boating, but after a brief service he connect- 
ed himself with the railrords south of the 
Ohio river, as transportation agent. He then 
entered upon a career that covered twenty 
years of active and faithful service; he trav- 
eled over every portion of the United States, 
gaining an unlimited fund of information on 
all railroad topics. 

In 1882 Mr. Knight came to Texas as the 
Southwestern representative of the Pennsyl- 
vania company with headquarters at Dallas. 
He filled this position until 1887, when he 
connected himself with the 'Frisco Line iu 
the capacity of Southwestern Passenger 
Agent with a jurisdiction over Texas, Louisi- 
ana, New Mexico and Indian Territory. He 
discharged the duties of this office with the 
usual zeal and energy that have characterized 
his transactions until his appointment as 
United States Marshal, his commission being 
signed within ten days of the application, on 
the 9th day of April, 1889, by President 
Harrison. His second commission, which is 
for four years, was signed January 27, 
1890. He has 100,000 miles under his 
control as Marshal, and three federal 
courts, one at Waco, one at Graham, and 
one at Dallas. The services of from fifteen 
to eighteen deputies are required; but so per- 
fectly are the forces organized that a greater 
number of criminals has been captured than 
in all previous administrations. He is 
mustering officer of the G. A. R., and the 
rapidly increasing membership is largely ow- 
ing to his interest iu the Post. 

In 1865 Mr. Knight was married, and 
has six surviving children. The eldest son 
is Postmaster at Pecos City, Texas, and two 



806 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



sons are assisting their father. The Captain 
is a stanch supporter of Republican prin- 
ciples. He is a man of the highest sense of 
honor and commands the respect and entire 
confidence of the community. 

iLINY FISK TERNELL, a farmer and 
breeder of fine stock, is prominent 
among the substantial men of Dallas 
county, and his career thus far has been both 
honorable and successful. He was born in 
South Boston, Halifax county, Virginia, Oc- 
tober 22, 1829, and was the seventh son and 
thirteenth child of sixteen children, born to 
James and Elizabeth (Talley) Ternell, both 
natives of the Old Dominion. Our subject's 
great-grandfather Ternell was an Italian, and 
his great-grandmother was an English lady; 
they emigrated to this country daring the 
Revolutionary war. Grandfather Talley came 
from Scotland and settled in Virginia at a 
very early day. 

Pliny F. Ternell's youth was spent on 
the farm, and with no opportunity to get an 
education until he was grown. Then he 
passed all his spare time in study, and at- 
tended school after he was thirty-two years 
of age, thus acquiring a good practical educa- 
tion. When twenty years of age, he engaged 
as a clerk in a boot and shoe store in Caswell 
county, North Carolina, remained there three 
years, and six months later embarked in busi- 
ness for himself, continuing this for eight 
years. August 9, 1852, he wedded Mrs. 
Mary Farthing, whose maiden name was Tal- 
ley. In March, 1857, he united with the 
Missionary Baptist Church at Marion, Smith 
county, Virginia, and the same year was li- 
censed to preach. He followed his minister- 
ial duties until 1867, and during that time he 



went to Independence, Grayson county, Vir- 
ginia, where he attended the academy for six 
months. In 1860, he began a course at Al- 
leghany College, and was engaged in hard 
study there when the war broke out; he then 
served two years in the Confederate army. 
During the war he served under Floyd in 
the sanitary department for eighteen months, 
after which he returned to his old home in 
Virgin! . and taught school in connection 
with his church duties, for three sessions. 
February 8, 1867, he left his native State 
and remo^'ed to Rutherford county, Tennes- 
see, where he taught school and preached 
the gospel for some time. He subsequently 
started out on foot to engage in tnissionary 
work, and on the meeting of the association 
in the fall of 1868, he was employed at |500 
per year to continue his work in Duck river 
and Concord associations. He continued 
with that charge one year and then accepted 
a call at Carroll ton, Alabama, where he re- 
ceived a salary of $800 per year, and where 
he had charge of three churches. After this 
he was in William Jewell College, Clay 
county, Missouri, until sickness prevented 
him from remaining longer, and in 1871 he 
accepted an appointment from the Rome 
Mission Board of New York, to collect money 
for that mission, liis field being the north 
half of Alabama and Mississippi. He worked 
at this one year and then sent in his resigna- 
tion, so that he might come to Texas. He 
was then offered the same position and Texas 
as a field. He preached for eight years and 
managed a farm of 200 acres. His second 
marriage occurred October 21, 1874, to Miss 
Ann M. Daniel, a native of Kentucky, and 
the daughter of Rev. A. E. Daniel. Mr. 
Ternell retired from the ministry in 1883, 
after faithful service in the vineyard of the 
Lord, and after lie had baptized several hun- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



807 



dred persons and married 200 couples. He 
is now engaged in raising thoroughbred 
horses, cattle and hogs, and his horses are 
numbered among the best in the county. 
Socially, he is a member of the A. F. & A. 
M., the I. O. (). F., S. of T., the Grange and 
the Farmers' Alliance. Politically, he is a 
Democrat. He is a self-made man and what 
he has accumulated in the way of this world's 
goods is the result of his good management 
and energy. He is now in his sixty-third 
year, still active in person and enjoying 
good health. 

tAVlD C. NANCE.— As a man of busi- 
ness, Mr. Nance's name is well known 
in Dallas couifty, and every step of his 
business career has been illustrated with acts 
of liberality and kindness. With each vital 
interest of his section and his people, he has 
been closely identified; and as a result he has 
the confidence of all who know him. 

His father, Allen Q. Nance, was born in 
Kentucky, in 1813, in Green county, and in 
1832 removed to Illinois. He came from 
Cass county, that State, to Dallas county, 
Texas, in 1852, settling a mile and a half 
northwest of De Soto, where he remained un- 
til his death in 1873. He was a self-made 
man, for he began the battle of life for him- 
self with comparatively nothing, and at his 
death was in very comfortable circumstances. 
He was a Democrat, and was for many years 
a member of the Christian Church, in which 
he was Elder for a time. His wife, Elizabeth 
W., who was a daughter of Daniel Deeren, a 
native of Virginia, was born in Green county, 
Kentucky, in 1826, and in her early girlhood 
was left an orphan. In 1839 she went to 
Illinois with a brother-in-law, and there she 



married Mr. Nance, January 11, 1841. They 
had eleven children, viz.: David C; Mary 
Jane, who died in 1890, the wife of James 
Reagan, of Brownwood, Texas; Columbus, 
who died in infancy; Gustavus A., who re- 
sides in Dallas county; Ellen, now the wife 
of George W. Bowman of Palo Pinto county; 
Anna L., the wife of William Home of Dal- 
las county; Sarah C, the wife of John Cruse 
of Calloway county, Missouri; Charles P., 
who resides in this county; Etta, the wife of 
Benjamin Brandenburg and a resident also 
of this county; John H., who died in infancy; 
and Lee, who died at the age of eight years. 

The paternal grandfather, Zachariah Nance, 
was a Revolutionary soldier and served in the 
battles of Stony Point on the Hudson, July 
15, 1779, and Yorktown from the 9th to the 
19th of October following. He witnessed 
the surrender of Cornwallis at the latter 
place, seeing him hand up his sword. He 
was married twice, — first to Jane Wilkins of 
New Kent county, Virginia, in 1785, and 
lastly to Elizabeth Bingley, nee Morris, of 
James City county, Virginia, December 15, 
1802, who became the paternal grandmother 
of the subject of this sketch. 

The paternal great-grandfather, who also 
bore the name of Zachariah, and his wife, 
Susanna Duke Sherman, were early settlers 
near Jamestown, Virginia. 

D. C. Nance was born in Cass county, Illi- 
nois, February 2, 1843, came to Texas with 
his parents in 1852, locating on a farm one 
and one-half miles northwest from De Soto. 
He remained with his parents until Septem- 
ber, 1861, at which time he enlisted in the 
military service of the State, and subsequently 
of the Confederate States. He was a mem- 
ber of Company E, Twelfth Texas Dragoons, 
under command of Colonel W. H. Parsons, a 
brother of the Chicago anarchist, Albert Par- 



808 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY- 



sons. Mr. Nance was in the Cache river bat- 
tle near tlie town of Cotton Plant, Arkansas, 
July 2, 1862, in which engagement his horse 
was killed under him and he himself sus- 
tained three severe wounds. He was cap- 
tured also, and made his escape the same 
day. A peculiarity of this day's work is 
the fact that one of his wounds was made by 
the tirst ball tired in that battle. 

During the winter following, he was en- 
gaged in the manufacture of gunpowder at 
Waxahachie, Texas, in answer to a requisi- 
tion made by the Legislature of this State. 
In the spring of 1863, there was an explo- 
sion and the mill was blown to atoms, Mr. 
Nance being the only one left alive. Subse- 
quently he returned to the army and was in 
about thirty eagagements along Red river in 
1864, sustaining no injuries in any until the 
last, the Yellow bayou battle, on May 10, in 
which he was wounded again, twice. After 
his recovery he was appointed First Sergeant 
of his company. 

At the close ot the war he returned to his 
father's house, penniless, and applied his 
hands to the plow handles. At the age of 
twenty-five he turned his effects into money 
and took a course of study in the Bonham 
schools for two years, after which he turned 
his attention for a time to teaching. In 
1874, he purchased a farm near Bonham, 
Texas, where he remained sixteen years. In 
1889 he purchased the old homestead near 
De Soto, where he still plies his vocation of 
farming and cares for his aged and widowed 
mother; but in connection with this he also 
owns and operates a general mercantile es- 
tablishment at I)e Soto, where his business 
has made his naine familiar to many. 

He was married, November 12, 1870, to 
Miss Sallie M. Hackley of Bonham, who was 
born in Lincoln county, Kentucky, April 22, 



1844, and came with her mother to Texas, in 
1857. She was the daughter of James and 
Susan Hackley, both of whom are now dead. 
She has borne Mr. Nance four cliildren, viz. : 
Charles C, who manages his father's farm; 
James A., his father's store; Quilla, a son, 
and Anna Laura are yet school children. 

In politics, Mr. Nance is a liigh-tariff 
Democrat, and is the present Postmaster of 
I)e Soto. Up to 1880 he was identified with 
the Christian or Campbellite Church, but 
since that time he has been a Restitutionist, 
having discarded many of the popular doc- 
trines of the Spiritualists or Imiuaterialists. 
Prominent among these are the doctrines 
of heaven and hell, of immortal souls and of 
endless punishment. He believes there is a 
God and a Christ; that the Bible reveals 
something of their chara«ter and intentions; 
and that one of these intentions is that all 
men shall live again, on the earth, though 
not in pain as now. He also believes there 
will be in that day one universal, unending 
kingdom over all the nations, present, past 
and future; that this kingdom was foretold 
by the prophets and proclaimed by the apos- 
tles of our Lord as the kingdom of God, — 
which proclamation they called the Gospel. 



ILLIAM J. McCONNELL, a prom- 
inent business man and popular citi- 
zen of Dallas, Te.xas, was born in St. 
Charles county, Missouri, in 1850. 

He is descended from a well known and 
highly respected family of Kentucky. Ilis 
grandfather, John McConnell, when but sev- 
enteen years of age, forced his way to the 
frontier, in 1790, settling in what is now St. 
Charles county, Missouri, where he found a 
race of hardy farmers and stock-raisers. Old 




HI8T0R7 OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



809 



Missoiirians will reineinber the tavern and 
stage stand kept by this sturdy pioneer on 
the Boone's Lick road, eight miles west of 
St. Charles. 

James MoConnell, tiie father of the subject 
of this sketch, was born in Missouri in 1804, 
and was an honest, hard working pioneer, 
devoted to agricultural pursuits and stock- 
raising. He married Mary Ann Voegtie, a 
native of Rottweil on the Rhine, Germany, 
who emigrated with her parents to America, 
and located near the McConnells. Slie came 
of an excellent family of High Germans, was 
well educated and very intelligent, and proved 
a helpmeet in the fullest acceptation of the 
term. The father of our subject was a strong 
Union man at the time of the war, but after 
its close he made peace with those of his 
neighbors who held an opposite view, and 
passed to the life beyond in June, 1865, 
mourned by all who knew him. 

The subject of this sketch was next to the 
youngest of seven children — six sons and one 
daughter — and inherited that energy and in- 
tegrity of character so conspicuous in his an- 
cestry. His early life was spent in his native 
county, where he was educated at the district 
schools and reared to farm life. In 1881 he 
came to Texas, and, in 1885, engaged in the 
real-estate business, in which he has been a 
successful operator ever since. His methods 
are liberal and he deals strictly in facts, which 
is as rare among real-estate men as is an 
honest lawyer in the legal fraternity, for 
which reason he is entitled to all the more 
credit. 

Mr McCoimell was married June 15, 1876, 
to Miss Letta Vassallo, an estimable lady and 
a native of Louisiana, the only child of Fran- 
cesco N. and Sarah (Dye) Vassallo. Her 
father was a native of Genoa, Italy, and was 
an artist; he died in Memphis, Tennessee, in 



1860. The widowed mother afterward mar- 
ried Dr. J. H. Mitchell, and, in 1865, moved 
to Illinois, where Mrs. McConnell was edu- 
cated. The mother is a native of Kentucky, 
and moved to Texas about 1887 

Mr. McConnell belongs to no church or 
secret society, but is one of the initiated 
members of the First Spiritualist Society of 
Dallas, and, after years of careful investiga- 
tion, is thoroughly convinced that spirit re- 
turn and communication is a fact in nature. 

Although deeply cherishing the memories 
of his native State, Missouri, yet he has 
grown to regard his adopted State with sin- 
cere affection. He is a fixture in Dallas, and 
his heart swells with pride at being a citizen 
of the largest State in this glorious Union. 



fOHN T. CORCORAN, a planter residing 
in precinct No. 3, Dallas county, Texas, 
forms the subject of this biography. He 
was born in Tennessee, January 20, 1820, a 
son of Thomas V. Corcoran, whose father 
was a native of Ireland and a first cousin of 
the great philanthropist, Washington D. Cor- 
coran. Thomas V. Corcoran was a native of 
Maryland, and was a hatter by trade, dividing 
his time between working at that trade and 
teaching school. His father was also a teacher. 
Mr. Corcoran's mother was a daughter of 
James and Anna (Wallen) Keen. Of the 
four children born to his parents he is the 
oldest. The others are: Mary A., widow of 
John McKinzie, of Tennessee; Erastus D., 
a resident of Simpson county. Kentucky; 
Nancy Ann, who became the wife of Jnbal 
Paine, is now deceased. Thomas V. Corcoran 
died about 1829, at the age of twenty-nine 
years. His wife lived until 1882, and passed 
away in her eighty-fourth year. 



810 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



John T. Corcoran received only a limited 
education, never going to school after he was 
ten years old. His father dying when he 
was quite young, John was bound out at the 
age of twelve to a Mr. Draper to learn the 
tailor's trade. He worked at that trade for 
many years in various portions of the Western 
States. In 1851 he came from Kentucky to 
Dallas county and settled in the neighborhood 
of where Garland is now located. After rent- 
ing land three years he pre-empted 160 acres 
of fine black land — the place on which he still 
resides. This he obtained at a cost of fifty- 
two cents per acre. There were no fences in 
this part of the country and the settlers were 
few. He made the trip here from Kentucky 
with horse teams, and was only six weeks on 
the way, that being the shortest time in which 
the journey could be made in those days by 
wagon. In guarding against the Indians and 
in developing his frontier farm, Mr. Corcoran 
experienced many difficulties. His only pos- 
sessions when he arrived here were his team, 
wife and four babies. At the time the war 
broke out he had forty acres under cultivation 
and a comfortable log house. In 1862 he 
joined the Southern army, and during his 
service participated in many important en- 
gagements; was home on a furlough at the 
time of the surrender. When he left home 
he had 380 head of cattle and a number of 
horses, and when he returned he could find 
only thirty cattle and horses. For some 
years after the war times were hard; but he 
went to work with renewed energy, and his 
present prosperous condition is the result. 

Mr. Corcoran was first married in 1843, 
to Elizabeth Daniel, daughter of John and 
Mary Daniel, of Monroe county, Kentucky, 
and by her had five children, namely: Mary 
K., deceased; Manerva W., wife of Amos 
Nanney, of Johnson county, Texas; Thomas 



E., deceased; Malinda C, wife of Joseph 
Key, of Kockwall county, Texas; Margaret 
A., wife of James Irby, of Johnson county, 
Texas. The mother of these children died 
in 1853, the second year after coming to 
Texas. 

In 1857 Mr. Corcoran was united in mar- 
riage with Virginia Cherry, daughter of 
Lemuel and Malinda (Marshall) Cherry, na- 
tives of Tennessee. Her father died when 
she was quite young. To Mr. Corcoran and 
his present companion seven children have 
been born: William E., a resident of John- 
son county, this State; John II. deceased; 
Eliza, wife of Robert Baird, of the Nation; 
Robert L. ; Lucy B., deceased; Mary B. and 
Thomas J. 

Previous to the war Mr. Corcoran served 
as Constable four years. He is a member of 
the Grange, and holds the office of Master. 
Both he and his wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Some of his 
children belong to this church and others to 
the Baptist and Christian Churches. 

;R. ALVA W. CARNES, one of the 
most successful physicians of Dallas 
county, Texas, and a self-made man in 
every sense of that much abused term, was 
born in Tennessee in 1856, to the marriage 
of Alexander C. and N. F. (Word) Carnes, 
natives also of that State, the father born in 
1829, and the mother in 1835. Alexander 
C. Carnes moved to Weston, Collin county, 
Texas, in 1853, and tiience to Lancaster, Dal- 
las county, where he was engaged in teach- 
ing for thirty-five years. He graduated from 
the East Tetmessee University in 1847, and 
began teaching, continuing this until 1888, 
with the exception of two years, when he was 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



811 



editor and proprietor of the %m\\.\\\'\\\e Jour- 
nal. While eiigageil in teaching he held 
positions in the following institutions: East 
Tennessee University and Rurritt and Man- 
chester Colleges. In 1852 he married Miss 
Word, who was attending Burritt College, in 
which Mr. Carnes was professor of mathe- 
matics at tiie time of their marriage. Her 
death occurred in 1868. She was an estima- 
ble woman, had many friends, and was a con- 
sistent member of the Christian Church. 
This union was blessed by the following 
children: William D., born in 1854, is a 
resident of Dallas county^ and engaged in 
the real-estate and life-insurance business; 
Aha W.; Lillie C, located at Weston, Collin 
county, Te.\as, is the wife of U. S. Wade, 
M. D.; Maggie C. and Laura. The last 
named was born January, 1862, and died 
November, 1890. She was the wife of J. R. 
Best, a resident of Ardmon, Indian Terri- 
tory, where he is e:igaged in farming and 
stock- i-aising. The paternal grandfather of 
these children, William D. Carnes, was a 
native of North Carolina, but moved from 
there to Tennessee, where he died. He was 
one of the foremost educators of the State, 
notwithstanding the fact that he did not 
commence his education until after marriage, 
his eldest children attending school with 
him. He subsequently became president ot 
the East Tennessee University, and was also 
the founder of Burritt and Manchester Col- 
leges. The paternal grandmother, Elizabeth 
(Billingsly) Carnes, was a native of Tennes- 
see, and died in 1860. The maternal grand- 
father. Dr. David F. Wood, was a native of 
North Carolina, and died in 1885; and the 
maternal grandmother, Mary P. (Yost) Wood, 
was born in Tennessee and was of Irish de- 
scent. Dr. Alva W. Carnes remained with 
his parents until nineteen years of age, but 



prior to this time he completed, within two 
sessions, the course of the East Tennessee 
University, and taught one year. From 1876 
to 1879 he was proprietor and editor of the 
Sparta Index, init in the last named year he 
came to Texas, where ho began the study of 
medicine under his brother-in-law. Dr. Wade, 
at Weston. He remained with him until 
1881, when he attended Vanderbilt Univer- 
sity at Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated 
from that institution in 1883. He then be- 
gan practicing at Weston, remained there 
until 1886, when he went to Hutchins, wliere 
he has had an active and lucrative practice 
since. He has been County Physician for 
five or six years. In 1883 he was married 
to Miss Minnie L. Simpson, a native of 
Sparta, Tennessee, born in 1861, and the 
daughter of William and Lee (Metcalf) 
Simpson. Her grandfather was General 
Simpson. To Dr. and Mrs. Carnes has been 
born one interesting child, — Campbell, whose 
birth occurred in 1884. Dr. Carnes is very 
popular in Dallas county, bobh profession- 
ally and socially, and has a happy faculty of 
making many warm friends. 



,LEXANDER WATSON is one of the 
lljy.K substantial and enterprising citizens of 
Dallas. He has been identified with 
the interests of this city since his arrival here 
in the fall of 1885. As a contractor and 
builder he has established a reputation sec- 
ond to none. Tiiis fact is amply demon- 
strated by the many buildings that have 
sprung into existence under his efficient 
hand. 

Mr. Watson was born in the North of Ire- 
land, county Antrim, May 22, 1862, the 
second-born in a family of seven children 



812 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



of David and Jane (Mitchell) Watson. The 
mother died in 1874, in her forty-tifth year. 
Four of the children are still living. 

When he was quite young, Alexander 
Watson apprenticed himself to the carpenter 
department of the tirm of T. M. Barkliea 
Linen Company, in county Antrim, with 
whom he retnained for seven years, at the end 
of which time he found himself master of the 
carpenter trade. He was afterward employed 
in the great ship yards of Glasgow, Scotland. 
In 1882 he sailed for America, landing at 
New York. After remaining there one year 
he went to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and si.\ 
months later to St. Louis. Missouri, where 
he lived for eighteen months, working at his 
trade all the while. From St. Louis he started 
for California, but upon his arrival at Dallas, 
he decided to stop here a day or two. Being 
impressed with the natural advantages of the 
future great city of the South, he concluded to 
make it his home. Accordingly he obtained 
employment, and at the end of two years 
went into business for himself under the 
tirm name of Watson «Sr Beggs. In this he 
has met with eminent success. Among the 
many buildings they have erected are the 
First Baptist Church; the residence of Mr. 
J. S. Armstrong; his own beautiful and 
commodious home, besides many other 
structures of like magnitude. The tirm of 
Watson & Beggs dissolved partnership in 
June. 1891. Since that time Mr. Watson 
has been carrying on business for himself, 
office at No. 315 Pacific avenue; hours, 6 to 
8 A. M., 12 to 1:30 p. M.. and 6 to 7 p. m. 

In 1887, Mr. Watson made a visit to 
Brooklyn, New York, where he was united in 
marriage with Miss Elizabeth Smith, daugh- 
ter of G. W. Smith, of Brooklyn, New York. 
After their marriage he l)ronght his bride to 
their Southern home, and here they have 



since resided. Their union has been blest 
with two children: Georgia and Jeanie. Mr. 
Watson is a member of the First Congre- 
gational Church of this city. 

Q. RICHARDSON, of Dallas county, 
was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, in 
"* 1S28, the youngest of six chihlren 
born to S. Q. and Mary H. (Harrison) Rich- 
ardson, natives of Virginia. About the year 
1790 they moved to Fayette county, Ken- 
tucky, where the father was an attorney at 
law. He later removed to Covington, same 
State, where he was killed in 1834; the 
mother died in June, 1833. S. Q., our sub- 
ject, was reared in Bourbon county, Kentucky, 
and at the age of seventeen years he left home, 
going to Van Buren county, Iowa, where he 
followed farming. In 1848 he came to 
Texas, settling in the northwest part of Rush 
county, where he started a mill, but which 
was never completed. He served as Deputy 
Sheriff of Rush county, and in 1851-'52 was 
engaged in freighting in eastern Texas. Mr. 
Richardson then went to Shreveport, Louisi- 
ana, where he engaged as clerk; in 1853 he 
erected a mill at Henderson, Texas; in 1856 
he removed to Tyler and erected a steam saw- 
mill; in Feburary, 1859, he went to Grand 
Saline, Van Zandt county, Texas, and bought 
4,000 acres of land including the Saline; and 
in 1878 he came to DaUks county and en- 
gaged in making ice. Here he bought fifteen 
and a half acres of land at $100- per acre, and 
has since made Richardson's addition to the 
city, and still has about one-half of his origi- 
nal purchase left. Richardson avenue in 
Dallas is named after him. Mr. Richardson 
enlisted in Van Zandt county, Texas, in Com- 
pany I, Twenty-second Infantry, for one year 









ot^^n--' 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



813 



and served mostly in Louisiana and Texas. 
He was married in Van Zandt county, in 
March, 18(30, to Mrs. Mary J. Casen, widow 
of Green Casen, and daughter of Edraond 
and Nancy (Blou) Williams, natives of Geor- 
gia. Tlie mother died in her native State, 
and the father afterward carae to Van Zandt 
county, in 1859, where he made his home 
with our subject until his death, in 1880. 
Mr. and Mrs. Richardson have had four chil- 
dren: Mar}', now Mrs. Samuel Long, an at- 
torney of Dallas; Sarah, now Mrs. Fielder, of 
Grand Saline; Fannie and Dora, at home. 
Mr. Ricliardson is independent in politics. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Richardson are members 
of church, the former of the Ciiristian Church, 
the wife and children of the Baptist faith. 

F. MARTIN, deceased, was born at 
Campbell station, Kno.x county, 
I* Tennessee, in 1823, the second son 
and fifth child of Samuel and Julia (Reese) 
Martin, the former a native of L-eland and 
the latter of Tennessee. The father and his 
brother, Hugh, came from the north part of 
Ireland, and settled in Tennessee, where they 
engaged in the mercantile business at Kings- 
ton. The brothers afterwf^rd separated, and 
Ml"- Martin then removed to Campbell Station, 
where he died about 1856; his wife died at 
Kno.\ville, Tennessee, in 1854. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in 
liis native place, and educated at Washington 
College, Tennessee. After completing his 
education he went to Columbus, Georgia, in 
company with a few lawyers, and in 1845 
went into the Mexican army, and served until 
^he close of the war. He participated in 
several battles, and after the close of the war 
returned to Tennessee, where he followed 

63 




farming, and also the mercantile business. 
In 1859 Mr. Martin came to Dallas county, 
where he bought a prairie tract of 400 acres, 
a small part of wiiich was broken, and on 
which was a small cabin, of the native timber. 
During the war he was in the commissary 
department, and bought and furnished cattle 
for the Confederate army. He enlisted in 
1863, in General R. M, Gano's regitnent. 
Captain Welsh's company. His death oc 
ourred near Lanesport in Bowie county, Texas, 
at Dr. Ware's residence, in 1865, and his 
remains were sent to Dallas, Texas, for inter- 
ment. 

W. P. Martin was married in 1856, to 
Eliza Jane Brown, a native of Tennessee, and 
daughter of General John and Nancy (Cox) 
Brown, the former a native of North Carolina 
and the latter of Tennessee. John Brown 
was a Colonel in the war of 1812. General 
Houston, who was a clerk at that time in the 
store of McEwens, volunteered and was cap- 
tain of a company in Mr. Brown's regiment. 
When General Jackson was in command he 
was scarce of troops. At this juncture Gen- 
eral John Brown, above referred to, raised 
and equipped a company for the service at 
his own expense. The company did valiant 
service at the battle of Horse-shoe. 

When General Jackson was President he 
recommended that General Brown be reim- 
bursed for his gallant services in furnishing 
the company with much needed troops, and his 
request was granted. At what is now the town 
of Rock wood, Tennessee, the coal and iron 
mines were awarded to General Brown for 
his liberality and gallant services in the war 
of 1812. Colonel Brown died about 1846, 
at the home of his brother. Major Tom. 
Brown, near Kingston, Tennessee. His wife 
died at her farm near Kingston, September 9, 
1854; her age was fifty-four years. This 



814 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Brown family were of English origin, and 
Colonel Brown's father, John Brown, was a 
Revolutionary soldier. He was killed at his 
own home by a Tory soldier, who shot him, 
the ball passing through the window into his 
body. 

Children: Lida, F. Zollicoffer and William 
F. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have been identified 
with the county for many years, and they both 
were in Dallas the day it was burned. Her 
brother, George B. Brown, came to this 
county when a boy, and during the war served 
as captain in the Ross brigade. He was in 
all the leading battles under General Ross, 
and was badly wounded at Corinth, Missis- 
sippi. He now resides at Crystal Falls, 
Texas, and on account of the exposures in the 
army, he is now in delicate health. 

Mrs. W. P. Martin, the wife of our subject 
and an honored and most highly respected 
citizen of Dallas county, resides at the home 
farm near Dallas. Her mother was a sister 
of Judge William B. Reese, the Supreme 
Judge of Tennessee; and William B.'s father 
was also a Judge of the court. He was from 
England, where he received his education. 
Judge William B.'s son, William B., Jr., is 
a professor of law in the Vanderbilt Univer- 
sity at the present writing. 



K. HARRY, a manufacturer of roof- 
ing and fencing material, was born in 
•"* Staunton, Augusta county, Virginia, 
April 12, 1852, the fifth in a family of eleven 
children born to Dewitt Clinton and Matilda 
(Chastine) Harry, also natives of Virginia. 
The Harry family are early settlers of that 
State, and one member of the family was 
connected with Benjamin Franklin in the 
printing business. The father of our sub- 



ject, a mechanic by trade, came to Dallas in 
1873, and his death occurred in this city in 
1877; the mother died in 1888. Of their 
eleven children, ten are identified with the 
city of Dallas: Ed B., who is connected with 
his brother, O. K., in the iron business; D. 
C, of the firm of J. M. Harry & Co., manu- 
facturers of brick; J. M., a member of the 
above firm; O. K., our subject; John D., 
who died in this city in 1888; T. C, a mem- 
ber of the firm of Harry Bros., engaged in 
the hardware business; H. W., ali^o of the 
firm of Harry Bros.; W. A., who died in the 
city of Dallas in 1877; George Y., engaged 
in the plumbing business on Ervay street; 
Jeff D. ; Elizabeth, wife of M. P. Dazey, 
engaged in the feed business on McKinney 
avenue. 

The subject of this sketch was reared 
mainly in Virginia, and in 1854 he removed 
to Rogersville, Tennessee, with his parents, 
where he received his education and learned 
the carpenter's trade. In 1870, he went to 
St. Louis, and two years later he came to 
Dallas, where he worked at his trade until 
1876. In that year he established a hardware 
business in connection with his brother, under 
the firm name of Harry Bros. In 1879, Mr. 
Harry retired from the business, and engaged 
as traveling salesman for a large iron firm, 
and five years afterward, in 1884, he em- 
barked in the general manufacture of roofing 
and fencing, in which he has since continued. 
The works are located in a new brick building, 
on the corner of Indiana and Crowdus streets, 
and gives employment to about twenty-five 
men. 

Mr. Harry was married in this city, Octo- 
lier 31, 1877, to Miss Ida Hart, a native of 
Illinois, and a daughter of J. B. and Eliza- 
betli (Miller) Hart, natives of Indiana. At 
an early day the parents removed to Illinois, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



815 



later to Dennison, same State, and in 1875 
tu Dallas, where the father engaged in the 
implement business. They both still reside 
in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Harry have had 
five children, viz.: (). K., who died at the age 
of four months; Clinton, also deceased at the 
age of four months; Lewis, who died in in- 
fancy; Lillie Bell, at home. Mr. Harry has 
taken an active interest in politics, voting 
with the Democratic party, and has repre- 
sented the Eleventh Ward two terms in the 
City Council, and is now serving as Mayor. 
Mrs. Harry is a member of the Christian 
Church, and Mr. Harry was reared as an 
Episcopalian. 

^OHN W. SMITH, one of the two oldest 
^jf] settlers of Dallas, better known in these 
^^ later years to all his friends — and they 
were legion — as Uncle Jack, was born in 
Kichmond county, North Carolina, Novem- 
ber 24, 1805, In 1807 his family moved to 
Warren county, Kentucky, in which State he 
grew up to manhood, married and lived until 
middle age. 

He married Miss Lucinda Blackburn of 
Allen county, Kentucky, and in 1844 moved 
to Cass county, Missouri, then comparatively 
a wilderness. He had heard bright stories of 
the fair land of Texas and he had heard also 
of California, and the desire to go to one of 
these countries took strong possession of him. 
Neither one belonged at that time to the 
United States, and the flag of his native land 
"Was foreign in both, Init they were painted 
as bright Utopias where plenty and prosper- 
ity awaited all who would seek them on their 
shores. California had not been developed 
into the golden region it later on proved to be, 
and save the little that Fremont, the great 
pathtiuder, had made known concerning it. 



was but little more than terra incognita; but 
that daring and enterprising son of Missouri, 
Stephen F. Austin, had colonized Texas with 
some hundred of brave and hardy Americans 
who had wrested the wilderness in a measure 
from its primeval state, had driven back the 
savage hordes of its woodlands and prairies, 
had fought for and won freedom from Mex- 
ico, had set up an independent government, 
were building not only homes but churches, 
schoolhouses and cities, and with l)rain and 
brawn and prowess were achieving a proud 
destiny for a young nation. 

Mr. Smith had heard these things, and in 
April, 1845, he came out to Texas and took 
a look at the lay of the land. Returning home 
in November of the same year, he and Judge 
J. M. Patterson of tliis city started together 
for Texas or California, tiiey had not fully 
determined which. At Cairo, Illinois, tiiey 
separated. Judge Patterson to go on to New 
Orleans, and Mr. Smith on through Missis- 
sippi with a drove of horses, which he in- 
tended to sell in that State, and they were to 
meet in New Orleans. Judj^e Patterson 
reached New Orleans in February, 1846, but 
failing to meet Mr. Smith came on to Texas, 
stopping in Dallas. Ten days later Mr. 
Smith arrived in Dallas. 

They concluded to stop in Texas and cast 
their fortunes with Dallas. Forming a co- 
partnership Mr. Smith and Judge Patterson 
entered into the mercantile business, the first 
store ever opened in Dallas. The towti then 
had four or five little cabins, was but the 
merest hamlet, surrounded in every direction 
by a wilderness. Settlers were few, homesteads 
were scarce, and about all of which the town 
and the surrounding country could boast was 
its future. 

Indians roamed at will on all sides of them; 
buffalo, deer, antelope, bear and all the wild 



810 



BIsrORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



aiiiinals native to tlio country qnonclied their 
their tliirst in the Trinity river wlit^re tlio 
county' bridge now spans it or in the DalUis 
branch at any point where it now flows 
through the city, and fed upon tlie luxuriant 
mesquite and buffalo grasses indiircnous to the 
soil where the post otlice now stands and at 
other points of equal note now in the heart 
of the present great city. 

Mr. Smith continued in the mercantile 
business in copartnership with Judge Patter- 
son until in 1854, when tlieiirin ditsolved, J. 
N. Smith, a brother of Mr. Smith, who had 
become a partner in 1852, andtludge Patter- 
son retiring. Mr. Smith continued the busi- 
ness alone until some time during the war, 
when there was no point from which to re- 
plenish his depleted stock and refill his 
shelves, and he clostnl up business. 

Aftei' tht^ war he began business again in 
partnership with his son-in-law, the late Ma- 
jor Wallace Peak, and continued it for sev- 
eral years, finally retiring to enjoy the rest 
of a quiet old age with bis family about hira. 

There were five children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Smith: ^lary Frances, Ellen, J^loyd 
(killed November 2, 1870), Elden W., and 
Lula C. 

In 1848 he was elected County Clerk, but 
turned the affairs and management of the of- 
fice over to the late Captain Alex. Ilarwood 
who for so many years tilled the office. This 
was the only time he ever aspired to office of 
any kind. 

In 1800, when a .series of incendiary fires, 
or at least so believed to be, convulsed Texas, 
Mr. Smith's mercantile establishment was 
l)\irned out, but, while it was a great draw- 
back to him, it served only to spur his energy 
and enterprise and he at once renewed busi- 
ness. That was a memorable year all over 
the country. It was the year of the great cam- 



paign between Breckenridge, Douglas, Bell 
and Lincoln for the presidency. Mad pas- 
sion held sway in all sections of the country. 
In Texas the towns of Henderson and Dallas 
weredestroyedalmostentirely by fire, the work, 
it was then believed, of abolition incentliaries, 
and it was in that fire in Dallas that Mr.. 
Smith lost his mercantile establishment. 

A mercantile establishment in Dallas, a 
hamlet of four or five cabins fortyfoui' years 
ago, was not a very extensive affair. It took 
no brigade of clerks, gentlemen and ladies, nor 
a battalion of cash boys to conduct the busi- 
ness as now; but, as the hamlet grew into a 
village and from a mere village at a crossing 
of the Trinity river to a county site, Mr. 
Smith's budiuoss kept pace with it, and, all 
along with the city from its infancy to the 
day of his death, he kept abreast of the times 
and he had no greatcir pride nor joy than to 
see the city grow and ilevelop and thrive and 
become strong and great. 

He helped to organize Dallas county, to se- 
lect Dallas as its coui\ty site. He saw the great 
city of to-day in its swaddling clothes forty- 
four years ago as its four or five little cabins 
nestled demurely on the east baiik qf the 
Trinity river. He saw it grow a little and a 
little year by year up to the boginipng of 
the great Civil war, when, as a equity site in 
the midst of a coui)ti-y settling up, it had 
reached a populatioii of 600 or 700. He saw 
it stand still through tlie four years of the 
Civil war. IJe saw the young town, poverty- 
stricken when the war was over, take up again 
the battle ((f life where it had laid it down 
four years before and begin again, with noth- 
ing to begin on save hope and fortitude. 
He saw it advancing little by little as the 
years went by, with prosperity smiling 
brighter all the time, until, finally, in 1872, 
the village of 800 people heard the whistle of 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



817 



tlie locomotive and tlie rumble of incoming 
trains. Tiien a now era dawned. He saw the 
village grow into a goodly-sized town. lie 
saw other railroads come. He saw the town 
expand into a growing city and in eight years' 
time it was his pleasure to behold the village 
of 800 i)eople grow into a city of more than 
10,000 population. 

Another ten years rolled by when he was 
gathered to his fathers, but in that ten years 
he saw the prairies taken into the corporate 
limits of the city; he-saw the 10,000 inhabi- 
tants increased to 50,000; he saw many rail- 
roads built, street-car lines constructed with 
steam and electric motors; he saw the city 
liglited by electricity; he saw four, five, six 
and eight-story stone and brick buildings 
erected ; he lived to see the hamlet of forty- 
four years ago grow into the great com- 
mercial center and metropolis of the groat 
State of Texas. 

During these forty-four eventful years he 
was always the same kindly, pleasant, gener- 
ous, manly gentleman, a good citizen in all 
senses of the word, loved and honored by all 
who knew him. 

There are but a few of the old pioneers 
left. One by one they " cross over the river 
to rest under the trees on the other shore." 
He died July 13, 1890. 

Mrs. Lucinda (Blackburn) Smith, was a 
native of Allen county, Kentucky, daughter 
of Robert Blackburn, and a near relative of 
the Hon. J. C. S. Blackburn and also Doctor 
Blackburn, the Democratic nominee for gover- 
nor of Kentucky, in 1879. 

She was married, February 22, 1843, to 
Uncle Jack Smith in I3owling Green Ken- 
tucky. Soon after they emigrated to Missouri 
and from there to Texas, in 1845. She died 
March 16, 1879, at the age of sixty-four 
years. 



She, her husband and daughter settled on 
the banks of the Trinity when Texas was yet 
a Republic. She was a member of the Epis- 
copal Church, having been baptized and con- 
firmed by Bishop Wi'Cgg seventeen years 
since. 

Mrs. Smith was one of those unostentatious 
Christians whose unobtrusive manners, devo- 
tion and duty to her family and to her friends 
has ever gained for her the love of all who 
knew her. She was truly a woman of pure 
thoughts, pure words and pure deeds. Around 
her dying bed were gathered her husband and 
four surviving children, her daughters, Mrs. 
W. W. Peak, and Misses Ellen and Lou, and 
her son J. Elden Smith, ministering by their 
affectionate attention that solace and comfort 
which only the presence of those we love can 
give to the departing spirit. 

In the death of Mrs. Smith, her husltand 
and family have sustained a loss which to 
them is irreparable, and one whose memory 
will ever remain green and be cherished by 
those who know her well. She has left to all 
who knew her a rich heritage of goodly deeds 
and a loved and glad memory. It has never 
been the privilege of the writer to witness 
such deep devotion and assiduous attention 
as were displayed by her children during her 
illness. These aged people have done their 
part, and they <lid it well, in opening up the 
frontier and preparing the way for the pace 
of civilization and progress which the present 
generation now enjoy. They are buried side 
by side beneath the clods of the valley in 
a cemetery where affection will keep watch 
over their slumbering dust. 

Of the children born to John W. and Lu- 
cinda Smith are: Mary Frances, consort of 
Wallace Peak; their four children are: Lula 
Blackburn, who married J. N. House: they 
reside in Dallas; John Sydney and Wallace 



818 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



W. live in Mexico; the next isEden W., 
who is in college at St. Louis; Sydney Allen, 
wife of Edwin Singleton: they reside in Co- 
lumbia Falls, Montana: Lula Blackburn is 
their only child; Loyd Blackburn was killed 
at the age of nineteen, November 2, 1870, 
by Tom Caudle, in Lancaster, Texas; Tom 
evaded justice then and is running at large 
now; Elden W. died March 9, 1891, at 
the age of thirty-seven years: he was a rail- 
road contractor and a man of good business 
qualifications; Lula C, the youngest, is the 
wife of llobert D. Berrey, who is local freight 
agent of the Houston & Texas Central rail- 
way at Dallas; he is in every way a worthy, 
enterprising and good citizen, a thorough and 
practical business man, a credit to any com- 
munity; they reside in Dallas. 



^ 



><r- 



^HARLES H. LEDNUM, a rising young 
lawyer of Dallas county , has been a resi- 
dent of the State of Texas since his 
youth. He was born in the State of Georgia 
January 13, 1862, and is a son of William 
H. Lednum. The father removed to Texas 
in 1873, and settled in Waco, where Charles 
H. grew to manhood, and received his edu- 
cation. He was a student at Waco Univer- 
sity, but at an early age left school, and be- 
came a clerk in the office of the District 
State Court. He served in this position for 
three years, and then began the study of law. 
He devoted himself to this most industri- 
ously and in 1886 was admitted to the bar. 
Soon after this event he was appointed Chief 
Deputy of the United States District Court 
for Dallas, Judge McCormiek presiding. In 
addition to this position he fills the office of 
Commissionerof thecourt. As a Clerk of the 
court he probably has no peer in Texas, and 



the high encomiums bestowed upon him by 
those who know him best are the strongest 
tribute to his ability and fidelity. Judge 
McCormiek says of his work: "It is exactly 
up, and it is uniformly correct." This senti- 
ment is further indorsed by the leading mem- 
bers of the bar. His private life is without 
a stain, and this fact taken in connection 
with his untarnished reputation as an official 
places him in the front ranks of the public 
servants. 

Mr. Lednum was united in marriage, in 
1886, to Miss Lucie David, a native of the 
State of Georgia. Mrs. Lednum is a worthy 
member of the Baptist Church. 

II. TILLEY FOWLKES, Dallas, Texas. 
The humanizing influences of Christian- 
ity are shown in thousands of directions, 
but in none in a more marked degree than 
that of medical and surgical science; and 
although Dallas has many fine physicians 
Dr. Fowlkes stands among the foremost. 

He was born in Texas in 1868, to J. S. 
Fowlkes and wife, the former of whom was a 
Virginian and came to Texas at the age of 
eighteen years, which State has been his home 
up to the present time. He has devoted his 
attention to the banking business, in the 
management of which he has proven himself 
an able financier. Doctor Tilley i^'owlkes 
received his early instruction in Bryant and 
finished his literary education in a private 
school. He then began the study of medi- 
cine in the Jefferson Medical College in 1886, 
and three years later graduated from this 
institution with the degree of M. D., succeed- 
ing which he began making a special study of 
the eye, ear, nose and throat. To perfect 
himself in this, as well as in the general 
branches of the science, he went to Berlin 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



819 



Germany, and entered Kaiser William's Uni- 
versity and still has the usnal certificate of 
attendance. He then again took a special 
course in the treatment of the eye, ear, nose 
and throat in New York city, and has a 
deep and accurate knowledge of this most 
important branch of his calling. He is the 
only one of the specialists in the city wiio has 
received the advantages of a foreign education, 
and that he has improved his opportunities 
can be readily seen in the many people who 
require his services and in the many almost 
miraculous cures he has made. He has been 
an extensive traveler and has made trips to 
Australia as ship's purgeon. 



[ANGER BROTHERS, who are propri- 
etors of the largest, most important 
and most perfect wholesale and retail 
dry-goods establishment in the Southwest, 
located on Elm street, Dallas, Texas, are 
natives of Oberubreit, Bavaria, Germany. 
They are sons of Elias and Babette Sanger. 
In the old country, the father was a mer- 
chant on a small scale, had a family of ten 
cliildren, which were brougiit up to habits of 
industry, usefulness and economy, traits in 
character building, which have ever been 
serviceable to the children, and have proven 
to be of inestimable value in their career of 
business life and activity. The father, wife, 
three brothers, and three sisters came to 
America in 1867. That same year, not long 
after their arrival, two sons, Jacob and David, 
the former aged twenty-two, the latter aged 
seventeen, died with yellow fever, at Bryan, 
Texas, which disease was epidemic and very 
malignant in that locality. The two brothers 
were of good business qualifications, had the 
best of habits, and were most promising 



young men. The hearts of the parents, 
brothers and sisters, were made very sorrow- 
ful in the demise of these dear young men. 
Tiie sisters were, Sophie, wife of L. Emanuel, 
now residing in "Waco; two other sisters also, 
Eda, wife of Jacob Newburger, and Bertha, 
wife of Joseph Lehman, the latter a widow, 
both residing in New York city. Of the 
other brothers, in the order of their birth, are 
Isaac, Lehman, Philip, Samuel and Alexan- 
der. Isaac arrived from Germany in 1851. 
He clerked in New Haven, Connecticut, in a 
clothing establishment, at a salary of |30 and 
board, the first year, $50 and board the second 
year, and $70 and board the third year. He 
went to New York in 1854, as bookkeeper in 
a wholesale clothing house, where he remained 
until 1858, when he moved to McKinney, 
Texas. He went from Houston, Texas, to 
McKinney by stage, and his goods were sent 
in an ox wagon, which required four weeks 
in transit. At McKinney, he formed a part- 
nership with Fred Baum, under the firm 
name of Baum & Sanger. They remained at 
McKinney several years, then moved to 
Weatherford, leaving the brother Lehman in 
charge of the McKinney branch. The latter 
entered the firm in 1859; they remained in 
Weatherford until the war opened, when Leh- 
man enlisted in the Confederate service. 
Isaac enlisted also, but after a time returned, 
and was County Clerk of the Court, until the 
war closed. During this time, Baum took 
charge of the store, while Isaac gave over- 
sight to that and served as County Clerk. 
About the year 1868 or 1869, Isaac returned 
to New York, where he still resides, un- 
married, and has bcsen required to stay, being 
the resident buyer and financial manager of 
the Dallas and Waco concerns. 

Lehman, who, by the way, is the originator 
of the Sanger firms, came to America in 



820 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



1854, and, after the war, started the store, in 

1865, at Milliken, Texas, in which he was 
shortly afterward joined by Isaac, and later 
by Philip at the same place. Up to about 

1866, the Houston & Texas Central Kailway 
made its terminus at Milliken. As the rail- 
way advanced northward, the tirm followed 
witli its business to the next terminus, lo- 
cating from time to time at the following 
terminal points: Milliken, Bryan, Hearne, 
Calvert, Kosse, Bremond, Groesbeck, Corsi- 
cana, Waco and Dallas. Lehman lives in 
"Waco. He was an active member of the firm, 
and did much in conducting the business and 
bringing it to its present high standing. He 
withdrew from the tirm on account of ill 
health in 1881. He married Miss Isabella 
Wenk, of Williamsburg, JS'ew York. He 
was a man of enterprise and business push, 
and was the originator of the Belt Railway 
in Dallas. 

Philip came to America alone, at sixteen 
years of age, in 1857, landing at New York, 
where he clerked in a retail clothing house, 
at a salary of §'2.50 a month and board for 
the first year. That same year, |10 of his 
hard earnings was saved for his parents. He 
stayed four months longer and received §4 a 
month and board. He then went to Savan- 
nah, Georgia, where he clerked for Mr. David 
Heller, at $10 a month and board for two 
years; after that he sold buggies and collected 
outstanding accounts for Mr. Heller. The 
latter left Georgia just before the outbreak of 
the war for his home, Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Philip enlisted in the Confederate States of 
America service, Company G, Thirty-second 
Georgia Regiment, and remained in the ser- 
vice until the close of the war, surrenderino- 
with Johnston near Greensboro, North Caro- 
lina. He was slightly wounded at the battle 
of Ocean Pond, Florida; he was in the second 



bombardment of Fort Sumter and Morris 
Island, South Carolina, just before the sur- 
render of Charleston, and was in all the march 
before Sherman, through. South and North 
Carolina. 

During this time he was acting private 
secretary to the Adjutant at general head- 
quarters. He was intrusted with the dis- 
]iatches of the scouts, during the Sherman 
n)arch, and often had the giving of counter- 
signs. He participated in the battle of Ocean 
Pond, Florida, and was slightly wounded. 
After the war he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
where he remained five months as a clerk in 
a wholesale notion establishment, — Heller 
Brothers. He then joined his brothers in 
Milliken, Texas, in December, 1865, and im- 
mediately became a partner. He has lived 
in Milliken, Bryan, Calvert, Kosse, Groes- 
beck, Corsicana, and in Dallas since 1872. 
In 1869, Philip married Miss Cornelia Man- 
delbaum, of New Haven, Connecticut. Their 
three living children by this marriage are: 
Elias, Jessica and Bertina Lois. These parents 
have lost five children: the lirst-born of the 
family, Selina, a sweet, bright, lovely and 
promising child, died at seven years of age. 
She was the idol of the parents, and died of 
membranous croup in 1876. 

In 1872, Alexander Sanger joined the firm, 
and in 1873 Samuel became a member of the 
same, doing wholesale and retail business all 
the while. Lehman and Samuel Sanger were 
located at Waco, there conducting the busi- 
ness, building up a large wholesale and retail 
trade. The firm of Sanger Brothers located 
in Dallas in 1872, under the charge of 
Philip and Alexander. The store in Dallas in 
1872 occupied a box frame one-story build- 
ing, 50x80; today it occupies a large brick 
and stone building, 100 feet of which is six 
stories, and 100 feet two- stories, high, at a 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



821 



depth of 200 feet and tlirougli to Main street, 
and lias forty-two complete departments. In 
__ the start they had no employes, doing all the 
work themselves. Now, it averages about 
250 employes. 

In 1865, when Philip joined the firm at 
Milliken, he had not seen the two brothers, 
Isaac and Lehman, for six years. At this 
time Lehman was away; Isaac took Philip 
in as a partner. When Lehman returned, he 
found Philip behind the counter, making 
himself generally useful. He took Isaac to 
one side, and inquired of him why he em- 
ployed this new clerk? that the business did 
not justiiy it, etc. In short, he kicked at the 
new accession to the force, and he kicked 
hard. At this time, affairs were waxing a 
little UTipleasautly warm, Isaac carrying on 
the joke at Lehman's expense. The former 
took Lehman to the counter, calling Philip 
thereto, he introduced Lehman to his brother. 
The matter was settled instanter, and they in- 
dulged in a hearty laugh, much to Lehman's 
discomfort and pleasure as well. 

^ At present writing, they operate the larg- 
est industry of the kind in the State. Their 
sales annually amount to about $3,000,000. 
Of the dry-goods wholesaling and retailing, 
they are the pioneers of the State. 

Alexander on coming to America went to 
Cincinnati as bookkeeper for the Heller 
Brothers; later, he formed a partnership 
under the firm name of Ochs. Lehman & 
Company, who bought out Heller Brothers, 
and can'ied on the same business three years, 
until he sold out to his partner and came to 
Texas, and joined the brother at Corsicana. 
Alexander opened a house, which was burned 
at Dallas, lirst on the square, which was a 
branch of the Corsicana house, and in the fall 
of 1872, when the railroad was extended to 
Dallas, Philip joined him. The Corsicana 



stock was moved to Elm street, Dallas, in 
the new building, just erected, in a one-story 
box frame, 50 x 80, before referred to. The 
largest surface occupied in any of the differ- 
ent stores south of Dallas, up to 1872, was 
about 30 X 70, and when in 1872 Alexander 
ordered the construction of their first store in 
Dallas (one story frame, 50 x 80), he was told 
by one of his brothers that it was a mistake 
to build so large a building as this, the 
brother claiming they would not have the 
goods to fill it. Alexander, however, had 
his way, had the store built according to his 
previously arranged plans and specifications; 
and time, which is the great equalizer and 
regulator, has proved the wisdom of the 
arrangement. Alexander was married in 
1879, to Miss Fannie Fetchenbach, of Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. This marriage has been blessed 
in the birth of one child, Elihu. 

The Sanger brothers and their families all 
belong to the Hebrew Congregation. They 
have, however, contributed quite frequently 
and liberally toward the erection of other 
churches in the city and State. 

Their establishment is lighted, fanned, 
warmed and the six elevators run by their 
own plant in the building. 

Sanger brothers also publish a monthly 
magazine, under the editorship of Mrs. V. 
Q. Goff: James Kirkland, manager. It is a 
forty-four-page, illustrated periodical, con- 
taining serial stories by tiie best of American 
writers, articles on fiowers, the farm, garden, 
household, fashion, etc. The price is five 
cents a copy, or fifty cents a year. Their 
mail order department is the largest and most 
efficient in the southwest. Orders are filled 
the same day they are received, and samples 
are sent anywhere on request. 

Alexander Sanger is a director in the City 
National Bank of Dallas, also in the Texas 



832 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



State Fair and Dallas Exposition, a full 
account of which is given in tlie historical 
part of this work. 

The Sanger brotiiers are of that class of 
citizens who in this, their adopted country, 
hare by their industry, push and perseverance, 
started without capital, and have made tor 
themselves homes, wealth and reputation in 
this country, where many native born men 
witii more favorable opportunities have failed. 
They are excellent examples of what correct 
business habits can accomplish with small 
capita!. They are enterprising, patriotic, 
and believe in keeping abreast in the latter- 
day nineteenth century progress. As will 
be seen, their success in business is simply 
marvelous. They are numbered among the 
most progressive and public-spirited men in 
the city; always taking part in such enter- 
prises as promise for the best welfare of their 
community. 

^OLONEL JOHN F. ELLIOTT, Dallas, 
Texas. — The richest heritage of Ameri- 
can youth is the example of their 
country's brain and brawn, wrought into lives 
of perfect altruism, of splendid fealty, of tire- 
less industry. The annals of such a life is 
briefly told by one who has known Colonel 
John F. Elliott long and well. Colonel El- 
liott, of Dallas, Texas, is a native of Mobile, 
Alabama, where he grew to manhood and re- 
ceived his earlier education, literary and mer- 
cantile, the first in the private schools and 
Spring Hill College, and the latter in the 
banking house of Thomas P. Miller & Co. 

In the tiery days just preceding the Civil 
war he was one of the few far-sighted young 
men of the South who dared to oppose se- 
cession, and as a metnber of the Union Demo- 
cratic Douglas and Johnson Club he delivered 



an address clearly setting forth the error of 
that doctrine in principle and policy. It was 
a time that tried men's souls and imperiled 
those who antagonized the dogma; but young 
Elliott and a half dozen of his friends had 
the courage of their convictions. Altlioucrh 
he insisted in that address that the principle 
of secession was unconstitutional, the policy 
dangerous, and ruinous to the integrity of 
the Republic and to Union, that the Southern 
States were numerically too weak to cope with 
the North, and that the sentiment of the 
world being hostile to the the institution of 
slavery it would fail to give them aid, all of 
which was afterward literally verified, yet he 
announced that if his section should secede 
he would not be the last in armincr for its de- 
fense. True to that declaration he joined the 
first Louisiana battalion, that left New Or- 
leans for service near Fensaeola and subse- 
quently for the Potomac. During the 
struggle he was in several battles in Virginia, 
Mississippi and Louisiana, as private and a^ 
commissioned officer. The war ended. Colonel 
Elliott was an earnest advocate for immediate 
and sincere reconstruction and restored re- 
lations of peace and co-operation. 

Locating then in New Orleans, the home 
of his parents, he engaged in commercial 
pursuits until persuaded by an old friend, for 
whom he was chiefly instrumental in acquir- 
ing quite a fortune, to remove to Philadelphia, 
where he subsequently enlisted on the editor- 
ial staff of the Press, until his removal to 
Galveston in the fall of 187-t. There he once 
airain launched into mercantile life, but in 
1878, losing his wife, whom he married in 
1866, he was persuaded to go to Dallas, 
whither he went in the spring of 1879, to 
take an interest in and the editorial manage- 
ment of the Dallas Daily Herald, then only 
a sixteen-column folio. During hisadininis- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



823 



tratio as editor-in-chief, he was one of the 
original proposers and founders of the Texas 
Press Association, and before which now 
powerfi;! organization he delivered, by unani- 
mous vote, the first annual oration. Tlie sub- 
sect was Independent Journalism, and his 
bold enunciation, although at the time pro- 
voking some adverse criticism by the strictly 
partisan press, was of the first and most ef- 
fective influence to place journalism in his 
State on a higher plane; while a subsequent 
address, on the Amenities of Journalism, 
contributed vastly to the cultivation of a more 
fraternal feeling throughout the entire pro- 
fession in Texas. Within the same five years 
Colonel Elliott delivered nearly 100 carefully 
prepared addresses to university and college 
graduating classes, fraternal and charitable 
societies, political bodies, mercantile associa- 
tions, etc. In the meantime his leading edi- 
torials on national and State polity on pend- 
ing questions, equaling a dozen octavo 
volumes, materially molded the opinions of 
his constituency. In the summer of 1884, 
during the annual convention of the State 
Press Association, just as his name was pro 
posed for election by acclamation to its pres- 
idency, the proceedings were arrested by a 
telegram from the Governor, that its popular 
candidate had been, in response to an almost 
unanimous call of Texas, appointed Commis 
sioner in Chief, with 200 assistants, promi- 
nent citizens of the State, to the New Orleans 
World's Exposition. This ended his accept- 
ance of the honored headship of his well be- 
loved association The new position was one 
of pre-eminence and involved an immensity 
of labor, skill and responsi])ility, as the great 
Empire State of the South, five times the size 
of New York, and never before at a fair when 
nearly all the other States had been, was 
wholly unprepared in any manner with exhib- 



it or for competition. Yet in less than four 
months the indefatigable commissioner had 
gathered in such an array of the agricultural, 
mineral, timber manufacturing, live-stock 
and other resources of the imperial domain as 
not only astonished Texas but also the entire 
country by the wonderful display presented. 
But the address which Colonel Elliott de- 
livered on Texas Day to over 7,000 Texans 
and many thousands of other visitors, still 
more astonished his hearers when he unfolded 
in what the New Orleans papers pronounced 
the best address during the exposition, the 
most eloquent and the most effective, the im- 
surpassed resources and dormant possibilities 
in this land of wonderful and industrial sur- 
prises. So universally satisfactory did he 
discharge the multifarious and arduous duties 
imposed on his executive ability and tact that 
many journals throughout tlie State pressed 
his nomination for the Governorship as a 
business executive. But absolutely without 
political aspirations he continued to decline 
all political preferment and quietly returned 
to the charge of his paper. The next year 
that paper, now enlarged to fifty-six column 
quarto, with enormously extended circulation, 
was sold at a price commensurate with its in- 
fluence. Thereupon, for the first time in two 
decades of unceasing labors. Colonel Elliott 
rested by a residence of about two years in 
Washington city, where he made the ac- 
quaintance of many of the leading men and 
women of the nation. He is now at the head 
of a large foreign and domestic money-loan 
and a land-title business, both of which he or- 
ganized a number of 3'ears ago in Dallas. 
Reared in the banking and general commer- 
cial vocations, a journalist of extensive ex- 
tensive experience, practically acquainted 
with military life, a scholar thoroughly famil- 
iar with the Greek and Latin classics in the 



824 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



original, speaking the French, Spanish, Ger- 
man and Italian languages, from each of 
which he has translated and published much 
in prose and poetrv, thoroughly grounded in 
the schools of political and moral philosophy 
and the economies of Great Britain, France, 
Germany and America, with a well stocked 
library of these several authors in their re- 
spective languages, historians, biographers, 
poets, novelists, scientists and essayists, all of 
which he has at his tongue's end, and having 
frequently traveled over the Union and visited 
often its leading cities, he is one of the best 
posted men of the country. His main enjoy- 
ments now are the newspapers and periodi- 
cals. A special lover of the arts and sciences, 
he has made these a special study and in 
many instances a practice. As a writer Col- 
onel Elliott is clear in thought, methodical in 
arrangement, vigorous and classic in style, 
and uses always the purest of the Queen's 
English. He is a frequent contributor of 
articles for the press and the magazines, 
principally on financial, political and social 
subiects. He is one of the best known men in 
Texas, an octavo industrial history of which 
he recently published and which ran through 
two editions of 20,000 copies each. He is a 
recognized, accurate and reliable statistician 
and informed on all Texas affairs and director 
of various financial, commercial and literary 
institutions. As a man of business he is 
broad-gauged in his views, unflagging in his 
work, proverbially prompt, successful in his 
undertakings and trusted the country over 
for sterling integrity and conscientiousness. 
Owing to this and his sound judgment and 
discretion, he is often made the sole arbiter 
for the adjustment of commercial contesta- 
tions and personal misunderstandings, and is 
said to bear the soubriquet of the "great rec- 
onciler." 



As a social and domestic character there 
has never been a breath of scandal connected 
with his untarnished name, while as a friend 
he is a veritable Pythias. Religiously his 
youth was enlisted in the Catholic faith, but 
afiiliations with Masonry and Odd Fellowship, 
whose chairs he has honorably occupied, 
severed his connection with the church. Col- 
onel Elliott had the misfortune about a year 
ago to lose his wife, a woman of superlative 
merits and varied accomplishments. He now 
resides with his two sons and two daughters, 
in an elegant home in the charming little 
city of Oak Cliff, across the river from 



Dallas. 



-^-^/^^^l-^^/^^ 



V. McGregor, contractor and 
builder, at Dallas Texas, came into 
* eastern Texas, by water, from Ten- 
nesse, in 1870, and at once engaged in the 
business of contracting for building. He has 
since erected many of the important build- 
ings of Dallas. 

He was born in Trigg county, Kentucky, 
in 1845, the elder of the two children of 
Harris and Eliza (Ross) McGregor. His 
father, a native of middle Tennessee, moved 
to Kentucky in pioneer times, opened up a 
farm and resided there until his death, in 
1854. The mother of the subject of this 
sketch, a native of North Carolina, came to 
Dallas with him, and died here in 1885. Mr. 
McGregor was raised in Kentucky, beginning 
to learn his trade there. During the war he 
enlisted in Company C, Fourth Kentucky 
Infantry, was transferred to the Fourteenth 
Tennessee Infantry, Confederate States of 
America, sworn into service at Greenbrier, 
Virgi nia, and was i n the army nearly f ou r yeai-s, 
participating in the battles about Richmond 
and throughout the Peninsular campaign, the 



HT8T0RY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



825 



Wilderness and Gettysburg, and was then or 
dered to Kuoxville, Tennessee, where he 
took charge of a wagon train. He was once 
taken prisoner and confined at Ilopkinsville, 
Kentucky. 

After the close of the war he returned to 
Tennessee, settling near Fort Donelson and 
engaging in farming. He came to eastern 
Texas in 1870, and to Dallas in 1872, and 
shipped the first five cars of lumber on the 
Texas Pacific railroad to Dallas. He is now 
the oldest continuous contractor in tlie city of 
Dallas, having engaged in the business here 
for nineteen years. He has coTitracted for 
and erected buildings in many cities of Texas. 
At present he has a large contract at Lancaster, 
this State. In reference to politics he is not 
active, but votes the Democratic ticket. He 
is a member of Lodge No. 1, Woodmen of 
the World, also of Indian Mound Lodge, No. 
108, F. & A. M., at Indian Mound, Tennes- 
see. Mr. McGregor belongs to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in Dallas. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. McGregor 
took place in Stewart county, Tennessee, in 
1865. Her maiden name was I'annie Wall, 
and she was a native of that county. Of 
their nine children four are living, namely: 
Minnie, now the wife of S. W. Burgen of 
Dallas; Ivy, now Mrs. Robert McPhail of 
Waxahachie, Texas; Kittie, and Willis. Mr. 
and Mrs. Burgen have one child. Stony by 
name. Robert and Ivy McPhail have two 
children : Fannie Lue and Mittie Zuma. John 
and Mary Wall, the parents of Mrs. McGregor, 
were natives of Stewart county, Tennessee, 
where they passed their entire lives. Mr. Wall 
was a farmer and stock-raiser. He and his wife 
were prominent members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South. He died in 1856, 
at the age of fifty-six years. He was a pro- 
gressive and public-spirited man, and as a 



worthy citizen had many warm friends; was 
prominently identified with the growth and 
progress of this county. Mrs. Wall died in 
1888, aged seventy-two years. William, the 
oldest brother, died at home, at the age of 
about fifty years. Jack L. H. Wall was 
killed at the battle of Cedar Run, October 
19, 1864, aged about thirty-five years. 
Thomas died in Virginia, of erysipelas, while 
in the sevice of the Confederate army, at the 
age of twenty-one years. James P. enlisted at 
Fort Donelson, and was shortly afterward 
taken prisoner and confined at Camp Douglas, 
Chicago, and never returned until the war 
closed. He is now living in Stewart county, 
Tennessee, in the vicinity of Fort Donelson. 
Green Marion was also in the Confederate ser- 
vice, when but a boy. He has a family and 
is living in Colorado. Mrs. McGregor, born 
May 2, 1848, was next in order of birth. 
Alice, wife of James Lee, resides on a farm 
in Stewart county, Tennessee, as does also 
Emma, the wife of Albert Legbert. Four 
other children of these parents died in early 
childhood. The parents were honest, kind- 
hearted and intelligent people, respected by 
all who knew them. 



^ 



^ 



^DWARD LOITGHEKY, a contractor 
and builder of Dallas, was born in Oak- 
land county, Michigan, in 1841, the 
fifth of the seven children of William and 
Margaret (Grinley) Loughery, natives of 
Scotland. His father, a stone and brick 
mason, emigrated by sail vessel to America, 
settling first in New York and then iti Mich- 
igan, in which latter State his death occurred; 
iiis wife survives. Mr. Edward Loughery 
learned his trade in Detroit and East Saginaw. 
Afterward he engaged in contracting, in 



836 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




Missouri and Kansas, from which latter 
State he came to Texas in 1875, in tlie em- 
ploy of the Texas Pacific Railroad Company, 
in whose service he continued eleven years, in 
this State. He has now a fine residence, 
erected in 1889, at the corner of Tevis avenue 
and Hawkins street. 

He was married in Marshall, this State, in 
March, 1881, to a native of Tennessee. They 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and Mr. Lougliery is a Democrat in 
political action. 

WILLIAM II. ABRAMS, Land and 
Ta.\ Commissioner of the Texas & 
Pacific Railway, was born in Peru, 
LaSalle county, Illinois, January 10, 1843. 
His parents are Isaac and Ellen (Rittenhouse) 
Abrams: the latter is a niece of David Ritten- 
house, the noted astronomer. Both parents 
are still living. The father has been a suc- 
cessful business man, — a merchant, land 
and real estate agent. He is now eighty-four 
years of age, but his wife is eight years 
younger, being only seventy-six. They both 
are members of the Congregational Church. 
Our subject is the oldest of the family of 
three children born to his parents, namely: 
Louise, still of the home circle; and Edwin, 
the youngest, engaged in the real estate and 
insurance business in Chicago: the latters 
wife was Linnie Bullock, and they have one 
daughter, Louise. 

Mr. Abrams has been in the railway ser- 
vice since October 20, 1866. From the time 
of entering railway work until September 16, 
1873, he was connected with the land de- 
partment of the Kansas Pacific, now part of 
of the Union Pacific, but.at that date he con- 
nected himself with the Texas & Pacific 
Railway, and has remained with it ever since, 



as Land Commissioner, since 1875. He had 
been Assistant Land Commissioner under 
ex-Governor Throckmorton, who, having been 
elected to Congress, resigned in the last 
named year, and Mr. Abrams succeeded him. 
He, our subject, resided in Marshall, Texas, 
from 1873 to 1883, but in November of the 
latter year moved to Dallas, where he has 
since resided, and is now regarded as one of 
the enterprising and prominent citizens of 
the city. He is a man well fitted for his 
position, and has given a high degree of 
satisfaction to all concerned. Since 1884 he 
has represented the Land and Tax interests 
in Texas of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas 
Railway, and auxiliary lines also. 

Mr. Abrams was married, June 16, 1869, 
to Miss Ella M. Harris, daughter of Hon. W. 
A. Harris, of Page county, Virginia, now de- 
ceased, as is also his wife, Fanny (Murray) 
Harris, natives of Fauquier county, Virginia, 
but for a long time of Page county, Virginia, 
then of Pike county, Missouri, where they 
died, he in 1864 and his wife in 1889. He 
was a very prominent member of Congress, 
representing the Shenandoah valley for eight 
years. He also was United States Minister 
to Buenos Ayres under President Pierce, and 
was for souje time the publisher of tiie Wash- 
ington Union, which was regarded as tiie 
administration orgati during President Bu- 
chanan's term of office. Mr. Harris and 
wife had six children, of whom W. A. Harris, 
of Liuwood, Kansas, a large land owner and 
stock man and a prominent man, is tlie old- 
est, and his wife is Mary Lionberger; Murray 
Harris, the second son, born in Buenos 
Ayres, is Chief Engineer of the construction 
of the Pecos Valley Company's system of ir- 
rigation canals in Western Texas and New 
Mexico; Ciiarles H., farmer and stock man 
near Bowling Ureen, Missouri; May, single 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



837 



and living iu St. Louis, Missouri; Lelia, wife 
of Elijah Robinson, of Kansas City, Mis- 
souri, an ex-judge, and now a very promin- 
ent attorney of said city. 

Mrs. Abrams was educated at the Convent 
of the Visitation, at St. Louis, while lier hus- 
band is a graduate of Monmouth College, 
class of 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Abrams have 
the following children: Lucien, born June 
10. 1870, graduated at Princeton College, 
New Jersey, class of 1892, and expects to 
study architecture and art for several years; 
Clarence Albright, born December 27, 1873, 
educated, first at Dallas schools, then at 
Beloit College, Wisconsin, for one year, and 
at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, 
New York; Harold Jefi'erys, born February 
4, 1885, in Dallas, is the youngest of this 
bright and promising family. Both parents 
attend the Episcopal Church. 

fW. MOORE, attorney at law, Dallas, 
was born in Warren county, Kentucky, 
* March 23, 1856. His parents were 
A. E. and Mahala (Bewett) Moore, both 
natives of Kentucky. Mr. Moore was a 
farmer, was superintendent of the county 
school for several years; was Justice of the 
Peace for many years. He is still a farmer 
of Warren county, Kentucky. He is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church, and Deacon of 
the same. His wife died in 1875, aged fifty- 
two years, a member of the Baptist Church. 
There were five children of the family, and 
all living in Kentucky except our subject. 

Mr. Moore attended school at Bowling 
Green, Kentucky, and later attended school 
for several years at Smith's Grove College. 
He taught school for three years in Ken- 
tucky. After leaving school he came to 



Texas in 18S0, and taught in Dallas county 
for two years; commenced reading law in 
1882, in the office of D. H . Morrow, read 
law two years, was admitted to the bar 
in 1884, has been engaged in the prac- 
tice ever since, and been Notary Public, hold- 
ing the office seven years. Has been quite 
successful. He was elected City Attorney of 
Oak Cliff, April 5, 1892. 

He was married October 3, 1889, near 
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to Miss Helen 
Hand, daughter of Jared and Mary J. Hand, of 
Walworth county, Wisconsin. She is a 
graduate of a Wisconsin college, and has 
taught four years in the high school of San 
Antonio and one year in the Dallas high 
school. She also taught at Muskegon, 
Michigan, before coming to Texas. She has 
been a very successful teacher, giving a high 
degree of satisfaction; is a thorough scholar 
and a most efficient, experienced teacher. She 
has made drawing a specialty, and has some 
work pronounced very fine by those who are 
capable of judging. 

Mr. and Mrs. Moore have one child, Hu- 
bert B. Both parents are members of the 



church. 



:-^l^i^'^?/2/-t^ 



[HARLES M. ORR, a farmer and stock- 
M$v» raiser of precinct No. 1, Dallas cjunty,. 
was born at Tyler, Texas, in 1864, the 
eldest of five children born to W. W. and 
A. M. (McQueen) Orr, natives of Ohio and 
Tennessee. The father came to Texas in an 
early day, where he was engaged as a railroad 
contractor, having built part of the Eastern 
Texas railroad, and also part of the Southern 
railroad. He was next engaged in the livery 
business, and furnished teams for the grading 
of Dallas, and also secured contracts for 
other parties. In 1880 he engaged exclu- 



828 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



sively in handling buggies and wagons, which 
he continued ten years, but is now retired 
from active business. Tlie mother died in 
the city of Dallas in 1885, and the father is 
now making a trip to Europe. During the 
war Mr. Orr was connected with the Quar- 
termaster's Department, under General Kir- 
by, and was engaged in buying provisions in 
eastern Texas until the close of the struggle. 
Of Mr. and Mrs. Orr's iive children, three 
are now living: Charles M., our subject; 
Annie, wife of D. C. Austin, a jeweler of 
Dallas; and Joe Kirby, also of Dallas. 

Charles M. Orr was reared and educated 
in Dallas, and was later engaged in a store 
as clerk until 1888. He then bought out the 
bnsiuess, and continued in the handling of 
buggies and carriages until 1891, when he 
came to the farm the family had opened. 
He now has si.\ty-one and one-fourth acres 
under a fine state of cultivation, and also 
owns real estate in Dallas, Paris and San An 
tonio. Mr. (Jrr is not active in politics, but 
votes with the Democratic party. He has 
witnessed the growth and development of 
this county and city, and has always taken an 
active interest in everything pertaining to its 



good. 



^. 



Ef 



|S|ANIEL JOSEPH ROGERS, who is 
ImU connected with one of the leading in- 
^^ dustries of the state of Te.xas, was born 
in Newport, Campbell county, Kentucky^ 
July 27, 1857, and is a son of Willam H. 
and Mary M. (Morrow) Rogers. The father 
was a native of Long Island, and came to 
Kentucky as a pioneer, settling in Newport_ 
He was engaged in boating on the river until 
his death, which occurred in 1874. Our sub- 
ject is the tiftii of a family of si.x children; he 
grew to maturity in his native place, and 



received his education in the common schools. 
Desirous of learning the trade of a stone-ciit- 
ter, he entered the Mechanics' Institute, of 
Ohio, for the purpose of studying drawing. 
In July, 1877, he started out for himself in 
the world. He worked for a time in Colum- 
bus, Ohio, and then went to Kansas and 
finally saw the principal cities of the West. 
He was employed on Government buildings 
in Des Moines, Iowa, Kansas City, Missouri, 
and Denver, Colorado. In this occupation 
he not only had an ample opportunity to irn. 
prove his trade, but familiarized himself with 
all the various qualities of stone in the 
different parts of the country. 

After several \'ears he came to Texas, and 
was engaged in work on the Missouri, Kansas 
& Texas passenger depot at Dallas. He 
next went to western Texa« and was located at 
Pecos city. 

He there made the important discovery of a 
stratum of stone, afterwards known as the 
Pecos sandstone. He purchased 320 acres 
from the Government, on which this deposit 
was discovered, and in order to develop the 
business, he associated himself with the Hon. 
Robert McCorth, of Fort Worth, and P. H. 
Durock, of Minneapolis. The company was 
incorporated under the laws of Texas, with a 
capital stock of $100,000, and is known as 
the Pecos Red Sandstone Company; presi- 
dent, C. F. Thomason, Pecos City; vice-pres- 
ident, Hon. Robert McCorth; secretary, D.J. 
Rogers; treasurer, C. F. Thomason; general 
manager, P. H. Durock. By analysis this 
stone is shown to possess all the qualities 
desirable for building purposes, and the color 
is of a fine, rich red. It has been used inall the 
principal buildings of northern Texas, includ- 
ing the Dallas county courthouse, the Mer- 
chants' bank, of Dallas, and all the Govern- 
ment buildings at Texarkana. Through the 



/U 





n^^xWA^^^ 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



839 



management of the corporation of experi- 
enced men, this industry has grown tq be the 
largest and most important in the State, and 
much of the credit is due to Mr. Rogers, who 
has devoted himself to the work with un- 
tiring energy and a zeal that has known no 
abatement. 

He is a member of Eureka Lodge, No. 7, 
Knights of Pythias, of Newport, Kentucky, 
and affiliates with the Democratic party. 



-^ 



^ 



lETER J. HEN D RICK, engaged in the 
•^ real-estate business at Dallas, was born 
in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1831, the 
youngest of live children born to John W. 
and Catharine (Revel) Hendrick, natives of 
county Wexford, Ireland. At an early day 
the parents came to Boston, Massacluisetts, 
where the father was engaged as a seafaring 
man. His death occurred in Ireland in 1832, 
and the mother survived him until 1865, dy- 
ing at the age of sixty- live years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hendrick had live cliildren, as follows: 
John William, of Boston, Massachusetts ; Will- 
iam, of Shreveport, Louisiana; Theresa, wife 
of Peter Hayes, of Charlestown, Massachu- 
setts; Peter J., our subject; and Catherine 
Cullen, of Boston. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in 
county Wexford, Ireland, to the age of thir- 
teen years, after which he came to America 
and followed a seafaring life. He visited all 
the ports of Europe, also touching points for 
hides and horns in Africa. Mr. Hendrick 
subsequently settled in Boston, where he 
learned the carpenter's trade, and later en- 
gaged in the real-estate business. April 20, 
1865, lie enlisted in the United State service, 
and was financier of the carpenter's depart- 
ment. He servpd three months, and was 
■54 ' 



honorably discharged at Edgefield, Tennessee, 
in June, 1865, on account of disability. 
After the close of his service he returned to 
Boston and followed the real-estate business 
until coming to Dallas, in 1877. Mr. Hen- 
drick built and improved a great deal in this 
city, and now owns eight residences on Com- 
merce street, besides other property in Dallas. 
He has just returned froin a five-montlis trip 
to Europe. He has taken an active interest 
in politics, and socially is a member of 
George H. Thomas Post, No. 6, Grand Army 
of the Republic. 

He was married in Boston, in 1854, to Eliza 
Jane Kelley, and they had six children: 
Catharine, Theresa, Clarence, Peter Henry, 
James F. and Mary, — all residents of Boston. 
Mr. Hendrick was again married in Dallas, 
September 22, 1889, to Catherine Theresa 
Terry, a native of Ireland. They have two 
children: John M. and Agnes Josephine. 

fOHN. H. McCLELLAN, a widely known 
and esteemed public man and a prosper- 
ous and influential citizen of Dallas, 
Texas, was born in Alabama in 1855, 
and is a son of John R. and Mary J. (Dean) 
McClellan, natives of Georgia. His maternal 
grandmother, Eliza Dean, still survives, aged 
seventy-six years. His father was a farmer 
by occupation, and a man of excellent traits, 
^nd greatly esteemed by all who knew him. 
He was a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church {or nnore than twenty years. He 
died in 1886, in his fifty-eighth year, univer- 
sally lamented. His worthy wife still sur- 
vives him, at the age of fifty-five years. She 
has been an earnest member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church since childhood. This es- 
timable couple were the parents of nine chil- 



830 



EISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



dren, eiglit still living, and, with the excep- 
tion of the subject of this sketch, are all 
residents of Alabama, where they occupy po- 
sitions of honor and trust. Andrew J., the 
eldest, married Margaret Felley; the second 
is the subject of this notice; Simeon F. mar- 
ried Susan Carter; Martha Jane is the wife 
of William Russell, a prosperous farmer; 
Samuel R. married Miss Bradley; Polly A. 
is the wife of Mr. Shaw; William J. has re- 
cently been elected Justice of the Peace: he 
is twenty- two years of age, is a prosperous 
farmer, and a young man of great promise; 
Thumas J., and George W. 

John H., whose name heads this memoir, 
passed his youth in Tallapoosa county, Ala- 
bama, and attended the public school. He 
was afterward a pupil at the academy in 
Alexander City, Alabama, and on leaving 
school commenced farming for himself. After 
a short experience in this occupation, he en- 
gaged in the mercantile business. In 1883, 
he removed to Texas, settling in Sherman, 
whence he came to Dallas, where he has since 
resided. He opened a confectionery and 
restaurant in the latter place, which he has 
continued to successfully conduct. 

In 1883, he married Miss Allie Chambers, 
an intelligent lady, a daughter of Albert and 
Margaret (Windley) Chambers, of Chambers- 
burg, Pennsylvania, th« city taking its name 
from that celebrated family. Her father was 
a brother of the noted divine. Dr. T. W. 
Chambers, who was one of the committee 
who revised the New Testament. Her 
father's sister, Mrs. Charswood, was the wife 
of the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania; and 
the family is related to the late Theodore 
Frelinghuysen, of the Keystone State. Mrs. 
McClellan's father died at the age of thirty- 
five years, when she was an infant. Her 
mother still lives, and is an honored resident 



of Good Water, Alabama. Mrs. McClellan 
is the only child of this marriage now living. 
Mr. and Mrs. McClellan have had two 
children, both now deceased; one died in 
infancy, and one, Mary Alice, lived to the age 
of nine months. 

Politically, Mr. McClellan is Democratic, 
and zealously supports all the issues of that 
body. He has frequently been honored by 
his constituents with office, and has served on 
many important committees, where his sound 
judgment has been of great value. In 1888, 
he was elected a member of the City Coun- 
cil, to which office he was re-elected in 1890, 
and again on April 5, 1892, when the coun- 
cil elected him Mayor pro tem., in which 
capacity he is now serving. Socially, he 
affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, and is 
a member of lodge No. 70. 

Such universal commendation outweighs 
any eulogiums we might offer, vehich would 
be naturally deduced from a survey of his 
irreproachable life and character, and we can 
but add our voice to the general applause of 
his fellow men. 



^ 



4®^ 



^ 



m A. DISBO ROUGH, agent for the A. 
\jk M. Dalph Company, laundry ma- 
I'-^Jte*] ® chinery and supplies; agent for the 
Campbell Cotton Company, office 814 Com- 
merce street, Dallas; also president of the 
Kansas City & New Orleans Railway Com- 
pany, located in Bowie county, Texas. 

This gentleman was born in Mercer county. 
New Jersey, in August, 1856, son of Isaiah 
and Maria (Anmock) Disborough, natives of 
New Jersey. They trace their ancestors in 
New Jersey back to the reign of King 
Charles II. His father was for many years 
engaged in the fruit business, was finan- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



831 



cially successful, and is now a resident of 
Trenton. New Jersey. His mother died July 
17, 1885. Mr. Disborongh was reared in his 
native State and was there educated, spending 
three years in the New Jersey Collegiate 
Institute and taking a thorough business 
course in Philadelphia. He was then en- 
gaged as bookkeeper for one year for the 
Western Telegraph Company, Philadelphia, 
and from there went to New York city in 
the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 
with whom he was engaged for seven years, 
until 1885. He then came to Texas, and 
on September 13 of that year took up his 
abode in Dallas. Here he was first engaged 
with the Santa Fe Railroad in the claim de- 
partment, and afterward with the Texas Pa- 
cific in the same line of work. Since 1888 
he has been on the road, selling oils and ma- 
chinery supplies. 

Mr. Disborough was married in 1888 to 
Miss Lilly B. Randall, a native of Louisville, 
Kentucky, and a daughter of Daniel T. and 
Sarah A. (Sherburne) Randall, natives of 
Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents are both 
of English descent, on her mother's side the 
ancestry being traced back to the Mayflower, 
she being a direct descendant of Biglow of 
Revolutionary fame. Mrs. Disboroiigh's 
father went to Louisville at an early day, 
thence to Georgia, and in 188.3 to Dalla»: 
his death occurred in May, 1888. Her mother 
is still livino'. 

Mr. Disborough is a life member of the 
Ancient Order of Foresters, Washington 
Conclave, No. 1, and is First Commander of 
the Conclave, he having organized the order. 
He is a member of the Dallas Lodge, No. 70, 
K. of P., and also of the Knigiits of the Gol- 
den Eagle, Alpha Castle, No. 1. Politically, 
he affiliates with the Democratic party. 

Another enterprise with which Mr. Dis- 



borough is connected, and of which he was 
die founder, is the King Manufacturing Com- 
pany. Of this he served as secretary and 
treasurer for some time. It was started with 
small capital, but, being backed by his energy 
and push, it was not long before a trade of 
$10,000 yearly was built up, with three men 
on the road and employment furnished to 
eight persons. 

IfSENRY WETZELL WANDLESS, M. 
D., Dallas, Texas. — This is an age of 
specialties, and many members of the 
medical profession have perceived the neces- 
sity of turning their attention to a pirticular 
branch, if they expect to attain any marked 
success in the science. The entire field is too 
broad a territory for this age of research, and 
must be divided into sections that may, per- 
haps in a lifetime, be inastered. Dr. Wand- 
less was a student in the Baltiinore Medical 
College, and in 1885 took the degree of M. 
D. He took a special course of lectures on 
operative surgery, and for a short time was 
engaged in general practice in West Virginia. 
He then reuTOved to Texas, and soon after 
began to give much of his time and attention 
to the treatment of the eye and ear. For the 
purpose of gaining special instruction on this 
subject he went to Chicago, Illinois, and 
studied in the Chicago Eye and Ear In- 
firmary, where he had also unusual advantao-es 
in practice. He was offered the position of 
assistant house surgeon of the institute, but 
declined the honor and returned to Dallas. 
He has established a large practice which is 
constantly increasing, and has won a reputa- 
tation that is not confined to the borders of 
his own county. He is a conscientious and 
careful operator, and his success is the legit- 



832 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



imate result of years of devotiou to the pro- 
fession. 

Dr. Wandless is a native of Virginia, and 
is the fourth uf a family of eleven children. 
His father was David Wandless, and his 
mother's niaiden name was Bethell. They 
were both of English extraction, and were 
enfj;aged in agricultural pursuits all their 
lives. They gave to each of their eleven 
children a good education, and thus be- 
queathed to them a legacy of greater value 
than gold. 

fJWIilLLlAM C. SICKLES, Dallas, Texas, 
1^1 /All w'lo fo*" iiany years was prominently 
C^-^STl identified with the business interests 
of Dallas, is now living a retired life. He is 
a native of the State of New York, born in 
the year 1840. His parents were natives of 
Pennsylvania, but during his youth they re- 
moved to Missouri, where he received a liberal 
education. His last school-days were spent 
in the city of New Orleans, where he enjoyed 
superior advantages. When he left the pur- 
suits of his youth and early manhood, lie 
embarked in the mercantile trade in Louisi- 
ana, which he carried on until the breaking 
out of the Civil war. During the entire 
struggle he gave his services to the Southern 
Confederacy, and when hostilities ceased he 
resumed the occupations of civilization. He 
opened a sugar plantation in 1866, which he 
conducted until 1872. He then disposed of 
his interest and came to Texas, and after a 
brief sojourn there he selected Dallas as his 
future home. He at once engaged in the 
wholesale dry-goods business, and also carried 
a heavy line of groceries. As the city in- 
creased in population the business grew in 
volume, and linally became one of the lead- 
ing commercial interests. Mr. Sickles is a 



man modest in his demeanor, strictly lionest 
in all his dealings, and of a genial disposition 
which wins a friend and keeps him. He has 
inherited from his maternal ancestors, who 
were from Scotland, those sturdy traits of 
character that have been the backbone of 
much of our American civilization. As his 
means increased he made investments in real 
estate, and erected many of the residence and 
business houses in Dallas. Some of these 
have been sold, and a portion retained. He 
built the spacious dwelling now occupied by 
Mr. C. Gibbs; this was planned for his own 
residence, and all the details were carried out 
perfectly; but on account of the death of his 
wife soon after its completion he sold it. 
Politically, he affiliates with the Democratic 
party, but is liberal in his views on all ques- 
tions. He is one of the foremost thinkers 
of the State on the subject of political econ- 
omy, and his opinions carry weight wherever 
they find expression. 



l^ll^ILLIAM ENDERS, President ot the 
Dallas Club, and a traveling sales- 
man, representing the Simmons hard- 
ware establishment of St. Louis, was born in 
Louisville, Kentucky, in 1851. His parents 
were Henry and Adelia (Jacobs) Enders, both 
natives of that State. The father was a dry- 
goods merchant for many years in Paducaii, 
Kentucky, being the first to open in that line 
there. He was an old citizen well and favor- 
ably known, and a man of good business 
qualifications. He died in 188-1, aged 
seventy years. His wife is still living, being 
seventy-eight years of age, in good health. 
She is an old settler, well-known and highly 
respected. They brought up a large family 
of children, of whom William, our subject, 



HISTOBT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



833 



is the youngest, he has only three sisters 
living. 

William Enders was educated in Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, and then went into the 
hardware business for the company by whom 
he is still employed. This is the second firm 
he ever worked for, the other being the Shap- 
leigh Hardware Company, of St. Louis. He 
was with them seventeen years and with the 
present firm five years. He came in 1879 to 
Dallas, and has been here ever since, an 
honored citizen. He is a charter member of 
the Dallas Club; has been its President since 
March, 1892, and an officer since he was in 
it. As a citizen and a business man few 
persons in the city stands higher than the 
subject of this sketch. 



4^ 



^ 



H. FISHER, a farmer and stock-raiser 
of precinct No. 1, Dallas county, was 
® born in Barren county, Kentucky, in 
1836, the fourth of eight children born to 
John and Margaret (Barbour) Fisher, also 
natives of Kentucky. The father was a 
farmer by occupation, and in 1842 they 
moved to Cole county, Missouri, and in 1844 
to Polk county, Missouri, where he took up 
a claim. They made that county their home 
until 1866, when he moved to Dallas county, 
Texas, where his death occurred in 1872; he 
was born in 1804. His wife died in Polk 
county, Missouri, about 1851. Mr. Fisher 
took an active interest in the early history of 
Polk county, having assisted in organizing 
the county. 

Our subject began farming in Polk county, 
Missouri, and during the war he lived in 
Moniteau county, same State. In 1866 he 
came to Dallas county, and the next year 
bought thirty-seven and a half acres of partly 



improved land, where he liuilt a small box 
house. He has since added to this place 
until he now owns 250 acres, all of which is 
under a good state of cultivation, and in 
1889 he erected a fine residence. About 
1875 Mr. Fisher erected a gin, and has been 
engaged in ginning every year since. He 
raises a good grade of stock, and in addition 
to his other interests he is engaged in general 
farming. 

Mr. Fisher was married in Hickory 
county, Missouri, April 5, 1860, to Eliza 
Inglis, a native of that county, and daughter 
of James and Eliza (Strain) Inglis, natives 
of Virginia and Kentucky respectively. The 
father was married in the latter State, and at 
a very early day moved to Cooper county, 
Missouri, and a few years later to Hickory 
county, where he settled among the Indians. 
He was a farmer and stock-raiser by occupa- 
tion, and his death occurred in Hickory 
county about 1844, and the mother survived 
him until 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have 
six children: John E., Margaret, Edna, wife 
of Kenneth Foree, an attorney of Dallas, 
Thomas, Wade Hampton and Omer. Politi- 
cally, Mr. Fisher is a Democrat, and both he 
and his wife are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

^MStl '^' NEWTON, a general contractor 
'fl-Mfflt of Dallas, was born in Tarrant 
^^^® county, Texas, in 1862, a son of 
Anderson and Alsie (Dalton) Newton, natives 
of Kentucky and Tennessee. The parents 
were married in Kentucky, but moved at an 
early date to Missouri, and in 1851 to Dallas 
county, settling near Cedar Springs. The 
father took up a headright at Johnston's 
Station, Tarrant county, which he improved. 



834 



HTSTORT OF DALLAS V0UNT7. 



He is now a resident of West Dallas, having 
resided in this county since 1851. 

The subject of this sketch was reared to 
farm life, and educated in the schools of Tar- 
rant county. After his marriage lie settled 
in Dallas county, and in 1885 he engaged in 
his present business, a contractor of ice, wood, 
railroad and street work. He employs an 
average of from twenty-five to 100 men, and 
bis work is confined principally to Dallas 
city. iVIr. Newton has always taken an 
active part in politics, voting with the Demo- 
cratic party, and is interested in every enter- 
prise for the good of his chosen city and 
county. He owns six good residences in 
Dallas, and a fine farm in Tarrant county. 

He was married in the latter county, March 
30, 1882, to Isabella Alford, a native of 
Hlinois, and a daughter of Robert H. and 
Elsie (Evans) Alford, natives of Tennessee. 

?ILLIAM J. KELLER, a wealthy 
capitalist and banker of Dallas 
county, is entitled to the space that 
has been accorded him in this history of the 
sturd}' pioneers who have brought the country 
to its present advanced state of prosperit}'. 
He was born in Mississippi, June 28, 1832, 
and is a son of Jacob and Susan (Toole) 
Keller. The father was born on the Atlantic 
ocean while his parents were coming to 
America, whither they were being sent as 
missionaries. The mother of our subject was 
a Mississippian by birth. Jacob Keller be- 
came a prominent business man, and for 
many years was Treasurer of his county in 
Mississippi. He died of yellow fever in 1844. 
His wife passed away some time afterward. 
William J. received a limited education, and 
at an early age was apprenticed to learn the 




printer's trade. For this purpose he went 
into the office of the Woodville (Mississippi) 
Republican. He passed through all the 
successive steps of devil, compositor, editor, 
and proprietor. During the time that he was 
editor of the Repuhlican the principles of 
the old Whig party were strongly sustained. 
The paper is still published, and is in its six- 
tieth volume. 

When Mr. Keller retired from the editor- 
ship of the paper he began the banking busi- 
ness, which has since attained such an im- 
portant place in the commercial circles of the 
county. In 1875 he transferred his business 
to Dallas county, and with the eye of a true 
seer he beheld the future of the place. He 
at once began the construction of the street 
railway, which has developed into one of the 
most profitable enterprises of the city. He 
managed the line for ten years, and when he. 
had established the system on a paying basis 
he sold out his interest. He then invested 
his capital in the Merchants' and Bankers' 
National Bank of Dallas, and was elected the 
first president of the organization. He has 
brought to this corporation the ex])erience 
of long years of active business life, and the 
naturally fine business qualifications for 
which he has won a wide reputation. The 
paid up capital is $500,000, and the directors 
are the most solid and reliable men of the 
county. 

Mr. Keller was united in marriage, in 1854, 
to Miss Cornelia Angell, of Mississippi, and 
three children have been born to them: 
Edwin; Lucy, wife of R. B. Howard; and 
Henry W. He is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, having connected 
himself with it forty years ago. He is now 
president of the Board of Trustees. He has 
given freely of his time and means in carry- 
ing out the various works of the church, and 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



835 



has always supported those enterprises which 
tended to tlie general welfare. He has been 
a member of the City Council, and is now 
chairman of the Finance Committee. He 
owns one of the elegant residences on Ross 
avenue, where he is surrounded by his family 
and all the comforts that wealth and culture 



can bring. 



-^?/^/<^;^^/i/2/^^ 



1^ B. JOHNSTON, a farmer and stock- 
raiser of Dallas county, was born in 
I ® Shelby county, Hlinois, November 16, 
1848, the sixth of nine children born to 
Isaac P. and Thurza (Weaver) Johnston, 
natives of North Carolina and Tennessee. 
The father went to Shelby county. Illinois, 
when a young man, where he was married, 
and later, in 1854, came with his family to 
Dallas county, and died in this county in 
1863; the mother, born in 1810, is still 
living, residing with her children. She is, 
as was her husband, a member of the Chris- 
tian Church. He was a Douglas Democrat. 
Of their nine children, eight are still living, 
viz.: Marion, of Farmers' Branch, Dallas 
county; Elizabeth, wife of M. De Frest, who 
resides on the old homestead; John A. and 
William L., who enlisted in this county, in 
Allison's company, whici. was captured in 
February, 1863, and confined at Arkansas 
Post, where William L. died, at the age of 
eighteen years; Mary A., who married John 
Warner, of Dallas county, and is deceased; 
H. B., the subject of this sketch; A. P., who 
resides in the West; Isaac W., who resides 
on part of the homestead; Senia H., wife of 
G. F. Banowsky, of Hamilton county, Texas. 
The subject of this sketch was reared in 
Dallas county, and educated in the subscrip- 
tion schools. Since 1880 he has been en- 
gaged as collector for the McCorinick Har- 



vester Company, his field of operation being 
mostly in Texas. After his marriage he set- 
tled on his farm ou Preston road, where he 
has 415 acres in a good state of cultivation. 
Mr. Johnston was married in this county, 
August 31, 1882, to Fannie E. Smith, a 
native of Dallas county, and a daughter of 
La Fayette and Margaret S. (Daniel) Smith, 
natives of Mississippi and Alabama. The 
father came to Texas at an early day, was 
married in Dallas county, and afterward set- 
tled on a farm near the city of Dallas. He 
enlisted as Captain of a company in Gurley's 
regiment, and remained until the surrender, 
when lie returned to Dallas county, and prior 
to the war he was Police Magistrate. Mr. 
and Mrs. Johnston have two children, — • 
William Earie and Annie Isabella. Politi- 
cally, Mr. Johnston is a member of the 
Democratic party, and religiously both he 
and his wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Mrs. Johnston has a sis- 
ter, Sophronia, older than herself, and a 
brother, younger than herself,^Jaraes A., 
who married Mattie Laytou and resides in 
Dallas. 

fW. SWOR, one of the representative 
men of Dallas county, was born in 
* Henry county, Tennessee, May 31, 
1834, the youngest of the twelve children of 
Robert and Sally (Rushin) Swor, natives of 
South Carolina. His parents, who were 
married in that State, emigrated to the west- 
ern part of Tennessee, where the father en- 
gaged in farming. They both died in that 
State, the father in 1872, at the age of about 
eighty-five years, and the mother in 1878, 
aged about eighty-three years. The father 
served as a private two years in the war of 
1S12, and drew a pension for that service. 



»o6 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



He aided in building Fort Sumter, South 
Carolina. Of the twelve children in the 
above family, the only living ones are the 
subject of this sketch; Lively, who married 
Richard Granger, and is now a widow, living 
in Henry county, Tennessee, with her family 
on a farm; and Mary, the widow of John S. 
Ray, and now living on a farm in Calloway 
county, Kentucky. 

J. W., the subject of this sketch, was 
reared in Tennessee, and in 1881 came to 
Dallas county, settling on a farm in the 
northern part of the county. He followed 
that vocation until coming to Dallas City in 
the fall of 1887, after which he engaged in 
the hotel business, and in December, 1891, 
he bought a lot just outside the city limits, 
which he has improved. Mr. Swor takes an 
active part in politics, voting with the Demo- 
cratic party, and both he and his wife are 
members of the Christian Church. 

He was married in western Tennessee in 
1855, to Miss Ruth A. Ethridge, a native of 
Tennessee, and a daughter of David and Lu- 
cinda (Ray) Ethridge, natives of South Caro- 
lina. Mr. and Mrs. Swor have had eight 
children, namely: Charles, a resident of the 
Indian Territory; Betty, wife of William 
Milne, of Oak Cliff; Mattie, now Mrs. J. W. 
Wilson, of Kaufman county, Texas; Robert, 
a grocer of Dallas; Frank, at home; Shelton, 
who resides in Chicago; Minnie and Hole- 
man, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Swor have six 
grandchildren living, namely: Charles, who 
has one child, Eva; Bettie Milne, who has 
two children, Fred and Willa; Mattie Wil- 
son, who has two children, Oma and Ina; 
and Robert, who has one child, Randolph. 
Of the seven children of Mr. Ethridge live 
are still living: Jane, now Mrs. Brown Vena- 
ble; Mrs. Swor; Fletcher; Alice, now Mrs. 
John Booker; John Taylor; Martha, de- 



ceased, was the next in order of birth: she 
married James Venable; and James, de- 
ceased. Mr. Ethridge died in 1849, in 
Memphis, with Asiatic cholera, at the age of 
twenty-six years. Mrs. Ethridge still sur- 
vives, living in Calloway county, Kentucky, 
now aged sixty-seven years. 



LEXANDER W. PERRY landed in 
Texas with his wife and three children 
in 1844 and located in Dallas county 
near where he now lives. He is a man pos- 
sessing keen observation and good judgment; 
and to these qualities, combined with his en- 
ergetic disposition, may be attributed his 
success in life. He brought with him to this 
county two teams and three extra horses, and 
upon his arrival here had $30 in money. 
Taking a headright under the Peters colony, 
he at once began the work of developing 
a farm. This country was then sparsely set- 
tled, there being only seven families within 
a radious of live or six miles. The Indians 
were numerous and frequently caused much 
trouble. Mr. Perry, however, was always on 
his guard, and while others suffered from 
the depredations of the Red men he did not. 
In the fall of 1866, the Indians came into 
the settlement and stole a number of horses. 
A small company of white men followed them, 
killing three Indians and recovering four 
horses. The pioneers always carried their 
guns when they went to work in the timber. 
Mr. Perry went after a load of wood one morn- 
ing and forgot his gun. He was accom- 
panied by his little boy and his dog. The 
latter treed a bear and three cubs, and Mr. 
Perry told his boy to stay there while he went 
for his gun; but the child objected, and ac- 
companied his father to the house. Mr. 






^^t^lA^ 




-•^'3*^ 




a 




w. 





^AA/y^ 



HISTOUr OF DALLAS COUNT y. 



837 



Perry secured his gun and returned; he killed 
the old bear, but the cubs escaped. The year 
following his arrival hei-e lie raised a good 
crop, enough tor himself and to spare, and 
has ever since had plenty. The crop of 1890 
vFas the lightest since he carae to Texas. The 
country then abounded in game and Mr. Perry 
supplied his larder by the use of his gun. 
Wolves were plentiful and frequently very an- 
noying. At one time a wolf attacked his dog 
and was about to make way with the animal 
when Mr. Perry took off a single-tree and 
killed the wolf. Bear and buffalo were also 
plentiful. Ever since he came here Mr. Perry 
has been engaged in the stock business, rais- 
ing both cattle and horses. His fancy, how- 
ever, has been more for horses, and each 
year he raises and sells a large herd. In all 
matters pertaining to stock his opinion is 
frequently sought and always valued. He 
keeps a line stallion and jack, also a Durham 
bull. 

Some time in 1850 or '52 Mr. Perry sold 
his headright, and in 1853, bought the farm 
on which he now lives, comprising at that 
time 800 acres. He afterward sold portions 
of it and bought other land; has given farms 
to eight of his children, and at this writing 
still owns 800 acres. All of his children are 
settled around him, within three miles of the 
home place. Mr. Perry was one of the part- 
ners that built the Trinity mills; subsequently 
disposed of his interest in that property. 
He was the original owner of the town site of 
CarroUton; laid off and sold lots, and now 
owns land all around the town; gave land to 
the Missouri, Kansas & Te.xas railroad for 
depot purposes. While he has about 185 
acres under cultivation and is engaged in 
general farming, he gives his chief attention 
to the raising of horses and mules. 

Mr. Perry's father, Franklin Perry, was 



born in Virginia, October 3, 1779. He 
moved to Kentucky, then to Indiana, and 
from there to Dlinois. He was called Cap- 
tain, but how he recived that title is not 
known. He was by trade a stone-mason; 
was, however, engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits for many years. Of his ancestors noth- 
ing is known more than that they were of 
English descent. While in Kentucky he mar- 
ried Miss Rebecca Harbeston, who was born 
in that State, November 15, 1776, and died 
in Illinois, during the Civil war. The father 
died there about 1835. Tliuy were the par- 
ents of ten children, namely: Sally, born 
July 6, 1802; Eliza, born December 5, 1803; 
Malinda, born September 9, 1805; Western, 
born May 6, 1807, came to Texas in 1846 
and diefi about 1870; Mary J., born June 9, 
1809; Franklin, February 9. 1811; Rebecca, 
February 17, 1813; Middleton, December 15, 
1814, came to Texas in 1844 and is now re- 
siding near Lancaster, Dallas county; Rod- 
erick, born August 7, 1817; and Alexander 
W., the youngest of the family, born in Illi- 
nois, November 26, 1819. 

Alexander W. Perry was married January 

9, 1840, in Illinois, to Sarah Pluffman, who 
was born January 11, 1824, daughter of 
William Huffman. Her father, a Kentuck- 
ian, went from that State to Illinois, where 
he was engaged in farming and where 
his death occurred. This happy union re- 
sulted in the birth of fourteen children, viz.: 
Margaret E., born September 25, 1840; Re- 
becca A., January 7, 1842; William F., 
December 16, 1843; Mary L., February 23, 
1846; Harriet M., August 30, 1848; Alex- 
ander, December 25, 1850; Sanford C, No- 
vember 1, 1852; John H. and Sarah (twins), 
March 5 and 6, 1855; DeWitt C, January 

10, 1858; Waid H., February 15, 1860; 
Carry II., May 9, 1862; Lonria D., November 



838 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTT- 




25, 1864; Roxanna, February 15, 1867. Alex- 
aiuler W. died January 29, 1852; Rebecca, 
January 7, 1860; Mary L., February 7, 1860; 
Sarah J., November 7, 1863; Commodore 
Perry was killed December 19, 1875; and 
Carry H. died November 23, 1881. Eight 
are yet living, all married and settled near the 
old homestead. 

Mr. Perry lias been a member of the Grange 
and the Farmers' Alliance. Politically, he is 
a Democrat. He and his family are members 
of the Missionary Baptist Church, in which 
he is a Deacon. 

Such is a brief outline of the life of one of 
Dallas county's wealthy and influential citi- 
zens. 

ijAJOR I. B. GIBSON, a prominent 
attorney at law, Dallas, Texas, was 
born in county Monaghan, Ireland, 
May 10, 1827. Although born in a foreign 
land, be is a thorough American in principle; 
in time of war fought for her liberty; in 
time of peace supported her Government and 
free institutions. He comes from a worthy 
ancestry, and his life has been such that it 
entitles him to honorable mention among his 
contemporaries. 

Major Gibson was three years old when he 
came to America with his parents, who set- 
tled on a farm in Oakland county, Michigan. 
His father was in the British army on the 
Peninsula, and served in every battle in 
which Lord Wellington commanded. He 
was wounded in the thigh at the battle of 
Waterloo, June 18, 1815. After coming to 
America his life was uneventfuh He lived 
to be ninety-four years of age. The Major's 
mother, nee Mary Lambert, was a daughter 
of John Lambert, who was killed in the In- 
burrection in Ireland in 1798. Her great- 



grandfather, also named John Lambert, was 
a General under Cromwell. When Charles 
II. came to the throne he left England, went 
to Ireland and settled at Castle Cole. Isaac 
Gibson, an uncle of the subject of this sketch 
and the twin brother of his father, was in the 
British war in 1812, and was wounded and 
captured at Chippewa. He returned to Ire- 
land after the war closed. William Gibson, 
the Major's grandfather, was a manufacturer 
of Irish linen in Monaghan, Ireland, and 
great-grandfather Robert Gibson, a native of 
Scotland, was surgeon in a Scotch regiment. 

The subject of our sketch received a fair 
education, graduating at the Rochester Acad- 
emy in 1847. He and his oldest brother, 
William, enlisted April 6, 1847, in Company 
K, Third United States Dragoons, William 
H. Polk being Major of the battalion. His 
brother was killed at the battle in the valley 
of Mexico, August 10, that same year. I. B., 
however, stood the service well, had several 
horses shot and killed under him, and at the 
close of the war received an honorable dis- 
cbarge. 

Returning to Michigan, Mr. Gibson began 
the study of law in the office of Patterson & 
Champlin, Grand Rapids, and in April, 1857, 
was admitted to the bar. He then moved to 
Olney, Illinois, and opened an office with 
John M.Wilson, which partnership continued 
two years. He attended the Democratic 
National Convention at Baltimore, not as a 
delegate, however, and after his return home 
made 100 speeches for Douglas. After Sum- 
ter was fired on he helped to raise a company 
in Olney for the war, and was engaged iu 
raising other troops, until September, 1861. 
He then asked Governor Yates for a Cap- 
tain's commission in the cavalry service, but 
at that time the Government could not fur- 
nish the horses. Mr. Gibson was attorney 



niSTORT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



839 



for the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, and 
went to Cincinnati on business. From there 
he wrote to Governor Yates to the effect tliat 
he would furnish a company that would pro- 
vide their own horses. This he did, the boys 
all paying for their outfit with their soldiers' 
earnings, and did it cheerfully. It should 
here be mentioned that at this time Mr. 
Gibson was editor and proprietor of the 
Richland County Herald, a paper published 
in the interest of the Democratic party. He 
entered the service October 8, 1861, as Cap- 
tain of Company E, Sixth Illinois Cavalry; 
was promoted to Major of the same regiment, 
February 13, 1862, and remained in the 
service until 1863, when on account of in- 
flammatory rheumatism he resigned and re- 
turned home. Several months later he joined 
General Steele, and afterward was with Gen- 
eral Reynolds, being in the Mississippi val- 
ley all the time. He has never recovered 
the use of his arm, and now draws a pension 
for the services he then rendered. 

After the war Major Gibson resumed the 
practice of law in Michigan. He remained 
in that State until 1884, when he came to 
Texas. After about a month spent in Gal- 
veston, he came to Dallas, and has since been 
a worthy member of the Dallas bar, prac- 
ticing in all the courts. While in Michigan 
he was elected Circuit Court Commissioner, 
which is much the same as Circuit Judtre in 
Texas, being elected on the Republican ticket. 
He has served as Supervisor, and also as a 
Justice of the Peace, and refused the nomi- 
nation (which was equivalent to an election) 
to the State Legislature. He has recently 
been nominated by the Republican League as 
Presidential Elector for the Sixth Concrress- 
ional District of Texas. 

Major Gibson was married August 27, 
1848, to Miss Julia A. Whitlock, daughter 



of Jasper Whitlock, of Oakland county, 
Michigan. They had two children, Ella and 
Burnett B. The former married Alfred N. 
Walker, of Newton, Illinois, and has two 
children, Edith and Cecil. He second mar- 
riage occurred October 30, 1886, to Mrs. 
Rachel A. Gould, a native of Wisconsin, and 
a daughter of Jacob and Harriet Todhunter, 
natives of Virginia and New Jersey respect- 
ively. Both he and his wife are members ot 
the Episcopal Church. The Major is Past 
Commander and one of the charter members 
of John A. Dix Post, No. 11, Dallas, Texas, 
and for over thirty years has been a member 
of the Masonic order. 

Mrs. Gibson's first husband, William Pearl 
Gould, died February 11, 1874, aged thirty- 
six years. By him she had two children, 
Alvin J. and Anna A. She is a woman of 
influence, culture and refinement, and has a 
large circle of friends. She is an officer in 
the John A. Dix Woman's Relief Corps. 

lEV. R. W. THOMPSON.— This gentle- 
man, after spending many years of his 
life as an itinerant minister and accom- 
plishing great good in that vocation, is now 
retired from active labor and is in the enjoy- 
ment of the fruits of well spent years, sur- 
rounded by the comforts of this world, and 
the higher and holier pleasures that come of 
the respect and esteem of those with whom 
he lias been brought in contact. He can re- 
flect with just pride on the years of service 
in the Master's work and feel that he has 
faithfully done the duty that lay nearest to 
him. 

He was born in Lawrence county, Tennes- 
see, February 17, 1834. His parents were 
Dr. Richard and Ellen (McKeeg) Thompson, 



840 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



natives of Sonth Carolina and Alabama re- 
spectively. The fatlier was a physician and 
surgeon, and an excellent Christian gentle- 
man, who had an extensive practice in Tennes- 
see, and subsequently in Phillips county, 
Arkansas. He was a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church South, and never was 
a slaveholder, although he did not think it 
wrong to hold slaves. His death, which was 
a most triumphant Christian one, occurred 
in 1850. A most noted religious revival 
started from his death-bed sickness, he hav- 
ing religious converse with every one who 
visited his sick chamber. He was only 
fifty-three when he died, but his wife lived 
to be seventy-six, dying about 1870. She 
was a noted Christian, and her character was 
reflected in all her children, whom she was 
spared to see converted. They were all mar- 
ried and comfortably settled in lite when 
she died. Our subject is the eighth in a family 
of nine children. One died in infancy, but 
the other eight lived to maturity, and two 
brothers and one sister of our subject are still 
living. All the boys, four of them, were 
ministers in the Methodist Episcopal Ciiurch 
South. The oldest living member of the 
family is William M., a local preacher, 
near Sulphur Springs, Texas. The next one 
is Mary, wife of Augustus Atkins, residing 
in Cleburne. 

Our subject was educated in tiie saddle, 
under the live-oak trees, in Jackson county, 
Texas, to which place he came with his mother 
and an orphan cousin, Virginia Thompson, 
daughter of David Thompson. He was 
licensed to preach, and was recommended 
and received into the Texas Annual Confer- 
ence, held in Waco, in 1857; and was ap- 
pointed by the Bishop to preach to tiie old 
Cana African Mission, southwestern Texas. 
In 1858-'59, he had eighteen appointments 



in the circuit of Van Zandt and Smith coun- 
ties. In the following year, he was appointed 
to Harrison circuit, in Harrison county, 
Texas. In 1860-'61 he was assigned to the 
Clarksville and McKinzie College station, 
consisting of the Arno appointments; and 
was re-appointed to the same place in 
1861-'62. 

In the meantime the war broke out, and 
in the early part of 1862 he enlisted as a 
private in Company F, Whitfield's Legion, 
Texas Cavalry. After serving eight months 
as a private, he was appointed Chaplain, in 
which capacity he acted until the fall of 1863. 
He was then transferred to the Trans -Mis- 
sissippi Department and assigned to duty in 
the Seventeenth Consolidated Texas Infantry, 
in which regiment he served until the close 
of the war. He was captured at Oakland, 
Mississippi, and was taken to Helena, Arkan- 
sas, where he was treated kindly and hospita- 
bly and held only five or six days. He then 
passed down the Mississippi on a transport 
through the Federal lines to Vicksburg, that 
city being in the hands of the Confederacy. 

At the close of the war, he returned to his 
pastoral duties, and was stationed for four 
years, from 1865 to 1869, at Jefferson, Texas, 
where he was very successful. He was then 
appointed to Lamar street, Dallas, Texas, the 
church at that time occupying the present 
site of the Merchants' Exchange Building. 
He remained there four years, after which he 
served one year on the Dallas circuit, filling 
four appointments. He was then transferred 
to the East Texas Conference by Bishop Mc 
Tyeire, and had charge of the station at Mar- 
shall, Harrison county, Texas, for two years. 
He was then made Presiding Elder of Mar- 
shall district, which consisted of the follow- 
ing counties: Harrison, part of Panola, 
Gregg, Rusk, part of Smith, Cherokee and 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



841 



Van Zandt, in which capacity he served for 
fonr years. In 1880, he was sent to Beau- 
mont district, in southeastern Texas, which 
comprised the following counties: Angelina, 
Polk, Tyler, Hardin, Liberty, Chambers, 
Jeiferson, Orange, Newton, Jasper, and a part 
of Cherokee. The Beaumont district reaches 
down to the Gulf, and is well tilled with 
alligators, mosquitoes, ticks, horseflies, wasps 
and many other species of annoying vermin, 
too numerous to mention. In 1884, he was 
on the Palestine district, consisting of a half 
dozen counties. From 1885 to 1889, he 
served in the same capacity on the Marshall 
district. From that time to 1890, he was 
assigned, at his own request, to the Marshall 
mission. At the close of 1890, he was made 
supernumerary, which position he still holds. 
He has been elected alternate to the General 
Conference at Atlanta, Georgia. He has been 
a very successful minister, has received hun- 
dreds into the church, and has labored most 
earnestly to disseminate religious knowledge. 
He has married many couples and pronounced 
the burial rites at numerous funerals. Alto- 
gether, he has been busily employed, and has 
done as much hard work in the church as 
an}' minister to be found; has given the best 
and most active years of his life to its ser- 
vice, and has accomplished much good. 

He was married, June 2, 1861, to Miss 
Mary E. McFarlin, daughter of Dunkin and 
Zilpha McFarlin, of Caddo parish, Louisiana. 
She is a native of Madison county, Tennessee, 
is an earnest, sensible Christian woman, has 
been a member of the Woman's Missionary 
Society from its organization, and was presi- 
dent of the Woman's Missionary Society of 
East Texas Conference as long as they were 
in that district. She has been a very earnest 
worker in the missionary tield, and has the 
reputation of l^eing one of the purest, most 



zealous and active Christians in the confer- 
ence. She visits the sick, helps the poor. 
Ever in the homes of the poor, the ranks of 
the toilers, in the hearts of all humanity, she 
is the ideal of honor, truth, gentleness and 
love. 

They have no children of their own, but 
have adopted several, to whom they have been 
kind parents. Mr. Thompson has taken all 
the degrees in Masonry, including the Com- 
mandery, has taken three degrees in the \. O. 
O. F., and has joined all the temperance so- 
cieties as they have ci>me along. He has made 
the ministrj the only business of his life. 
When the war closed he had not a dollar, but 
as he has always had good livings he has now 
plenty to support his declining years. He 
never allowed a fear for to-morrow to disturb 
the even tenor of his way, for he found that 
the morrow would take care of itself. He 
has always made it the rule of iiis life to pay 
as he went and so has kept out of debt. 



4^ 



^' 



[FORGE M. DILLEY, a prominent busi- 
Ij? ness man of Dallas, was born in Hun- 
terdon county, New Jersey, October 26, 
1833, a son of Aaron Chester and Mary 
(Schurz) Dilley. The family are descendants 
of old Highland Scotch stock, who were resi- 
dents of America long previous to the Revo- 
lution. His great-grandfather, Aaron Dilley, 
was in the Revolutionary war, holding the 
rank of First Lieutenant in Van Skales' 
company. 

Mr. Dilley, whose name heads this sketch, 
was born on the old homestead that had been 
occupied by his ancestry for many generations. 
At the early age of seventeen he went to 
Ohio and besjan work for himself in railroad 



842 



HISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



construction, in Lorain county. In a short 
time he went to Frankfort, Indiana, and com- 
menced taking contracts for buildina;. Next 
he went to Shelbyville, Illinois, where he 
was telegraph operator and express man. In 
1870 he came to this State and took charge 
of construction on the Houston & Great 
Northern railroad. Then he becanse inter- 
ested in foundries at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 
Palestine and San Antonio, Texas, and Par- 
sons, Kansas. In the meantime he also had 
charge of lumber interests. Next he was 
connected with the construction of the Sun- 
set & Southern Pacific railroad in Pecos 
county, then the Houston & Central Arkan- 
sas. He was president of the Reynolds & 
Henry Construction Company, of Joliet, 
Illinois, that inaugurated the Houston Cen- 
tral & Northern railroad, constructed and 
equipped fifty miles of the road, and then 
sold to Jay Gould, who completed it to Alex- 
ander, Louisiana. In fact, scarcely a road 
has been built in Texas within the last ten 
years in which Mr. Dilley has not been in- 
terested. He is now busy solving that im- 
portant problem, to wit, irrigation in Ne- 
braska. He settled in Dallas, in 1889, and 
began the erection of an elegant home on 
Maple avenue. North Dallas. 

Mr. Dilley was a delegate to the Chicago 
convention, in 1880,— not only a delegate but 
was one of the immortal 306 that held to- 
gether in one unbroken column for General 
Grant; and what he regards as one ot his 
most valuable possessions is the souvenir 
medal which was issued in commemoration 
of that event, and in honor of the fidelity of 
those who remained true to the great Captain. 

Mr. Dilley is a thirty-second -degree Mason, 
a Knight Templar, a member of the Congre- 
gational Church, and a stalwart Republican. 

He was married February 8, 1855, to Miss 



Fannie Briggs, and of their five children 
three are living: Gcorce E., in Palestine; 
Fred L., living in Tyler; and Fannie who 
is still at their parental home. 



fPINKNEY THOMAS, one of the many 
enterprising and public-spirited men 
^ of Dallas, real estate and loans and sec- 
retary of the Trinity Navigation and Im- 
provement Company, was born in North 
Carolina, at Troutman, a station on their old 
homestead, on the Air Line railway, Sejjt- 
ember 24, 1837. His parents were Jacob 
and Ellenor Lavina (Murdock) Thomas. His 
mother was a Witherspoon, of a noted family 
and well connected in that locality. The father 
was Deputy Sheriff of that county for some 
years when only a boy, and later was Sheriff 
of the county for many years. He was a 
farmer by occupation, but made his money 
by trading in real estate, produce, stock, etc. 
He took good care of those who trusted their 
])roperty to his keeping; was scrupulously 
honest, very accommodating, did business ou 
good business principles, and retained the 
good will of all those witli whom he had to 
do. He was widely ktiown and greatly ad- 
mired for his honest integrity and sterling 
worth. He was an exemplary member of the 
Lutheran Church and an officer in the same 
from his boyhood days. 

He was born in 1808 and died in 1864. 
His wife was born in 1818 and died in Janu- 
ary, 1892. She also was a member of the 
Lutheran Church from girlhood, was a de- 
vout Christian woman, known, loved and held 
a warm place in the hearts of all who came 
to know the excellencies of her true Christian 
character. She was a woman of great will 
power and was terribly in earnest in what- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



843 



ever seemed to her for the greatest good. 
These parents had four children. 

Onr subject left home at the age of thir- 
teen years, to attend school at Center Grove 
Academy in North Carolina; later he at- 
tended school at Buena Vista Academy; and 
subsequently, to humor his feelings, he was 
sent to Greensboro, North Carolina, where he 
graduated in music. 

lie and several others put their means to- 
gether and bought 18,000 acres of land, 
spent a year in prospecting on it for copper, 
but did not make the enterprise a success. 
He then clerked for a time to procure money 
with which to visit his father's youngest 
brother, Andrew, at McKinley, Alabama, 
but never got there. He started out witii a 
train of wagons which were to be shipped 
to England from Cleveland, Alabama, via 
Charleston, South Carolina. About this time 
lie took sick and failed in that. Later he 
learned the printing business and in that was 
quite successful. He kept good company, 
was very temperate in his habits, which 
made him a valued member of a temperance 
organization known as the Knights of Jericho. 
In 1856 he was superintendent of the pay 
department in car shops, and in 1857 he 
came West, leaving a salary of $2,500 a year. 
With Charles Turney and Charles Barnard 
he established the first trading point with 
the Indians at Waco, Texas. 

Later he went in charge of 1,500 head of 
cattle to Ciiicago, the only drove he ever 
knew to be taken from this part of Te.xas to 
that city the overland route. It took a year 
to make the trip. The tirst stop was at St. 
Joseph, Missouri, where they left 400 of 
their cattle. They sold to Majors & Russells, 
who bought for the Government. At Nebras- 
ka City they sold 300 more. They waded 
both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, the 



latter at Muscatine, Iowa. At the latter they 
herded the cattle for some time, then drove 
to Chicago. It is worthy of note that at that 
date they crossed only one railroad, the Illi- 
nois Central. 

He returned to Texas with friends, and to 
Dallas county in 1861, shortly before his en- 
listment in the Confederate States Army ser- 
vice, which occurred in July, 1861, — Com- 
pany E, a company organized by John D. 
Coit, of Sumter, South Carolina. 

Enlisting as a private, he was appointed 
Second Lieutenant when the company was or- 
ganized, on motion of Mr. Bowser of Dallas. 
This was Company E, of which John D. Coit 
was captain. 

On the organization of the Eigliteeuth Texas 
(Cavalry Captain Coit was elected Lieutenant 
Colonel. This regiment was fortified in the 
Indian Nation for a time, and then reported 
to General Holmes at Little Rock. Their 
next duty was to go on what was known as 
the Parched-Corn expedition, as they had to 
subsist seven days on that cereal. On this 
expedition they drove Steele's division to the 
other side of White River, had three engage- 
ments on Little Red river, and participatep 
in the noted battle at Cotton Plant, on White 
river; but the command to which Mr. Thomas 
belonged saw no real Held service until the 
battle of Arkansas Post, when the whole com- 
mand was captured and placed on transports 
on the Arkansas river. Mr. Thomas, with 
many others, was put off at Pine Bluflf. 
While convalescent he was sent down to the 
lower edge of Louisana and upper edge of Ar- 
kansas to buy clothing. In 1863 General 
Walker again sent him to Texas, to enlist 
more troops, and in six or eight weeks he en- 
listed 500, who came in from all sections in 
the vicinity. 

During this sojourn here he was married, at 



844 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COITNTT. 



Breckenridge, ten miles north of Dallas, to 
Miss Sallie Huffman, daughter of Michael L. 
and Mildred (Clnro) Huffman, and during his 
six weeks' bridal trip he engaged in recruit- 
ing volunteers. 

He reported at Shreveport, where General 
Darnell was relieved, and he met the refugees 
from Arkansas Post, and formed the Seven- 
teenth Consolidated Dismounted Texas Caval- 
ry, which name was retained to the close of the 
war. and Lieutenant Thomas also retained the 
letter E for his company, he continued in 
the same official relation, vvliile M. W. Dam- 
eroa was the Captain. 

While with Captain Coit, Mr. Thomas had 
the advantage of a book of tactics, which he 
rapidly learned and soon became capalile of 
drilling both in cavalry and infantry service. 

At an engagement at Natchez he took a 
number of cattle and mules from the enemy; 
and he also had a three-days fight at Harrison- 
burg, Louisiana. On his return he met Banks 
at Fort Deroora, but no battle took place. At 
Mansfield, April 8, 1864, was the next engage- 
ment. 

Mr. Thomas commanded the company 
nearly all the time during the year 1864. 
April 8, he had fifty-six men in Company 
E, after making all the details. His company 
took Nimms' battery and the colors, besides 
many of the men, of the Nineteenth Kentucky 
Regiment. At the battle of Pleasant Hill 
the next day Mr. Thomas was wounded, at 
nightfall, and taken off the field, leaving to his 
successor sixteen men. Being reported as per- 
manently disabled for field service, be return- 
ed to Dallas; but E. Kirby Smith, com- 
mander-in-chief of the Trans-Mississippi 
Department, ordered him to report to Gen- 
eral Henry McCullough, commander of the 
North Subdistrict of Texas, and he was next 
ordered to take command of the post at Sher- 



man. He was there during the winter of 
1864-'65. Then he went to Jacksboro to in- 
vestigate the trouble between Colonel James 
Bowlen's troops and the home deserters. 
His next business was as commander of the 
post at Dallas, where he closed iiis military 
career. He closed his services within sixty 
feet of where he enlisted when he was sworn 
into the service in the courthouse square, 
near the corner of Houston and Main streets, 
opposite the Crutchfield House. 

For several years after the close of the war 
he came to Dallas, put up a paint shop and 
carried on painting in all its brandies, sup- 
plying all the needs of the city and county. 
For his next adventure he opened the Texas 
wagon yard, the first wagon yard ever located 
in Dallas. He bought the ground located 
between Main and Elm streets, through which 
now runs Murphy street. He went from 
there to the farm in 1878. He farmed two 
years, then he opened out in the grocery and 
cotton business, continuing that one year. 
Then he went into the real-estate business, 
in which he still continues. He began the 
Trir.ity navigation enterprise in 1878, and 
never allowed a wheel to turn, until the date 
of this writing, without throwing his whole 
weight for its successful completion. In 
June, 1891, he had it incorporated, secured a 
charter, and constructed a boat which has 
been at work continuously ever since. 

The long years of work culminated in edu- 
cating the masses. They are now well under 
way, and it is now regarded as a success. 
No other man has done so mucli to make 
this enterprise a success as the subject of this 
sketch. 

Our subject was married April 29, 1863, 
to Miss Sallie Huffman, daughter of M. L. 
and Mildred Huffman, of Breckenridge, Dal- 
las county, Texas, They have eight children, 



HISTOBT OP DALLAS GOUlSTy. 



845 



viz.: Mike Huffman, who is a partner with 
his f'atiier in the real-estate business. He 
married Miss Emma Moss, and they reside 
in Dallas city: Mike is their only cliild. Mr. 
Thomas' next child is Joseph Pinkney, who is 
foreman of the gents' furnishing department 
of E. M. Kahn & Company. He married 
Miss Maggie Kennedy, and Sallie is their 
only child; Mildred Eleanor, a graduate of 
the Dallas high school class of 1892; DeWitt, 
who is in the audit department of the Texas 
& Pacific office of Dallas; Enlace Lane, de- 
ceased in November, 1880, aged about four 
years; Mollie Rice, who is a bright pupil 
and quite proficient in mathamatics and lan- 
guages; Calvin Holmes, who is quite a bright 
and businesslike boy, a pupil of the high 
school; and Fergus Davis, a bright boy of 
seven summers. Both parents and the tliree 
oldest children are members of the Central 
Christian Church. 

J. Pink. Thomas is one of the older citi- 
zens of Dalllas, and has been identified with 
the best interests of the city since it was 
quite a village. He and his good wife are 
numbered among its worthy and substantial 
citizens. 

||^?1|ILLIAM N. COE, County Treasurer 
iflffiW of Dallas county, was born in 1861, 

l^=y^j in Kussell county, Kentucky, a son 
of John C. Coe, a farmer. Just before at- 
taining his majority of years he came to 
Texas, and by the advice of his maternal 
uncle. Dr. W. F. Wolford — a wealthy and in. 
fluential pioneer of Collin county, — went to 
school about three years. Quick and tireless 
of application, he mastered the rudiments of 
an education thoroughly and became an ex- 
cellent bookkeeper. He followed this occupa- 
tion until 1886, when he entered the emnlov 
85 ^ *' 



of Henry Lewis, Sheriff of Dallas county. 
He has thus come in contact with men of 
every condition of life, and exhibited remark- 
able tact, uniform courtesy and a clear con- 
ception of the duties of a public officer; and 
at the election of County Treasurer in 1890, 
with four independent Democratic candidates 
in the field, he was chosen by a handsome 
plurality. Barely thirty years of age at the 
time of his election, he is the youngest county 
treasurer ever elected in the State of Texas. 
A half million dollars of the people's money 
pass annually through his hands. He is a 
stalwart Democrat, being one of the bricrhtest 
exponents of that jiolitical faith. He is a 
zealous member of the order of Knights of 
Pythias. He was married February 5, 1891, 
to Miss Fannie Cullom, a most estimable 
lady. 

P|EV. A. P. SMITH, D. D., minister of 
I the First Presbyterian Church of Dal- 
las, was born in Dallas county, Alabama, 
July 16, 1832. His j.arents were William 
S. and Louisa (Bowie) Smith, the former 
from Charleston, tiie latter of Abbeville, 
South Carolina. The father was an attorney 
in his early days in Charleston, South Caro- 
lina; later was a planter in Alabama, from 
which State he came to Texas, where he died 
in May, 1881, at the age of eigiity-four years. 
He was an elder in the l^resbyterian Church 
for forty odd years. His wife, Louisa A., 
was a daughter of Major George Bowie, a 
prominent attorney of South Carolina. She 
also wasa member of the Presbyterian Church, 
earnest and devoted and died more than 
forty years ago. 

Our subject, the oldest in a family of eleven 
children, was educated primarily in the schools 
of Dallas county, Alabama; later he gradu- 



846 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ated in a literary course at Oglethorpe Col- 
lege, South Carolina. Dr. Talmadge (uncle 
of T. DeWitt Talmadge of New York) was 
the president of Oglethorpe College at that 
time. Subsequently Dr. Smith graduated 
in a theological course at the seminary at 
Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. James Thorn- 
well, Dr. George Howe and Dr. Benjamin 
Palmer were among the professors of that 
college at that time. Rev. Smith preached 
first on Sullivan Island, near Charleston, and 
during his pastorate there the yellow fever 
raged violently, but he continued liis work 
without molestation. After that he filled the 
Globe Street church in Charleston, South 
Carolina. He remained there until the war 
opened, when he was made Chaplain of the 
First South Carolina Regiment, Ivershaw's 
brigade. He served in that capacity until near 
the close of the war, when he was disabled 
with rheumatism and was discharged from 
the service. As soon as he was able to preach 
he filled the pulpit at Spartanburg, South 
Carolina, until the war closed. He then 
moved to Aberdeen, Mississippi, where he 
filled the Presbyterian pulpit and was also pres- 
ident of the Female College in that city for 
six years. In August, 1873, he moved to 
Dallas, Texas, and took charge of the First 
Presbyterian Church, which position he has 
ever since occupied. His is the oldest pastor- 
ate in the city. He began in an old weather- 
boarded house, with nineteen members. The 
membership now numbers more than 300. 
Three mission churches since have gone out 
from this mother church. Mr. Smith has 
done an excellent work in Dallas, and has a 
most worthy and substantial record both as a 
minister and citizen. 

He was nnirried December 1, 1858, in 
Charleston, South Carolina, to Miss E. T. 
Smith, daughter of James E. and Susan Ann 



Smith, who were old, prominent and most 
highly respected residents of Charleston. 
They raised a large family of children, who 
remained in the city until the war opened. 
Mrs. Smith is a lady of culture and has ever 
been loyal to the best interests of the Presby- 
terian Church. 



Amonor 



f'OSEPH BRITAIN, deceased. 
, the pioneers of Dallas county, Texas, 
none were better or more favorably 
known than this worthy gentleman. He set- 
tled here in 1848, and was closely identified 
with the best interests of the county until 
the time of his death. Joseph Britain was 
born in Tennessee, February 29, 1816, a son 
of Benjamin and Sarah (Mathews) Britain, 
natives of Tennessee and Virginia respect- 
ively, and of Scotch and English origin. 
The family were among tiie first settlers of 
Tennessee. When Joseph was about fourteen 
years of age his parents removed to Illinois 
and settled in Cass county. There he was 
married, in 1835, to Miss Marthena White, a 
native of North Carolina, and a daughter of 
William R. and Rachel (Cowen) White; she 
had been taken to Illinois by her parents 
when a child. 

About the year 1840, Mr. Britain and his 
wife removed to Henry county, Missouri, be- 
ing followed soon afterward by his father's 
family; his father and mother passed the re- 
mainder of their days in that county. He 
was engaged in farming in Missouri until 
1848, when he removed to Texas. He was 
accompanied by his wife, their five children 
and a nephew, B. L. Cowand; they made the 
journey to the borderland of civilization with 
a team of horses, being a month on the way. 
Mr. Britain first settled on what was known 
as the Haney farm, now known as the Petty 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



847 



place; there he lived with his family in a 
shanty until he could build a better house, 
and raised one crop. He afterward went to 
Navarro county and lived there one year, at 
the end of which time he returned to Dallas 
county, and for five years rented the Robert- 
son farm. He then pnrcliased 100 acres of 
wild land, six miles southwest of the city of 
Dallas, and began the task of making a home 
for himself and family. He added to the 
first purchase in later years until he became 
the owner of 700 acres of Dallas county's 
best soil, where he followed agriculture and 
stock-raising until his death. 

By his first wife, Marthena, Mr. Britain 
had twelve children, seven of whom are liv- 
ing, and six of whom were born in Texas: 
Mrs. L. J. Fleming, the eldest daughter, is 
fifty-four years of age; she has three children 
and six grandchildi-en, four of whom are 
living; D. L., the eldest son is engaged in 
the real-estate business in Henrietta, Clay 
county, Texas; he is the father of fourteen 
children, ten of whom are living; his eldest 
son, J. W., was a most estimable young man; 
he had reached the age of twenty- two years, 
and was Marshal of Henrietta at the time of 
his death; James M., the second son of 
Joseph, resides six miles southwest from the 
the city of Dallas; he has eight children, six 
of whom are boys, engaged in farming; 
Nancy M., the second daughter, is the wife 
of H. L. Fleming; she is the mother of eight 
children, six of whom survive, all boys; she 
has one grandchild; her home is in Dallas 
connty near the old homestead; Sarah M., 
twin sister to Nancy M., died in Missouri at 
the age of four years; Joseph B., the third 
son, lived on a farm in Dallas county until 
the time of his murder, which occurred May 
2, 1889, at four o'clock, a. m.; he was the 
father of three daughters and one son; Ben- 



jamin M., the fourth son, is living at Sey- 
mour, Baylor county, Texas, engaged in the 
grain trade; he is the father of seven chil- 
dren, five of whom are living, two sons and 
three daughters; Martha E., the wife of J. 
W. Collier; she lived in Dallas county until 
the time of her death in September, 1889; 
she was the mother of eight children, six of 
whom are living, four sons and two daugh- 
ters; her husl)and was murdered November 
1, 1887, while returning from Dallas; Annie, 
the fifth daughter, died January 4, 1864, at 
the age of eleven years; Frank H. lives in 
Swisher couTity, Texas, follows farming and 
stock-raising, the father of eight daughters, 
six of whom are living; George B., the sixth 
son, is living on the old homestead; he is 
the father of two daughters and a son; one 
daughter is deceased; Rachel C. died in 
Texas, in 1869, at the age of eight years. 

Mrs. Marthena Britain died of small-pox, 
November 28, 1863, at the age of forty-three 
years, one month and nine days; her daugh- 
ter Annie was the next to follow, stricken by 
the same dr^ad disease, five weeks later. 

In the spring of 1864, Mr. Britain was 
united in marriage to Miss Margaret Strader, 
and six children were born to this union, five 
of whom were living: Ida, the oldest child 
and only daughter, died in 1867, at the age 
of two years; Adam W. resides in Wilbarger 
county, where he is engaged in farming; he 
is the father of one child; Edgar C. was one 
of the first settlers in Swisher county, Texas; 
Bert also lives in Swisher county; Wallace 
B. lives in Coleman county, Texas, where he 
is employed on a cattle ranch; Oiis B. is a 
resident of Wilbarger county. In 1875, Mr. 
Britain was again bereft of his companion. 
Late in the aututnn of 1876. he was united 
in marriage to Miss Amanda Shackelford, 
who bore him one daughter, the nineteenth 



848 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



child ; she is named Alice, and was two years 
old at the time of Mr. Britain's death, March 
8, 1880. He was sixty-four years and eight 
days old; his wife died in September, 1890; 
she was at the time living in Johnson county, 
where her daughter still resides. Mr. Britain 
and his first two wives were active members 
of the Baptist Church. 

In early days he served as Constable, and 
in politics affiliated with the Democratic 
party. He was possessed of many excellent 
traits of character, and by his honorable and 
upright course in life won the confidence of 
the entire community. The father of nine- 
teen children, he had sixty-four grandchildren, 
forty-nine of whom are living, and eleven 
great-grandchildren, nine of whom are living. 



fOHN J. CONROY, one of the staunch 
and reliable sons of Erin, was born in 
Ireland March 24, 1846, and is the son 
of Patrick and Nora (Ward) Conroy. His 
parents emigrated to America during his in- 
fancy, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, 
where the father died. The mother is still 
living and resides in Baltimore. The father 
was a tanner by trade, and later followed the 
occupation of dairyman, which continued un- 
til bis death. He died in 1886, aged sixty- 
eight years. 

John J. passed his youth in Baltimore and 
received his education in St. Vincent's Col- 
lege. In 1861 he enlisted in the First Mary- 
land Infantry Regiment, as First Lieutenant 
of Company B, and was at that time fifteen 
years of age. (We doubt if this has a parallel 
on the Federal side during that long and 
bloody cantest.) He served until the close 
of the war. He was promoted and came 
home as Major of their regiment, although 



serving on many occasions as Colonel. He 
participated in many of the most noted 
battles, such as the first and second battles of 
Bull Run, Chancellorsville, the two battles of 
Fredericksburg, battle of the Wilderness, 
Slaughter Mountain, several minor engage- 
ments, and finally the battle of Gettysburg, 
where he was wounded seriously, though not 
fatally, five times. He was out of the service 
on account of wounds, all told about one year 
during the war. After the surrender he was 
apprenticed to learn the blacksmith's trade, 
serving for three years. In 1868 he went to 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was em- 
ployed until 1876. In that yeai' he went 
West, and was one of the first prospecting in 
the Black Hills. He purchased a claim at 
Deadwood, Dakota, adjoining the Hidden 
Treasure. He found nothing there, how- 
ever, and after remaining there four months, 
he started for the Big Horn mountain, pros- 
pecting as he proceeded, at one time being 
within hearing of the guns which killed Cus- 
ter. The day following, a band of thirty-five 
Sioux Indians attacked his party of nine, 
killed two and wounded three or four others, 
including Mr. Conroy. His party held the 
Indians at bay for seven hours, when they 
were relieved by the Hayden survey party, 
employed by the Government. The wounded 
were taken by them to the Crow Indian reser- 
vation. This accounts for the fact that Mr. 
Conroy was thrown among the Crow Indians. 
He made friends with these Indians, learn- 
ino- their lanffuatje and to a certain extent 
adopting their customs. He traveled ex- 
tensively over this section, and bought the 
first claim at Deadwood, or Dakota Terrify. 
After four years of prospectiug on the fron- 
tier he went to Florida, where he resuiqed 
his trade. He was a partner there of P. Me- 
Murray who was Mayor of the city of Jack- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



849 



sonville, Florida. He remained there until 
the vell<Jw fever broke out. Leaving Jack- 
sonville he went to Greenville, Mississippi; 
but did not escape that dread disease, yellow 
fever. However, the use of a very simple 
remedy saved his life. From Mississippi he 
moved to Arkansas, where lie engaged in the 
manufacture of carriages until 1881. In 
that year he came to Dallas county, where he 
established himself in his early trade. As a 
workman in this line he has few equals and 
perhaps no superiors. He has also dealt 
largely in real estate, and has made consider- 
able money in this way. In 1890 he was 
elected Alderman by an overwhelming ma 
jority, George T. Lack being the opposing 
candidate. He has made an efficient officer 
and has assisted very materially in the growth 
and development of the city. In the council 
he is now chairman of the Committee on 
Streets and Bridges. He was elected April 2, 
1892, by the largest vote of any councilman 
in the city of Dallas; also from the largest 
ward in the city. He has always been 
alive to the business interests of the city of 
Dallas. He is progressive in his views and 
believes in keeping abreast of latter-day, 
nineteenth-century progress. 

Mr. Conroy was married in Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, in 1872, and three children 
were the result of this union. The wife died 
and he was married the second time in 1883 
in Dallas, Texas. Two daughters and one 
son were born in the last marriage. He is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, Knights 
of the Golden Eagle, of the Red Men, and 
also of the A. O. U. "W. He is a member of 
the Roman Catholic Church and is an ardent 
Jeffersonian Democrat. He has been the 
main advocate of some of the best ordinances 
now in force in the city of Dallas. In all his 
intercourse with his fellow citizens, both 




private and public, he has been found true to 
every trust, competent and faithful in every 
position to which he has been called, and al- 
ways an upright, honorable man and a 
thoroughgoing and enterprising citizen. 

B. TAYLOR, a dairyman of Pre- 
cinct No. 1, Dallas county, was 
® born in Spartanburgh district, South 
Carolina, May 16, 1844, the second in a 
family of five children born to Stephen and 
Matilda (Jones) Taylor, natives of South 
Carolina. The parents both died in 1857, 
in less than three months of each other. 
W. B., our subject, was reared and educated 
in his native State, and in May, 1866, he 
came to Dallas county. He and his brother 
drove a team through Illinois to Missouri by 
way of Georgia, northern Alabama, a corner 
of Mississippi, west Tennessee and Kentucky, 
taking a steamboat to Cape Girardeau, Mis- 
souri, and thence came to this county. 

Here, in 1866, Mr. Taylor bought 550 
acres of land, to which he has since added 
until he now owns 610 acres, all under a good 
state of cultivation. He has always taken an 
active interest in politics, voting with the 
Democratic party. Socially, he is a member 
of James A. Smith Lodge, No. 395, A. F. & 
A. M. ; and religiously, of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church at Cochran Chapel. 

April 16, 1861, Mr. Taylor enlisted in 
Company D, Third South Carolina Infantry, 
for one year in the State service. He went 
first to Columbia, was drilled two months, 
next re-enlisted for one year in the Confeder- 
ate array, and at the expiration of that time 
an order came for all men between the ages 
of eighteen and forty-five years to be pressed 
into service. Mr. Taylor was in the first 



850 



HISTORY -OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



battle of Manassas, seven days' tight before 
Richmond, where he received a gunshot 
wound in the shoulder, was contined in the 
hospital at Richmond some time, and after 
his recovery returned to his regiment, just 
after the battle of Sharpsburg. He was also 
in the battles of Fredricksburg, Chancellors- 
ville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, in the siege 
of Knox vi lie, battle of the Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor 
and Petersburg at the mine explosion, and 
was in the Shenandoah valley under General 
Early. After the battle of the 19th of Octo- 
ber, Mr. Taylor went to Richmond, then 
joined Lee's array. He was the only man in 
General Keshow's command to escape, and 
at the close of the war he returned to South 
Carolina, where he remained until he came 
to Dallas county. 

Mr. Taylor was married in this county, in 
December, 1876, to Miss Z. Bachman, a 
native of Tennessee, and daughter of John 
and Margaret (Hughes) Bachman, also natives 
of Tennessee. The parents came to Texas in 
185U, and settled in Dallas county, where the 
father died in 1867, and the mother now re- 
sides with our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor 
have had five children, namely: Maggie, 
Fletcher, Alice, Willie, Charles. 



-'J^ 



^ ■ rr:= °<i> 



^APTAIN JOHN HUNTER, who re- 

i:ic^ sides at 686 Washington avenue, Dal- 
las, Texas, was born in New York city, 
June 4, 1831. 

His parents were Alexander and Jane 
(Kyle) Hunter, both of Scotch birth. They 
were married in their native land in 1822. 
Both were members of the Presbyterian 
Cliurch. The father was a gardener, and 
followed that occupation and farming all his 



life. He was born August 6, 1793, and died 
December 6, 1869, aged seventy-six years. 
His wife, born about the same time, died 
December 26, 1863, aged seventy years. 
They were honorable and upright people, and 
reared a family to occupy useful positions in 
life. Following are the names of their eight 
children: William, a resident of Staten 
Island, New York; Johnston, a blacksmith 
by trade, died at Halifax, North Carolina, 
aged thirty-two years; Mary, wife of Michael 
Mallon, died at the age of twenty-nine years; 
John, the subject of this article; Alexander, 
who died at the age of thirty-three years; 
Margaret Ann, wife of Henry Springer, re- 
sides in New Jersey; Eliza J., who died at the 
age of thirteen months, and Eliza (2), who 
lived only six months. 

The subject of our sketch received his edu- 
cation in the private schools of New Jersey. 
He learned the trade of blacksmith, and fol- 
lowed that trade nine years. 

When the war came on Mr. Hunter was 
among the first to offer his services to pro- 
tect the Union. July 16, 1861, he enlisted 
in Company C, Second New York Fire Zou- 
aves. He entered the service as a private, 
and after the battle of Antietam was made 
Captain, his promotion being made for bravery 
in action at that battle. The first en- 
gagement in which he participated was that 
of Williamsburg, Maryland, and there he 
was wounded in the thigh, from the effects 
of which wound he still suffers. He was in 
all the battles of the army of the Potomac 
up to and including Gettysburg. There, on 
July 2, 1863, at four p. m., he lost iiis arm by 
a shell from the enemy's gun, and was at 
once taken prisoner from the field. He spent 
the night in General Lee's headquarters, and 
it was three days and nights before he received 
anything to eat. What he suffered at that 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



891 



time can be better imagined than described, 
lie was fourteen days a prisoner at Williams- 
port, Pennsylvania, and his arm received no 
medical attention until July 18, when it was 
amputated near the shoulder by Dr. Fitch, of 
the Union army, at Hagerstown, Maryland. 
He was paroled on the 16th, and as there 
was no hospital at Williainsport, went with 
four others to Hagerstown to be treated. 
Twelve days later he went to Frederick city, 
Maryland, remained in the general hospital 
there till October 10, and was then discharged 
and returned home. 

After sufliciently recovering. Captain Hun- 
ter engaged in the milk business at Railway, 
New Jersey, and continued thus employed 
two years. He was then engaged there as 
gatekeeper for the Pennsylvania railroad, 
the duties of which position he faithfully 
performed for eleven and a third years. After 
that he was in the cigar and tobacco business 
six years. His wife dying in 1891, he sold 
out, and in September of that year came to 
Dallas, Texas. 

Captain Hunter was married, July 8, 1858, 
to Miss Jane Renton, daughter of Alexander 
Kenton, of Rahway, New Jersey. They had 
six children, viz. : Jessie E., wife of Howard 
Tappan, of Sewaren, New Jersey, their only 
child being David; Jane I., wife of Benja- 
mfn S. George, of Sewaren; Katie B., wife 
of D. F. Fields, also of Sewaren; John K., 
a resident of Dallas, married Lulu Renner 
and has three children, Ross G., John F. and 
Susan; Anna J., wife of F. D. Fields, 
Sewaren; and Olive G., a graduate of the 
Rahway high school. 

The Captain is a member of the First 
Presbyterian Church of Rahway, as also was 
his worthy companion. He is a member 
and has been Senior Vice-Commander of the 
Twenty-seventh Post, Rahway, New Jersey, 




and is also a member of John A. Dix Post, 
No. 11, Dallas, Texas. In politics he has 
never taken an active part, but has always 
voted with the Republican party. 

N. BRYANT, commercial traveler 
for Marshall Chemical Manufactur- 
'^ ing Company, of Kansas City, Mis- 
souri, and State agent for Texas and Louisiana 
for the same company, has been a resident of 
Dallas, Texas, since 1874, and was reared in 
the Lone Star State. 

His father. Major Charles G. Bryant, who 
was among the earliest settlers of Galveston, 
Texas, had been one of the inceptors and 
leaders of the patriot war in Canada, which 
culminated in 1837. He was captured by 
the British and sentenced to be shot, but was 
taken, surreptitiously, from the guards by his 
sympathizing Canadian friends on the night 
preceding the day set for his execution, and 
he escaped into the United States, a large 
reward being offered for his head by the 
British Crown. He, with others, immediately 
chartered a vessel and came to Texas, and 
was closely identified with the Lone Star Re- 
public from that time until her star was 
merged into the bright galaxy of the sister- 
hood of States, participating in her varying 
fortunes and thrilling scenes. He was killed 
by the Comanche Indians in 1850, at the 
age of forty-nine years, while faithfully serv- 
ing his adopted State in the capacity of Quar- 
termaster and Commissary of a battalion of 
mounted Texas rangers, and his remains lie 
buried where he fell in Refugio county, 
thirty-two miles from Corpus Christi and 
eight miles from Rockport. He was strictly 
a military man, his earliest boyish inclina- 
tions tending in that direction. It was he 



853 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



who drilled the Texas volunteer troops for 
the Mexican war, raising for that purpose the 
first volunteer company on Galveston Island. 
He was formerly Major General of the militia 
of the State of Maine, and was first in the 
boundary question between the United States 
and Great Britain at the Aroostook, on the 
Canadian border, in 1836. His marriage 
took place in Massachusetts about 1801, to 
Miss Sarah Getchell. They had eight chil- 
dren, the first five being born in Maine and 
the rest in Texas. The oldest, Andrew Jack- 
son, was midshipman in the Texas navy, and 
took an important part in all the engagements 
between the Texas and Mexican fleets off 
Yucatan in 1842-'44, where he was severely 
wounded and made a physical wreck for life. 
The most distinguished honors and highest 
encomiums were bestowed on him for his 
dauntless courage and unswerving fidelity to 
duty by the commanding officer of the Texas 
navy, Commodore Edwin Moore. He lost 
his life at sea by the foundering of the brig 
Galveston in the Gulf of Mexico in 1844, but 
his name and deeds are written in gold in 
the imperishable history of his country. One 
of the most pleasing and talented writers of 
Texas of those days thus apostrophizes the 
young hero: 

" Poor boy, though thy young days have ended on 
earth, 
Though thy grave is deep, deep in the sea, 
Yet, Bryant, we'll hallow thy name and thy worth, 
And thy deeds in defense of the free." 

The youngest child, sister of the subject of 
the subject of this sketch, was Mrs. Welthea 
Leachman, nee Bryant, the wife of John S. 
Leachman, a prominent resident of Dallas 
and at present a commercial traveler for a 
large mercantile establishment of Dallas. 
Mrs. Leachman died in 1888, at her home in 
the latter city. She was the pronounced poet 



laureate of Texas, contributing for many years 
to the columns of the Galveston News and 
other publications. A literary critic of the 
East, who is himself a bright luminary, said 
of her that "many of her productions should 
take front rank as being among the brightest 
gems of American literature." Her poems, 
which will constitute a brilliant intellectual 
brochure, will some day be collected by the 
subject of this sketch and given to her be- 
loved Texas. She was a distant relative of 
William Cullen Bryant, and the divine affla- 
tus of the poetic muse, as in her illustrious 
ancestor, conspicuously marked all the ema- 
nations of her pen. Unfortunately for the 
literary world, the notes of this Southern 
song-bird are hushed, but her melodies still 
vibrate on numerous sensitized tympanums, 
and re-echo upon the celestial shores. All 
of her brothers seem to have been tinctured 
with the penchant for versification, and three 
of them have figured at various times as 
journalists of note. Charles C. Bryant, the 
veteran printer, who died four years ago in 
Dallas, published the Nueces Valley in 
Corpus Christi as long ago as 1851. He 
was also co-publisher with Mr. W. N. Bry- 
ant, of Bryant'' s Commercial Transcript, 
which was printed in the city of Houston, 
Texas, in 1865-'66. W. N. Bryant will be 
remembered as the publisher for fourteen 
years of Bryant's Texas Almanac and Hall- 
way Guide, a statistical and historical serial, 
which exerted a widespread and effective in- 
fluence in favor of immigration to Texas, 
which labor of love his failing eyesight forced 
him to resign, with the proud consciousness, 
however, that his book had probably been as 
potent a factor in the peopling and upbuilding 
of Texas as any of the multifarious ax-grind- 
ing, State-subsidized institutions, which have 
blazed up from time to time and flickered 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



853 



with uncertain light. His serial was widely 
known and recognized as a standard text book 
on Texas, commanding the attention and 
admiration of the English-speaking world. 
Another talented brother of the subject of 
this sketch was D. C Bryant, whose death 
occurred in Dallas in 1882. He also was a 
veteran printer and publisher of Texas, and 
was largely instrumental in molding a 
healthy public sentiment within the scope of 
his influence, tiring his readers with a land- 
able ambition and stimulating an emulative 
spirit of public enterprise. He published the 
Democrat South at Corpus Christi in 1857, 
and at one time published the Acorn, at Oak- 
ville, in Live Oak county, Texas, of which 
the suggestive motto or symbol was, "Tall 
oaks from little acorns grow," but, although 
it was a healthy and sprightly Acorn, it never 
attained the adult proportions of an oak. 
This paper was a terror to a band of cattle 
and horse thieves that infested the country 
in those days, and who committed what might 
be termed legalized depredations in the spring 
''ronnd-ups," as they denominated the gen- 
eral branding occasions. The standard in 
this country at that time among that class 
and element for measuring men's worth was 
established with reference to their bravado 
in overriding and defying all legal restraints, 
and their high-handed disregard for all legal 
and moral rights. D. G. J^ryant undertook 
the role of reformer, and tried to purge the 
community of some of the immoral practices 
of those times. In so doing, however, he 
came a "little too close" to some of the 
"prominent men" of that ilk, the conse- 
quence being that they constituted them- 
selves a little more than a committee of one 
to wait on Mr. Bryant and invite him to 
desist by "looking up a tree." The hint was 
conveyed to him by Harry Hinton, one of 



God's rough-hewn noblemen, an Indian scout 
and tighter of those days. When the self- 
styled "Vigilance Committee" sought for 
Mr. Bryant in the "wee sma' hours," for the 
purpose of inducing him to add his quota to 
the contemplated festivities, he was conspic- 
uous for his absence, having taken French 
leave. The " Vigilants " destroyed the Acorn, 
scattering its fragments to the winds, the 
owner never returning to inquire the manner 
of its disposition or attempting further 
reformation. Edwin Moore Bryant, the 
youngest of the brothers, who resides in 
Corpus Christi, Texas, is likewise a versatile 
and prolific writer, and may justly wear the 
laurel as a composer of pure poetry. 

W. N. Bryant, although having passed the 
half-century mile-post of life, has lost none 
of his accustomed vigor and energy, still 
possessing an inexhaustible amount of enthu- 
siasm on the possibilities of Te.xas, and casts 
with untiring delight her future brilliant 
horoscope. The tablets of his memory contain 
one vast store of historical data, and, beinc 
nearly fifty-tive years of age, and possessing 
a natural inclination and remarkable memory 
for things covered with the mold of time, 
can relate many an o'ertrue and thrilling tale 
of Texas. 

He was married, in 1858, at San Antonio, 
Texas, to Miss Elvira Wilkerson, daughter of 
E. A. and Mary Wilkerson, her parents hav- 
ing spent their early lives in Alabama. Mrs. 
Bryant is a lady whose attractions of mind 
and person render her a joy forever in her 
domestic world. Every surrounding of their 
beautiful little home in Dallas indicates the 
taste, refinement and cultui-e of the occupants. 

Mr. Bryant is a member of the Knights of 
Honor and of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. He and his wife are earnest mem- 
bers of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. 



854 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Bryant have had 
twelve children, seven of whom are still liv- 
ing, namely: Irving H., Helen Elva, Giddie 
Jiandall, Wolfred Parsons, Jessie Fay, John 
William and Claude Achilles. Four of their 
children are grown and two are married. 
Mrs. Nellie Medders, the oldest daughter now 
living, resides in Dallas, Texas, whose three 
children are a source of unceasing comfort to 
their grandparents. The oldest daughter, 
who was born during the war, bore the typi- 
cal name of Secessia, and it is a singular co- 
incidence that, on the very day and hour 
when the Federal troops landed in Galveston 
the father, who was fifty miles away witness- 
ing the disembarking of the troops and their 
occupation of the city, received the sad and 
heart-rending news of the death of his Seces- 
sia, who died simultaneously with the beloved 
cause of which she bore the hallowed name! 



fUDGE LAUGH McLAURIN.— Among 
the prominent attorneys and judges of 
this county stands the subject of this 
sketch. He is a native of Mississippi, having 
been born there January 18, 1854. His 
parents were Dr. H. C. and Harriet (Lane) 
McLaurin, natives of South Carolina and 
Mississippi respectively The father was a 
physician and surgeon of good repute, and an 
Elder in the Presbyterian Church for many 
years. His wife, a member of the same 
church, is still living, although her husband 
died in 1880, aged sixty-seven. His wife is 
now sixty-three. They had seven children, 
four yet living. 

Our subject was educated and graduated 
in the University of Mississippi, in the class 
of 1874:. He began reading law, his pre- 
ceptors being Governor Robert Lowry and 



A. G. Mayers, the firm being Mayers & 
Lowry. Li October, 1875, our subject was 
admitted to the bar and began practice the 
following January, at Port Gibson, Missis- 
sippi, with Septun Thrasher, under the firm 
name of Thrasher & McLaurin. This firm 
continued one year, when Mr. Thrasher re- 
tired, and Mr. McLaurin formed a partner- 
ship with J. McC. Martin, which continued 
until April, 1883, when our subject was 
made Chancellor of the Tenth Judicial Dis- 
trict of Mississippi, being one of the youngest 
judges Mississippi ever had. He served one 
term of two years, on the recommendation of 
the bar of that district. So popular was he 
that he was again elected and served three 
years, but resigned in 1890 and came to Dal- 
las, where he has conducted a large practice 
ever since. He was alone until June, 1891, 
when he formed a partnership with Mr. 
John Bookhout, the firm being Bookhout & 
McLaurin. This firm has been very success- 
ful, having all that it can possibly do. 

He was married April, 1881, to Ida, 
daughter of Dr. Joel K. Stevens, late of Sau 
Antonio, Texas. He was a surgeon in the 
United States army until he went to San An- 
tonio, Texas, to live, after serving through 
the Mexican war. He raised a company in 
the late war, and was killed near Mansfield, 
Louisiana, in the Banks' expedition. His 
wife is still living, aged about sixty-seven. 
She lives with her son. Lieutenant R. R. 
Stevens, of the United States army, at Hot 
Springs, Arkansas. Her three children are: 
Mary, wife of M. T. Alford, of Hot Springs, 
Arkansas; Lieutenant R. R. Stevens, un- 
married, a graduate of Wfest Point, having 
been on the frontier since his graduation, 
being very successful in managing the In- 
dians. He had charge of the pioneer party 
that went to examine the new country among 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



855 



the Ute Indians. The third child is Mrs. 
McLaurin. Mrs. Margaret Stevens, mother 
of these three children, is a niece of Colonel 
McCrea, a Eevolutionary officer. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. McLaurin are members 
of the Presbyterian Church, of which the 
former is an Elder. Mr. McLaurin is a 
member of the Masonic order and of 
the K. of P. He and his charming and 
accomplished wife are very popular among 
the people of Dallas, where they are well 
known and highly respected. 

C. ARDREY is a native of "Wilkinson 
county, Mississippi, and a son of 
'* James M. and Susan F. Ardrey. His 
father with his family emigrated to Texas in 
1843, locating in San Augustine county. He 
was a lawyer by profession, practicing in the 
courts at San Augustine and in the other 
counties belonging to that judicial district, as 
well as in the Supreme and Federal courts at 
Tyler. He was elected to represent his 
county in the Legislature in 1856. He died 
in 1857, at the age of forty-five. His widow 
survived him until 1865. Mr. Ardrey's 
strict integrity, high sense of honor and 
marked devotion to truth, and his gentle- 
manly deportment, attracted the special at- 
tention of all who knew him. He was in 
every way an honorable and upright man. 

Mr. Ardrey received an academic educa- 
tion. After leaving school in 1858 he was 
appointed Deputy Clerk of the District Court 
of San Augustine county, which position he 
filled until the fall of 1860, when he accepted 
a position as clerk of a steamboat called 
Uncle Ben, on the Sabine river, running from 
Sabine Pass to Sabine town. 



At the beginning of the war, in 1861, Mr. 
Ardrey was engaged in steamboating on the 
Mississippi river; and in June, 1861, while 
his boat was lying at Fort Adams, Missis- 
sippi, he enlisted as a private soldier in what 
was afterward known as Company E, Twenty- 
first Regiment Mississippi Infantry. Serving 
four years in the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia, his company and regiment saw as 
much hard service as any in the Confederate , 
army, the subject of this sketch being pro- 
moted to the position of Second Lieutenant 
of this company just after the battle of Get- 
tysburg. 

After the close of the war, Mr. Ardrey, in- 
stead of returning to Texas, his adopted 
State, located in Woodville, Wilkinson county, 
Mississippi, and in the fall of 1865 was elected 
Clerk of the Circuit Court of that county, 
tilling that position for about three and one- 
half years, when the State was placed under 
military rule and all State and county officials 
who were ex-Confederates were removed from 
office. 

In November, 1868, Mr. Ardrey married 
Miss Susie A. Downs, of Wilkinson county, 
Mississippi, and in January, 1872, returned 
to Texas, locating in the town of Dallas, and 
for a short time was engaged in the mercan- 
tile business. Disposing of his interest in 
the business, he was shortly afterward em- 
ployed as Assistant County Treasurer of Dal- 
las county, which position he tilled about five 
years, when he engaged in the real-estate 
business with a partner, under the firm name 
of Prather & Ardrey. This firm has been 
one of the most progressive doing business 
in Dallas. They have laid out and developed 
several important additions to the city. Mr. 
Aidrey is a progressive business man, and 
has been concerned in some of the heaviest 
real-estate transactions in the city. 



856 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 




Ill religion he is a Baptist, and in politics 
a Democrat. His daily life characterizes him 
as a gentleman of manly instincts, of honor, 
ability, courage, and of deserving popularity. 



llglLLlAM H. BEEMAN, a pioneer of 
Dallas county, Texas, was born in 
Greene county, Illinois, in May, 
1827, the third in a family of ten children 
born to John and Emily (Honeycutt) Bee- 
man, natives of Georgia and South Carolina 
respectively. The father moved to Illinois 
in an early day, settling near Alton, where 
he was subsequently married. He was a 
farmer and millwright by trade, and albo ran 
a ferry and wood yard in Illinois. He emi- 
grated to Texas with horse teams in 1840, 
having bought 640 acres before starting, of 
a frontier trader, and located eighty miles 
from any settlement. The first six months 
he lived in a fort, and afterward located on 
land that is now within the city limits. He 
always made this county his home, and his 
death occurred in 1850; the mother is still 
living, residing on Ten Mile creek, Dallas 
county. 

The subject of this sketch was reared and 
educated in Illinois, and at the age of fourteen 
years came to Texas and aided in opening np 
the home farm. He commenced life for him- 
self in Dallas, in the carriage and wagon 
makers' trade, and in 1851 commenced busi- 
ness for himself on Elm street, which he con- 
tinued about fifteen years. Mr. Beeman 
cleared the land where his three-story brick 
building now stands, known as Deering 
Block, on Elm street. After the war broke 
out Mr. Beeman moved to his farm, where 
he has seventy-seven acres in a good state of 
cultivation, having given most of his 



land to his children. He was married in 
Dallas county, in 1851, to Martha Dye, a 
native of Virginia, and daughter of Benja- 
min and Sarah Dye, also natives of Virginia. 
The parents settled in Kentucky in an early 
day, and in 1847 came to Dallas, where the 
father died, in 1852, and the mother a few 
years later. Mr. and Mrs. Beeman have had 
ten children. The living are: J. E., in East 
Dallas; Nevada; Addie, wife of Benjamin 
Saye, of Dallas county; Hol!y, of East Dallas; 
L. O., at home; and Roxie, also at home. 
Mr. Beeman has seen tiie complete develop- 
ment of Dallas county, and rode in the first 
wagon that ever came into Dallas. Politi- 
cally, he is a Democrat, has always taken an 
interest in everything for the good of tiie 
county, and aids materially in all public en- 
terprises. He assisted in the organization of 
the county, iiaving ridden 140 miles on horse- 
back to see the judge and get an order to 
organize. 

ffOHN M. LAWS, a farmer and stock- 
raiser of precinct No. 1, Dallas county, 
was born in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, 
February 4, 1831, the second in a family of 
three children born to John and Penelope 
(Minton) Laws, natives of North Carolina. 
The father was a farmer by occupation, and 
moved to Red River county, Texas, in 1845, 
but two years later returned to Tennessee, 
where he died in 1875; his wife was de- 
ceased in 1834. John M. was reared to farm 
life and educated in the public schools of 
Tennessee. He came to Dallas county, Texas, 
January 6, 1855, going by stage to Memphis, 
thence by steamer to Shreveport, and again 
by stage to Dallas. He bougiit property in 
the city of Dallas, and lived there until 1875, 
when he purchased his present farm of 194 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



857 



acres. In 1861, Mr. Laws enlisted in (/ora- 
pany C, Sixth Texas Cavalry, and served un- 
til the close of the war. He was in the bat- 
tles of Franklin, Atlanta, Corinth, Holly 
Springs and in many skirmishes. After the 
war he returned to Dallas, where he has 
since resided. Politically, he is a member 
of the Democratic party, and in 1869 was 
elected Clerk of his county, and held that 
office until 1873. Socially, he is a member 
of James A. Smith Lodge, No. 395, A. F. 
& A. M., and has held the office of Treasurer 
of Tannehill Lodge. 

Mr. Laws was married in this county, Sep- 
tember 9, 1859, to Fannie K. Smith, a native 
of Alabama, and daughter of Rev. James A. 
and Ann (Killen) Snjith, natives of Tennessee 
and Virginia. The father was a minister of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and came 
to Dallas county in 1847, being the pioneer 
minister of this county. The father died in 
1883, and the mother in 1860, both in this 
county. Mr. and Mrs. Laws have had seven 
children, only one of whom survives, — Pen- 
elope, now Mrs. Samuel T. Sayer. of Mon- 
tague county, Texas. Mr. Laws lost his 
excellent wife by death, in 1876. He has 
seen the full growth and development of this 
county, and has always taken an active part 
in everything pertaining to its good. 

^HOMAS BOWLES, one of the early 
settlers of Dallas county, was born in 
Christian county, Kentucky, in 1841, 
the third of ten children born to Austin and 
Ann (Athey) Bowles, natives of Kentucky 
and Virginia. The father was a farmer by 
occupation, and remained in Kentucky until 
his death, which occurred in 1879, and the 
mother died during the war. Our subject 



was reared and educated in his native county, 
where he took up the carpenter's trade, and 
followed the same about twelve or fifteen 
years. Mr. Bowles was in the Quartermas- 
ter's departtnent with Captain Julien Fields, 
in Dallas during the war. He came to Dal- 
las county, Texas, in 1860, where he opened 
up and improved a farm of 175 acres on the 
waters of "White Rock, and in addition to 
this he now owns four tenement houses in 
Dallas, whicli he rents. 

Mr. Bowles was married in Christian 
county, Kentucky, to Susan Pyle, a native of 
that county, and daughter of Ford Pyle, an 
early pioneer of Kentucky. Politically, Mr. 
Bowles is a Democrat, and, religiously, his 
wife is a member of the Baptist Church. 

IHE URSITLINE CONVENT and 
ACADEMY, Dallas, Texas.— On one 
of his pastoral visitations through 
northern Texas, Bishop Dubuis of Galveston 
conceived the idea of establishing an institu- 
tion of learning in the new town of Dallas, 
which then gave promise of a brilliant future. 
With the zealous prelate to think was to act. 
He accordingly communicated his design to 
the Ursuline ladies of his episcopal city, 
requesting them to assume the undertaking 
as early as possi])le. The death of a promi- 
nent member of that community, who was 
among those named for the enterprise, delayed 
for a time its execution, but in the course of 
a year or two, the subject was again consid- 
ered, and thus on the 27th of January, 1874, 
a colony of six professed (Jrsulines, with 
Mother St. Joseph Holly as Superioress, and 
Mother St. Paul Kauffinan as Treasurer, 
arrived in Dallas. Rt. Rev. Bishop Dubuis, 
who escorted them hither gave them the pos- 



858 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



session of a small dwellinor, consisting of two 
rooms 12x12, situated on the Sacred Heart 
Church property on Bryan street. 

Half amused and much surprised at the 
aspect of their new domain, the ladies won- 
dered where they were to accommodate their 
young lady pupils. Save the bare apartments 
and the sympathy of newly made friends, the 
young community had in the beginning 
actually no means but the blessing of Heaven 
and their own feeble exertions. Gifted with 
no other endowment but that of the accom- 
plished education of its members, based upon 
a system of training that has withstood the 
test of centuries, united to the ready tact, 
which could adapt that experience to the 
needs of a new and rapidly developing coun- 
try, they bravely set their brains and hands 
to work to devise means and ways to prose- 
cute their mission — the instruction and edu- 
cation of young ladies. 

It may here be remarked, that the LTrsu- 
lines of Dallas seem to have inherited the 
pioneer spirit of their illustrious religious 
ancestors; for it is a noted historical fact 
that the Ursulines were the first religious of 
their sex to cross the Atlantic and to estab 
lish an educational institution in the New 
"World. "We find them in Quebec, Canada, 
as early as 1639. The oldest community in 
the United States is likewise an Ursuline 
convent, of New Orleans, which traces its 
origin as far back as 1727, when Louisiana 
was still a province of France. So also were 
the Ursulines the educational pioneers of 
Texas. 

From their very first introduction into the 
city, a cordial and generous bond of sym- 
pathy was established between the people of 
Dallas and the Ursulines, which has grown 
into the identitication of their common 
interests. 



During the first week, the usual cloister 
was disregarded by episcopal sanction. On 
the 2d of February the new academy was 
opened with but seven pupils; before the 
close of the session the number had increased 
to fifty. Year by year, every scholastic terra 
became an improvement on tlie last. Parents 
in due time hastened to confide their children 
to the nuns' care, and the number of stu- 
dents soon ran up to the hundreds. These in 
time became the best advertisements for their 
school. Additions were hastily constructed 
to meet the growing demand. Scarce twelve 
months after their arrival, a large frame 
building was in course of construction. The 
Rt. Rev. Bishop advanced a few hundred 
dollars to aid our pioneer daughters of St. 
Ursula. This, with the profits of their own 
industry, defrayed the necessary expenses of 
the building, which still continues unchano-ed, 
save in the touches of wear discernible 
through the lapse of years. The beautiful 
gardens and shady grove, which soon appeared 
as if by magic, transformed the hitherto 
forest wild into a smiling Eden. For years 
their work continued here, and prospered 
beyond their most sanguine expectations. 
Tiie educational labors of the Ursulines in 
Dallas have been always encouraged and 
appreciated by all classes and professions of 
men. Some there were eager to associate 
their names with the prosperous institution, 
by obtaining for it a wealthy endowment of 
landed property, etc., but at that time the 
ladies deemed it unsafe to venture on certain 
legal measures that would have thereby 
resulted, and for this reason they gently 
withdrew the views of their kind friends 
from this object, though the names of these 
friends are still gratefully cherished, and will 
be handed down in venerated memory within 
the cloister. In 1878, the institution was 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



859 



chartered under the title of the Ursnline 
Academy, by the Legislature of the State. 
A few years afterward, through the advice 
of their worthy chaplain Rt. Kev. J. Mar- 
tiniere, negotiations were opened, for the 
acquisition of a desirable property in the 
suburbs of the city. This resulted in the 
purchase of nine acres of the Gaston place in 
East Dallas. The new location was given 
the name of St. Joseph's Farm. At the time 
of the purchase, it was a cotton field, sur- 
rounded by a vast waste of country as far as 
the eye could reach. Within the last eight 
years, the liitherto almost desolate region has 
grown into a beautiful, picturesque suburb, 
dotted here and there with elegant residences 
and cultivated gardens. In 1881 the present 
magnificent structure of the Ursnline Acad- 
emy of Dallas was begun, and the following 
year completed. It is of purely Gothic 
design, a marvel of beauty pronounced worthy 
of any city in the Union. The main build- 
ing is 150 feet long by 50 wide, and is of 
cream-colored brick with brown trimmings. 
The wing to the left was erected within the 
past two years, and is of very near the same 
dimensions. 

Although the handsome edifice strikes the 
beholder with delightful gratification, as he 
views the charming proportions of its graceful 
arches and curving galleries upheld by gran- 
ite-clothed pillars and crowned by the Gothic 
spires of turrets and pinnacled roof. It was 
not long after its completion that fit surround- 
ings adorned the beautiful structure. Ere 
many years, smiling gardens and fruit-laden 
orchards, shady groves and a charming grotto 
enclosed the majestic buildings. Since its re- 
moval from the city, the academy has yearly 
increased in the number of its boarding 
students. No day pupils are admitted in this 
branch of the school. The primitive place on 



Bryan street has been reserved for the day 
pupils, and is known as the parochial school. 
The attendance numbers some 200. Within 
the last year the Ursulines have also been 
induced to open a day school in St. Patrick's 
parish near the Cedars, which bids fair to 
rival the older one of the Sacred Heart. Rev. 
J. Martiniere, who welcomed the Ursulines to 
Dallas, is the worthy chaplain of the institu- 
tion. Mother St. Joseph Holly, known and 
loved far and wide, for her amiable qualities 
and efficient services, was laid to rest in the 
quiet convent cemetery on a dreary Decem- 
ber day of 1884. She was succeeded in office 
by her tried friend and companion. Mother St. 
Paul Ivauffmaii, whose business tact and ad- 
ministrative abilities have done much toward 
advancing the prosperity of the institution. 



I^ARVEY PAGE, a shoemaker by trade, 
shoe-dealer, etc., was born in New 
Haven county, Connecticut, December 
14, 1822. His parents were Andrew S. and 
Mary (Hobart) Page, both natives of Con- 
necticut. The father was a farmer and 
shoemaker, tanner, etc. He raised a family 
of eight children, six of whom are still liv- 
ing: Henry, the oldest; Sallie, wife of Ben- 
jamin Foot, died in the 'BOs; Mary, wife 
of Lyman Beckley, still living in Connecti- 
cut; Frances married Obed T. Frisby, and 
still living in New Haven; Emily married 
first Mr. Barnes, and secondly Philo Hall, 
and is now deceased ; J. Henry, living in 
Portland, Oregon, married Miss Fannie Hol- 
comb; and William II., residing in Brooklyn, 
New York, and connected with a life-insur- 
ance company, married Miss Allen, of Brook- 
lyn. Our subject's father died in 1865, at 
the age of sixty-seven years. His mother is 



860 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



living with Williain Harlem, in Brooklyn, 
New York; her a^e is now about ninety- two. 
Both parents and children are members of 
the Congregational Church. 

Mr. Page was educated in the academies 
of Connecticut, has a good common-school 
education, having gone to school until he 
was near eighteen years of age. He worked 
with his father in his business, making and 
dealing in shoes, and this he has followed, as 
dealer and manufacturer. He came to Ten- 
nessee in 1859, and to DeWitt county, Texas, 
in 1862, then to another point and iinally to 
Dallas in 1873, and has lived here ever since. 
While in Dewitt county he was the County 
Surveyor for two years. 

He was married first in 1849, to Miss 

Harriet Page, not a relative. Their two chil- 
es) ' 

dren are: Fred H., who has l)een in a larcre 
shoe house as salesman for the past eigh- 
teen years; and Louis H., who is on the 
road for a Chicago house, and resides in Kan- 
sas City: his wife was Ida Stokes: tiieir two 
children are Ralph and Irene. The mother 
died in 1858, aged thirty-two years, a mem- 
ber of the Congegational Church. 

His second marriage was in 1860, to Miss 
Cordelia E. Nelson. Ella, their only child, is 
now the wife of Randie Crntchlield, of Blos- 
som, Texas. Their four children are: Har- 
vey, Mable, Fannie, Ernest. 

Our subject has been an officer in the Con- 
gregational Church (Deacon) since he was 
twenty-six years of age. His wife and chil- 
dren are members of the Congregational 
Church. 

Mr. Page has ever been alive to church 
and Sabbath-school work. He was one of 
the original members and Senior Deacon. 
He had more to do with it than any other 
man. He has seen the church grow from 
six communicants to 400, who had wor- 



shiped in thirteen different places before 
they obtained a house of worship. The first 
was torn to pieces by a cyclone a week or 
two after it was dedicated; then they de- 
livered letter missives to the Congres^ational- 
ists of the United States, and obtained money 
enough to build the second. When that be- 
came too small they built the present com- 
modious church. 

He is Senior Deacon in the Congregational 
Church, and in every way a most worthy 
Christian gentleman. He takes no active 
part in politics. 



y^DWIN PRUITT, a promising young 
architect of Dallas, Texas, was born in 
the State of Arkansas in the year 1869, 
and is the son of Dr. John W. and Mary 
(Williamson) Pruitt. The father is still in 
active practice in Russsellville, Arkansas, but 
the mother died in 1889. They were the 
parents of four sons, of whom Edwin is the 
third-born. He received his elementary edu- 
cation in the public schools, and at the age 
of fifteen years went to Little Rock, Arkan- 
sas, for the purpose of studying architecture. 
Although a mere lad he had determined upon 
this profession, and entered the office of B. J. 
Bartlett & Co., witli whom he remained 
two years. Then for a time he was with Or- 
lopp & Kusencr, and then he went to Mem- 
phis, where he was with M. H. Baldwin &Co. 
until 1890. In December of that year he 
came to Dallas, Texas, and almost immedi- 
ately began active work. He is architect of 
two massive and beautiful buildings on Main 
street that are unexcelled for perfection of 
proportion. He has a true love of his art, 
and is a faithfuU student of the laws which 











cr 



C'-^^LjC^^iL^ 



HISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



861 



govern it. Although he is only twenty-two 
years of age, his work shows him to be spe- 
cially endowed. 

Mr. Pruitt is a menibei- of the Knights of 
Pythias, and takes an active interest in the 
growth and progress of the order. 

iLBEUT W. CHILDRESS, President of 
the Dallas Cable Railroad Companj', 
and broker and real-estate dealer, was 
born near Grenada, Mississippi, a son of 
Mitchell Childress, a planter, and Julia B., a 
daughter of Sterling 0. Tarpley, of Big 
Springs, near Lebanon, Tennessee. Mitchell 
Childress died at Grenada in 1859, on one of 
his plantations, and his wife died at their 
residence in Memphis in 18(33. 

At the age of eighteen, in 1871, Mr. Chil- 
dress came from Memphis, Tennessee, to 
Texas, as a representative of Eastern financial 
houses, which, indeed, he still represents; 
and in visiting Dallas he sagaciously foresaw 
its boom, and was one of the first to initiate 
it, being one of the pioneers in erecting large 
business houses in the city, and interested in 
some of the heaviest real-estatg deals in the 
place. He erected a good building on Main 
street, extending back to Elm street. This is 
still regarded as one of the most substantial 
buildings in the city. He j^fterward opened 
the Fairview Addition to East Dallas, which 
under his energetic management has rapidly 
developed. 

But it is as the builder and chief owner of 
the Dallas cable street railway that his busi- 
ness ability is best shown. This enterprise 
is the first of its kind in the South. The 
track extends from the river to the Fair 
grounds, and it is built on the newest and 
best m.odels. Its cost is |400,000. The offi- 

66 



cers of the company are: A. W. Childress, 
president; J. T. Gano, vice-president; Charles 
W. Guild, secretary; T. J. Wood, assistant 
secretary, and E. E. Kelley, superintendent. 
The power-house is one of the finest, and, 
taken as a whole, no enterprise in the city 
has a fairer prospect. The track was built 
in 1890, from April to September inclusive. 
Mr. Childress has also owned some of the 
most desirable property in Dallas, and is 
probably the best business man in this part 
of the country. 

For his wife he married Miss Mary Ruth, 
erford, in 1881, a daughter of Colonel R. 
Rutherford, of Brenham, one of the heavy 
planters of that section, and their children 
are. Hazel and Olive, — beautiful and inter, 
esting. 

ALHOON KNOX, a merchant of Mes- 
quite, Texas, was born in Carroll parish' 
Louisiana, in 1857, the seventh in a 
family of nine children, born to William L. 
and Emily (McCarroll) Knox, natives of 
Tennessee and Louisiana. Calhoon received 
his education in Marion county, this State, 
and also attended school three months in 
Dallas county. At the age of twenty- two 
years he commenced life for himself, his first 
work being with Wollas & Wagner, of Dallas, 
in the grocery business. After one year he 
removed to Mesquite and engaged in the 
mercantile trade with T. B. Bunnett, and 
later sold his interest to his partner and en- 
gaged in clerking. He was appointed Post, 
master during Hayes' administration, and 
held the office six years, or until the electicm 
of Harrison. Mr. Knox next clerked for 
R. S. Kimbrough for some time, and January 
10, 1891, formed a partnership with William 
Kimbrough, in the general mercantile busi. 



862 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



ness, and they are now enjoying a fine trade. 
Mr. Knox was married March 5, 1887, to 
Miss Elsie Vanston, a daughter of James T. 
and Anna A. (Roarke) Vanston, natives of 
Ireland. This union has been been blessed 
with two children: Rodger C. and Eveline. 
Mr. IvDOx is a member of the A. F. & A. M., 
Scyene Lodge, No. 269. 



SO A SPEARS, one of the prominent 
business men of Dallas, cashier of the 
Bankers and Merchants' National Bank 
of Dallas, is a native of Bourbon county, Ken- 
tucky, born March 7, 1829. Plis parents 
were Solomon and Margaret (Kerfoot) Spears, 
the former a native of Kentucky, the latter of 
the Shenandoah valley, Clarke county, Vir- 
ginia. Solomon was a good farmer who was 
ever alive to the interests of his finely improved 
farm, which was one of the finest among 
a number of very good places. He had the 
satisfaction, as he looked over his broad acres, 
that all this comfort had been wrought by his 
own hands. Mr. Spears was a prosperous 
man and very popular among his neighbors, 
being most highly esteemed for his business 
ability, urbanity of character, social qualities 
and in fact all attainments that are brought 
into requisition to make a manly character 
complete. His honor and integrity was such 
that he became the arbitrater in disputes and 
even in cases of litigation; and when Solomon 
Spears gave a decision it was as final, and in 
many cases more satisfactory than if done by 
the Supreme Court of the State. He refused 
office, giving all his attention to his farm and 
home, in both of which he took more than 
ordinary interest. This gentleman was a na- 
tive of Bourbon county, born March 1, 1790, 
and he departed his life August 21, 1830, 



aged forty-one years. His life, a native of 
Brooke county, West Virginia, born Septem- 
ber 20, 1796, died of cholera, as did many 
others of that county, June 30, 1833, aged 
thirty-six. She entered into the work of her 
husband with that devotion and sympathy 
that might be expected of so devoted a wife 
as she was, putting all the strength and fervor 
of a warm, loving heart into her work; but 
she quietly passed, in her life's early morning, 
to that world where there is no night. The 
grandfather of our subject was Jacob Spears, 
who came to Bourbon county from Pennsyl- 
vania, being of German and Welsh extrac- 
tion. He was one of the early pioneers in 
Kentucky history, and was noted for his 
quiet perseverance, great industry, integrity 
and business character. He became the owner 
of one of the finest farms, near Paris, Ken- 
tucky, and was the first man who erected a 
distillery in Kentucky. Distilling was a very 
common thing among the farmers of Penn- 
sylvania and later in Kentucky. Butter, 
whisky, cheese and other home products were 
to be found at the residence of nearly every 
farmer in those days. The famous Bourbon 
whisky received its name and celebrity from 
this gentleman and his friends. Those were 
the days of honest men and honest whisky as 
well. 

Our subject is the youngest and only liv- 
ing member of a family of six children. The 
others reached mature years, had families and 
then died. Our suhject was orphaned at a 
tender age, losing father and mother at the 
age of one and four years respectively. He re- 
ceived his early education in the public schools 
of Bourbon county and finished his literary 
course at Bethany College, West Virginia, 
under the tutelage of the great Alexander 
Catnpbell, the noted educator and divine. 
After graduating, in 1848 Mr. Spears em- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



863 



barked in the merchandise business In Paris, 
Kentucky. He had not yet attained his ma- 
]ority. In two years' time he retired from 
business and engaged in farming, in Bourbon 
county, continuing until 1853, when he again 
enarao-ed in the sale of dry goods, boots and 
shoes, at Georgetown, Kentucky. This he 
carried on, successfully, for some time. In 
1860 he was appointed clerk in the Farmers' 
Bank at Georgetown, Kentucky, thus drift- 
ing into banking business, and there remained 
until 1883, when he with others organized 
the First National Bank of Georgetown, Ken- 
tucky, and he was elected cashier. Under 
his careful management for seven years, the 
value of the stock of the bank was doubled. 
In 1890 he was induced to take the position 
of second vice-president in the Bankers and 
Merchants' National Bank of Dallas, Texas, a 
new bank then being organized. In 1891 he 
was elected cashier, which position he still 
holds. He was one of the prime movers in 
the erection of the bank building, which is 
one that the city of Dallas may well feel 
proud of. 

During the war Mr. Spears felt it iiis duty 
to support the Union: his sympathies were, 
neverthless, thoroughly Southern. Being un- 
able to resist the natural course of events he 
took no active part in the struggle, but was 
afterward arrested, owing to an overstraining 
of a Federal order, and was lodged in prison- 
In a short time he was released, upon the 
solicitation of friends, who were both numer- 
ous and serviceable. 

Mr. Spears is a member of the Christian 
Church and takes ari active interest in church 
work and religious matters, doing much 
toward the sprei^ding of the gospel. 

He was married, February 29. 1849, to 
Miss Fanny C. Gano, of Bourbon county, 
daughter of John A. and Mary (Conn) Gano, 



also a sister of R. M. Gano, of whom a sketch 
appears elsewhere. Her death occurred, Feb- 
ruary 4, 1850. She was born in Bourbon 
county, March 24, 1832. She was a devoted, 
earnest member of the Christian Church. 
Mr. Spears was married for the second time, 
in 1852, to Miss Georgia Croakelle, born in 
Scott county, Kentucky. December 12, 1833, 
daughter of Thomas Croakelle, a native of 
Kentucky. Two of the children of this mar- 
riage were raised to mature years: Sue, wife 
of Milton Burch, married in 1874, and died 
in 1888, leaving one ciiild, Nash Spears; she 
was a devoted and leading member of the 
Christian Church. Her mother held the 
same relation in the Baptist Church. Both 
were model. Christian women. Mrs. Burch 
was a woman of splendid business qualifica- 
tions. At the time of her death she was Post- 
mistress under President Cleveland and ex- 
press agent at Georgetown, Kentucky. The 
other child of Mr. Spears is Jacob V., resi- 
dent of Dallas, Texas, and one of the promising 
young business men of that city. He is the 
junior member in an insurance firm. He 
married Miss Julia Bucknerof Paducah, Ken- 
tucky. Their five children are: Noa S., Sue 
Burda, Bessie P., Marie Payue and Miles 
Bnckner. 

The secoiul wife died May 13, 1863. She 
was a relative of David Crockett, famous in 
Texas history, and our subject was married 
for the third time, in 1864, to Miss Mary 
Chapman Steffiee, daughter of George C. and 
Susan Steftlee. She is a native of George- 
town, Kentucky, born September 26, 1846, 
and is a half sister of Mr. Spears' second wife. 
They have had three children, namely: (ieorge 
M., who is individual Ijookkeejjer at the 
Merchants and Bankers' National 15 ink, a id 
is a boy of toiuperate habits, good traits of 
character and fine business qualifications. He 



864 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



is a graduate of the class of 1890 in the Bap- 
tist College of Georgetown, Kentucky. The 
second child, Edna B., is a graduate of the 
same college as her brother, and Mary C. is 
still in the Dallas Academy. The daughters are 
aged, respectively, twenty and twelve years, 
and are bright, loving girls, the pride and 
joy of their parents. The mother and chil- 
dren are members of the Baptist Church. 

Mr. Spears, though a Democrat in politics, 
takes very little interest in political matters. 
He is a man of very fine traits of character, is 
of a commanding height and proportions, 
genial nature and is the embodiment of those 
qualities which go to make up honorable man- 
hood, energy, probity, tact, perseverance, 
good nature and zeal. Mr. Spears is an es- 
teemed citizen of Dallas and the results of 
his labors are most creditable, as a church- 
man and citizen. He was Mayor, for some 
years, of the city of Georgetown, Kentucky. 
At another time he was president of turnpike 
roads, an important and responsible position, 
and was also president of several important 
corporations of Georgetown. He is a well 
educated man, having graduated with first 
iionors, with a scholarship of 100 all around 
in his studies, at Cincinnati Commercial 
College, in 1848. Combined with Iiis other 
accomplishments is that of being a fine pen- 
man. 



-»fe 



fAMES M. GTIOSS, a retired merchant 
and farmer of Mesquite, Texas, was born 
in Tennessee, in 1844. He was educated 
in the county schools of his native county, 
and at the age of sixteen years joined the 
Confederate army, Company C, Twenty-sixth 
East Tennessee Regiment, commanded by 
Colonel John M. Lillard. He was in the 
battle of Fort Donelson, where he was cap- 



tured and sent to Camp Morton, and there 
retained seven months, after which he was 
exchanged to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Mr. 
Gross was then sent to Knoxville, Tennessee, 
and discharged, and after remaining at home 
three months he again entered the service, 
joining Company I, F>fth East Tennessee 
Cavalry. While serving in this company, he 
was in the battles of Missionary Ridge and 
Richmond, Kentucky, and in numerous 
skirmishes. He was wounded slightly in the 
foot at Fort Donelson, and also at Missionary 
Ridge, and was captured in East Tennessee, 
at a place called London. He was then sent 
to Camp Chase, Ohio, for three months, 
thence to Rock Island, Illinois, seven months, 
where he was afterward paroled. He next 
joined Company E, Second United States In- 
fantry Volunteers, commanded by A. P. Car- 
rier, then first Colonel of the Ninety-fourth 
New York. When Mr. Gross joined the 
United States forces he was sent to the States 
of Kansas and Colorado, where he was mostly 
engaged in escort duty, guarding the United 
States mail. The headquarters for some time 
was Fort Dodge, and while stationed there 
the Indians made a raid on the fort and 
captured all the horses but three, but did not 
fire on the camp. The first grave dug at 
P'ort Dodge was while Mr. Gross was there, 
and was for a German who was supposed to 
have jumped into the river from the Indians 
and was drowned. Mr. Gross was discharged 
in October, 1865, at Fort Leavenworth, 
Kansas. 

At the close of the war he returned to his 
home in Tennessee, where he engaged in con- 
tracting for Chattanooga parties, following 
this occupation seven or eight immths. Oc- 
tober 10, 1866, he landed in this county, and 
at once engaged in farming on leased land, 
continuing one year. He next engaged in 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



865 



mercantile business, at a little place nine 
miles east of Dallas, called Scyene, where he 
continued successfully two and a half years. 
He then moved to this place, continuing the 
same occupation four years, and during the 
first twelve years here was rated at from 
$40,000 to 160,000. On coming to this State 
he had $160, and afterward collected $100 
due hiin from home, making in all $260, 
which was his start. He now owns some of 
the finest farms in the county, a handsome 
village residence, and a number of business 
houses in the village. 

Mr. Gross was married in 1869, to Miss 
Margaret Riggs, a native of Tennessee, and 
daughter of Martin and Delia (Blake) Riggs. 
Mr. and Mrs. Gross are the parents of six 
children, viz.: George M., Charles E., and 
four who died in childhood. Mrs. Gross is a 
member of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. 



fACOB D. WADLEIGH, general agent 
for the St. Louis & Southern Railroad, is 
one of the early settlers of Dallas and in 
every way was an acquisition to the town. 
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 
1849. His parents were Elisha and Lydia 
(Banks) Wadleigh, both natives of Maryland. 
The father was a contractor and dealer in 
ship timber, lumber and like goods. He was 
an industrious, honest, extensively and favor- 
ably known citizen, dying in 1866, aged forty- 
nine. His wife, a deserving and popular 
woman, departed this life in the year 1858. 
Our subject is the oldest of three children, 
the others being Frank and Georgia, both of 
whom reside in San Francisco, California. 
The latter is the wife of M. T. Chadinan, one 
of the business men of San Francisco. 

Our subject began life for himself in steam- 



boating on the Mississippi river in 1865, 
filling various positions of trust and respons- 
ibility until 1870. At the latter date he 
took a position on the St. Louis Iron Moun- 
tain railroad, filling various positions with 
this company also, for thirteen years and 
nine months. His long time in the em- 
ploy of this road speaks well for the efficient 
service he rendered the company and shows 
that tiiey appreciated his work. He was 
division freight agent of the road wlien 
he left and located at Little Rock, Arkansas, 
in the fall of 1883. He had had headquarters 
at Dallas, in 1876, but there was very little 
of the prosperous city then in existence. He 
next engaged with the Cotton Belt Rail- 
road, and later lived at Bine Bluif, but 
removed to Dallas in 1888, where he has re- 
sided ever since. He has rendered excellent 
service to the roads by whom he has been 
employed for the past twenty-two and one- 
half years, speaking well for the employer 
and the employed. In every position he filled 
he gave the most entire satisfaction and ful- 
filled his duties very successfully. He has 
gained his present position in life by his own 
efforts, and he is an example of what patient 
perseverance will do when it is combined 
with strict integrity and honesty. Since he 
was a very small boy he has not wanted for 
employment, nor been without work for a 
single day. 

In 1870 he was married to Miss Nellie 
Robbins, whose parents died when she was 
quite young. Her brother. Edward Robbins, 
and sister Kate, are the other members of her 
family. The former resides in Texas and is 
engaged in railroading: the latter is the wife 
of Z. T. Knoll of Dallas. 

Mi's. Wadleigh is a member of the Catholic 
Church and is one of the most charming 
ladies of Texas. Mr. Wadleiijli is a member 



866 



EISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



of the Knicrlits and Legion of Honor. He is 
in thorough sympathy with the progress of 
the citv and lends his aid to anything calcu- 
lated to advance the interests of the city of 
his adoption. 



|ROF. W. F. CUMMINS, Assistant 
9 State Geologist for Texas, was born in 
Webster county, Missouri, June 13, 
1830. His parents were John and Rebecca 
(Poper) Cummins, of Missouri and Tennessee, 
respectively. The father was a physician, 
farmer and local preacher of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South. He had a very 
large country practice as a physician. He 
died in 1864, over sixty years of age. His 
wife died in 1849, having been a life-long 
member of the same church as her husband. 
They had seven children, five of whom are 
still living, the others dying in early child- 
hood. 

Our subject was educated at St. Charles 
College and from there came to Texas in 
1860, joining the Conference of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church South, serving nine 
years in the itinerancy work. He was 
stationed one year at Waliaceville to take 
charge of the Wallaceville Mission. He then 
was given the Van Zandt circuit for one year, 
the Palestine, St. Augustine and then Liberty 
circuit for one year each; then to Lampasas 
circuit for two years, and was then made Pre- 
siding Elder over the Lampasas district for 
one year, in 1869. He was then obliged to re- 
sign on account of failing health, and so began 
to publish a political paper at Waxahachie, 
called the Waxahachie Argus, and con- 
tinued it for one year. He was then employed 
on the Houston & Texas Central railroad as 
right-of-way agent and land agent as well, 
remaining with them two years, and then en- 



gaged in the real-estate business for one year, 
in Dallas, locating land certificates as well. 
This he continued until 1881, when he was 
employed by the Academy of Sciences of 
Philadelphia to make scientific collections in 
Texas. He continued in this position until 
his employment by the State of Texas, in 
which position he has continued ever since, 
that is for the last four years, the appoint- 
ment having been made in 1888. While in 
the employ of the Academy of Philadelphia 
liis business was to collect the fossils, and 
while thus engaged he discovered both verte- 
brate and invertebrate specimens by which 
the fact of the existence of the Permian for- 
mation of the United States has been estab- 
lished. Prior to the collection and discovery 
of these fossils, the existence of the Permian 
formation in the United States had been dis- 
puted by thehighestauthoritiesin thecountry, 
and it was only after several years of continu- 
ous controversy that the fact was finally 
established. At tlie meeting of the Inter- 
national Congress of Geologists at Wash- 
ington, District of Columbia, delegates 
from the Hartz mountains, where the 
Permian was first discovered, after hav- 
ing examined Prof. Cummins' collection in 
the national museum at Washington, con- 
firmed his statement and said that tiie fossils 
from the formations in Texas were identical 
with those from the original locality in the 
Hartz mountains. This decision gave the 
professor a very pleasant notoriety as a geolo- 
gist and scholar among the members of that 
body. These specimens came from along the 
Big and Little Wichita rivers. Prof. Cum- 
mins has made greater investigations of coal 
deposits in Texas than any other person. 
There is not a mine nor a proposed mine in 
the Carboniferous formations in the State of 
Texas that he has not passed judgment upon 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



867 



and made a report to the State in regard to. 
He has selected the land for all the mines 
that are being worked at the present time. 
He has been an expert in the coal regions 
ever since 1881 and has rendered great ser- 
vice to the State. Since his connection with 
the geological survey of the State, he has dis- 
covered and described leads filling up a hia- 
tus in the Tertiary period. These beds lie 
between the Loup Fork and Equus beds of 
the Tertiary, and are desif^nated as the Blanco 
beds, having been lirst described by hira, our 
subject, from Blanco caiion in Crosby county, 
Texas. The Professor's determination of 
these beds, heretofore unknown to science, 
has been confirmed by Prof. E. D. Cope of 
Philadelphia, the most eminent vertebrate 
palceontologist of the United States. Prof. 
Cope and our subject have just completed a 
tour of these beds, taking three months to 
make investigations in the locality. 

Our subject was married in 1870, to Mrs. 
Minnie C. Darnell, daughter of M. D. Bullion 
of Dallas, Texas. They were married at 
Weatherford and they have three children. — ■ 
Dunkin, Nettie May and Allie Dean. Mrs. 
Cummins is a devout member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church South. Her father^ 
M. D. Bullion, is an old resident of Texas, 
coming here before the war. He was married 
twice, having three children by the first mar- 
riage, to Mrs. Cummins, whose first husband 
was Captain N. H. Darnell, who died of yellow 
fever in 1868, at New Orleans. He was Cap- 
tain in the war of the Rebellion and served 
from first to last. The second child, Denia, is 
the wife of S. W. S. Dunkin of Dallas, and 
the third child was John T. Mrs. Bullion 
died and her husband was married the 
second time to Miss S. T. Davis. They 
had two living children, T. A. and C. 
A. Mr. Bullion was in the mercantile busi- 



ness for many years and was quite successful. 
Later engaoed in real estate and located land 
certificates, but is now retired, and he and 
his wife are enjoying the comforts of life. 

When Prof. Cummins came to Dallas in 
1872, he made the trip by rail with the pre- 
liminary surveyors. 

Our subject is a member of the blue lodge, 
chapter ai\d commandery, A. F. & A. M. 
He is High Priest of the Chapter and was 
Prelate of the Dallas Commandery for many 
years. 

It is with a great deal of pride that we 
mention the great services rendered our State 
by Prof. Cummins. He has had perseverance 
in holding to his convictions, as was shown 
in the International Congress when the dis- 
cussion arose with regard to the Permian 
formations. He would not yield one single 
step, and finally convinced that body that he 
was right. While in that discussion he estab- 
lished his theory, he also established his own 
reputation on so firm a basis that nothing 
can disturb the faith of any scientist in Prof. 
Cummins, the State Greologist of Texas. 



^ 



^ 



J. ECKFORD, attorney at law in Dal- 
las, was born in Wayne county, Mis- 
sissippi, March 1, 1861. His parents 
were Captain William Joseph and Belle 
(Gates) Eckford, both natives of Mississippi. 
The father was admitted to practice law at 
an early age. He raised a company of Mis- 
sissippi Wayne Rifles, a company in the 
Thirteenth Regiment of Mississippi Volun- 
teers. He went out and was engaged in the 
seven days' fight around Richmond and was 
killed at Malvern Hill. He was leading the 
regiment at the time in a fierce charge and 
was shot through the heart, the ball entering 



868 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



tlie left breast and passing through the heart. 
He died instantly and was buried in Holy- 
wood cemetery at Richmond. He was brave 
and patriotic, an intimate friend of Jeff 
Davis, was a graduate of Princeton College 
— class of '52, a schoolniate of Don Cameron, 
of Pennsylvania, and an intimate friend of 
his. He was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South. His age was 
twenty-nine years. He was admitted to the 
bar, but had intended to be a planter His 
wife is still an honored and highly respected 
resident of Atlanta, Georgia, to which place 
she moved in 1869, with her four boys, viz.: 
Charles Gates, married a Miss Hill, ot Greene 
county, Georgia, resides in Atlanta, and is in a 
hardware firm; William H., who is in the dry- 
goods business with Marsh, Smith & Marsh, 
one of the largest houses of the kind in 
Georgia; Marshall T., in the carriage hard- 
ware company with his brother, constituting 
the Atlanta Carriage Hardware Company. 

Our subject, the youngest, was educated in 
Atlanta by a private tutor, studied law 
under Judge Marshall J. Clark, Judge of 
the Superior Court of the State. He entered 
his office when sixteen years of age, and was 
admitted to the bar of the State when seven- 
teen years of age. He practiced there for a 
time, and in 1885 came to Dallas, and has 
been practicing here ever since, and is one of 
the firm of Watts, Aldredge & Eckford. 

He has kept out of otiice, refusing to be a 
candidate of any kind and has devoted his en- 
tire time to his practice. The mother is 
fifty-six years of age. She was quite a belle 
in the State of Mississippi. Her parents 
were Charles and Ruse (Reed) Gates. He 
was a pioneer of South Carolina, and a native 
of that State. He is a large planter in Mis- 
sissippi and very wealthy, a great advocate of 
home enterprises, and is a very public- 



spirited man who has made much of oppor- 
tunity, and is well-known and highly re- 
spected throughout the State. 

Mr. Eckford's parents were married in 
1853, in Mississippi. The father died July 
2, 1862; he was born in 1833. 



fOHN R. UMRHRESS, a farmer of pre- 
cinct No. 4, was born in Florida in 1847, 
the eldest son of Mitchell B. and Martha 
(Horton) Umphress. John R. came to this 
State in 1872, settling in Scyene, where he 
rented land in that neighborhood and engaged 
in farming. When he came to this county 
he had but $2 in cash and a wife and two 
children. In 1875 he bought a portion of 
his present homestead, for which he paid §6, 
Tinimproved. He immediately erected iiis 
residence and opened his land for cultivation, 
and in 1879 bought forty acres more on White 
Rock creek, for |10, and later 125 acres for 
|25 per acre. Besides this he has 160 acres 
of timber land, for which he paid §5, and all 
is now under a fine state of cultivation. Mr. 
Umphress certainly deserves great credit for 
the energy displayed since coming to this 
State. The opportunities for an education 
afforded him in his boyhood days were very 
limited, he having only attended common 
schools a short time. His father died when 
he was small, and being the eldest son the 
care of the family largely devolved on him. 
Mr. Umphress joined Company K, of the 
Florida Reserve, Major Miller's Battalion, 
and served twelve months, and during this 
time was in the battles of Natural Bridge, 
Florida, and several skirmishes. He served 
until the surrender at Madisonville, Florida, 
after which he returned home, and in 1866 
was married to Miss Louisa Tucker, a daugh- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



869 



ter of Isaac and Caroline (Turner) Tucker, 
natives of Florida. The parents had three 
sons and three daughters, namely: James, 
who resides in this county; David, also of 
this county; Aden, deceased ; Elizabeth, wife 
of M. A. Umphress; Louisa, wife of our sub- 
ject; Sallie, now Mrs. John Cabot; Laura, 
wife of Link Morehart. The parents are 
both now deceased, the father dying in Flor- 
ida and the mother in this State. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Umphress are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South. 



fOIIN T. GANG, now deceased, was born 
in Bourbon county, Kentucky, May 16, 
1856. His parents are General R. M. 
and Mattie T. (Cann) Gano, whose sketch 
appears elsewhere. 

Our subject was educated primarily in 
Kentucky and completed a course at Bethany 
College, West Virginia. He came to Dallas 
with his parents and then returned to college, 
and after graduating went into real-estate 
business in Dallas, which he followed the 
remainder of his life, aithongh he was con- 
nected with other enterprises very exten- 
sively to the day of his death. He was pres- 
ident of the Bankers and Builders' Bank 
Building Association, vice-president of the 
Cable Line Road Company of Dallas city, 
was director in the Bankers and Merchants' 
National Bank, secretary and treasurer of 
Estado Land and Cattle Company at the time 
of his death. He was one of the most suc- 
cessful surveyors and land locators in the 
State of Texas, having located several mil- 
lions of acres of land, in person. He was a 
worthy and very active member of the Firs 
Christian Church of Dallas and was actively 
engaged on the board of missions, was church 



Treasurer and was connected with the Sabbath- 
school. He filled all the positions that were 
entrusted to his care with great success, honor 
and due acceptability. 

His ancestry on both sides represents 
people of excellent character, high social im- 
portance and great personal worth. His father. 
General R. M. Gano, took part in seventy- 
two battles during the late war. The Gen- 
eral's paternal grandfather, Ezra Gano, rose to 
the rank of Brigadier General in the war of 
1812. He was born in 1775 and died in 
1815. His wife was Elizabeth Ewing, who 
died of consumption a short time before her 
husband's enlistment in the war of 1812. 
Captain William, the maternal grandfather 
of our subject, also served in the war of 1812. 
The Rev. John Gano, who was the erreat- 
great-grandfatlier of our subject, was a Bap- 
tist minister, who established the first Bap- 
tist Church in New York city. He had held 
the position of Chaplain in the colonial army 
during the Revolution. He was a man of 
wonderful power and courage, his learning 
was great and his capability for various liter- 
ary work was apparent even to a stranger. 
He was devoted to his work and his inter- 
pretation of the sterling elements of large 
and noble manhood was exceedingly line. 
He seemed to be without the feeling of fear. 
At one time he rallied the army when the 
colonial lines were beginning to waver, thereby 
exposing himself to the shots of the enemy. 
He was an intimate friend of General Wash- 
ington, and the latter chided him for so ex- 
posing himself. The good man only replied 
that he did not think of personal danger when 
he saw the men in danger of being defeated. 
Mr. Gano baptized General Washington, who 
had become dissatistied with the baptism which 
had been administered to him in his own 
church, the Established Church of England. 



870 



HISTORY OF DAl-LAb COUNTY. 



The baptism, by immersion, was performed in 
tlie presence of about forty persons. Very little 
was said about this, as Mr. Gano trangressed 
the rule of his church in baptizing any one 
who was outside the pale of his own church, 
but he felt that one could not draw the church 
lines too close in the army, and so all were bap- 
tized by immersion who so desired. 

Our subject was married, January 10, 1884, 
to Miss Clara Bell Helm, daughter of Henry 
and Emma (Welch) Helm, the latter a daugh- 
ter of Thomas Welch of Crab Orchard, Ken- 
tucky. Mrs. Gano is a granddaughter of 
Tiiomas Helm, whose brother was Governor of 
Kentucky. Thomas Helm was the father-in- 
law of Jonathan F. Bell, who ran against 
Magoffin for Governor, just before the war, 
in 1860. Henry Helm's widow married again 
and had four children: Edward, Mattie, Lulu 
and Grace, all of whom reside at Stanford, 
Kentucky. 

John T. Gano died November 3, 1891, 
near Lorine, Wyoming, while attending to 
business in that locality. The evening before 
his death he spoke of feeling a slight rheuma- 
tism, and remarked that he was glad that he 
was so near through his business and that he 
would leave for home the next day. The 
next morning he went out to look at a ranch 
for which he was negotiating a trade, and 
while riding to take the train to Laramie he was 
heard to say,"Catch me: I am surely fainting." 
The team was stopped and the sick man was 
tenderly lifted out by his anxious companion, 
but the gentle, loving spirit had fled to the 
God lie had so faithfully served during his 
stay on this earth. His trunk was found 
packed by the hands, then hardly cold. What 
thoughts he had indulged in as he laid the 
articles in that his hands were never to touch 
again! Loving relatives unpacked that trunk 
and many were the bitter tears shed over it. 



His remains were brought home and are now 
reposing in the cemetery- here. His com- 
plaint, heart failure, had been aggravated by the 
high latitude. The memory of his many acts 
of Christian kindness serve as a requiem to 
the indulgent father, the true and lovinor 
husband, kind neighbor and Christian gentle- 
man. 

In all the business enterprises that Mr. 
Gano was engaged in he was one of the most 
successful business men of the entire city. 
So genial and kind was he in disposition that 
he had the good will of all with whom he ever 
had dealings. He was a most estimable and 
worthy Christian whose influence was always 
felt in support of the educational, financial, 
social and moral interests of the city. 

He and his wife had three children. Rich- 
ard M., Jr., Emma and John T. 



^. 



=rr 



fUjRS. ISABELLA SCOTT, who resides 
fM on Highland street, two blocks north 
-'rt^^ of Payne street, Dallas, is a native of 
Scotland. Her parents, Alexander and Ann 
(Lobben) Patterson, live in Banffshire, and 
her father is a farmer. Of their eight chil- 
dren she is the oldest and the only one in 
this country. 

Mrs. Scott came from Edinburgh, Scotland 
via New York, to Dallas, Texas, in 1878, to 
be married to Thomas McLeod, their marri- 
age occuring soon after her arrival. Mr. Mc- 
Leod, a son of George and Jessie (McKenzie) 
McLeod, natives of the highlands of Scot- 
land, came from that country to this soon 
after the war of the States, making the 
journey by way of New York and Mexico. 
Until 1883 Mr. and Mrs. McLeod resided on 
North Harwood street, where Daniel Mor- 
gan now lives. Mr. McLeod was a stone 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



871 



contractor, and in 1880 purchased a stone 
quarry, consisting of two acres of land. This 
he operated until the time of his death. For 
the past two years nothing has been done to 
it. Stone from this quarry is to be found in 
most of the principal buildings in Dallas, the 
first taken from it having been used in the 
Norton building. Mr. McLeod died in 1887, 
leaving two children — George Alexander, 
born in 1879, and John Duncan, in 1882. 
He was a most worthy citizen, a member of 
the Masonic order, and of the First Presby- 
terian Church of Dallas. 

In June, 1890, the subject of our sketch 
was united in marriage with her present com- 
panion, Thomas Duncan Scott, a business 
man of Dallas, also a native of Scotland. His 
father is a wine merchant of Perth. He 
came here from Perthshire about five years 
ago, coming by Kew York and thence South. 
He first stopped in Lampasas, then went to 
Austin, and from there came to Dallas, where 
he has since been engaged in business. 

Mrs. Scott is a member of the First Pres- 
byterian Church. 



aLLlAM E. AND WALTEU R. AT- 
['I WOOD are among the most prosper- 
I'^^^l^ ous dairy farmers of Dallas county, 
Texas. They have a three-acre tract of land 
adjoining the corporation line of the city of 
Dallas, in a locality almost unrivaled in this 
naturally favored region. Here they have 
built up a business second to none in their 
line. They have 100 cows and the capacity 
of the dairy is about 140 gallons of milk 
daily, chiefly consumed in Dallas. They 
have managed this place for about nine years, 
giving their undivided attention to their busi- 
ness. Both young and hardy, full of energy 




and pluck, they may be classed among the 
successful business men of the county. 

Jesse L. Atwood, father of these gentle- 
men, came from near Bowling Green, Ken- 
tucky, to Dallas county in 1881, his sons 
having preceded him to this place by two 
years, they coming in 1879. Jesse L. At- 
wood married Susan Anderson, of Bowlino- 
Green, Kentucky, and has a family of ten 
children, as follows: William E. and Walter 
R., whose names head this sketch, are the 
oldest members of this family. The former 
married Fannie Brunson, of Kentucky, and 
has one child, Lizzie. Mary, the third-born, 
is the wife of John R. Davidson and has 
seven children. Then there are John H., 
Samuel J., Maggie, Sallie (wife of Scott Mc- 
Farland), Jesse L., Jr., Sampson and Elijah. 
All reside in Dallas county. The Atwood 
family worship at the Baptist church, and 
are ranked among the most worthy people in 
this county. 

It should be further stated that Mrs. Jesse 
L. Atwood is a daughter of Samuel and Eliz- 
abeth Anderson. She has three sisters and 
one brother, viz.: Mary, wife of Elijah Spill- 
man, who came to this county in 1835. She 
has three children: Alida, wife of Frank 
Bowser, also of this county, has two children, 
Mary E., wife of William A. Watson, has two 
children; and Warner E., who married 
Jennie Badgley, has two children, and resides 
in Dallas. Mr. Watson is also a resident of 
this county. 

R. W. C. CULLOM, of Mesquite, Texas, 
was born in Tennessee in 1843, a son ot 
G. F. and Cynthia (Hooper) Cullom, 
natives of North Carolina and Tennessee 
respectively. The father came with his father 
to Texas when only six years of age, and 



873 



EI8T0RT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



here he subsequently became a fanner. The 
parents reared a family of eleven children, 
our subject being the ninth in order of birth, 
and eight are still living: J. W. is a min- 
ister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 
Texas; J. H., a physician of this State; E. M., 
a merchant at Nashville, Tennessee; Cather- 
ine, the wife of J. O. Hooper; Jennie, the 
wife of T. W. Taylor; Florence, the wife of 
J. E. Russell, of Tennessee; another is the 
wife of Sam Larkius. The daughters all reside 
in Tennessee. The father died in 1879, and 
the mother in 1888, at the ages of seventy-two 
and seventy seven years respectively. The 
mother was a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. 

The subject of this sketch received his 
literary education in Davidson county, Ten- 
nessee, and at the age of twenty-four years 
commenced life independent of his father. 
He had three brothers in the Confederate 
army during the war, who persuaded the 
Doctor to remain at home with his father, 
which he did. The father remained neutral 
and was never molested, and lost but little 
by either army. At the age of twenty-seven 
years, our subject entered the Medical De- 
partment of the university at Nashville — 
which is now known as the Vanderbilt Uni- 
versity, in 1871, and graduated in the class 
of 1872. He afterward located at Dixon, 
Tennessee, where he practiced six years, and 
in January, 1878, came to this State and lo- 
cated at Haught's Store, the oldest-settled 
place in the county. The original owner, 
Samuel Haught, sawed the tirst plank for 
flooring a house in Dallas county, using a 
whipsaw. Dr. Cullom practiced there six 
years and then came to this place, where he 
has a large and paying practice. He suc- 
ceeded beyond his expectations financially, 
and is now the owner of valuable city prop- 



erty and considerable real estate in the county. 
The Doctor has been three times married, 
first in 1874, to Miss Sarah Flanavy, of Ten- 
nessee, who died in 1875. In 1878 the 
Doctor was married to a native of Tennessee, 
and they had one child. Mrs. Cullom died 
in 1882, and in 1883 the Doctor was united 
in marriage to Miss Louella Sewell, a daugh- 
ter of Jesse A. Sewell, of this county, and 
they have three children: Emmett B., Nannie 
G. and Fannie. Dr. Cullom is a member of 
the A. F. & A. M., Scyene Lodge, No. 295, 
also of the K. of H., Mesquite Lodge, No. 
2,996. He is J. W. of the Masonic Lodge 
and Treasurer of the K. of H. 

jEV. WILLIAM C. YOUNG, one of 
I the early pioneer ministers of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South, in 
Dallas, Texas, came to this section from 
Columbia county, Arkansas, in August, 1863, 
and two years later removed his family 
thither. Dallas at that time was a town of 
some 600 or 700 inhabitants, and the entire 
business was confined to the public square. 
The church of which he became pastor was 
organized in 1852, with eleven members, and 
from that time to the close of the Civil war 
the congregation worshiped in the court- 
house. It was by his efforts thut the first 
church building of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South was erected in Dallas, being a 
frame building of ample proportions, erected 
on the corner of Lamar and Commerce streets, 
and dedicated November 1, 1868, and called 
the Laraar Street Church. A few years later, 
in October, 1879, the church building was 
destroyed by fire, and the congregation which 
had grown rapidly in numbers built a hand- 
some brick church, at the cost of $40,000, at 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



873 



the corner of Commerce and Prather streets. 
Mr. Yunrg was pastor of this congregation 
two years, was Presiding Elder of Dallas 
district four years, and filled for six years 
the same position in the adjoining districts, 
which districts included the cities of Corsi- 
cana, Weatherford, Fort Worth, Sherman, 
and Gainesville. He traveled over hisdistricts 
before the days of railroads by private con- 
veyance, and made as many as 7,000 miles 
per annum. 

He was born in Trigg county, Kentucky, 
August 7, 1827, being one of four children 
born to Daniel F. and Marilla Young {iiee 
liigrain), natives of Kentucky. The paternal 
grandfather was a South Carolinian, who took 
part in the Revolutionary war, and afterward 
settled in Kentucky, and died near Canton, 
in that State. The maternal grandfather was 
the first settler at Ingram Shoals, Kentucky, 
on the Cumberland river, and his death oc- 
curred at that place. Daniel F. Young was 
a tanner by trade, and about 1829 removed 
to Saint Helena parish, Louisiana, and in 
1833 to Port Gibson, Mississippi, and died, 
and was buried at Brandywine Springs, near 
that place. His wife, Marilla (Ingram) Young, 
the mother of the subject of this sketch, died 
in 1878, was buried at Dallas, Texas, in the 
Masonic cemetery. Marilla street of Dallas 
has been named in her honor. 

Rev. W. C. Young was partially reared 
in Mississippi and Louisiana, but the most of 
his elementary education was obtained in 
Trigg county, Kentucky. He was strictly 
self-educated, iiaving lost his father when 
only six years of age, his mother having been 
left in straitened circumstances. As the 
years went on, he, by hard study and close 
application to business, arose from poverty to 
affluence, and from comparative obscurity to 
distinction in his profession. It has been 



justly said of him tiiat " he is a man of clear 
head, sound judgment, discriminating mind, 
independent thought, persevering energy, and 
superior talents." 

Mr. Young entered the ministry January 
28, 1849, near Paducah. Kentucky; was for 
two years a local preacher, and for three years 
a member of the Memphis Conference. In 
November, 1853, he moved to Little Rock, 
Arkansas, and had charge of the first Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church South of that city, 
for one year. He then resided successively 
in "Washington, Camden, Magnolia and Co- 
lumbia of the same State, going in 1851 to 
Bastrop, Louisiana. The following year he 
went to Monroe, Louisiana, then in 1863 was 
appointed in charge of Moreau street church. 
New Orleans, and in 1864 to Baton Rouge, 
Louisiana. In 1865 Mr. Young was ap- 
pointed Missionary Chaplain for the Arkan- 
sas Confederate Cavalry, and for some time 
was in the field. He was mustered out of 
the service in General W. L. Cabell's com- 
mand at close of the war, the same year, at 
Wildcat Bluff, Texas. He soon after came 
to Dallas, and immediately became identified 
with church work here, continuing until 
November, 1883, when he was put on the re- 
tired list. He has since that time devoted 
some attention to real estate, realizing some 
handsome profits on investments. 

He was married near Camden, Arkansas, 
October 16, 1857, to Miss Mary S. C. Pipkin, 
a native of Alabama, a daughter of Rev. John 
F. and Caroline Pipkin. Mr. Pipkin was a 
native of South Carolina. When a child his 
parents moved successively to Georgia, Ala- 
bama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Beaumont, 
Texas, in 1849. While a resident of the latter 
place he served three terms as County Judge 
of Jefferson county, and at the time of his 
death, October 28, 1890, at the age of eighty- 



874 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



one years, was filling that position. Judge 
Pipkin was also identified with the local 
ministerial work of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South for fifty-four years. In all his 
relations he was true and faithful. The wife 
of his young manhood died in 1842. She 
was a native of South Carolina. 

In his wife Mr. Young ever found a true 
and faithful companion, " a help-meet" in- 
deed, one who shared with him all the priva- 
tions and toils of their pioneer life, bearing 
her part of the burden with unflinching for- 
titude. She is a lady of cultivated mind, re- 
finement of manner, tine personal appear- 
ance, combined with rare graces of character, 
and lias been a zealous and efficient laborer 
in church work. 

Mr. Young and wife are the parents of the 
following living children: Lula, wife of J. 
K. Tillman, late an official of the Texas & 
Pacific railroad system; John M., Surveyor 
of Dallas county, who, though a young man, 
has already acquired distinction in his pro- 
fession, as well as a reputation of splendid 
personal character and moral worth. He was 
for some time Assistant City Engineer, and 
i.s a member of tiie fraternity of the A. F. & 
A. M., having been Master of his lodge in 
1890. The three younger children are Lena, 
now in the fresh bloom of young womanhood; 
Louisa M., whose marriage to James T. Jen- 
kins, a rising young business man of Dallas, 
was recently solemnized; and William C, Jr., 
now about twelve years of age. 

Mr. Young is a member of the fraternity 
of Freemasons, and has been Worshipful 
Master of live different Masonic lodges, and 
is now Past High Priest of Dallas Chapter, 
No. 47. Pie is Past Eminent Commander of 
Dallas Commandery, No. 6, and for four 
years was Grand Visitor of the Grand Royal 
Arch Chapter of Texas, and is Past Grand 



Prelate of the Grand Commandery of the 
State; is also Past Grand of Dallas Lodee, 
I. O. O. F. As a Mason he, in the words of 
a co-worker in the order, "is recognized as 
the highest type of the gentleman and scholar, 
a true and worthy exponent in hia life and 
conduct of the sublime principles of the 
venerable order. He exemplifles the secret 
work in its purity, and dispenses instruction 
in a style attractive in its simplicity, convinc- 
ing in its eloquence, and thrilling in its 
sublimity." It has been written of him, 
" No one is better qualiiied than he is to pre- 
sent the simple grandeur of the capitulary 
degrees in all the wisdom of their construc- 
tion, the truth of their traditional loi'e, and 
the beauty of their tenets." It has gone into 
the history of the order in Texas, that " to 
him the Masons of many localities are in- 
debted for all the true Masonic light they en- 
joy; and the example he affords has been the 
means of raising the order in the scale of 
holy and profane public opinion. He is a 
Christian gentleman, possessed of those quali- 
ties which constitute man a noble being, and 
to say that he is the father of intelligent and 
satisfactory chapter, council and commandery 
Masonry in this State would not be amiss." 
When he entered the field as an itinerant 
lecturer, the esoteric ritual of Masonry, es- 
pecially in the cryptic work, in consequence 
of the ravages of the Civil war, had been 
almost completely lost to tlie order, and it 
was through his faithful labors that the work 
was restored. 

In early manhood. Mr. Young read the 
entire course of text-books in the curriculuin 
of allopathic medicine. He also afterward 
read the Napoleonic code of civil law and 
text books of the common law, but he never 
entered the practice of either of these pro- 
fessions, choosine rather to devote his life 



niSTOEY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



875 



to the woi"k, principally, of the Christian 
ministry. As an educator he has now some 
distinction, having been at the head of three 
different institutions of learning: the Mag- 
nolia Female Institute, the Columbia High 
School at Point Chicot, and the Concord 
High School at Eudora, — all in the State of 
Arkansas. 

Mr. Young has always taken quite an inter- 
est in the ])olitics of his country, and votes 
with the Democratic party. He was District 
Clerk of Columbia county, Arkansas, in 1858- 
'59, and of Dallas county, Texas, in 1867-'68, 
and was considered a competent official; and 
for three terms has been Alderman of the 
Fourth ward of the city of Dallas. 

He is one of the few remaining pioneers 
of Dallas, and it may be said of him that his 
life has all along been one of usefulness. He 
was secretary of the Little Rock Conference 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, 
for one year; of the Louisiana Conference 
one year; of the North Texas Conference five 
years; and of the Northwest Texas Confer- 
ence one year. As Secretary, he won the 
highest approval bestowed upon any of the 
conference secretaries, at the quadrennial 
inspection of Annual Conference journals, 
held at the General Conference of his church, 
in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1870, this ap- 
proval being pronounced upon his work be- 
cause of the perspicuity of his chirography, 
accuracy of forms, and neatness of his records. 

He has been an untiring worker for the 
cause of Christianity, and his efforts have 
been rewarded with great success. In the 
pulpit, as an expositor of the tenets of his 
church, he was considered, in the meridian of 
his ministerial career, the peer of any man 
in the country. In the chair, as an execu- 
tive officer in the councils of his church, he 
is said to have had no superior. He is blessed 



with a robust constitution, and is a man of 
fine intellectual endowments indeed. He 
may be said to possess a versatility of genius 
that is much above the average. He has 
always displayed indomitable energy in the 
pursuit of duty in all the positions of honor 
and trust to which he has been called, his 
rare qualifications of mind and body fitting 
him well for usefulness in his day and gener- 
ation. 

EORGE L. DOYLE, a retired merchant 
of Dallas, Texas, was born in Chicago, 
February 22, 1851. 
His parents, Lawrence and Margaret (Maxey) 
Doyle, both natives of Ireland, were married 
in Chicago. The former was exiled from the 
Emerald Isle during the insurrection in 
1798. He first landed in Virginia, thence 
went to Kentucky, and from there to Chicago. 
By trade he was a ship-bnilder and carpenter. 
He helped to build one of the first houses in 
that city, where the Sherman House row 
stands, and in that primitive structure his 
son, George L., was born. The father died 
in 1857. The mother subsequently married 
Richard Powers, who died in 1859. She is 
still living, now being a resident of Spring- 
field, Illinois. Of her seven children, the 
subject of our sketch is the only soa. Five 
of the family are still living. 

In 1861 young Doyle enlisted as a fifer in 
the ninety days' service, and at the end of 
that time re-enlisted for three years in the 
United States army. He was with the forces 
that operated in the Southwest, participated 
in a number of important engagements, being 
with Grant at Corinth, and continued in the 
service until May 28, 1866. At Lexington 
he was wounded in the center of the forehead 
by a piece of shell which knocked him sense- 



876 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



leas and caused liiiu to remain so for three 
days. The wound then received he will carry 
to his grave. He also received a musket ball 
over the left eye, which ball he still carries. 
At Lexington he was taken prisoner, but was 
paroled and sent hoine. On the whole, he 
stood the service well. 

The war over, our young friend directed 
his steps toward the West, and from 1866 to 
1870 was engaged in prospecting and mining 
in Colorado and Wyoming Territory, being 
very siiccessful. In 1870 he came to Texas. 
The work of building railroads was at that 
time being pushed forward here, and he at 
once identified himself with it. He helped 
to build the first railroad into Dallas, havino- 
a portion of the contract for grading. Then 
he went to Palestine and did some of the 
heaviest work on the road between Crawford 
and Palestine, on the Great Northern Railroad. 
Locating in Dallas in 1871, he engaged in 
the grain business in the fall of that year, 
continuing the same till February, 1890. 
He is probably the oldest grain merchant in 
Texas. At the time he began business here 
much of the grain was hauled to him in 
wagons, often for a distance of 200 miles or 
more. He has handled as high as 10,000 
bushels a day. Mr. Doyle is a man of natural 
business ability, and in this enterprise met 
with marked success. In the ci'owth and 
development of this city he has been an im- 
portant factor. To him belongs the distinc- 
tion of having built the tirst race track in 
Dallas. 

Mr. Doyle was married, September 20, 
1875, to Miss Maggie Gilroy, daughter of 
Stephen II. and Celia Gilroy, both natives of 
Ireland. Iler parents were married in Ire- 
land, and of their thirteen children seven are 
now living. Mr. and Mrs. Gilroy came from 
Kansas City, Missouri, to Dallas in 1871, and 



are now residents of San Antonio, his age being 
eighty-three and hers sixty-five. Mr. Gilroy 
has been identified with the stock interests of 
Texas ever since he came to the State. He 
is an old Government contractor, being now 
the oldest freighter alive on the road. Mr. 
and Mrs. Doyle have one child, Rosa Valen- 
tine, now entering her sixteenth year. She 
is a pupil at the Episcopal College, has de- 
veloped marked talent for music and drawing, 
and her amiable disposition and winning 
ways have endeared her not only to her fond 
parents but also to her teachers and school- 
mates and to all who know her. Mr. Doyle 
attributes much of his success in life to the 
connsel and companionship of his devoted 
wife and loving daughter. 



^ 



^m 



^ 



^ L. McLAURIN, M. D., physician and 
surgeon, is a native of Mississippi, 
* being born in Rankin county, that 
State, August 13, 1861. His parents were 
Hugh C. and Harriet (Lane) McLaurin, the 
former a native of South Carolina, the latter 
of Mississippi. Mr. McLaurin, Sr., was a 
prominent physician and surgeon of Missis- 
sippi. He was a graduate of the literary 
course in the schools of Charleston, South 
Carolina, a like course at Hanover College, 
Indiana, and graduated from the University 
of Pennsylvania. He was a son of one of the 
old Scotch Presbyters and Elders of the Pres- 
byterian Church, and he himself was an Elder 
in the same. His parents, Daniel and Cath- 
erine (Colqnhoun), McLaurin were natives of 
Palquidder, Scotland. The former held the 
chair of Professor of Mathematics at the 
University of Edinburg. Our subject's father 
was a man of great business ability and he 
acquired a great many negroes and other prop- 



^rm>>- 







/f 






%^\ Zt^ 




HI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



877 



erty, but all this was lost during the war. 
He was sixty-seven when he died, in 1880, as 
he was born in September, 1813. He had an 
immense practice, being called in consultation 
from all parts of the country. He practiced 
for over forty years, servinjr in the war as a 
surgeon. He was prominent in politics and 
educational matters and was a devout church 
member. His wife is a daughter of. Judge 
Robert Lane, of Mississippi. She is a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church. Her family 
is one of the old Southern families of Missis- 
sippi, and she shows her good blood. She is 
in good health and lives with her son, our 
subject. 

Our subject is the second in a family of 
live children, namely: Judge Lauch McLau- 
rin, the oldest, a successful Judge and attor- 
ney of this county, also Judge in Mississippi; 
Sallie has charge of a chair of art in the Mis- 
sissippi Industrial and Art College, a State 
art college of Mississippi. She is a ripe 
scholar, is one of the original faculty of that 
school, and has held her present position four 
years; Robert, an attorney at Rolling Fork, 
Mississippi, where he has a large practice; 
and Luella, who died at the age of twenty- 
three. 

The Doctor graduated at the University of 
Mississippi at the age of nineteen, in 1881, 
in the literary course. He studied medicine 
under his father and attended the Medical 
College at the University of Louisiana, from 
which he graduated in 1884. The next year 
he was made Assistant Surgeon of the Mis- 
sissippi State Hospital at Vicksburg, which 
position he held one year, then resigned and 
can:(e to Ds^llas, Texas, in 1886. Since tlien 
J;e has built up an excellent practice here. 
He is surgeon for the Santa Fe Railroad and 
for a number of insurance companies, is Vice- 
Prpsident of the Dallas County Medical As- 

57 



sociation and has been Secretary of the same. 
He is also a member of the State Medical 
Association. 

Dr. McLaurin was married April 23, 1890, 
to Miss Katie Gano, daughter of General R. 
M. Gano, of whom we have a history else- 
where in this volume. Mrs. McLaurin is a 
graduate of Hamilton College, Lexington, 
Kentucky. Slie is a cultivated lady and dis- 
plays considerable talent in the direction of 
painting, music and dancing. They have 
one child, John Gano, a bright, promising 
babe. 

The Doctor is a member of the Knights of 
Pythias. He is a well-read man in his pro- 
fescion, has a veA' large practice for so young 
a man and is well liked, and his opinion is 
respected in all severe cases. 

Mr. McLaurin is a member of the Presby- 
terian Church, while his wife is a member of 
the Christian Church. These two are among 
the most popular young people of Dallas and 
have a host of friends. 

fUDGE JAMES MARTIN PATTER- 
SON, the pioneer merchant of Dallas, 
Texas, was born on his father's farm, 
four miles from Lexington, Kentucky, on the i 
Georgetown road, on July 31, 1812. His 
father, Francis Patterson, emigrated when 
a mere boy, with his sister and two 
half brothers and some twenty other families, 
from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, about the 
year 1780, floating down the Alleghany and 
Ohio rivers in a boat of their own construc- 
tion, carrying with them their horses, cattle, 
and farming implements, and landing at the 
mouth of Bear Grass creek, where now stands 
the city of Louisville. Thence, proceeding 
to the interior, their tirst year was spent in 



878 



HISTOBT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



the foi't at Boonesborough. Tn 1806 he mar- 
ried Mary Ann Martin, who emigrated witli 
her brother from North Carolina to Kentucky, 
clearing the aforesaid farm, on which Judge 
Patterson was born, in what is now Fayette 
county, where they continued to reside until 
1815, when they removed to Warren county 
and settled near Bowling Green, Kentucky. 
Five children were the resulted of this union, 
all of whom have passed away except the sub- 
ject of his biographical sketch. 

Judge Fatterson, after having received 
such education as the schools of that time af- 
forded, learned the trade of a millwright, 
and in February, 1846, he can^e to Texas, and 
settled on the Trinity river at Dallas, then a 
settlement of five or six families living in as 
many cabins on the bank of the river, now a 
flourishing city of 50,000 inhabitants. In 
May the same year, he, with J. W. Smith, 
embarked in the mercantile business, buying 
their goods at Shreveport and transporting 
them on. wagons drawn by oxen to Dallas, a 
distance of 200 miles. They did business 
for five years under the firm name of Smith 
& Patterson, at the expiration of which time, 
J. N. Smith, a brother of J. W. Smith, became 
associated with them, and the new firm, under 
the name of J. W. Smith & Co., continued 
to do a thriving business until 1854. It was 
during this period, in 1851, that the first 
cotton crop was grown in Dallas county, and, 
in the winter of 1851-'52 this firm built a 
flat-boat seventy-five feet long, loaded it with 
cotton and hides and started it down the river 
in charge of Adam C. Haught, master, in 
March 1852, which 'was the first attempt to 
navigate the Trinity river from Dallas. 

Judge Patterson was married October 5, 
1848, on Farmers' branch in Dallas county, 
to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Self, who had, when 
a child, emigrated from Warsaw, Kentucky, 



with her mother and stepfather, Win. Bowles, 
a Baptist minister, and their family. She 
was born March 5, 1833, and came to Texas 
in 1845. Eleven children have been born of 
this marriage, of whom four daughters and 
two sons survive, all grown and settled in 
life. 

In 1854 he was elected Chief Justice of 
Dallas county, which office he held tiirough 
several successive terms, until the close of the 
war in 1865. Having invested most of his 
means in personal property, all of which was 
swept from him by the results of the war, it 
became necessary for iiim to begin life anew. 
Returning to his first occupation, he pur- 
chased a steam saw and flouring mill on White 
Rock creek, four miles from Dallas, and en- 
gaged in the business of milling, which he 
conducted successfully for four years; then 
returning to Dallas he again engaged in the 
mercantile business with his friend. Captain 
James Thomas. 

In 1876, Captain Thomas having died, 
Judge Patterson retired from business and has 
since devoted his time and energy to tiie 
development and improvement of his mag- 
nificent real estate in the city of Dallas. 

Our worthy subject has been a member of 
the Masonic fraternity for forty years, and a 
communicant of the Episcopal Church for 
thirty years. In politics he was an old-line 
Whig, but since the dissolution of that party 
he has voted with the Democratic party. 

The .Judge's success in life is due to in- 
defatigable energy and unremitting persever- 
ance. Strictly honest, his word has ever been 
confided in by all who knew him. He is a 
man of genial, courteous manner, a typical 
representative of the Southern gentleman of 
the old school. Having relegated the active 
duties of life to his worthy sons, Judge 
Patterson is passing the evening of life in 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



879 



that tranquillity and repose vouchsafed to 
those whose lives have not been spent in 
vain, still cheered by the presence of the 
devoted wife whose willing hands and cheer- 
ful disposition have done so much to make 
attractive the home, dear alike to each, 
and surrounded by his dutiful children 
and grandchildren, eight in number, ever 
ready to listen with due consideration to any 
suggestion, or, with alacrity, to gratify any 
wish he may express. 

^ON. JOHN W. DANIEL, who is pleas- 
antly situated on his farm fourteen 
miles south of Dallas, is classed among 
the prosperous and representative citizens of 
Dallas county. 

He was born in Spottsylvania county, Vir- 
ginia, December 31, 1830, son of William 
H. and Ada (Cunningham) Daniel. He was 
born on the old homestead his great-grand- 
father had owned and which was at that time 
in the possession of his father. William H. 
Daniel was born and reared at the same place, 
the only son of his parents, and there he 
passed his life and died, his death occurring 
when the subject of our sketch was only a 
few years old. He had four childrei], three 
sons and one daughter. The oldest son, Os- 
car, died, leaving two children, qne of whom 
is also deceased. The surviving one, Scott 
Daniel, was left to the care of his uncle, 
John W., and is now residing with him 
John W. was the secoqd-born of his father's 
children. The third-born is Martha, who is 
now the widow of William Wright, and lives 
in Oglethorpe county, Georgia. The fourth, 
Williau] H., died in Austin, Texas, leaving 
live childrpn to the care of his brother, John 
W. Of these, three are married and all are 
pf 3gp and live in Texas. 



John W. Daniel was reared on a farm. 
Some time after the death of his father, his 
mother was married to Kindred Jacks. Her 
marriage occurred when the subject of our 
sketch was nine years old, atid the family 
moved to Wilkes county, Georgia, where he 
remained until he reached his majority. 
When he was fifteen, his step-father died, so 
the responsibility of his mother's plantation 
fell largely on him, and in the management 
of it he displayed much judgment and skill 
for one of his years. He continued in charge 
of the place until 1852, when he drew out 
his part of his father's estate and bought a 
plantation of his own. In 1854 he sold his 
interests in Georgia, to Peter Norther, father 
of the present Governor of that State, and 
came to Texas. 

While a resident of Georgia, Mr. Daniel 
was married to Miss Mary Beeman, a native 
of that State and a daughter of Samuel and 
Fannie (Combs) Beeman, natives of New 
York and Georgia respectively. Her father 
was a brother of the noted Is'athan S. S. 
Beeman of New York city. Mr. Daniel and 
his wife became the parents of two children, 
namely: Annie, who married George David- 
son, died in Montgomery county, Texas, in 
1884; and Fannie is the wife of W. D, 
Wooten, and lives in Kaufman county, Texas. 

Landing in Texas in October, 1854, Mr. 
Daniel settled in Smith county, where he 
bought two sections of wild land and at once 
began the work of improving a farm and 
making a home. Hewing loifs and making 
clapboards was the order of preparing timber 
for erecting houses, sawmills being almost 
unknown in the State. He remained in Smith 
county, operating his farm, until 1861, when 
he enlisted in Colonel Speight's command. 
With his company he was afterward ordered 
to Millican, Texas, where, with several com- 



880 



HISTORY OP DALLAS VOUNTT. 



panics, Colonel Speight organized the Fif- 
teenth Infiintry. Tp to this time Mr. Daniel 
had been Captain of one of the companies, and 
when the Fifteenth Infantry was organized 
he WHS elected Major. The regiment was 
ordered from here to Arkansas, where they 
remained for some time, thence to Indian 
Territory, where tliey spent the winter of 
lSG2-'63. They were then ordered to join 
General Taylor in Lonisiana, where they par- 
ticipated in" tlie raids of 1863-64. In 1864 
Colonel Speio;ht resigned his ofiice, and soon 
afterward Mr. Daniel was made Colonel of 
the regiment, lie had had the responsibility 
of the office more or less from the organiza- 
tion of the regiment, eontinning as Colonel 
until the snrrender in 1S05. 

lie then returned to his despoiled liome in 
Smith county, and set about repairing the 
damages of the war. Finding it unpleasant 
as well as unprofitable to work hired help, 
he sold his farm and came to Dallas county, 
buying tlie property on which he now lives. 
This land was then wild, with the exception 
of fifteen acres, and as the result of his well- 
directed efforts it is now one of the best- 
kept farms in the county. He is a great 
admirer of fine stock and keeps some of the 
best grades of hogs and cattle. 

Mr. Daniel is a member ©f the Masonic 
fraternity, being a charter member of the 
chapter at Lancaster. IVditically he is a De- 
mocrat. Twice he has been elected to the 
State Legislature, both times discharging the 
duties of that important position in a man- 
ner that reflected much credit on himself and 
his constituents. He introduced and urn-ed 
many important measures, and his work 
saved to the State, in one term of ofiice alone, 
over §100,000. lie was special agent of the 
Land Office in Washington during Cleve- 
land's administration, serving nearly four 



years, and being located at Watertown, Da- 
kota. He was Superintendent of the State 
Penitentiary, under (Tovernor Ireland, one 
year, all his public service being characterized 
by strict fidelity and giving entire satisfac- 
tion. He is a man who has the confidence 
and respect of all who know him. He has 
many warm personal friends throughout the 
United States, and especially among the 
leading men of his own State. 



^ 



4©'> 



^ 



frnmARY ANN MARTIN.— The parents 
j.)/"f of this lady, William and Euphemia 
■"^^y^ Rawlins, were natives of North Caro- 
lina. They emigrated to Illinois at an early 
day, where they lived until 1846, and where, 
in Greene county, January 10, 1832, the sub- 
ject of our sketch was born. In 1846 the 
family came to Texas, landing in Dallas county 
October 6, in company with eleven other 
families. They headi-ighted a section of land 
on Ten-mile creek, fourteen miles south of 
where the city of Dallas now stands, where 
the parents livod till death. Their family 
consisted of seven children, of whom Mrs. 
Martin is the only surviving one. 

July 12, 1855, she was united in marriage 
with Samuel Martin, a native of Coles county, 
Illinois, and a son of Joel and Elizabeth Mar- 
tin. He came to Texas about a year pre- 
vious to his marriage, and ai'ter tliat event 
occurred they settled near Dallas, where they 
lived till after his return from the war in 
1865. Four years ho was in the Confederate 
service, during which time Mrs. Martin re- 
mained at home, livincr with her brother-in- 
law, H. M. Rawlins. After his return home 
they bought a farm near Lancaster, and re- 
mained there two years. Selling out again, 
they purchased the property on which Mrs. 



\ 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



881 



Martin now lives. Here Mr. Martin lived 
and enjoyed life with the companion of his 
choice till January 11, 1880. At his death 
he left a widow with two children, William 
R. and James Edward. William R. married 
Miss Sallie E. Roherts, and now resides in 
the Indian Territory, near Colbert. James 
E. still lives with his mother, caring for her 
in her declining years. She is a member of 
the old Rawlins Christian Church, one of the 
oldest churches in the county. 



^LIJAH P. BROOKS was born in Jack- 
ie son county, Tennessee, November 8, 
1820, and is a son of James and Eliza- 
beth (Yates) Brooks. His fatlier was born 
in Stokes county, North Carolina, and his 
mother near Caswell Courthouse, same State. 
When a young man, James Brooks went 
with his father, Matthew Brooks, from Stokes 
county, North Carolina, to Tennessee, and 
settled near Eaton Station, in Davidson county, 
across the river from where Nashville now 
stands, the country at that time being in- 
fested with Indians. A few years afterward 
a company of the settlers made a raft and 
crossed the river. Finding there a much 
better site for a town, they set about im- 
proving the land on which now is located the 
flourishing city of Nasliville. The leader in 
erecting the raft and crossing the river was 
named Nash, and the new town was given 
his name, and it stands to-day a living monu- 
ment to him. James Brooks was reared on 
the farm, and followed agricultural pursuits 
all tlirough life. His father l)ought what 
was known as the Winchester headright, 
which was donated to General Winchester by 
the Government. Since its purchase by 
Matthew Brooks it has been known as Brooks' 



Bend. It was there James Brooks was mar- 
ried to Mrs. Elizabeth Yates. Following is 
the issue from their union: Aggie, wife of 
James Hudson, died in 1861, leaving two 
children, Elizabetli and James; Elijah P., 
the subject of this sketch; William, who 
married Mrs. Mary E. Lovette, died in 1863, 
leaving one child; and James M., who is 
now a resident of Illinois, has his second 
wife and a family of three cliildren. 

Elijah P. lived with his father until the 
latter's death in 1848. In the spring of 
1851 his mother sold out her possessions in 
Tennessee and moved to Adams county, Illi- 
nois, where she bought land on Pigeon creek 
and lived on it the rest of her days, dying in 
1852, of heart trouble. In 1853 Elijah P. 
Brooks sold his interest in the estate and 
came to Texas, buying 160 acres of wild 
land, known as the Holman survey. He at 
once began the improvement of his property, 
and has since added to his original purchase, 
now owning 220 acres of fine, well-improved 
land, besides a number of town lots in Lan- 
caster. 

Mr. Brooks was first married July 30, 
1857, to Miss Violet Powers. His second 
marriage occurred with Mrs. Sarah A. Hicks, 
September 18, 1870. The latter was a daugh- 
ter of Burton and Sabra Davis. Burton 
Davis was a cousin of the late Jefferson 
Davis. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks had one son, 
Elijah Davis Brooks. Mr. Brooks was mar- 
ried to Mrs. Area A. Goodrich, his third and 
present wife, July 27, 1876. She is a daugh- 
ter of Caster and Jane (Cobb) Ilosford, and 
by her former marriage has one child, a 
daughter, who is now the wife of Joseph 
Duvail, of Ellis count}', Texas. 

Mr. Brooks is a genius, being an adept at 
anything to which he turns his hands. In 
1861 he enlisted in (vom])any I, Burford's 



883 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY - 



regiment, but soon afterward received a com- 
mission to remain at home and make shoes, 
which trade he followed in Dallas for two 
years. Since the war he has devoted most 
of his time to the farm. He is a member of 
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at old 
Sliiloli, at which place he has held member- 
ship for a number of years. His wife is a 
Baptist, and belongs to tiie Red Oak congre- 
gation. 



,E0 WOLFSON, of Dallas, Texas, is 
prominently identified with many of the 
interests of this city, being secretary of 
the Board of Trade, manager of the Dallas 
Clearing House, Secretary of the Jewish Con- 
gregation Emanuel, Financial Secretary of 
Ccfiur De Lion lodge. No. 8, K. of P., Secre- 
tary of tlie Endowment Bank of K. of P., and 
Past Chancellor of the K. of P. Lodge and ex- 
Deputy Grand Chancellor of the same. 

Mr. Wolfson was born in Campti, Louisi- 
ana, in 1853, son of Jacob A. and Caroline 
(Lorcli) Wolfson, natives of Poland and 
Frankfort-on-the-Rhine respectively. His 
father came to America in 1884, landed in 
New York, went to Mexico, and later settled 
in Vicksburg, Mississippi. When peace was 
made with the Indians about 1843, he went 
to the head of navigation on the Red river 
and traded with the Indians, remaining there 
till Banks' raid up the Red river in 1864. 
The late war left him a tinaneial wreck, his 
house burned, his property destroyed. He 
had been a merchant of Campti, carrying on 
extensive business there. He then moved to 
Natchitoches, Louisiana, and began the study 
of law, and although he was sixty years of 
age, more than double the age of any other 
man in the class, there being thirty-two, he 



was the third best. He then engaged in the 
practice of law, subsequently removed with 
his family to New Orleans, and contiiiued 
practice there until, on account of declining 
health, he retired in 1886. His death oc- 
curred in 1888, aged eighty-two years. He 
was married in 1838, and leaves a widow and 
seven children, five of their children havincr 
died in early childhood. The mother and 
nearly ail of her family, the youngest being 
now twenty-five years of age, are living in 
New Orleans. Soon after he came to Amer- 
ica, Mr. Wolfson enlisted in the Texan war, 
was all through tliat struggle, received an 
honorable discharge, and for services rendered 
received a land warrant for 640. acres in Van 
Zandt county, Texas. 

The subject of this sketch left school when 
he was thirteen and commenced work at the 
crockery business, being thus employed live 
years. Ill health compelled him to seek 
other lines of work, and he accordingly went 
to St. Louis and engaged in buying cotton. 
While in St. Louis he was married, Septem- 
ber 21, 1876, to Miss Fanny Caston, the ac- 
complished daughter of H. Caston, of that 
city. She is related to many of the promi- 
nent families of St. Louis. 

After his marriage, Mr. Wolfson returned 
to the old homestead in Louisana and engaeed 
in merchandising with his brothers, with 
whom he remained four years. The Texas 
fever then brought him to Rockdale, this 
State, where he embarked in the grocery busi- 
ness: subsequently lived in Lampasas. Since the 
fall of 1887 he has been a resident of Dallas 
and lias been variously occupied. At first 
he was private secretaiy of Royal A. Ferris, 
vice-president of the National Exchange 
Bank; was afterward assistant secretary for 
the Great Texas State Fair and Dallas Expo- 
sition; and three years ago was elected secre- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



883 



tary of the Board of Trade and manager of 
the Dallas Clearing House. 

Mr. "Wolfsoii has traveled extensively and 
possesses much of that knowledge of people 
and affairs which is acquired only by contact 
with the world. Enterprising, public-spirited 
and generous, he is ranked with the best citi- 
zens of Dallas. He has had an attractive 
home, and the presence of his amiable wife 
and two lovely children — -Lena and Bessie — 
renders the happiness of that home complete. 

Q. MURPHREE, of Garland, Dallas 
county, was born in Yalobusha county, 
* Mississippi, October 31, 1848, the 
ninth of twelve children born to his father, 
S. M. Murphree. The latter was born in east 
Tennessee, October 4, 1813, and died January 
17, 1884, at the age of seventy-one years, 
three months and thirteen days. In his in- 
fancy he moved with his parents to Alabama, 
where he lived until his marriage, in 1830^ 
to Miss Phoebe Nations, after which he moved 
to Yalobusha county, Mississippi. He next 
went to Smith county, Texas, in 1866, where 
he lived until 1875, when he removed to Van 
Zandt county, and remained there until his 
death. Mr. Murphree was a member of the 
Primitive Baptist Church and a good citizen. 
His wife died at the home of her son, J. P., 
in Hamilton county, Texas, at the age of 
seventy-four years. 

D. Q. Murphree was eighteen years of age 
when his father moved to Texas, and he con- 
tinued to live at home until one year after 
his marriage, when he moved to Red River, 
and next to Dallas county. He bought fifty- 
eight acres of land near Duck creek, but 
after four years sold this little farm and 
moved to near Mesquite, where he bought 



100 acres, which he farmed twelve years. 
He has since added to this place until he 
now owns 500 acres of valuable land. He 
next lived in Cedar Hill two years, and then 
moved to Garland, a small town fourteen 
miles northeast of Dallas. 

Mr. Murphree was married in Smith 
county, December 1, 1870, to Miss Elizabeth 
Florence, a daughter of J. H. Florence, and 
who died in Cedar Hill. Mr. Murphree has 
one brother and three sisters living, viz.: J. 
P., a resident of Hamilton county, Texas; 
Catharine, wife of R. C. McKenzie, of Van 
Zandt county; Pauline, wife of John Prescott, 
of Smith county; and Selina, wife of Henry 
Montgomery, of Sorden valley. Smith county. 

f^ S. MILLS, another of the prosperous 
farmers and representative citizens of 
* Dallas county, resides on his farm of 
230 acres three miles northwest of Lancaster 
and thirteen miles south of Dallas. Briefly 
given, a sketch of his life is as follows: 

J: S. Mills was born in what was then Law- 
rence district. South Carolina, October 16, 
1827; son of Alexander and Nancy (Power) 
Mills, natives of the same place. His father 
was reared on a farm and had only such edu- 
cational advantages as the common schools of 
his day afforded. He, however, improved his 
opportunities, gained much general informa- 
tion by reading, and was always well posted 
on the topics of the day. He was the father 
of nine children, all of whom lived to mature 
years. Of his two daughters, Mary, the 
older, is deceased, and Martha is the widow 
of John Perry, and resides in Mississippi. 
Three of the sons are living. Allen P. owns 
and resides on what is known as the More-, 
land Mill property, near Chester, Choctaw 



8^4 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



county, Mississippi. Henry lives in the same 
county and four miles west of bis brother, 
where be runs a blacksmith shop in connec- 
tion with bis farm. 

The subject of onr sketch remained on the 
farm with his father until he reached bis 
majority, receiving a common-school educa- 
tion. In his twenty-third year he began to 
farm for himself, having previous to this 
bought and paid for a small farm. He was 
married in the latter part of 1851, to Miss 
Mary Hedges, a native of Mississippi and a 
daughter of James Hedges, the Mills family 
having moved to Mississippi in 1844. Tiie 
issue from this union was two children, both 
dying in infancy, and with the birth of the 
last one the mother also died. Mr. Mills was 
married a second time, December 25, 1856, 
to Catherine Fondron, a native of Chickasaw 
county, Mississippi, and a daughter of Mr. 
and Mrs. John R. Fondron. Her parents 
came from Mississippi to Texas some time in 
the '40s, and took a headright about fifteen 
miles southeast of the city of Dallas. 

Mr. Mills enlisted in the Confederate ser- 
vice in the spring of 1862, in General Ross' 
Brigade, Sixth Texas Cavalry, Company F, 
Captain Rawlins, and was in all the principal 
engagements east of the Mississippi river. 
He was with General Jackson until after the 
fall of Atlanta, and was then under General 
Forrest in his raid through Tennessee. After 
the general surrender be returned to his 
home without having ever received a wound 
or seen anything of prison life. 

After the war he took up bis trade, that 
of blacksmithing, which he had learned in 
his earlier days, and was thus occupied near 
Lancaster for seventeen years. He then 
bouaht the farm on which he now lives and 
where he is surrounded with all the comforts 
of life, his present prosperity being the result 



of his own well directed efforts. By his hon- 
orable dealings and his upright life he has 
won the respect and esteem of all who know 
him. With his friends his word has always 
been his bond. Politically, he affiliates with 
the Democratic party. 

^^/^^^--^^/^^ 

B. GROSS, of Mesquite, Dallas county, 
Texas, was liorn in Tennessee, in 1856, 
* the fifth in a family of ten children 
born to G. AV. and Amanda (Wade) Gross, 
natives of Tennessee and Virginia. The 
father was one of the pioneer settlers of his 
section of Tennessee, where he died when our 
subject was quite yonng. The mother still 
survives, and resides with her son, A. F. 

G. B. Gross, our subject, received liis 
early education in Tennessee, and in 1877 
came to this State, where he commenced 
farming on rented land, on shares. In 1878 
be commenced clerking in the store of J. W. 
Gross, and later for R. S. Ivimbrough, and 
in both stores clerked about ten years. In 
1889 be bought bis brother's business, con- 
sisting of a large stock of dry goods and drugs, 
and is now doing a business of 125,000 an- 
nually. Besides his mercantile interests, he 
is the owner of two large farms, consisting 
of 110 acres, which are under a fine state of 
cultivation. He has good box bouses, fine 
water, etc. 

He was married in 1855, to Miss Emma 
R. Chapman, a native of this State, and 
daughter of D. G. and N. C. (Coats) Chap- 
man, old settlers of this county. The father, 
one of the best known men of the county, has 
been dead about eight years; the mother still 
survives. They were the parents of nine 
children. Mr. and Mrs. Gross have two 
children, — Ernest and Robert O. The par- 



HI8T0BT OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



885 



ents are ineinbers ot' the Cuinberlaiid Presby- 
terian Church, and Mr. Gi'oss is a member 
of the A. F. & A. M., No. 269. He takes 
great interest in the growth and prosperity 
of his locality, and is a thoroughgoing busi- 
ness man. 

CLINTON JACK is a widely-known 
and highly respected citizen of Oak 
Cliff. He is engaged in the tlour and 
feed business in tliis charming suburb of 
Dallas, and is also Alderman at large for that 
place. He was born in Bradley county, 
Tennessee, on November 6, 1844. His parents 
were David and Mary Jane (Hall) Jack, both 
of whom were natives of Cocke county, Ten- 
nessee. His father was an intelligent farmer, 
who espoused the cause of the North at the 
time of the war, serving as a private for a 
year in the cause of the Union. He was 
taken prisoner at Cumberland Gap and taken 
to Richmond, where he languished from 
November 1, 1862, to January, 1863, when 
he joined his command at Nashville, Tennes- 
see. He was also at one time a prisoner in 
the famous, or infamous, Libby prison. He 
belonged to the Fifth Army Corps. He 
Btood the service quite well until he was cap- 
tured, when the hardships and privations of 
the Southern prisoners sowed the seeds of 
disease which eventually caused his death. 
He died of chronic diarrhea, contracted while 
in prison, at the age of forty-five years. He 
was honored and respected by all who knew 
him for his many noble traits of character. 
He was honest, sober and upright in his deal- 
ings with his fellow men, and civil and kind 
to all, and many warm, personal friends 
mourned his loss. His wife died in 1879, 
aged fifty-six years. They were both mem 
bers of the Baptist Church. They had be- 



longed to the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
of which demonination her father, John 
Wesley Hall, was for years a local minister, 
but for the last ten years previous to their 
death had belonged to the Baptist Church. 
Her father was a well-to-do farmer and 
an intelligent mechanic. There were seven 
children: Clinton, our subject; Adaline, 
widow of G. M. D. Shelton, of Eradley 
county, Tennessee; Flora, widow of John E. 
Shelton, brother of G. M. D. Shelton, and 
both farmers in the same county; Hamilton 
died in early life; Jane died aged eighteen; 
Emily, formerly a school-teacher for several 
years; Florence, wife of Jo. Le Veque, resid- 
ing on a farm in Arkansas; John H., living 
in Bradley county, Tennessee. 

The subject of this sketch was raised on a 
farm, where he remained until he enlisted in 
August, 1862, in Company A, Eighth Ten- 
nessee Volunteers, United States Army. He 
served until June 30, 1865. He was in the 
battle and siege of Knoxville, and partici- 
pated in the Georgia campaign from Buz- 
zard's Roost to Atlanta. He was skirmish- 
ing or fighting every day from April 14 to 
August 6. AVhen in front of Atlanta, he was 
wounded in the right wrist, which still dis- 
ables him : his hand is crooked and the ten- 
dons cut. He was at home during one fur- 
lough, and met his command at Raleigh, in 
April, 1865, when the war was closed. He 
was afterward taken prisoner in Bradley 
county, Tennessee, and taken from his own 
home to Charleston, Tennessee, where he was 
held for two days and tiien dismissed. The 
order was given by Major Goode, of Georgia. 
He stood the service very well, but is glad it 
is all over. After this he went to farming: 
his father being dead he took his place in 
chartte of the farm until 1889. He went to 
Tarrant county, Texas, in February of 1880, 



880 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



where he located on a farm, which he sold in 
1888. Since 1889 he has been engaged in 
contracting and doing street work in Oak 
Cliflf. His many admirable traits of cliar- 
acter have made him very popnlar, and in the 
spring election of 1892, he was elected Alder- 
man, and is now serving his first term. He 
is also a member of the school board. 

He was married on September 30, 1866, 
to Miss Tabitha J. Hooper, daughter of 
Henry and Mary Hooper, of Bradley county, 
Tennessee. The have had nine children, of 
whom live are living: Mary died, aged seven 
months; Charles H. is a farmer of Tarrant 
county; Oscar O. is in the Oak Cliff paper 
mill; Fred H. died, aged three years; Frank 
L. is in the paper mill; Lillie E. ; Maude 
T. ; David A. died, aged three years, and one 
died unnamed. 

His wife isa member of the Baptist Church. 
He is a member of the George Thomas Post 
of Dallas County, No. 6, Knights of Honor, 
the Knights and Ladies of Honor and the 
Mystic Circle, and is in politics a liberal Re- 
publican. His popularity is suflicient guar- 
antee of his worthy traits of character, but 
we hasten to contribute our endorsement of 
evervthinor favorable to this cordial, honest, 
and honorable, whole-sonled citizen of the 
magnificent suburb of Oak Cliff. 

.RCHIBALD B. LANIER.— This ven- 
erable pioneer dates his arrival in Texas 
in February, 1846, and during all the 
years that have elapsed since then he has 
acted well his part in helping to develop the 
resources of Dallas county. He at once lo- 
cated 320 acres of land, the amount allowed 
a young man, in the southeastern part of the 
county, and improved the same and lived on 



it for several years. He then sold out and 
located on his present property near Haught's 
Store, never having moved more than once 
since 1846. Here he bought 433 acres of 
land, and after his children grew up he 
divided it among them, retaining only 100 
acres for himself. During the early years of 
his residence here he experienced many of 
the hardships and privations incident to pio- 
neer life, and he is loaded with reminiscences 
sufficient in themselves to make an interest- 
ing volume of no small proportions. Game 
of all kind was plenty, and it was no unusual 
thing for him to kill a bear. The bears were 
very troublesome, frequently making a raid 
on his hog pen. His chief difficulty in those 
days was to secure bread. He had to go sev- 
eral miles for corn, and had to jrrind it in 
steel mills or beat it in mortars. For the 
past twenty-seven years Mr. Lanier has been 
acting as Postmaster of Haught's Store, for 
several years has been Justice of the Peace, 
and is now a Notary Public. During the 
war he was in the State service, and was de- 
tailed by the State to furnish the supply of 
beef at Dallas. 

Mr. Lanier was born in Sussex county, 
Virginia, February 3, 1819, son of John and 
Mary A. (Parker) Lanier. He was the only 
child his mother had, and she died when he 
was quite small. The father was born in 
Sussex county, Virginia, about 1775, and 
died at about the age of sixty-five years. 
After the death of his first wife he was mar- 
ried to Rosa Clements, by whom he had four 
children : Lucy, wife of Enoch Horton ; Josie, 
wife of John Horton; and L. C. and O. F. 
Lanier. 

Archibald B. Lanier has been married four 
times. He was first married to Miss Julia 
Birchfield, in 1849. She was a daughter of 
Adam Birchfield, a native of Alabama, who 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



887 



came to Texas in 1854. The children by liis 
first marriage are: Lucy A., wife of John 
Gates; Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Clunn; and 
John Lanier, the last named dying when 
quite small. His second union was with 
Miss Lavina Halford, daughter of William 
and Margaret (Duvall) Halford. Their oldest 
child, Sarah F., is now the wife of George W. 
Cruse. Mrs. Lanier gave birth to three chil- 
dren at one time, and mother and children all 
died. P'or his third companion Mr. Lanier 
wedded Mrs. Letha Williams, a native of 
» Virginia. His fourth wife was Mrs. M. A. 
Clunn, and he married her in 1878. She 
was born in Alabama, a daughter of Henry 
Berry. By his last two wives Mr. Lanier 
has had no children. 



|K. A. P. KEEVEK. physician and sur- 
geon, was born in Lincoln county. 
North Carolina, and was reared in 
Catawba county. The date of his birth was 
October 22, 1854:. His parents were James 
and F. C. (Goodson) Keever, both natives of 
North Carolina, and the father was a mer- 
chant, miller and farmer, and was well known 
throughout the Carolinas. He was exempt 
from serving during the war on account of 
ill-health. None were more prompt to re- 
spond to the calls of the country upon them 
than he, and as he was a good business man 
had funds at hand to aid financially any en- 
terprise that arose. He was a devoted mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church for 
over forty years, and was an officer in the 
church nearly all of that time. His death 
occurred September 4, 1888, when he was 
about sixty years old. His wife died June 
2, 1892, aged fifty years, having been a lov- 
ing and faithful wife, devoted mother and 



good church member. She and her husband 
had six children, namely: Martha, wife of W. 
G. Jarrett, a resident of Indian Territory; 
Maggie, wife of Rev. C. A. Gault, deceased, 
now resides with our subject; Mary J., wife 
of M. A. Boston, residents of Oak Cliff; our 
subject; Daniel C, married to Clara Jarrett, 
resident of Hickory, North Carolina; and 
James H., proprietor of the Alamo Phar- 
macy, Dallas, Texas. 

Our subject took a literary course at 
Rutherford College, North Carolina, and 
graduated in medicine at the Jefferson Medi- 
cal College at Philadelphia — class of '81 and 
'82. He practiced for six or eight years in 
Lincoln and Catawba counties, North Carolina, 
with very good success, making a good rec- 
ord for himself. He changed his residence 
to Dallas, Texas, in 1888, and there opened 
an ottice, where he has continued the practice 
of .his profession ever since. His practice, 
which is a large and very paying one, is not 
confined to Dallas, but extends to Oak Cliff 
also. He numbers some of the best people 
among his patients, and he has his hands 
full. 

The Doctor was married in 1886, to Miss 
S. Warlick, daughter of Professor Eli War- 
lick, of Newton, North Carolina. Mrs. Kee- 
ver has borne her husband three children, 
who are the pride and joy of the household. 
Mrs. Keever is a cultured and refined lady and 
she and her husband are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Dr. Keever is a member of the Fraternal 
Mystic Circle of Oak Cliff. He is a member 
of the North Carolina Medical Association, 
also of Dallas County Medical Association. 
He is Chief Examiner for Oak Cliff for the 
Equitable of New York, etc. 

In public, professional and social affairs 
the Doctor is well known in this community. 



888 



HI8T0RT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



He has been enterprising in proinotino; the 
best interests of the city, and lias contributed 
very liberally to all enterprises tending to 
inaprove the condition of his fellow citizens. 
He is a well read man and has a most en- 
conragincr outlook. 



^ 



IHAKLES R. BROTHERTON. one of 
the representative and most prosperous 
farmers of Dallas county, was born on 
his father's farm near Wheatland, eleven 
miles southwest of Dallas, December 6, 1851. 
His parents, Henry K. and Rachel (Melvin) 
Brotherton, were natives of Ohio. His father 
was reared in Columbus, that State, where 
he clerked in a drug store until he was of 
age. He was married in 1851, to a daughter 
of Dr. Minor, of Lithopolis, Ohio, and soon 
thereafter emigrated to Texas, settling near 
Wheatland. In March, 1869, Mrs. Brother- 
ton died. Six of the children in the above 
family are living, and all married. The 
youngest remains on the old homestead, with 
whom the father now resides. On settling 
in Texas the senior Brotherton improved 
several tracts of land, buying and selling 
them. A few years after locating Jupon his 
present farm a violent storm destroyed all 
his movable property and outbuildings. 

Mr. C. R. Brotherton, whose name intro- 
duces this sketch, completed his school days 
at Mansfield, under Professor Collier. No- 
vember 25, 1879, he married Miss Josie, 
daughter of Harvey and Alcena Taylor, 
natives of Kentucky who came to Texas in 
1852, settling first near Wheatland, and two 
years afterward near Lancaster, where Mr. 
Taylor still resides. Mr. and Mrs. Brother- 
ton have one child, named Henry Taylor 
Brotherton. 




On Mr. Brotherton's place are to be found 
all the modern improvements. His residence 
is beautifully located on an elevated spot, 
whence one can obtain a full view of the sur- 
I'ounding country. Mr. Brotherton is a 
great admirer of tine stock, as evidenced by 
the selection on his place. He has been a 
member of the Masonic order for the past 
thirteen years. 

ilLLIAM KIMBROUGH, of the mer- 
catitile firm of Knox & Kimbrouorh, 
Mesquite, was horn in Missouri, Jan- 
uary 16, 1862, the son of William and Sarah 
(Lowery) Kimbrough, natives of Tennessee. 
The father moved to McDonald county, Mis- 
souri, in 1860, where he died in 1871. The 
family consisted of seven children, namely: 
Mary, the wife of George Hill; Cynthia, now 
Mrs. George W. Kelly; John D.; William, 
our subject; Robert G. ; James D. ; Anna, the 
wife of Mr. Wilson. 

The subject of this sketch ran away from 
home at the age of sixteen years, and located 
in Hunt county, Texas, where he received 
his education. In his first venture he took a 
contract for buying a lot of cattle, from which 
he cleared considerable money, and with this 
he attended school two years. After leaving 
school he visited his mother three months, 
and then returned to this State, settling in 
Collin county, where he engaged in farming 
two years. In 1882 he came to this locality 
and clerked for his brother, R. S. Kimbrough, 
a short time, and then returned to Collin 
county, where he engaged in the cattle busi- 
ness two years. He next went to Hillsboro 
and worked for Brown &Turretttwo seasons, 
in the grain and cotton business; then he re- 
turned to this county and worked for R. S. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Kimbrongli three years, and January 16, 
1891, he t'orrned liis present business. 

Mr. Kiinbrough was married in 1887, to 
Miss Lula Rose, whose parents died when 
she was sniall. To this marriage has been 
born two children, — William and Emma C. 
The mother is a member of the Methodist 
Church South, and the father of the K. of H. 
He is a Democrat politically, and takes an 
active interest in politics. 

fllOMAS BERNARD, one of the most 
prosperous citizens of Dallas county, is 
to be found on his farm of 137^ acres, 
situated sixteen miles southwestof the city of 
Dallas. 

Mr. Bernard was born in Robertson county, 
Tennessee, October 15, 1825, son of W. S. 
and Lavertia (Cunningham) Bernard, natives 
of Virginia and North Carolina respectively. 
His father owned and operated a farm in 
Robertson county. During the war of 1812 
he served under Old Hickory Jackson, and 
was with him on his raids against the Indians 
when the latter were driven west of the Mis- 
sissippi river. He was in the famous battle 
of Horse Shoe Bend. To him and his wife 
fifteen children were born, twelve grew to 
maturity and eight are still living, scattered 
over various portions of the United States. 

Thomas was reared on the farm, and when 
he was eleven years old he had the misfortune 
to lose his father. He remained with his 
mother till he reached his twenty-second 
year. Soon after the loss of her husband, 
Mrs. Bernard moved with her family to 
Adams county, Illinois. In the fall of 1847 
the subject of our sketch left his home, and 
with a caravan of fourteen wagons and four 
families, accompanied by several young men. 



set out for Texas, landing in Dallas county, 
November 5, 1847. The following spring 
several members of the company — some of 
them with families — -started to return to Illi- 
nois by the way of Shreveport, taking a boat 
at that point. On their way down the Red 
river the boat took tire, and a number of the 
party were burned and drowned. 

Soon after coming here, Mr. Bernard, then 
a single man, took up a half section on Ten- 
mile creek, where he now resides. He was 
married to his first wife. Miss Mary C. Raw- 
lins, December 24, 1850, she being a native 
of Iowa and a daughter of William and Nancy 
(Sharp) Rawlins, who came to Texas from 
Iowa. Her father was a son of Rodrick Raw- 
lins, who was among the earliest settlers of 
this county. Mr. and Mrs. Bernard had 
three children, two of whom, Henry M. and 
William E., are married and have families. 
Henry M. resides in the Indian Territory. 
William E. married Miss Emma E. McCarty, 
and now lives on his father's headright. 

Mr. Bernard was married the second time, 
March 18, 1862, to Miss Mary Luck, a native 
of Virginia. Her father was a native of Ger- 
many, and came to the United States when a 
young ujan. He married Lucy Garris, and 
for many years lived in Virginia and followed 
the trade of blacksmith, a trade he had 
learned in the old country. He moved to 
Texas about 1855 or 1856, and settled in 
Ellis county, where he continued to work at 
his trade until the time of his death in 1863. 

In March, 1863, Mr. Bernard enlisted in 
the Confederate service as a member of Col- 
onel B. Warren Stone's Second Regiment of 
Texas Rangers, and was in the service from 
that time till the general surrender in 1865, 
He was with the forces that operated along 
the Mississippi and Red rivers, aiid was in 
the battle at Manslield, Louisiana, when the 



890 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Confederates drove General Banks back from 
his raid up Red river. He was in the charge 
on the Federal camps at Fort Donelson. He 
returned home at the close of the war, never 
having received a wound or having been 
captured. 

By his last wife Mr. Bernard has eight 
children: Mary C, wife of J. L. Caunts, lives 
in Erath county, Texas; John Thomas, a 
graduate of the St. Louis College of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons, married Miss Stella 
Sticanka, dau^jhter of William and Lizzie 
Sticanka of Illinois, and is now a practicing 
physician; Lucy Frances, wife of L E. Bum- 
pas and lives in Dallas county; and llutia 
Jennette, Jesse Virgil, Celeste May, Eva 
Monenda, — all living. 

Mr. Bernard is surrounded with all the 
comforts of life. He and his family' are 
members of the Christian Clmrch, and occupy 
honored and useful positions in society. 

J^HILLIAM. J. RAINEY, special loan 
Wffifi agent for the Northwestern Mutual 
l^"cjl^ Life Insurance Company, of Milwau- 
kee, Wisconsin, is one of the enterprising 
business men of Dallas, Texas. 

He was born in Algonac, Michigan, May 
1, 1865, and began his business career in 
Detroit as a fire-insurance agent. Later, he 
went to Lansing, Michigan, and engaged as 
agent for S. L. Smith, land-owner and capi- 
talist, by whom he was employed one year. 
Then he went tu Baraga, in the upper pen- 
insula of Michigan, and engaged in the real- 
estate business; thence to Iron Mountain, 
Michigan. He was one of the men who got 
up the boom in that iron-mountain country. 
He sold 360 acres of lots in the city of Iron 
Mountain; was there two years. He was 



next engaged as secretary and treasurer for 
the Lock-Stave Company, of upper Michigan, 
plant now located at Dulutli. Subsequently 
returning to Iron Mountain, he again en- 
gaged in the real-estate business, and six 
months later sold his interests there. He 
has been in the real-estate business in various 
parts of the country since that time, until 
recently. At the present writing he is em- 
ployed by the Northwestern Mutual Life In- 
surance Company, and by his business push 
and tact renders himself a valued agent. 
This company loans money in large amounts 
on real estate. The assets of the company 
are over §50,000,000. It has done a lending 
business for over three years; in that time it 
has lent over $90,000,000, and now has 
loans outstanding to the amount of $50,000,- 
000. The company buys Guvernment, county 
and municipal bonds; has bouglit over half a 
million of Texas bonds since the fall of 1891, 
and is constantly putting in more money in 
the State than it takes out. 

Mr. Kainey is a man of marked business 
ability, takes a deep interest in city and 
county affairs, and is progressive and public- 
spirited. He is popular not only in business 
circles, but in social circles as well. 



^ 



^ 



,LBERT CARVER, a farmer living in 
Precinct No. 4, Dallas county, Texas, 
dates his birth in Illinois, in 1827, he 
beinof the third of the five children born to 
George and Sallie (Hoover) Carver, natives 
of North Carolina. He was reared on a farm 
and educated in Missouri, to which place his 
father had moved when Albert was a boy. 
At the age of twenty-one, young Carver com- 
menced farming in Newton county, Missouri, 
and in 1849 he came to Dallas county, Texas, 



HISTOBT OF DALLAS GOUl^TY. 



891 



remaining here, however, only nine months. 
He tlien went bacic to Newton county and 
made his home there until 1852, returning to 
Texas in the spring; of that year and settling 
on the farm on which he now lives. He 
bought 260 acres, partly prairie, but the most 
of it timber land, and to his original purchase 
he has since added forty-seven acres. When 
he came here in 1849, Dallas contained only 
two general stores, one hotel and a saloon, 
the latter being in a rail pen and the others 
in clapboard buildings. In connection with 
his farming operations Mr. Carver is also en- 
gaged in stock-raising, making a specialty of 
breeding Durham cattle. 

He was married, in 1852, to Miss Mary 
Markham, a native of Newton county, Mis- 
souri, and a daughter of Willison and Eddie 
(Baker) Markham. Mr. and Mrs. Carver 
ai'e the parents of iive childien, George, John, 
James, Thomas and Edward. 

He and his wife are members of the Chris- 
tian Church. 

C. KIMBROUGH, junior member 
of the firm of Wooten & Kimbrough, 
* one of the leading law firms of Dal- 
las, Texas, was born in Roane county, Ten- 
nessee, December 12, 1861. 

His parents are William and Rebecca C. 
(Ellis) Kimbrough, both natives of Tennessee. 
The father has given attention to agricultural 
pursuits all his life, first in Tennessee and 
later in Texas. He came to the latter State 
in 1868, but, owing to Indian troubles, re- 
turned to Tennessee. He remained there 
until 1875, when he came back to Texas and 
has since been an honored resident here. He 
is engaged in farming on an extensive scale, 
and stock-raising as well. He owns over 




1,000 acres of productive land, some 700 
acres of which are under cultivation and well 
adapted for corn, cotton, oats, grass, and in 
fact any kind of produce that can be grown 
in this latitude. Mr. Kimbrough is a pro- 
gressive farmer and. is keenly alive to the 
best farming interests. He is well known in 
his portion of the State, and is highly re- 
spected as an honest and worthy citizen, such 
as gives character to a community. He and 
his wife have for many years been devoted 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South, in which he has long been an officer. 
He is now sixty-eigbt, and his wife fifty-five 
years of age. They are the parents of three 
children, one daughter and two sons. Katie, 
their daughter, is the wife of N. B. Laughlin, 
and has two children. They reside in Santa 
Fe, New Mexico, where Mr. Laughlin is en- 
gaged in the practice of law, being an attor- 
ney of more than ordinary qualifications. He 
served one term as Attorney-General of the 
Territory, under the appointment of Rresi- 
dent Cleveland, and gave a high degree of 
satisfaction. Joseph E. Kimbrough married 
Eunice Ferris. He is a lawyer of Denton 
county, Texas. 

W. C. Kimbrough was educated in the 
University of Texas, at Austin, receiving his 
diploma therefrom with the class of 1888. 
After leaving college he at once established 
himself in practice at Dallas, since which 
time he has been engaged in his profession 
here. 

Mr. Kimbrough is a young man of pleasing 
address and of well poised intellect and busi- 
ness tact. He is a thorough student, believes 
in keeping up with the pace of advancement, 
and has a promising future before hiin. A 
fluent speaker and writer, he exerts an influ- 
ence on those around him, and it is -with 
pleasure we note this influence is ever directed 



893 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




in a right channel. Articles from his facile 
pen are fouud in many of the newspapers and 
magazines. Mr. Kimbrough is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Ma- 
sonic order, and in politics is an enthusiastic 
Democrat. 



^AXIME GDILLOT, deceased, was 
born in Angers, France, December 
*^#^ 10, 1824, and on the 20th of Decem- 
ber, 1849, he bade farewell to the scenes of 
his boyhood and youth and emigrated to the 
United States, arriving in the city of New 
Orleans on the Ist of February, 1850, without 
a cent. He was possessed of any amount of 
pluck and enterprise, and, being an accom- 
plished artisan, it was not long l)8fore he se- 
cured employment with a Mr. Smith on 
Canal street, where his thorough skill as a 
workman enabled him to command a remu- 
nerative salary. 

Tiie yellow fever breaking out a short time 
afterward, Mr. (iruillot left the city of New 
Orleans with a few friends and went to 
Shreveport, where, hearing exciting frontier 
stories, he e.xperienced a longing to view the 
scenes that had impressed him so forcibly. 
He and two companions walked about three 
miles into the country to the residence of a 
French gentleman, an oM settler, received 
permission of him to cut down a few sassafras 
trees from which they improvised a rude cart 
in the construction of which not one particle 
of iron appeared. They purchased an old 
horse and set out for Denton county, Texas. 
This cart afterwards sold at Fort Worth for 
$10. Being unable to speak English Mr. 
Guillot found great difficulty in overcoming 
the many obstacles that were constantly ap- 
pearing in his way, and this fact induced him 



to leave Benton county and locate at Fort 
Worth, which he did in the summer of 1850. 
There he met with Major Arnold, one of the 
most accomplisiied gentlemen and popular 
officers serving the Government in this sec 
tion of the State. The Major spoke the 
French language, and, desiring to employ a 
wagon maker for the Government, engao-ed 
Mr. Gnillot at a salary of $20 per month. 
But in consideration of the extraordinary ser- 
vices he was able to render his salary was in- 
creased to $40 per month. Wiien the troops 
were removed from Fort Worth Mr. Guillot 
left the employ of the Government and came 
to Dallas, where he embarked in business on 
his own account, keeping his shop in the 
streets. He was not long in building up a 
good business and had customers seeking him 
from a distance of 350 miles. In 1853 he 
returned to France and was married to 
Mademoiselle Prouard. a sister of one of the 
gentlemen who bore hiin company when he 
first entered Texas. He remained in France 
one year and then returned to tiie United 
States, bringing witii him four experienced 
workmen. His plans soon took shape and in 
a short time he established the first manu- 
facturing enterprise of any kind in northern 
Texas. His success was almost phenomenal 
and large profits came to reward him. In 
1856 Mrs. Guillot died, leaving as a tnemento 
a little boy. Mr. Guillot continued business 
and was very successful. In 1859 he married 
Miss Mary Mullen, who bore him several 
children. 

Mr. Guillot entered the Confederate army, 
but being a workman of great skill was as- 
signed to duty as an artisan, superintending 
the manufacture of the wag-ons that were 
turned out at Lancaster, Texas. After the 
war he resumed his manufacturincr business, 
which he carried on for four years, and then 



,r^.- 




/^-^;?&-c^^C^^^-^ 



r ' ( 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



893 



retired from active life to enjoy the fruits of 
his labor. His death occurred in Dallas, 
October 23, 1889, and was the occasion of 
universal sorrow, for all felt what it was to 
lose such a man. His widow and children 
now reside in Dallas, Texas. 



^. 



^0> 



^ 



D. ST ROTH ER, proprietor of the 
^ Union Depot Hotel, was born in Saline 
\® county, Missouri, in 1854, the fourth 
of six children born to Isaac and Susan 
(Gaines) Strother, natives of Kentucky. The 
parents were married in their native State, 
and iti an early day moved to Saline county, 
Missouri, where the father engaged in farm- 
ing and merchandising. PHs death occurred 
in Topeka, Kansas, in 1860, and the mother 
afterward moved to Warren county, Ken- 
tucky, where she died in February, 1885. 
Of their six children, three still survive: 
John W., a resident of Kentucky; R. D., our 
subject; and Isaac N., a Baptist minister of 
Nashville, Tennessee. 

The subject of this sketch, R. D. Strother, 
was reared principally in Warren county, 
Kentucky, and was educated in the district 
schools of that county. He commenced life 
for himself as a newsboy on the Louisville & 
INashville railroad, and in this way assisted 
in supporting his mother and family for two 
years. He was then appointed as general 
news agent at Sherman, Texas, by the South- 
ern News Company at Louisville, Kentucky, 
and was also publisher of the Southern Rail- 
way Guide. In 1881 Mr. Strother engaged 
in the hotel business at Dallas, and is now 
proprietor of the Union Depot Hotel. Po- 
litically, he is identified with the Democratic 
party, and socially, is a member of Dallas 
Lodge, No. 941, K. of H. He has made 

S8 



what he has by his own efforts, has dealt 
some in real estate, and now owns consider- 
able residence property in the city of Dallas. 

He was married in Louisville, Kentucky, 
in 1879, to Miss Mary C. Kamp, a native of 
Hardin county, Kentucky, and a daughter of 
William H. and Ellen Kamp, also natives of 
Kentucky. The father, a merchant of Bards- 
town, Kentucky, died in that city many years 
ago, and the mother still resides in her native 
State. Mr. and Mrs. Strother have no chil- 
dren of their own, but are rearing and edu- 
cating their niece, Susan Crabb, who is now 
attending school at Sherman, Texas. 

Mr. Strother hari witnessed the substantial 
growth of Dallas, and has always taken an 
active part in everything for the good of the 
city and county. He is an active worker for 
the Democratic party, and his influence is 
felt in every election. He has been a dele- 
gate to the Floatorial, Senatorial, Congres- 
sional and Gubernatorial cotiventions, was 
recently a Clark delegate to the noted Guber^ 
natorial convention at Houston. 

Mr. Strother's friends are numbered by 
his acquaintances, and he is well known to be 
one of the most generous and charita])le of 
men. 

ILLIAM DORAN, Dallas, Texas.— 
The trade in provisions is undoubt- 
edly one of the most important of 
the industries of Dallas, and a review of this 
city's interests would be manifestly incom- 
plete without passing mention of the popular 
and prosperous beef packing-house of the 
Dallas Packing Company, which was organ, 
ized and incorporated in 1800. Their plant 
consists of a four-story brick building cover- 
ing an area of 262 feet, fronting on Elm 
street and extendins back 120 feet. This 




894 



BI8T0BY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



was built at a cost of $78,000, and the 
machinery $75,000, tlie entire plant costing 
§175,000. Tliis comjiany is just placing an 
artesian well, the largest in the country, at a 
cost of §4,000. The capacity of the plant is 
500 cattle and 1,000 each day of ten hours. 
The plant is now running on one-half capacity, 
and on the pay roll are from seventy-five to 
100 men, principally skilled workmen. This 
plant incorporated J. S. Armstrong president, 
William Doran secretary and treasurer, and 
F. H. Doran general manager. The latter 
sold his interest to the original stockholders, 
who expect by 1892 to double the capacity 
of the plant. 

William Doran was born in Ireland in 1847, 
and it is a recognized fact that among those 
who have made their home in this county, 
the men of foreign birth have contributed 
their full share toward its development and 
prosperity. Mr. Doran was the fifth in order 
of birth of ten children born to Hugh and 
Eliza (Eulett) Doran, natives of tlie Emerald 
Isle. The elder Doran came to America in 
1849, settled on a farm in Lake county, Ohio, 
and there his death occurred in 1884. The 
mother is still living and resides on the old 
homestead in Lake county. Until fifteen 
years of age William Doran remained in Lake 
county, but after that he went to New York 
city and there learned the marble-cutter's 
trade, following this for about twelve years 
in Ohio and New York State. 

He was married in Lake county, Ohio, in 
1875, to Miss Cynthia Hine, a native of that 
county, the daughter of Homer H. and Juli- 
ette (Pue) Hine, the father a native of Young- 
town, Ohio, and the mother of Harrodsburg, 
Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Hine were married 
in the Buckeye State and were pioneers of 
Lake county, that State. The Hine family 
were originally from Connecticut, but mem- 



bers of the family came from Ohio when that 
State belonged to the Western Reserve. Mr. 
Hine was a inan of education, an attorney of 
prominence, and was also a successful agri- 
culturist. He and wife now reside in Paines- 
ville, Ohio. 

The year of his marriage Mr. Doran came 
to Dallas, Texas, and he has been directly in- 
terested with the business interests of the 
city for sixteen years. He first engaged in 
the stock business, buying, feeding and ship- 
ping, until he embarked in tbe packing busi- 
ness, which brings him in big returns. He 
has seen the rapid growth of the city of Dal- 
las and has ever taken a deep interest in all 
enterprises for the good of the same. He is 
not active in politics but votes with the Re- 
publican party. To his marriage were born 
the following children: Homer, Eliza, Jessie 
(died in 1883 at the age of three years), 
Esther (died in 1887, when five years of age), 
William, Robert Clarence and Cynthia, de- 
ceased. 

fOEL B. COOLIDGE.— This gentleman 
is a son of Aaron Coolidge,who was born 
in Massachusetts April 4, 1793. From 
his native State the father moved with his 
parents to Maine when a young man, and was 
there united in marriage with Polly Bigelow, 
a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, and a 
daughter of Joel and Mary Bigelow, also na- 
tives of that State. Aaron Coolidge con- 
tinned to farm in Oxford county, Maine, till 
1859, at which time he moved to Illinois and 
settled in Winnebago county. There he re- 
mained till his death, which occurred in 1879. 
His wife died in 1890. To them were born 
eight children, as follows: Sampson A., 
born December 8, 1818, died October 18, 
1874; Mary J., born February 29, 1820, wife 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



895 



of George H. Mariner, resides in La Crosse, 
Wisconsin; Joel 13.; Cyrus B., born June 19, 
1824, died October 3, 1845; Martha B., born 
August 20, 1826, wife of Monroe Palmer, 
resides in La Crosse, Wisconsin; Liberty and 
Freedom, twins, born May 12, 1830, the for- 
mer being a resident of Haven, Iowa, and the 
latter having died August 11, 1890; and Ann 
M., born October 1, 1884, wife of Lorenzo 
Bradford. 

Mr. Coolidge's paternal grandfather was 
Joseph Coolidge, a native of Watertown, 
Massachusetts. He served as Lieutenant in 
the Revolutionary war. The paternal grand- 
mother was Mary (Adams) Coolidge, a sister 
of John Quincy Adams. 

Joel B. Coolidcre was born in O.xford 
county, Maine, December 27, 1821, and there 
resided until he was twenty-one years of age. 
At that time he went to Boston, Massachu- 
setts, and for three years and a half was there 
employed in a hardware store; thence to 
Hallowell, on the Kennebec river, where he 
was engaged in the general merchandise 
business two years; and thence to Mason 
county, Illinois, continuing there the mer- 
cantile business two years. He then began 
farming in Winnebago county, Illinois, and 
remained there until 1S76, when he caiqe to 
Texas and located where he now lives. In 
1849 he was married to Mary White, a 
daughter of Woodson and Nancy White, 
sketches of whom appears in this work. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Coolidge h^ve been born eleven 
children, viz.: Cyrus, born November 14, 
1850, died in 1880; John R., December 18, 
1852, died October 23, 1854; Mary L., born 
March 13, 1853, died May 26, 1858; John 
R., born March 13, 1857, died October 13, 
1859, W. v., born March 19, 1859, is now a 
merchant of Lancaster, Texas; William L., 
bqrn ^^uly 1, 1861, died September 20, 1880; 



J. Monroe, born February 15, 1863, is a mem- 
ber of the firm of W. P. Coolidge &: Co., 
Mary E., born February 23, 1865, is the wife 
of Hooper Haynes, of Fisher county, Texas; 
an infant, the twin of Mary E., died Novem- 
ber 28, 1865; J. B., born May 29, 1866, is a 
member of the firm of W. P. Coolidge & Co.; 
and Alice May, born October 25, 1869, is 
now at home. 

At the age of twenty years Mr. Coolidge 
began life for himself with a capital of 
twenty-tive cents. He is now in good cir- 
cumstances, having a competency for his 
declining years. In politics he is a Demo- 
crat. The family, excepting himself, are 
members of the Baptist Church, 

^ANSEN MADSEN is the proprietor of 
the Dallas ipills located on East Main 
street. He was born in Denmark, De- 
cember 7, 1847, second of three children to 
Madsen Peterman and Anna K. (Larsdar- 
ter) Petersen, both natives of Denmark. The 
father w^s shoemaker and farmer and was 
well and favorably known throughout the 
community in whicii he lived. After the 
death of his wife in June, 1872, he survived 
her until December 17, 1890, dying at the 
age of seventy-six years. 

Hansen Madsen, the subject of this sketch, 
attended school in his native land until he 
reached the age of fourteen years, when he 
was put to work on the farm where he as- 
sited his father until he attained his twenty- 
tifth year. Notwithstanding all these years 
he so quietly spent in assisting his father he 
was of an adventurous disposition and finding 
the mother country too unenterprising to suit 
his tastes, he decided to try his fortune in 
America. He went to the city of Copenhagen 



8!t6 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



in 1873 and took passage for the United 
States and landed in New York city a few 
weeks later. He immediately started for the 
west and stopped at Sheffield, Illinois, where 
he obtained employment as a farm hand. At 
the end of one year he came to Dallas and 
found himself almost without means, but 
eagerly embraced all and any opportunities 
in the way of work and after a time succeeded 
in renting a farm, which he conducted for oue 
year, after which followed a very eventful 
and changeable life. He worked in the wood 
camps and at teaming on the different rail- 
roads, taking contracts wherever he could 
make it pay, and although was a hard and 
rough experience it taught him self-respect 
and to rely upon his own resources in every 
emergency. On December 16, 1884, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Emma Gilliam, 
the daughter of Judge Gilliam, of Mexico, 
Missouri, who was well known throughout 
that State. He was at one time master of a 
Mississippi river steamboat, making regular 
trips to the upper river country. He was 
elected Judge of the County Court, an office 
he filled for one term, and he was also County 
Treasurer one term. The union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Madsen proved to be very happy one, 
for Mrs. Madsen proved in every respect a 
help-mate to her husband, and her advice, 
when acted upon, always proved to be sound 
and very advantageous. 

In 1884 Mr. Madsen conceived the idea of 
erecting a mill for the manufacture of feed, 
but having no capital with which to procure 
the necessary machinery, lie made arrange- 
nnents with a millwright to build a small mill 
in partnership with him, and this was in time 
equipped with a small engine and feed-grind- 
ing machinery, which was afterward utilized 
to manufacture oat-meal also. A short time 
after the completion of the mill Mr. Madsen's 



partner died, and he was left anything but 
master of the situation; but, nothing daunted, 
he set to work to better his knowledge of the 
business and to improve his facilities, and by 
perseverance and experimenting, he soon ac- 
quired a practical knowledge of the calling. 
In course of time he procured a larger engine 
and thereby increased his capacity. Up to 
this time he had been doing his delivering by 
hand, his want of the necessary funds pre- 
venting the purchase of a horse and wagon, 
but after some time he was successful in ob- 
taining an old horse and wagon for delivery 
purposes, and this greatly lightened his la- 
bors and the mill at once began to pay a 
small profit. He then took another partner, 
but in a short time discovered that the busi- 
ness was not increasing; so he purchased this 
partr\er's interest, and, with the assistance of 
his worthy wife and one man, succeeded in 
successfully operating the mill. Many were 
the difficulties he encountered, but in time he 
found that his manufacturing cipacity was 
too small, and he disposed of his establisii- 
nient, which was located at 1617 Elm street, 
and moved to more commodious quarters, 
purchasing a convenient tract of land; upon 
this he erected the mill which he now 
owns. Its capacity has been increased from 
60 to 250 bushels per day, and the machin- 
ery is of the best make and is run by a forty- 
horse-power engine, the whole plant being 
now valued at $10,000. Mr. Madsen can 
well be called one of the busy and usuful men 
of Dallas, for in tlie midst of many difficul- 
ties he established himself in business and 
has built up a useful enterprise. 

He has a son, Charley R. who was born 
September 6, 1885. He and his wife hold 
membership in the Congregational Church 
of East Dallas, and in politics he is neutral. 
It is safe to say that he is always found on 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



897 



the right side of any question pertaining to 
the advancement and welfare of the city, and 
in all matters he endeavors to follow the 
teachings of the Golden Rule. 



-*J*^ 



fOHN HASH, a farmer residing two 
miles west of Lancaster, was born in 
Green county, Kentucky, September 
25, 1818, and was reared in Sangamon 
county, near Springfield, Illinois, whither his 
parents had moved when he was young. The 
latter removed from that county to Lawrence, 
then to Berry county, Missouri, in 1837, 
where they afterward died. The father, 
Philip Hash, was a native of Kentucky, a 
sou of a pioneer of that State, and of German 
descent. He served in the war of 1812, and 
also in the Black Hawk war; was an old 
frontiersman and a true patriot. Our sub- 
ject's mother, 7166 Sarah JSantz, was a daugh- 
ter of Zachariah Nantz. She was a native of 
Virginia, but was reared in Kentucky, where 
her parents had moved when she was young. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hash had twelve children, 
eight boys and four girls, but only five are 
now living. 

John Hash, our subject, accompanied his 
parents to Missouri when nineteen years of 
age, and after reaching maturity he began 
farming for himself, and was engaged in that 
occupation at the opening of the Civil war. 
His sympathies were with the Confederacy, 
and in the spring of 1861 he enlisted in 
Company F, Burns' regiment, under General 
Price, and was with that distinguished leader 
in all his operations in Missouri, Kansas and 
Arkansas, except his last expedition into 
Missouri, during which time Mr. Hash was 
on detached service under Colonel Rains. 
He came to Texas in 1863, during his terra 



of service in the army, bringing his family 
and what property was spared, but did not 
settle here permanently until the war closed. 
He bought the farm on which he now lives 
in 1866, locating there at that time. Mr. 
Hash was married in January, 1839, to Millie 
Elkins, a native of Lawrence county, Mis- 
souri, and they had five children, only three 
of whom survive: Martha, the wife of L. B. 
Whaley, of Dallas county: James P. and 
Guilford, both also of this county. The wife 
and mother died in 1851, and Mr. Hash was 
again married, in 1852, to Mrs. Martha Par- 
rott, and a daughter of Spencer Turrentine. 
The latter was of Irish descent, and for many 
years a citizen of Shelbyville, Tennessee, 
where Mrs. Hash was born. By her former 
marriage Mrs. Hash had four children: Sarah, 
the wife of Caswell Wier, of Indian Terri- 
tory; Mary E., now Mrs. Benjamin Bowman, 
of Illinois; William, of Mount Vernon, 
Missouri; and Victor, of Bell county, Texas. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hash have had three children: 
Abraham P., Alfred T. and Jane. The 
latter is the wife of Dr. E. C. Stuart, of 
Lancaster. Mr. Hash has a pleasant home, 
and the latch-string hangs out to all alike, 
and the best of entertainment awaits those 
who make his house their temporary abiding 
place. 

fHOMAS S. RAMSBY, a successful 
farmer of Dallas county, was born at 
Logansport, in what was then called 
Nacogdoches, now Shelby, county, Texas, Jan- 
uary 8, 1828, of Scotch and French extrac- 
tion. His father, Zenor Ramsby, was born in 
Rapelli parish, Louisiana, where he was also 
reared and educated. He came to Texas in 
1820, taking up his residence at Logansport, 
where he remained until the revolt of Texas 



898 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



in 1834. He then took his family back to 
LouisiMiia for safety, but returned with them 
in 1855, settling in Nacogdoches county 
Toward the close of his life Mr. Ramsby re- 
turned to the State of his birth, where, in 
De Soto parish, near Keatchie, he died, in 
1882, at the age of about eighty years. Our 
subject's mother, nee Carmalite Palbadeau, 
was born in Louisiana, and died in De Soto 
pariah, Louisiana, in 1886, at the age of 
eighty-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsby 
bad twelve children, as follows: York, who 
served in the Mexican war, and died several 
years afterward in Louisiana; Salina, who 
became the wife of Martin Watkins, and 
when last heard from three years ago was 
living in Nacogdoches county, this State; 
Alexander, who died in the latter county, 
leaving a family; Troy, who was killed in 
Ellis county, Texas, in a personal difKculty; 
Delilah, who became the wife of A. J. Briley, 
of Nacogdoches, where she died some years 
ago; Thomas S., our subject; Eli, deceased, 
when young; Arsanne, deceased, was the 
wife of James Phillips, of Louisiana; Mary 
Jane, who died at the age of eighteen years; 
Constant, deceased in infancy; Cecilia, who 
died before marriage; and Mitchell, who 
when last heard from lived in Caddo parish, 
Louisiana. 

Thomas S., the subject of this sketch, was 
reared on a farm in Louisiana, and came to 
Texas with his parents in 1855, making his 
first stop in Nacogdoches county. In 1856 
he entered the United States service as a 
ranger, enlisting in Captain Watt Norman's 
company, Colonel Bailey's regiment, and was 
on the frontier two years, mostly in what is 
now Young county, this State. He returned 
to Nacogdoches county after the expiration of 
his year and a half of service, and remained 
in that county about one year, after which he 



returned to Louisiana. In 1858 he came 
again to Texas, taking up his residence on 
the north line of Ellis county, and the next 
year he settled on the place where he now 
lives, about three miles south of the village 
of Lancaster. Mr. Ramsby's purchase con- 
sisted of 320 acres, only forty acres of which 
was then under cultivation, and the only im- 
provements was a small log house. He has 
now nearly 100 acres in cultivation, comfort- 
able buildings, and all needed conveniences. 
He has resided here for thirty-one years, 
during which time he has been engaged in 
farming, leading the plain and unpretentious 
life of his calling. 

He was married May 4, 1859, to Mrs. 
Martha Angeline Smith, a widow of Patrick 
P. Smith, and a daughter of Thomas M. 
Ellis, whose history will be found in the 
sketch of Thomas M. Ellis. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ramsby have never had any children, but 
Mrs. Ramsby has four by her former mar- 
riage, — William P. and Thomas, deceased; 
and John F. and Mary Lou, the latter the 
wife of James M. Bachelor, and both reside 
near the old homestead. 



HILIVER P. BOWSER, real-estate 
dealer at Dallas, was born in Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, March 21, 1842. 
His parents, David and Mary (Bookwalter) 
Bowser, were also natives of the Buckeye 
State. The father was a farmer of a high de- 
gree of taste, a public-spirited citizen, hon- 
est and upright, and well and favorably 
known. He died in 1882, aged seventy-two 
Years, a member of the Christian Church, as 
is also his wife, now aged seventy-eight years, 
and residing in Dallas county, where the 
family settled in 1856. Mr. Bowser moved 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



899 



from Ohio to Shelby county, Illinois, in 1849> 
and thence to Texas. Of their ten children 
five are still livinjj;. 

Mr. Bowser, whose name heads this sketch, 
the fourth-born in the above family, followed 
farming until 1867, and then merchandising 
until 1885, in Dallas county, and then began 
business in real-estate, brokerage and invest- 
ments, which he has continued to the present 
time. He has been a resident of Dallas since 
1877, and here lie has been connected with 
all the enterprises of the city, being public- 
spirited. 

He was married August 1(5, 1867, to 
Miss Jennie E. Murray, daughter of Prof. 
"W. E. Murray, deceased, of Missouri, who 
was a noted educator of that State. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bowser have one child, David Watt. 
Mr. Bowser is a member of the Christian 
Church, and is an active worker in religious 
matters and a leader in the Sunday-school. 
In politics he takes a lively interest in behalf 
of the Democracy. 

fREDERICK C. POLVOGT, a business 
man of Dallas, being a partner in the 
firm of F. W. Pellenz «& Co., at the 
corner of Poydras and Commerce streets, was 
born in Galveston county, Texas, July 29, 
1867, a son of Frederick William and Eliz- 
abeth Polvogt, natives of Germany, the father 
of Beiderfeld and tlie mother of Saxony; and 
they were married about 1850. The father, 
a baker by trade, conducted a business of his 
own in Galveston, where he lived until his 
death. He came from Germany in 1844, and 
settled at Galveston in 1866. For a time he was 
cook on a boat, and for three years he was a 
sailor in the United States navy, serving his 
time of enlistment during the late war. He 



was a member of the Catholic Church, while 
his wifewasa member of the Lutheran Church. 
He died in 1867, with the yellow fever, which 
all the family had, but fatal only with him. 
Of his eight sons and three daugiiters three 
are living: Louisa Clara Pellenz, who is re- 
ferred to in the sketch of F. W. Pellenz, in 
this work, and Willamena, wife of W. H. 
Boyd, resides in Galveston and has three 
children living: Frederick, Catherine Eliz- 
abetli and Willie H. The mother is still liv- 
ing, at the age of sixty-four years, an 
honored resident of Galveston, where she has 
lived for the past twenty-six years. 

Mr. Polvogt, whose name introduces this 
sketch, has been eminently successful in 
business, being an excellent, skilled work- 
man. He operated in Galveston a slioj-t time, 
then in Dallas, coming here in June, 1887. 
The firm of which he is a member probably 
do as much as any other in the city. 

Mr. Polvogt was married June 5, 1889, to 
Miss Mary Wilson, a daughter of Pauline 
Wilson of Galveston, who has three sons and 
two daughters, all in Galveston excepting 
Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Polvogt have two chil- 
dren, Clara Henrietta and Mary Pauline. 
Mrs. Wilson is a member of the Catholic 
Church. 



LBERT STANDLEY, a successful farm- 
er of Dallas county, is a sou of Ramey 
and Luciiida (Amick) Standley. The 
father was a native of Tennessee, but was 
reared principally in Missouri, to which State 
his parents had moved at an early date. Mr. 
Standley came to Texas in 1852, settling 
near Farmers' Branch, Dallas county, where 
he bought 420 acres of prairie and timber 
land. He cultivated 200 acres of this tract, 



flOO 



HISTORY OP DAI.LA8 COUNTY. 



erected good buildings, and remained there 
until liis deatli, which occurred in Austin 
county, while there in search of health. He 
died in 1868, at the age of sixty-live years. 
Our subject's mother was a daughter of David 
and Bettie Amick, both natives of North 
Carolina. They moved to Missouri at an 
early date, settling in Howard county, where 
Mrs. Standley was born and reared. She 
died at the old homestead in Dallas county, 
in 1855, at the age of forty years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Standley were members of the Christian 
Church, and both are buried in the cemetery 
at Farmers' iiranch. They had the follow- 
ing children: David, who died at Hempstead, 
Austin county, this State, in 1867, leaving 
a family; Wiliam Harrison, who died in this 
county in February, 1890, also leaving a fam- 
ily; Albert, our subject; Lizzie, who be- 
came tiie wife of James Thompson, of Rock- 
wall county, this State, and is now deceased; 
Alvin, who died at Boggs Depot, while in 
the Confederate service; and Enoch, a resi- 
dent of Jack county, this State. 

Albert, our subject, was born in Howard 
county, Missouri, May 10, 1852, but was 
reared tu farm life in Dallas county, Texas. 
In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate army, 
in Captain Witt's Company, Colonel Dar- 
nell's Regiment, and served one year in Ar- 
kansas and three years in Louisiana. He 
took part in the battles of Prairie Grove, 
Pleasant Hill, Mansfield, Yellow Bayou, 
Milliken's Bend, etc. He served as a private 
from the time of his enlistment until the sur- 
render, and was discharged at Houston, in 
June, 1865. After the close of the war Mr. 
Standley settled down to farm life, and now 
owns a fine place of 100 acres, lying on the west 
side of Elm fork of the Trinity river, sixty- 
five acres of which is in cultivation. He has 
neat and comfortable buildings, and the farm 



is one of the most desirable places in the 
county. 

Mr. Standley was married in August, 1867, 
to Cassle Riggs, a daughter of Stephen Riggs, 
then of Denton county, this State. They had 
three children: Charles, Susan and Lucinda. 
Charles and Lucinda both died when young, 
and Susan is now the wife of Walter Ward, 
of Alabama. Mr. Standley lost his lirst wife 
by death, and he was again married, October 
12, 1877, to Mrs. Susan Caroline Grace, 
widow of Squire Grace, of Denton county, 
Texas. Mrs. Standley was born and reared 
in Jefferson county, Missouri, but came to 
Texas in 1859, where her former husband 
died, in Denton county, in 1876. Mr. and 
Mrs. Standley have had no children, but have 
adopted two: Cambo Crawford aud Isaac 
Thomas, to whom they are much devoted. 
Mr. and Mrs. Standley are members of the 
Baptist Church at Farmers' Branch. 

fACOB METZGER, a prosperous dairy 
farmer of Dallas county, Texas, was born 
in Switzerland in 1855. He came from 
his native land to Quebec, Canada, in 1873, 
and after remaining in that country two years 
came in 1875 to Dallas county, Texas. His 
father, Joseph Metzger, is a farmer in Swit- 
zerland. His mother, whose maiden name 
was Anna Erne, died many years ago. They 
had a family of six children, namely: Carl, 
Mary, Joseph, Pauline, Elizabeth and Jacob, 
mostly all married and settled in life, and all 
in Switzerland except the subject of this 
sketch and his brother, Joseph. The latter 
is supposed to be in this country. 

Jacob Metzger was married, in Dallas, in 
1878, to Bertha Thofern, of this place. They 
have five children: William, Lena, David, 
Bertha and Carl. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



901 



When Mr. Metzcrer tirst came to Texas he 
was employed at farm work for three years. 
The following two years he cultivated rented 
land on Duck creek. Tlien he bought land 
there which he subsequently sold and invested 
the proceeds in 167 acres of land on Duck 
creek, in Precinct ^o. 3. This he farmed 
for ten years. At the end of that time he 
came to his present location, leased the prop- 
erty, started a dairy, and here he has been 
successfully conductincr the same for the past 
three years. He has about 100 head of cat- 
tle for dairy purposes, chiefly Holsteins and 
Durhams; also keeps two Holstein males. 

Mrs. Metzger is a member of the Presby- 
terian Church. Of her family we record 
that August Thofern, her father, is deceased. 
Her mother, Louise (Rotiing) Thofern, is 
still living. The father was born in Prussia, 
Germany, and was brought to this country 
in infancy. He and his wife came from 
Moniteau county, Missouri, to Texas; he 
was a farmer all his life. Their family con- 
sisted of si,x children: Bertha, wife of the 
subject of this sketch; Carrie, who married 
Thomas Tinsley, of Dallas; and Henry, 
Louisa and Gussie. 

jEV. CHARLES N. RIGGAN, the pres- 
ent pastor of the Second Methodist Epis- 
copal Church South, Dallas, was born of 
English and French parentage, in Monroe 
county, Mississippi, December 10, 1856. His 
grandparents on both sides were long-lived, 
honorable and substantial citizens of the same 
county. His early training came in the field 
in the dark days following the war of 1861- 
'65. This brought a developed muscle and 
power of endurance rather than a cultivated 
mind. At the age of eighteen he threw 



down the plow handles to take up the pencil, 
and, after eight years of struggle with pov- 
erty, graduated in the literary course at the 
University of Mississippi, with credit to him- 
self and the institution. During his four 
years' stay at the university he was never 
before the faculty as a court of correction. 
His talents were more marked in polemic 
and oratorical than other lines. He was 
awarded two first medals for elocution and 
one for essay writing. Dr. H. R. Withers 
granted him license to preach at Hope, Ar- 
kansas, in October, 1884. In January, 1885, 
he went as a supply to Caledonia station, 
Missouri, and the next year to Eden chapel 
(now Mt. Auburn), St. Louis. 

At Conference time he came to Texas, and 
has since been in the regular itinerancy in 
the North Texas Conference, except last year, 
when he taught Latin, logic, rhetoric and 
mental and moral philosophy in the North 
Texas Female College at Sherman, Texas, 
and was Chaplain to the school. 

On July 7, 1886, at Brookhaven, Missis- 
sippi, Mr. Riggan was joined by Bishop Gal- 
loway, in marriage to Miss Helen E., the 
beautiful and accomplished daughter of Mrs. 
Sallieand Dr. W. Y. Gadberry of Yazoo City, 
Mississippi. Dr. Gadberry was a leader in 
his profession, having been lecturer on sur- 
gery in the Louisville Medical College, Super- 
intendent of army and State hospitals, head- 
quarters at Oxford, Mississippi, and First 
Vice-President of the American Medical As- 
sociation. Two beautiful and promising 
children have blessed their union: Bernie 
Helen, five years, and William H., two years 
old. 

Floyd Street Church, located at Cautegral 
aud Floyd streets, is a beautiful building of 
modern st^'le, with a seating capacity, when 
well arranged, of 900. It is within a block 



903 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



of the geographical center of Dallas, in a re- 
sidence section. It is accessible to more 
homes convenient to no other church than 
any other Protestant American white church 
in the city. 

sAVID FRANKLIN CAMERON, a 
farmer and etoclv- raiser, Dallas, Texas, 
needs no introduction to the people of 
Dallas county, for he is one of the oldest and 
most esteemed pioneers of the same, having 
been a resident since eight years of age. He 
was originally from Missouri, his birth oc- 
curring in Jackson county of tliat State, July 
9, 1836, and he was the son of David and 
Susan (Wilburn) Cameron; the father is a 
native of Virginia, born in 1806 and the 
mother of Tennessee, born 1812. Both par- 
ents were of Scotch-Irish descent. The elder 
Cameron moved to Missouri at a very early 
day and assisted in building the first house 
in Independence. He was married there and 
followed farming until 1844, when he came 
to Texas. The family at that time consisted 
of six chiklren. Mr. Cameron made the jour- 
ney from Missouri to Texas with ox teams 
and was six weeks in making the jounrey. 
He took up a headright of 640 acres at 
Eagle Ford, but afterward purchased 480 
acres where his son David F. now resides. 
Here he followed agricultural pursuits and 
stock-raising, for which he found a market at 
New Orleans and Kansas. In 1857 he took 
a herd of cattle to Pike's Peak and disposed 
of them quite profitably. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Cameron were born ten children, nine of 
whom lived to be grown and seven still sur- 
vive. They are named in the order of their 
births as follows: Nancy, deceased; Chris- 
topher C, deceased; David F. ; Sarah A.; Ed- 
ward W. ; Deborah, deceased ; Thomas H., born 



in Texas; Rachel, born in the Lone Star State 
and died when six years of age; Aaron A. 
and John Henry. Mr. Cameron served as 
Justice of the Peace for many years and was 
one of the foremost citizens of the county. 
He and his wife were exemplary members of 
the Baptist Church. She died January 20, 
1880, and he followed her to the grave January 
29, 1887, after a long, useful and successfu 
life. He accumulated in this county 2,100 
acres and other property. 

Mr. Cameron, whose name heads this sketch, 
was but eight years of age when his education 
was obtained by attending school three 
months in the year and walking a distance of 
five or si.x miles. Thus it may be seen that 
his advantages were not of the best. When 
ten years of age he began driving a six yoke 
ox team, breaking prairie, and while he was 
yet a boy his father gave him an oppor- 
tunity to accumulate stock, so that when he 
was grown he had a large herd of cattle. 

On the 22d of March, 1862, he enlisted in 
the Nineteenth Texas Cavalry, and served in 
Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. He par- 
ticipated in Bank's raid on Red river, also on 
grand raid and served on scouting expeditions. 
During the latter part of the war he was de- 
tailed for duty in the Quartermaster Depart- 
ment and while serving in that capacity the 
war closed. 

On the 3d of October, 1867, he was united 
in marriage to Miss Lazane Pilclier, a native 
of Cass county, Missouri, and the daughter of 
Enos and Margaret (Miller) Pilclier, natives 
of North Carolina and Kentucky respectively. 
Mrs. Cameron was left fatherlesss when two 
years of age and in 1854 the family came to 
Texas, settling in Dallas county, where the 
mother and children now reside. Since his 
marriage Mr. Cameron has been engaged in 
farming in Dallas county, where he owns 675 



HISTORr OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



90» 



acres in bigh state of cultivation. He is one 
of the substantial and progressive men of tbe 
county and by bis good judgment and ex- 
cellent management has accumulated a com- 
fortable competency. His marriage resulted 
in the birth of two children: Emily, wife of 
W. B. Price of Grier county; and Deborah J., 
wife of Dr. W. D. Evans of Oak Clitf. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cameron have adopted a boy, David 
Ilogers, whom they took when an infant. 
Socially Mr. Cameron is a Mason and politi- 
cally he advocates the principles of Democ- 
racy. 

|LEMENT LETOT, a farmer, merchant 
ir, and stock-raiser residing eight miles 
W^' north of the city of Dallas, was born in 
the Province of L'You, France, October 22, 
1835, a son of Sylvan and Colombe Letot, 
natives of the same place. The father, a 
farmer by occupation, came to America in 
1857, accompanied by his wife and two 
daughters, and settled in La Salle county, 
Illinois. He served seven years in the reg- 
ular army in France, and four years in the 
late war in this country, as a member of 
Battery No. 24, which went out from La 
Salle county. He died on his farm in that 
county in 1881, at the age of seventy-five 
years. Mrs. Letot is still living on the old 
homestead in La Salle county. Our subject's 
sisters, Pauline, wife of Leon Hay, and 
Catherine, wife of Martin D'Veore, also re- 
side in that county. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in 
his native place, where he learned tiie trade 
of a machinist. He served in the French 
army for three years, from 1856 to 1860, was 
in the Crimean war, where he was a machin- 
ist on a large ship, spending most of the 
time during that war on the Black Sea. He 



came to America at the expiration of his 
term of service, his father's family having 
preceded him to this country by three years, 
and made his first stop at Chicago, where he 
worked at his trade. Three years later he 
went to La Salle county, where he purchased 
a farm of 640 acres of land lying on Fox 
river, about twelve miles north of Ottawa, 
the county seat. He had one of the finest 
farms in the county, but in December, 1876, 
he sold out and came to Texas, settling in 
Dallas county. He first bought 640 acres of 
land, to which he has since added until he 
now owns 1,200 acres, 900 acres of which is 
cultivated and well improved. He has a 
handsome two-story frame house, which cost 
$4,000, barns and outliuildings, and also a 
gin, which he runs during the ginning sea- 
son. Mr. Letot has a store on his farm, 
which he has been running since 1879, and 
wliich is stocked with general merchandise. 
He was married in La Salle county, Illi- 
nois, in May, 1861, to Nathle, a daughter of 
Martin Barnard, a native of that county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Letot have had the following chil- 
dren: David, who resides on his place ad- 
joining his father's; Eugenia, wife of M. K. 
Williamson, of Birmingham, Alabama; Eliza, 
wife of John Worley, of Weatherford, Texas; 
Oliver; Mattie; and May, at home. 



^. 



^ 



I^ERMANN R. NEWMAN, farmer, was 
born May 28, 1836, in Tuscaloosa 
county, Alabama, son of Thomas New- 
man, who was born in Georgia, in 1798, and 
was a small boy when his father moved to 
the State of Mississippi. His father was a 
soldier in the war of 1812. After the war 
he went to Mississippi, where he married 
Miss Mary Sparks, who was born in Mary- 



904 



HI8T0RT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



land and died at the age of forty-five years. 
Mr. Newman then moved to Tennessee, when 
Herman R. was but a very young boy. He 
brought up six chikh-en, namely: Harvey; 
Bird C, who went to California at an early 
day and has not since been heard from; Her- 
mann R., our subject; Eliza, tlie wife of 
Daniel Herrin, who died, and she afterward 
married Dow Everton; Susan, who died un- 
married; and Sarah, yet unmarried. Mr. 
Thomas Newman moved from Tennessee to 
Missouri in 1848, and in 1856 came to 
Texas, where he died, in 1863. 

Mr. Hermann R. Newman married Miss 
Carolina McDonald, July 28, 1857; she was 
born in 1838, the daughter of "William Mc- 
Donald, who came from Missouri to Texas 
in 1852. His children have been: James 
Frank; William; John; Betsy, wife of Ben- 
jamin Kirby; Sallie, wife of Harvey New- 
man; Parthena, wife of Sham Hatts; Martha, 
wife of Mr. McClain ; Mary, wife of Smith 
Corapton. 

Mr. Newman, our subject, rented fifty- 
seven acres of land, and afterward, as fast as 
he was able from time to time, purchased 
more land, until at one time he had 738 
acres; but he has since sold all but 200 
acres. On this farm he has built and now 
occupies a good residence. By diligence and 
wise judgment he has acculumated a sufli- 
cient fortune for his declining years. 

In April, 1862, he enlisted in the Southern 
army, in Colonel Burford's Regiment, the 
Nineteenth Texas Cavalry, and served during 
the war, being on detached duty most of 
the time. Was in the battles of Pleasant 
Hill, Mansfield and a number of minor en- 
gagements. During his absence in the army 
his wife managed the farm, raising wheat 
and corn. She had to give a tenth of all she 
raised to the Confederate Government. 



Three yoke of oxen were taken away by 
cotton haulers who claimed to be officers of 
tiie army, but were only speculators from the 
South, hauling cotton to New Mexico. Mr. 
Newman is a Royal Arch Mason, belonging 
to Piano Chapter, and also to the Knights of 
Honor. 

His children are; Mary, wife of Augustus 
Peavey; Parthena, wife of Mark Rainey; 
George; Sallie, wife of Henry McCallum; 
James; Emma; Dorotha; Willie and Samuel. 



C^ 



^ 



fAMES B. LOWREY whose sketch is 
given below, is a son of Mark Lowrey, 
who was born in the blue-grass region 
of Kentucky in 1791, but at an early day re- 
moved to Wiiite county, Tennessee, where he 
died in 1879. The following article is taken 
from the press where he was known for four- 
score years: "Mark Lowrey was a gallant and 
true soldier in Murdock's company in the 
Creek and Seminole wai'. He was married 
the first time to Miss Margaret Barger, about 
1813; he then settled on a farm near Sparta, 
Tennessee, where he lived till the hour of his 
death; and by industry he reared a large 
family of respected and intelligent children, 
four boys and four girls, two of wliom have 
long since passed away to their reward. He 
was a devoted husband, kind father and as a 
neighbor he was always ready to lend a help- 
ing hand; he was the poor man's friend and 
tiiere was nothing he could do for the needy 
but he was always at his post ready to supply 
tlieir wants. He was a prominent citizen, and 
an enterprising farmer and stock-raiser. He 
was for many years an exemplary membsr of 
the Christian Church, in which he lived until 
death called him home to rest with friends 
long since gone before, to rest prepared for 



HISTOHT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



905 



the people of God. In 1817 he was married 
to the widow of the late Colonel Bunch of 
East Tennessee. There was something very 
remarkable in the history of Mr. Lowrey: for 
eighty-eight long years he lived without pain 
with one exception, which was caused by his 
horse stepping on his foot. He never had 
even the tooth-ache or headache in all his 
life, and never, since he could remember, did 
he lose a meal of victuals on account of sick- 
ness until a short time ago, when he was at- 
tacked with a cancer which caused his death. 
Just before liis death, wiiile some of his chil- 
dren and friends were standino- around his 
dying bed, he told them he had no pain 
wiiatever, and calmly closed his eyes in deatli 
and passed away, and 'heard a voice from 
heaven saying unto me, right blessed are the 
dead who die in the Lord, from hence fortii, 
yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from 
their labors and their works do follow them.'" 
The paternal grandfather, Alexander Low- 
rey, was born in North Carolina and removed 
from there to Kentucky and from tliere to 
Tennessee. He was a Revolutionary soldier. 
Mark Lowrey and his wife became the par- 
ents of eight children: Barger came to Texas 
in 1851 but without unloading liis wagon re 
turned to Tennessee, but in 1888 returned to 
this State and here is now living; Finnette 
(deceased) was the wife of James M. Carrick; 
Amanda is the widow of James Scott; Amy 
(deceased in 1876) was the wife of Dudley 
Hunter; Charles died in 1888; Bettie, the 
wife of Wayman Clark is a resident of Sparta, 
Tennessee; James B. and Vance C, who died 
in 1885. James B. was born in Tennessee 
in 1823, and remained with his father until 
twenty-two years of age, when he engaged in 
merchandisintj, farming and stock-raising on 
his own account. In 1859 he emigrated to 
Dallas county, Texas, and for about two years 



was engaged in farming near Lancaster, but 
during the war carried the mail from Dal- 
las to Waco. Succeeding this he followed 
merchandising in Lancaster for about eight 
years, after which he moved to the farm where 
he now lives 

He was married in 1845, to Elizabeth 
Hunter, who was born in Tennessee, in 1829, 
the daughter of Dudley and Henriette Hun- 
ter. Mrs. Lowrey's paternal grandmotlier 
was a niece of Daniel Boone. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Lowrey five children have been born: 
Dudley B., who died in 1886, was a soldier 
in the Confederate service, enlisting between 
the ages of fifteen and sixteen years, in Com- 
pany F, Darnell's regiment, but was sent 
home on account of his age. He afterward 
joined Captain Baylor's company, Init was 
again sent home on account of his age. Be- 
ing of a determined disposition and possess- 
ing much youthful enthusiastn, he started to 
join Ross's regiment, but on his way iieard 
of the surrender and returned home. For a 
number of years he was chief clerk in the 
Comptroller's office under A. Bledsoe. Seth 
C. comes next in order of birth, then Nick 
O.; Henriette, who died in 1876; Ida H.. tlie 
widow of Dr. Thomas Little. At the close 
of the war Mr. Lowrey was the possessor of 
five cents and five children, but to day has 
about 2,500 acres of land well improved and 
and well stocked. He is a Democrat politi- 
cally. 

P. CORNELIUS, deceased, was born 
in Kentucky, July 27, 1828. He lived 
^s|^® in tliat State until he came to Texas, 
in 1848, settling where he lived until his 
death, in May, 1887. His parents lived in 
Kentucky until their death. Our subject was 
married November 23, 1855, to Miss E. M. 



906 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Horn, who was born March 26, 1836, a 
daughter of William and E. M. Horn, natives 
of Tennessee. The parents came to Red River 
county, Texas, in 1844, where they lived 
until 1849, and in that year they moved to 
Dallas county, settling about eleven miles 
south of where the city of Dallas now stands. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius were the parents of 
ten children, seven of whom are now living: 
J. W., Martha A., Maggie, A. L., P. J., 
Charles C. and Henry M. Four of the chil- 
dren ai-enow married and live in Texas. Mr. 
Cornelius was a firm believer in the Bible, 
and was at one time a member of the Chris- 
tian Church. He devoted his life to the 
rearing of stock and farming, and at his death 
left each of his children a good farm and his 
widow well provided for. 

lAPTAIN ]S. A. CARRELL, one of the 
leading citizens of Dallas county, was 
l)orn in Lawrence county, Tennessee, 
March 7, 1828, a son of Stephen and Annie 
Carrell, the former a native of Georgia and 
the latter of JS'orth Carolina. Captain Car- 
rell, one of a family of nine children, lived 
with his father until the latter's death, in 
1846. In November, 1870, he landed in 
Texas, stopping first in Ellis county, but 
after one year he moved to Dallas county and 
settled in the vicinity where he has since 
lived. Ry his honest and upright dealings 
he has won the confidence of his neighbors, 
and, as an evidence of the high esteem in 
which he is held, he was elected Justice of 
the Peace in November, 1882, and held that 
office continuously until the fall of 1890. He 
is now Notary Public for this precinct for 
the next two years, which office he holds by 
appointment under the present Governor, 



James Hogg. In November, 1861, Mr. Car- 
rell enlisted in the Confederate service, as 
Second Lieutenant of Company H, Forty- 
eighth Tennessee Regiment, under Captain 
J. N. Kirtly. In April, 1862, he was pro- 
moted Captain of his company, which posi- 
tion he held until the close of the war. , 

He was married in 1847, to Miss Maria H. 
Bailey, a daughter of John and Mary Bailey, 
natives of Virginia and South Carolina. Mr. 
and Mrs. Carrell are the parents of fourteen 
children, ten of whom are still living, and all 
are married except the youngest, Arbell C, 
who is living with her sister, Mrs. H. S. 
Williams. Mr. Carrell is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity since 1861. He is a firm 
believer in the Bible, and is one of the Stew- 
ards of the Cedar Hill Methodist Episcopal 
Church. He is the Recording Secretary of 
the Red Oak Cii-cuit of Waxahachie District 
of Northwest Texas Conference, which oftice 
he has held for sevei'al years. 



^ 



^ 



C. CAVENDER, of Dallas county, was 
l^!^ born in Williamson county, Tennes- 
" see, March 4, 1836, a son of Stephen 
Cavender, a native of Virginia. Our subject 
came to Texas in 1886, settling in the neigh- 
borhood where he now lives, where he is 
engaged in farming and stock-raising, and is 
at present the owner of some of the finest 
horses in the State. He was one among the 
first to enlist in the Confederate service, 
joining the First Regiment of Cavalry, and 
was under Colonel Bifull one year, after 
which he returned home. 

Mr. Cavender was married in 1857, to Miss 
Helena Kirk, a daughter of Hugh A. Kirk, a 
native of Tennessee. Qy this union there 
are eight children, seven of whom are still 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



907 



living. Mr. Cavender was afterward married 
to Miss Leona Estes, and tliey have had nine 
children, all of whom are still living. He is 
at present a widower with sixteen living chil- 
dren, tive of whom are married. Mr. Cav- 
ender has heen a member of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church about fifteen years. 

iR. J. A. EWING, a prominent physi- 
cian and surgeon of Dallas, Texas, was 
born in Callaway county, Missouri, 
July 12, 1847, son of William N. and Lucy 
(Maupin) Ewing, both natives of that State. 
His father was a farmer by occupation, and 
later in life was a money lender. At one 
time he was engaged in teaching school in 
Missouri. His death occurred in 1876, at 
about the age of fifty-six years. His wife 
■was thirty- two years of age at the time of 
her death. To them were born five children, 
namely: Nancy, wife of Thomas Terry, of 
Pettis county, Missouri; J. A., the subject 
of this sketch; Henry Clay, who died at the 
age of thirty-five years: Sarah, wife of 
George Kemp; and George W.,of Kansas. 

Dr. Ewing received his education in the 
common schools of Missouri. He attended 
Bellevue Medical College, New York, of 
which institution he is a graduate with the 
class of 1873. Previous* to his entering col- 
lege he read medicine with Dr. E. M. Kerr 
of Fulton, Missouri. In 1873, he came to 
Texas and established himself in practice at 
Dallas, since which time he has been identi- 
fied with the medical profession of this i)lace. 
Doctors W.H. Sutton, Johnston, Thrustun and 
Childress are the only physicians now in act- 
ive practice here who were in Dallas then. 
Dr. Ewing has been employed as examiner 
for several life insurance companies. 



He was married, in 1874, to Miss Susan 
Robberson, daughter of W. B, Miller. Her 
father is now living on Ross avenue, Dallas, 
aged about eighty-five years, her mother 
having died many years ago. The Doctor 
and his wife are the parents of two children, 
Lucy and William Gordon, aged respectively 
sixteen and fourteen years. Both parents 
are members of the Christian Church. 

Dr. Ewing has been a member of the 
I. O. O. F. since 1868. He is a member of 
the County and State Medical Associations. 
While he is a Democrat and votes with that 
party, he takes little interest in political 
matters, preferring to give his whole atten- 
tion to his chosen line of work. He is well 
read in his profession and is classed with the 
leading physicians of the country. However, 
he is enterprising and public-spirited and 
has done well his part to aid in the material 
growth and prosperity of the city of Dallas. 



[URTIS P. SMITH, one of the promi- 
HJK., nent attorneys and progressive citizens 
of Dallas, Texas, is a native of Indiana, 
born in the city of Yincennes, October 21, 
1862. His parents are Dr. Hubbard Mad- 
ison and Nannie Willis (Pendleton) Smith, 
the latter a native of Bourbon county, Ken- 
tucky. The former, a native of Clark county, 
Kentucky, is a prominent physician of In- 
diana. 

The subject of our sketch attended high 
school and academy, received the degrees of 
A. B. and A. M. from De Pauw University 
of Indiana, and in 1887 received the degree 
of LL. B. from the Cincinnati Law School. 
The same year he graduated in Cincinnati, 
he came to Texas and located at Dallas, de- 
pending on his own resources, as he had but 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



little means. In 1888 the late Judge John- 
son, at that time City Attorney, appointed 
young Smith his assistant, and in 1889 he 
frequently presided over tiie City Court as 
Judcre, under appointment of the Executive. 
In 1890 he was chosen a member of the 
Board of Education for the Fifth Ward, with- 
out opposition, and during his term on said 
board he has been an important factor in the 
educational affairs of the city. Shortly after 
his arrival in Dallas, he identified himself 
with the Board of Trade, and when the new 
incorporation of that body took place in Feb- 
ruary, 1892, Mr. Smith was unanimously 
chosen as its official attorney. At the elec- 
tion of city officers, in April, 1892, he was 
elected, without opposition, to the position of 
Alderman, on the Democratic ticket, from 
the Third Ward, which is recognized as one 
of the best wards in the city. 

Mr. Smith, at times, lays aside the law and 
takes up literary work. In the newspaper 
field he is recognized as a writer of ability, 
and articles from his facile pen are found in 
many of the leading journals of the day. In 
fraternal circles he is also popular; has held 
office in both the Masonic and Knights of 
Pythias Lodges. 

October 2, 1891, he wedded Miss Anna 
Elizabeth Renick, a lady of education and 
refinement, the winsome daughter of W. H. 
Renick, Esq., a prominent short-horn cattle 
raiser of Bourbon county, Kentucky. 

Of quick perception, broad information, 
natural business ability and genial disposi- 
tion, Mr. Smith is a general favorite with 
his large circle of acquaintances. He is in 
the line of promotion, and there is little 
doubt that a bright future awaits him. He 
comes of an honored and distinguished an- 
cestry, of which the following brief record is 
made; 



Mr. Smith's great-grandfather was Hub- 
bard Taylor, Sr., who went to Kentucky, as 
a surveyor, with General Knox, about 1777. 
He located land in Clark county, Kentucky, 
and brought his family and negroes to this 
location about 1780. His brother. General 
James Taylor, a paymaster in the United 
States army, went to Kentucky about that 
time and settled at Newport, where the Uni- 
ted States barracks were located. His 
younger brother, Reulien, emigrated to Ken- 
tucky about 1800. Hubbard Taylor, Sr., 
had four sons and four daughters. The sons 
were Hubbard, Knox, John Pendleton and 
Thomas Madison. Of the four daughters be 
it recorded that the eldest married Mr. Lane, 
a merchant of Winchester, Kentucky; the 
second was the wife of Dr. Taliaferro, of 
Paris, Kentucky; the third married a Mr. 
Tebbs, a farmer of Harrison county, Ken- 
tucky; and the youngest, Mr. Smith's grand- 
mother, Elizabetli Taylor, married Willis 
R. Smith, a lieutenant in the army in the re- 
cruiting service at Winchester, Kentucky, 
during the war of 1812. He afterward be- 
came a merchant in that town. Hubbard 
Taylor, Sr., was a first cousin of General 
Zachary Taylor's father. One branch of the 
Taylor family settled in Clark county, and 
the others in Oldham and Jefferson counties, 
Kentucky. Elizabeth (Taylor) Smith was 
connected with the Minors, Pendletons, Mad- 
isons and other old and distinguished families 
of Virginia, her mother's maiden name being 
Clarissa Minor: hence the family names 
among the Taylors of Madison, Minor, Pen- 
dleton, etc. Our subject's middle name, Pen- 
dleton, comes from his mother's side, bow- 
ever, she being a daughter of General 
Edmund Pendleton of Kentucky, whose 
father emigrated from Virginia to Kentucky 
early in the present century. He was closely 





Cor\^ 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



909 



related to the Virginia Pendletons, Edmund 
being a family name. Mr. Smith's grand- 
father, Willis R. Smith, was closely related 
to the Lee, Green and Willis families of 
Virginia and Maryland. One branch of the 
Green family (Mr. Smith's great-grandmoth- 
er's maiden name was Green) emigrated to 
Kentucky in an early day and settled in Mer- 
cer county. (Boyle county was formerly a 
part of Mercer county.) Judge Dnff Green 
and two Presbyterian ministers, Louis and 
Joshua Green, were cousins of our subject's 
grandfather, Willis R. Smith. Hubbard 
Taylor, Sr., and Henry Clay were the most 
intimate friends, although they differed in 
politics, Mr. Clay being a Whig of the 
strictest sort, while Mr. Taylor was a stanch 
Democrat. Mr. Clay was a frequent visitor 
at tlie home of Mr. Taylor. Collins, in his 
history of Kentucky, gives an extended 
sketch of Hubbard Taylor, and says of him 
that he was a great favorite among the peo- 
ple, but would never accept ofiice or he 
would have been better known. 



^l 



'^ 




HILLIAM RYAN, a farmer and stock- 
1| raiser of Dallas county, was born in 
Ireland, June 18, 1841, a son of 
Patrick H. Ryan and Mary (Harty) Ryan, 
natives of Ireland, where they died. Will- 
iam left his native country at the age of 
twelve years, and came with his uncle to New 
York city. He emigrated to Shreveport, 
Louisiana, in 1857, but remained there only 
a short time and then came to southern 
Texas, where he has been engaged in the 
stock business. In 1861 he enlisted for one 
year in Company F, Third Texas Cavalry, 

and was in the battles of Elkhorn, Spring- 
es 



Held, Corinth, and luka. He was wounded 
at Corinth and sent to the hospital at Canton, 
Mississippi, thence to Quitman, and then 
back to his command. He was on a furlough 
at the time the company disbanded. Mr. 
Ryan has improved his farm, and now owns 
125 acres in a good state of cultivation. 

He was married in Dallas county, in 1865, 
to Mrs. Ellen Mary Murray, a native of 
Indiana and daughter of Wesley M. Chenault, 
also a native of Indiana and an early pioneer 
of Dallas county. In company with Jack 
Smith and Judge Patterson, Mr. Chenault 
erected a saw and grist mill on White Rock, 
which they conducted for a number of years. 
His death occurred many years ago, in Mon- 
tague county, Texas, and his wife, Elizabeth 
(Hatfield) Chenault, died in Dallas county. 
Mr. Ryan lost his excellent wife by death, 
March 23, 1886. They had ten children, 
nine of whom are living: William Emmett, 
who is working for the Wells, Fargo &, Co.'s 
express agency, in Dallas. He began life 
for himself at the age of nineteen, teaching 
school for two terms in Dallas county. He 
was then employed by William Kelly, as 
salesman in the furniture business. His 
next business experience was with the Wells, 
Fargo & Co.'s express agency, in the re- 
sponsible position of money deliverer. The 
ability and integrity displayed by him in this 
capacity won the confidence of the company, 
who promoted him to the position of depot 
asrent, which he now tills to the entire satis- 
faction of the company and the public. He 
will, probably, continue to rise in position 
with the company. George H., the second 
son, is in the furniture business at Ardmore, 
Texas; John W. is a member of the Fire De- 
partment of Dallas; Edward died Novem- 
ber 30, 1891; James H.; Patrick; Rosa; 
Lizzie; Ilattie and Etta. 



910 



EI8T0MY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Mr. Ryan sakes an active interest in poli- 
tics, voting with the Republican party. Re- 
ligiously, he is an earnest and useful mem- 
ber of the Catholic Church at Dallas. 

fAMES F. RAMSEY was born in Frank- 
lin county, Georgia, October 6, 1835. 
His parents, Caswell and Malinda (Mays) 
Ramsey, were born in the same State and 
county, his mother's birth occurring in Sep- 
tember, 1811. They were married in 1834, 
and in 1836, the year following the birth of 
James F., they moved to Murray county, 
Georj^ia. There in 1851 the father died. He 
was a farmer by occupation. Of Mr. Ram- 
sey's grandparents, we record that his grand- 
father, James Ramsey, went from Virginia 
to Georgia in an early day; that he married a 
Miss Strong, who bore him one child; and 
that the wife and mother died when her child, 
Caswell, was two years old. James Ramsey 
was subsequently married to a Miss Christian, 
and this union also resulted in the birth of 
one child, whom they named Rachel. She 
grew up and married Joseph Keith, who died 
in 1886. Mrs Keith is now a resident of 
Georgia. Mr. Ramsey's mother has one sis- 
ter living, — Cynthia Mays. He is the oldest 
in a family of six sons, namely: James F., 
William H., Andrew K., Thomas J., Edward 
and Caswell L. 

James F. Ramsey was married December 
10, 1857, to Miss Margaret M. Stewart. She 
was born March 10, 1841, and died February 
16, 1889, at the age of forty-eight years. 
(See history of the Stewart family in the 
sketch of William W. Sebastian.) 

Mr. Ramsey was still living in Georgia 
when the war broke out. He enlisted on the 
16th of May, in Company F, Third Georgia 



Volunteers, in the Confederate army. Colonel 
Howard; was appointed Third Lietunantand 
afterward promoted to First Lieutenant. 
The six brothers all served in the war, all 
came out alive and are still living. William 
H. went in as Lieutenant and when the war 
closed had command of his regiment. An- 
drew K. was promoted to Captain. They 
were in many hard battles and only two of 
them were ever wounded. William H. was 
shot five times, but was never disabled. 
Andrew K. was shot once through the thigh. 

After i-eturning home James F. was en- 
gaged in farming in his native State until he 
moved to Texas. He started overland for 
this State on the 14th of October, 1872. He 
sent his wife by water in company with Mr. 
Sebastian, while he took charge of the latter's 
children and his own — nine in all — and made 
the journey in safety by wagon, covering a 
distance of 970 miles it. thirty-five days. He 
first landed in the city of Dallas. He rented 
land, and after he had fitted himself out for 
work had seventy-five cents left. For four 
years he continued to rent. Then he pur- 
chased a farm of 160 acres, three miles south- 
west of Garland. He afterward traded it for 
200 acres, located three miles south of Gar- 
land, and to this he has since added until he 
now owns 652^ acres of tine land, all well 
improved. After thirty years of happy mar- 
ried life his wife died. They have eleven 
children born to them, and all are now living 
except three. Their names are Franklin L., 
a practicing physician of Rose Hill; Harvey 
M., Amanda J., wife of Red Ruth,* of Dallas, 
died, leaving one child, Mary; John Marion, 
Willis S., Huston H., James, Maggie Lee and 
Mary S. 

Mr. Ramsey chose for his second wife Mrs. 
Mattie (Foster) Nash, widow of Joseph Nash, 
who was killed in a cotton gin. She was 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



911 



born in September, 1845. Her father moved 
from Barren county, Kentncky, to this State 
before the war By her first husband she had 
five children: Ora May, Samuel T., Clay C, 
Marvin V. and Josephns. Mrs. Ramsey owns 
180 acres of good land, valued at about $40 
per acre. Of late years Mr. Ramsey has 
given his attention more to stock-raising than 
to farming, having some fine Indian horses 
and Durham cattle. 

Mr. Ramsey is a member of the Masonic 
order, Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441, to 
Duck Creek Lodge, No. 304, L O. O. F., 
and of the Knights of Honor. He served 
as Deputy Sheriff five years in Dallas county. 
He and his wife are both members of the 
Presbyterian Church. xMr. Ramsey is in 
every respect a straightforward and upright 
man, and is one of the foremost citizens of 
Dallas county. 



fW, HENDRICKS, one of the most 
prosperous and energetic farmers of 
* Dallas county, was born August 2, 
1829, in Scott, Indiana, the son of A. A. and 
Sophia A. Hendricks, natives of South Caro- 
lina and Indiana respectively. They were 
married in Indiana and afterward removed 
to Illinois, where they resided until the fall 
of 1853. In that year they came to Texas, 
buying and improving the farrp on which the 
subject of this sketch now lives. The latter 
came to Texas in 1852, one year in advance 
of his father, settling at Cedar Hill, where he 
first worked for a Mr. Combis, and afterward 
bought a team of oxen and broke prairie. In 
1863, in company with his father, he bought 
193 acres, to which he has since added until 
he now owns 120 acres of the famous black 
land, one mile east of Cedar Hill, and also 
ter| acres of timber land. 



Mr. Hendricks was married November 23, 
1858, to Miss Mary J., a daughter of Bryson 
and Mary Jackson, natives of North Carolina. 
Mrs. Jackson came to Texas in 1854, and 
later moved to Johnson county, where she 
lived until her death, in 1887. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hendricks are the parents of five children, 
viz.: Annie, James, William, — and the re- 
mainder are deceased. Annie is the wife of 
S. Fulcher. On the farm of Mr. Hendricks 
is to be found a comfortable home, good 
barns and outbuildings, and everything about 
the place denotes thrift and prosperity. He 
and his wife are both members of the Cedar 
Hill Baptist Church. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

3f?Bill ^' P^^KRY, of Dallas county, was 
^uMHI ^ovn near Toronto, Canada, a son 
l"^^^^ <3> of Henry and Jane Perry, the for- 
mer a native of Ireland, and the latter of 
England. They came to Canada in their 
youth, where they were married about 1846, 
and the spring of 1858 they landed in Red 
River county, Texas. After two years they 
moved to Doaksville, Indian Territory, where 
they lived until Mr. Perry was waylaid and 
shot, February 15, 1863. About one year 
later the mother moved again to Texas, set- 
tling in Red River county, where she lived 
until the spring of 1866. She then made a 
visit of two months in Canada, returning to 
Van Buren, Arkansas, where, a short time 
after her arrival, she was deceased. W. A. 
Perry, the subject of this sketch, being the 
eldest of eight children, the care of the family 
fell to him. From Arkansas he moved to 
southwest Missouri, where he remained until 
July, 1873, when he returned to Texas and 
settled in Cedar Hill. He is a boot and shoe 
maker by trade, having served seven years as 



913 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 




an apprentice, and has also been in the United 
States service as Deputy Marshal under Dr. 
White. After landing in Cedar Hill he did 
not engage in business for about one year, 
when he opened a shop and worked at his 
trade. He has been engaged in various occu- 
palions since coming to this State, and is now 
the leading agricultural and implement dealer 
of this section of the county. 

Mr. Perry married Miss Irene E. Stewart, 
and they have had three children: Clement 
L., M»ry P., and Jessie S. Mr. Perry is a 
member of the order of Freemasons, and also 
of the Odd Fellows. 



D. McELROY, one of the most in- 
telligent and prosperous farmers of 
1® Dallas county, was born in Ruther- 
ford county, Tennessee, September 20, 1841, 
a son of M. L. and Jane McElroy, natives of 
Virginia and Missouri. The parents came 
from Tennessee to Texas in the latter part of 
1856, settling near the line of Dallas and 
Ellis counties, where they improved a farm 
of 220 acres. Here they lived until the death 
of the father. W. D., the fourth in a fam- 
ily of thirteen children, enlisted in the 
Confederate service early in 1861, Com- 
pany F, Twelfth Texas Cavalry, and was in 
active service four years. He was most of 
the time in Louisiana and Arkansas, and was 
fortunate enough never to participate in any 
of the hard-fought battles. He returned home 
immediately after peace was declared, and he 
now has a fine farm of 180 acres, twenty 
miles southwest of Dallas. He is a carpenter 
by trade and has built many of the bridges 
that span the streams of this county, and in 
connection with his trade he has improved 
his farm, and to-day stands among the 



best farmers of his section of the country. 
Mr. McElroy was married May 2, 1866, to 
Miss Hattie, a daughter of Josiah and Druy 
Culbertson, natives of Missouri, and they have 
five children. He lost his first wife by death 
September 29, 1878, and November 23, 1880, 
he married Miss Mollie, a daughter of Robert 
J. Merideth, a resident of St. Clair county, 
Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. McElroy have had 
five children. 



fM. HAMILTON, who resides on his 
farm of 333 acres fifteen miles south- 
® west of Dallas, and four miles east of 
Cedar Hill, is one of the most prosperous and 
representative citizen of this county. He was 
born in Menard county, Illinois, the son of 
Miles G. and Barbara E. Hamilton, natives 
of Virginia and Warren county, Kentucky. 
The father was reared on a farm, but later in 
life learned the trade of a brick mason. A few 
years after his marriage he moved to Illinois, 
where he resided until 1853, and October 29 
of the same year he landed in Texas, having 
made the trip from Illinois in a wagon. He 
bought 640 acres of land, whei-e he lived un- 
til his death, in June, 1889. He had pro- 
vided his sons with good homes of 160 acres 
each. 

F. M., the youngest of three sons, now 
owns and lives on his father's old homestead. 
He was yet a youth when he came to Texas, 
atid the first event of his life of any note was 
his enlistment in the Confederate army, in 
September, 1861. He was a volunteer under 
General Ross, in the Sixth Texas Regiment, 
and followed this brigade through all its vicis- 
situdes until the general surrender, when 
they disbanded and returned home. He was 
in all the famous battles east of the Missis- 
sippi river, and when he laid down his arms 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



913 



he had been present at over 500 engagements. 
He held the office of Sergeant almost from 
the beginning to the close of the war. On 
his retnrii from the scenes of battle he re- 
sumed farming, and shortly afterward, August 
10. 1865, was married to Miss Mary L., a 
daughter of Samuel Ramsey, a native of Mis- 
souri. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton are the par- 
ents of eight children, two of whom are de- 
ceased, a son and daughter, and the surviving 
children are all daughters. On the farm of 
Mr. Hamilton there is the appearance of thrift 
and enterprise, which characterizes an enter- 
prising citizen. He is a member of the order 
of Freemasons, and also of the Christian 
Church. 

jR. JAMES DRURY BOYCE, one of 
the prominent and successful physicians 
and surgeons of Dallas, Texas, was born 
in De Soto county, Mississippi, November 
14, 1855. 

His parents were James Monroe and Bet- 
tie (Patterson) Boyce, natives of South and 
North Carolina respectively. Grandfather 
Boyce died when his son James M. was an 
infant, and little is known of the latter's an- 
cestry, except that he was of Scotch -Irish 
descent. He was a graduate of Jefferson 
Medical College, Philadelphia, and subse- 
quently took a medical course at Charleston, 
South Carolina. He gained eminence in his 
profession, being engaged in the practice 
thirty-seven years, first in Lawrence district. 
South Carolina, and afterward at Byhalia, 
Mississippi; and not only as a skilled phy- 
sician, but also as a worthy citizen was he 
held in Iiigh esteem. During the war he 
was the onlj' doctor left in his locality to care 
for the sick, and he waited on the soldiers of 
both the North and the South. He was an 



honored member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. His death occurred at the age of 
sixty-three years. The mother of the sub- 
ject of this sketch died when he was quite 
young, she being forty-seven years of age at 
the time of her death. Of her ancestry lit- 
tle is known. She was a life-long member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Six 
children were born to them, viz.: C. R. ; 
Moliie; James D.; P. P.; Laura and Bettie. 
C. R., a lawyer of Fernando county, Missis- 
sippi, died at the age of thirty-nine years. 
He married Miss Mildred Boone, a relative 
of the distinguished Daniel Boone. She and 
her three children survive him. Moliie, wife 
of S. W. Mullens, of Byhalia, Mississippi, 
died at the age of twenty-nine years, leaving 
a husband and one child. P. P., a merchant 
of Memphis, Tennessee, married Miss Hattie 
Boone, a sister of his brother's wife. They 
have three children. Laura and Bettie died 
at the age of sixteen and nineteen years re- 
spectively. 

Dr. James Drury Boyce was educated in 
the University of Mississippi, graduating 
with the class of 1872. He then began read- 
ing medicine under his father — the very best 
medical tuition in the world. He attended 
the Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Ten- 
nessee, from which institution he graduated 
in 1876, after which he began the practice of 
his profession in Byhalia, Mississippi, remain- 
ing there till 1885. That year he came to 
Dallas, and since then has successfully con- 
ducted a practice iiere. He has been exam- 
ining physician for several insurance com- 
panies. He is a member of the following 
organizations: the Marshall County (Missis- 
sippi) Medical Association, Dallas County, 
Texas State and Tri-State Medical Associa- 
tions. 

Dr. Boyce was married in 1880, to Miss 



914 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Lena Wilson, daughter of Newton and Lucy 
"Wilson, residents of Pleasant Hill, De Soto 
county, Misissippi. Their union was lilessed 
in the birth of three children, Gracie, Perry 
and Lena. Mrs. Boyce died on the 8th of 
August, 1890. Her only sister, Ella, is the 
wife of P. M. Black, and resides at Pleasant 
Hill, Mississippi. Their father died in 1878, 
aged fifty-five years. He was a successful 
farmer, and was highly respected in the com- 
munity where he lived. The mother is still 
living, and makes her home with Dr. Boyce. 
She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and is a lady of many amiable quali- 
ties that have endeared her to a large circle of 
friends here. The Doctor is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church, as also was his wife. 
Politically, he is a Democrat. 

^R. LAWRENCE ASHTON, a promi- 
nent physician and surgeon of Dallas, 
Texas, who was born in King George 
county, Virginia, August 29, 1845, son of Dr. 
Horace D. and Martha (Thornton) Ashton, 
both natives of the Old Dominion. 

Dr. Horace D. Ashton, a ripe scholar and 
distinguished physician, is a graduate of the 
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, with 
the class of 1840. He still has an extensive 
practice in Virginia, although he is now 
seventy-two years of age. His wife died 
March 2, 1891, aged seventy-one years. She 
was reared in the Episcopalian faith and was 
a devoted member of that church. She was 
a granddaughter of General Stewart, of 
Eutaw Springs fame. Of the nine children 
born to this worthy couple, the subject of 
our sketch is the eldest, and one of seven now 
living, all being in Virginia, near the old 
homestead except him. The youngest brother, 



Stewart Thornton, is practicing medicine near 
Washington city. 

Dr. Lawrence Ashton had the best of edu- 
cational advantages. He received his liter- 
ary training in the University of Virginia, 
and is a graduate of the medical department 
of the Columbian University of Washington, 
District of Columbia, with the class of 1872. 
He subsequently entered the University of 
New York, where he further pursued the 
study of his profession. After leaving col- 
lege he located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 
where he at once established himself in a large 
practice. He was about four years in the hos- 
pitals of New York, and practiced in Fred- 
ericksburg fifteen years. There he enjoyed 
a large and lucrative practice, and gained 
distinction as a skilled physician. Soon after 
beginning practice he became a member of 
the Virginia Medical Society, of which he 
served as vice-president eight years, and as 
president one year. He is the originator of 
the law to regulate the practice of medicine 
in Virginia, and was on the Board of Exam- 
iners of the State for five years. He is an 
active member of the American Medical As- 
sociation, of which he was elected vice-presi- 
dent at the meeting in Chicago, in 1887. He 
is a member of the Texas State, the North 
Texas, and the Dallas County Medical Asso- 
ciations, and is a frequent contributor to va- 
rious medical journals. 

Dr. Ashton was married in 1887 to Miss 
Nannie Green, daughter of Captain Duff 
Green, the Greens being a prominent Vir- 
ginia family. Mrs. Ashton is a member of 
the Episcopalian Church. 

The Doctor has been a resident of Dallas 
since 1890, and soon after locating here found 
himself engaged in an extensive practice. 
He is keenly alive to the interests of his pro-' 
fession, and consequently finds little time for 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



915 



political matters. He is well-read on the 
general topics of the day, and is a most inter- 
esting conversationalist. 

Dr. Ashton is a member of the Elks, of 
Dallas. 

fj. PARKS, an early pioneer and promi- 
nent citizen, was born in Monroe county, 
* Indiana, July, 30, 1833, son of Curtice 
Amelia (Sharp) Parks, the former a native of 
North Carolina and the latter of Tennessee. 
These parents moved with their parents to 
Indiana when young, locating in Monroe 
county, where they were married, between 
1825 and 1830. Mr. Curtice Parks was 
brought up on a farm, was married about the 
age of twenty years, and continued to have 
charge of his father's place near EUiottsville, 
Lawrence county, Indiana. He also ran a 
mill which he built near that town in 1838. 
His parents were George and Catharine 
(Reeds) Parks, both of whom were from 
Burke county, North Carolina, settling in 
Indiana before the Indians had left there, and 
there he spent the remainder of his days. 
His wife still survives, now making her home 
with her son Curtice. 

Early in 1848 Mr. Curtice Parks disposed 
of his interest in Indiana and came to Texas, 
landing here April 1 of the same year and 
taking section of land fifteen miles south of 
the city of Dallas. At this time the county 
had never had a courthouse or jail. 

The subject of this sketch, Mr. J. J. Parks, 
labored upon the farm with his father until he 
reached his twenty-fourth year. When but 
twenty years of age he bought and paid for 
116 acres of land, which he had improved to 
some extent before his marriage. 

In December, 1862, he enlisted in the 
service of the Confederate army, in the Sec- 



ond Partisan Texan Rangers, Company C. 
(Captain Crill Miller), Colonel W. B. Stone's 
regiment and General James Majors' brigade. 
He served most of the time in Louisiana, par- 
ticipating in the resistance to General Banks' 
expedition up the Red river. He had the 
good fortune to escape without having been 
either captured or wounded. 

By hard work and untiring energy he has 
improved his farm until now he is surrounded 
with all the comforts of a prosperous farmer's 
home. He is one of the charter members of 
the Wheatland Lodge of Freemasons, and he 
is also a member of the Odd Fellows order 
at De Soto. 

He was marrred September 9, 1858, to 
Miss Margaret Elraira Elizabeth Voorhies, a 
native of Tennessee and the daughter of John 
and Angeline Voorhies, who came from Ten- 
uessee to Texas in 1851, setting in Dallas 
county near where De Soto now stands. By 
this marriage there were eight children, of 
whom five are still living, namely; Carrie V., 
wife of William Allen, near De Soto, this 
county; Ellen, wife of John Cheshire near 
Lancaster; J. C, who is married and lives in 
Ellis county, this State; Dana and Lena, 
who are still at home. In February, 1880, 
the mother of these children died, and Octo- 
ber 10, 1881, Mr. Parks married Mrs. Dora 
Wheatley, a sister of his first wife, and by 
this union there are two children: Odie E. 
and liena. 

' t > :©: <V 

HOMAS FRAMES BRENNAN, Bish- 
op of the diocese of Dallas. — The dio- 
cese of Dallas comprises all of northern 
and northwestern Texas, from Lampasas to 
Texaline and from Texarkana to El Paso. 
Bishop Brennan was born in Cameron county, 
Pennsylvania, in 1855, a son of James and 



916 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Margaret (Dunn) Brennan, both natives of 
Ireland. At an early au;e Mr. Brennan went 
to France to complete a classic education, and 
several years afterward went to Germany and 
entered the famous university of Innspruck, 
where he graduated in 1880, with the degree 
of D. D. Then he spent a year at liome. 
Altogether he was in Europe about twelve 
years. He also traveled a great deal in 
Europe, Asia and Africa. 

After his return to this country he labored 
in the diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania, as priest 
until December 21, 1891, when, by Pope 
Leo XIII. he was appointed as Bishop of Dal- 
las, — as Bishop of Northel-n and Northwest- 
ern Texas, with residence at Dallas. He is 
an eminent linguist, being able to speak in 
twenty different languages. He is efficient 
in his work, causing Catholicity to spring up 
as if by magic in this neglected region. To 
Dallas belongs the distinction of having the 
youngest bishop in the nation. 

As an illustration of his pronounced pa- 
triotism, we quote from his address delivered 
on the occasion of St. Patrick's Day the fol- 
lowing: "America's mission of freedom can- 
not be declared fulfilled till Ireland stands 
redeemed, resreuerated and disenthralled be- 
fore all the nations of tlie earth." 

Incidentally he dwelt upon Irish societies, 
and showed how many sprang up in the days 
of persecution and oppression, notably the 
Fenian Brotherhood, had been misrepresented 
and misjudged. His words in this vein are 
not quoted, but the substance shows that the 
national feeling is not likely to be outraged 
without protest from this brave prelate, whose 
love for the old land is warm with apostolic 
tire from his consecration. Pointing to the 
American flag that hung at his right hand, 
the bishop passed a glorious panegyric upon 
it and the country that it stood for. "Its 



bars," he said, "are emblematic of the blood 
that was shed under its folds for the cause of 
human liberty, and we live in the constant 
hope that this flag, or one similar to it, may 
soon float above the graves where our ances- 
tors and our heroes lie." 

The broad character of Bishop Brennan 
was more clearly disclosed in his reference to 
the religious aspect of Ireland's wrongs. 
"Some of the grandest helpers, truest friends 
of Ireland," he said, "are numbered amoug the 
Protestants, and her own people, Protestant 
as well as Catholic, have cast aside the differ- 
ences of religion and stood in the unity of 
common brotherhood for the cause of the 
Irish nation." 



irSAAC N. RANGE, a farmer of Dallas 
|n county, was born in Washington county, 
^ Tennessee, March 3, 1855, a son of John 
M. Range, who was born in the same county, 
March 27, 1820. He was married in 1850, 
to Catharine Clipper, who was born in 1834, 
and married at the age of sixteen years. 
Her father, Jacob Clipper, died at the age of 
seventy years. Isaac Range's maternal grand- 
parents have been dead several years, both 
living to a good old age. Mr. and Mrs. 
Range were the parents of sixteen children, 
viz.: Jacob B., Benjamin F., Isaac N., Mary 
E., John N., Martha (deceased), George W., 
James A. J., Sarah L., Alfred K., Kittle B., 
Thomas J., Noah, Eliza, Julia and Becks 
(deceased), il'our of the sons are now in 
Texas, one in Oregon, and the remainder in 
Tennessee. 

Isaac N. came to Texas September 9, 1876, 
when but twenty-one years of age, and for 
the first five years hired out by the month, 
when he had saved enough to buy sixty acres 
of land. Since that tinie he has been adding 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



917 



to his little farm until he now has 344 acres 
of tine land, where he has a good residence, 
and is now out of debt. He lauded here 
with just §9 in money, and besides buying 
his land he has expended several hundred 
dollars in improving his farm. Mr. Range 
was married JMovember 3, 1881, to Miss 
Fannie B. Mouser, a daughter of F. M. 
Mouser, whose sketch appears in this work. 
Mr. and Mrs. Range have four children: 
John Fred, born August 15, 1882; Willia 
Maude, October 27, 1885; Oscar N., August 
27, 1887; and Anna B., July 1, 1889. The 
parents have as yet not had the misfortune 
to lose a single member of their family. Mr. 
Range is a member of the Baptist Church, 
and Mrs. Range of the Catholic Church. 



M. RATION, of Garland, was born 
in Pickens county, South Carolina, 
^S^^*' J^uly 21, 1860, a son of Isaac Ration, 
a native of the same county. The latter en- 
listed in the Southern army, and was captured 
at Columbus, Georgia, in 1862. He was 
never heard from afterward, and was supposed 
to have died in prison. His wife, nee Har- 
riet Johnson, was born in South Carolina in 
1837, and is now living in Texas near her 
son. Mr. and Mrs. Ration were the parents 
of five children: Susan, Mark, M. M., John, 
and Eliza. 

M. M. Ration, our subject, came to Texas, 
and first settled in Wise county, where he 
rented a farm and remained two years. He 
then bought forty acres of land, to which he 
afterward added forty acres more, but after 
three years sold this place and bought seventy 
acres three and a half miles southwest of 
Garland, which was then partially improved. 
He paid $28 per acre for this land, and has 




now finished his improvements, and will soon 
be able to take life easy. 

He was married August 23, 1885, to Eddie 
Lee, a daughter of William H. Lee, who was 
born in 1847: her mother, was Eliza (Hudles- 
ton) Lee. Mr. and Mrs. Ration have two 
children: AUie May and Bessie. 



-*^ 



^i^ 




ILLIAM B. BELL, a farmer three 
miles west of Garland, was born in 
Collin county, Texas, June 25, 1864, 
a son of Baxter M. Bell, a native of Tennes- 
see. The latter came to Texas about forty 
years ago, first settling at McKinney, Collin 
county, and then in Dallas county, where he 
remained until his death, at the age of sixty- 
two years. He was married to Miss Lu 
Spurgon, who was born in Tennesse, but 
moved to this State in an early day, where 
she was married. She died in 1875, at the 
age of forty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Bell 
have had five children: Lizzie, wife of T. L. 
Eldridge, of Rockwall, Texas; William B., 
our subject; Frank, who died at the age of 
seventeen years; and Charles. The father 
was three times married, first to Miss Taylor, 
and they had two children: H. N. and Ru- 
fns A. His third wife was Rachel Spurgon, 
and they had one child, S. Houston, now livincr 
in Garland. 

William B. Bell moved to his farm three 
miles west of Garland after his marriao-e. 
which was left to him from his father's es- 
tate. 

He was married February 8, 1885, to Miss 
Mary G., daughter of Willis Blankenship, 
who was born December 11, 1834, and died 
June 9, 1878, at the age of forty-five years. 
He was married October 17, 1866, to Georo-ia 
Strother. Mr. and Mrs. Bell have three 



918 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



children, namely: Georgia L., born Decem- 
ber 17, 1885; Leona, deceased; and Frank, 
born September 16, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. 
Bell are both members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and the former is also a 
member of the Knights of Honor, Duck 
Creek Lodge, No. 2,729. 



f«||ILLIAM S. TALLY, of Garland, 
Hlff Dallas county, was born in Guilford 
l^-^&rj county, North Carolina, August 28, 
1827, a son of Obadiah Tally, who was also 
born in North Carolina, July 29, 1805. He 
was married in 1826, to Miss Sarah Parker, 
who was born July 1, 1808, and in 1831 
they emigrated to Sumner county, Tennessee, 
where they lived ten years. They next 
moved to Allen county, Kentucky, where the 
father remained until his death in 1869, at 
the age of sixty-four years and five months, 
his wife having died at tiie age of thirty-six 
years. The father was afterward married to 
Folly Eaton, who died December 24, 1890, 
at the age of eighty years. Mr. Tally was 
the father of eleven children by his first wife, 
namely: William S., our subject; Eliza A., 
wife of William Cooper; Louis F. ; Sarah J., 
wife of Henry Ragstale; David W., a twin 
brother of Sarah J.; Elizabeth G., wife of 
Stephen Dallas; Andrew J.; Adaline, wife of 
La Fayette Dallas; Mary A., who died un- 
married; Smith, also deceased; Nancy E., 
wife of Thomas Dallas. The latter is now 
deceased, leaving two children, William and 
Mary, the youngest of whom is now living 
with her uncle, William S. Tally, in Dallas 
county. 

The subject of this sketch went to Barren 
county, Kentucky, when twenty-one years of 
age, where he iiired out as an overseer for 



one year; next he rented a farm three years, 
and December 15, 1855, he landed in Dallas 
county, having but 75 cents in money. He 
rented land four years, from which he made 
enough to buy ninety-five acres of unim- 
proved land. He now has a good farm of 
112 acres of choice black land. Mr. Tally 
enlisted in Warren B. Stone's regiment in 
the spring of 1862, and served until the 
close of the war. He participated in the 
battles of Carrion Crow, Frudoce, Mansfield, 
Pleasant Hill, Peach Orchard, Maxwell Prai- 
rie, and many skirmishes. During the war 
Mr. Tally lost everything on his farm, and 
after returning home he had to commence 
life anew, but he applied himself strictly to 
business, and now has a comfortable home. 

January 22, 1852, he was married to Miss 
Virginia Duff, who was born November 24, 
1832, and they have had eight children: 
Sarah T., wife of James A. Foster; John F. ; 
Amanda A., wife of De Witt Lane; George 
W. ; James C, deceased; Richard W., who 
was robbed and murdered November 26, 
1887; Virginia F., wife of Barry Sebastian; 
and Sarah Foster, who resides near her father. 
Mr. and Mrs. Tally lived to see all their 
children married, and the former is now 
sixty-four years of age, but hale and hearty. 
Both parents are members of the Baptist 
Church. 



^ 



4-(@)-^ 



^ 



ILLIAM McDonald, a farmer and 
tUWlW stock-raiser of Precinct No. 3, Dal- 
.-^!^ las county, was born in Jefferson 
county, Tennessee, August 12, 1846, a son of 
Thomas McDonald, a native of the same 
county. The latter moved to Texas in 1852, 
where he died four years later, at the age of 
forty-seven years. He was married to Miss 
Lucinda Bell, who died at the age of forty- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



919 



five years, in the same county as her husband. 
Mr. and Mrs. McDonald had seven children: 
Alexander, vpho died in Bosque county, leav- 
ing a family of five children; Arthur W. ; 
Hannah E., wife of J. McCalough; Jane, who 
died when young; William, J. W., Thomas, 
Adaline, wife of M. M. Clark. 

William McDonald, our subject, was six 
years of age when his father moved to Texas. 
His parents botli died wlieu he was young, 
and his eldest brother brought him to Collin 
county, to live with his uncle until he was 
twenty-one years old. While there he learned 
the carpenter's trade, and afterward worked 
on his own account as a contractor. After 
his marriage he worked at his trade, and also 
improved a farm of 100 acres, to which he 
has since added until he now owns 160 acres. 
Mr. McDonald started out in life with 
nothing but his trade, but was not long in 
gathering up enough to buy him a nice little 
home, which he has well cultivated and im- 
proved. He is a young man in years but old 
in knowledge. 

He was married March 18, 1877, to Miss 
Mary Strother, who was born June 15, 1861, 
and was the eldest child of Joseph S. Strother. 
Mr. and Mrs. McDonald have four children: 
Marvin V., Bertie E., Ethel and Yivian. Mr. 
McDonald is a member of the Masonic order. 
Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441, and both he and 
his wife are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. 



-»>;«_ 



*-^- 



I^HOMAS UHL.— This gentleman re- 
sides on his fine farm of 675 acres, 
W located nine miles south and two miles 
west of Dallas, and is ranked with the pros- 
perous and representative citizens of Dallas 
county. 

Mr. Uhl was born in Allegany county, 



Maryland, February 24, 1840, son of Archi- 
bald and Leo (Fleckinger) Uhl. At the 
age of nine years Thomas Uhl was left 
an orphan, his mother dying and his 
father going to California. The family had 
moved to Macoupin county, Illinois, and after 
his mother's death he lived with different 
parties, working in summer and attending 
school in winter, generally doing the chorea 
to pay for his board. In this manner he 
obtained his education. Having heard of the 
great advantages this country afforded, in 
the fall of 1858 he came South, bringing with 
him a herd of sheep for his brothers, Samuel 
and A. J. He remained here till about the 
middle of winter, when he returned to Illi- 
nois, making the trip from Duncanville to 
St. Louis on mule-back, taking with him a 
number of mules for his brothers. Having 
received a favorable impression of Texas, he 
returned South in the fall of 1859. After 
coming back he worked for his board with 
Mr. H. K. Brotherton, and attended school 
three months, at the end of which time he 
hired to Mr. Brotherton and remained with 
him till the fall of 1861. He then enlisted 
in what was originally Colonel B. W. Stone's 
regimeixt, Company F. In the spring of 
1862 the command was reorganized and 
Colonel Ross was chosen commander. Pre- 
vious to its reorganization the command 
operated in Arkansas and the southwestern 
part of Missouri. On Christmas, 1861, 
they had a fight with the Indians on 
the headwaters of the Arkansas river. In 
April, 1862, they crossed the Mississippi 
river, and served in the States east of that 
river until the close of the war. In the spring 
of 1865 Mr. Uhl was sent home on f urloutrh. 
where he remained till the general surrender 
a few months later. 

After the war he began farming and dealing 



920 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



instock, buying cattle, sheep, mules and horses, 
and driving thein to Mississippi and Louisiana 
for market. He was the second man to fat- 
ten and market cattle in this section of the 
country. A portion of his land Mr. Uhl 
obtained through his marriage, but the greater 
part has been gained by his own skill and 
industry. It was all wild when he came into 
possession of it, and now all is fenced and a 
large portion under a high state of cultivation. 
In January, 1890, he began the dairy busi- 
ness on a small scale, and at this writing he 
has one of the finest dairies in the county. 
His home is an attractive one, and here he is 
surrounded with all the comforts of life. 

April 10, 1867, Mr. Dhl was united in 
marriage with Miss Emily Branson, who was 
born in Sangamon county, Illinois, the daugh- 
ter of Thomas and Louise (Cole) Branson. 
(See Mr. Branson's biography in this volume.) 
Mr. and Mrs. Uhl have had three children, 
one dying in infancy. The others are "W. 
Sterling and Leon Fox. 



^n.- 



^^ 



IRAWFORD TREES, deceased, was born 
in Union county, Illinois, December 26, 
1823, a son of Jacob and Catherine 
Trees, natives of Germany. The parents 
came to the United States in an early day, 
being among the tirst settlers of the State of 
Illinois. Crawford, the youngest of their six 
children, lived with his parents until became 
to Te.Kas in 1845. He settled on the farm where 
his widow now lives, in what was then known 
as Peters' Colony. In 1846 Dallas county 
was organized, and Mr. Trees was the first to 
obtain license to marry in the county. In 
1849 he left his family for the gold fields of 
California, where he spent the greater part of 
two years, and as a reward for his adventure 



he returned in the spring of 1851 with sev- 
eral thousand dollars in gold. With the ex- 
ception of the two years spent in California 
his life was devoted to farming and stock- 
raising, and by hard work and conservative 
dealings he amassed quite a fortune. Before 
his death, January 31, 1889, he deeded to 
each one of his children a farm of 160 acres, 
and at his death he left all his possessions to 
his widow, which amounted to about $40,000, 
consisting of 3,858 acres of land, stock and 
cash. He lived to see what was a wild prai- 
rie, inhabited mostly by wild animals, con- 
verted into one of the finest farming sections 
in the State. 

In 1846 Mr. Trees was married to Miss 
Annie Kimmel, a daughter of Daniel and 
Catherine Kimmel, who were of German de- 
scent. Mrs. Trees was born December 12, 
1831, and when only fourteen years of age 
she came with her mother to Texas, her 
father having died in 1842. She is one of 
three children that came with her mother 
from Illinois in 1845, and settled on the farm 
where she now lives. Mr. and Mrs. Trees 
had ten children, viz.: Catherine, Beatrice, 
David, Philip W., Samuel H., Crawford, 
Texanie, Mary E., Lee and George W., all 
of whom Mrs. Trees has lived to see married 
except Lee, who still resides with her. 



-^ 



^*l 



!«*- 



[APTAIN MID PERRY, a successful 
farmer of Dallas county, was born in 
Jefferson county, Indiana, December 
15, 1814, a son of Franklin and Rebecca 
(Harbison) Perry, natives of Virginia. The 
parents were both reared in Kentucky, and in 
1800, they moved to Indiana, settling in Jef- 
ferson county, three miles from the Ohio 
river. In 1817, they removed to Polk 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



921 



county, Illinois, six years later to Greene 
county, that State, where the father died in 
1840, at the age of sixty-five years, and the 
mother in 1865, aged eighty-nine years. Mr. 
Perry in early life followed the stone mason's 
trade, bnt was a fanner later in life, and 
always lived on the frontier. The parents 
had ten children: Sarah, Eliza, Melinda, 
Western, Mary Jane, Franklin, Rebecca, Mid, 
Roderick Randolpli and Alexander Wilson. 

Mid Perry, the subject of this sketch, was 
reared mainly in Greene county, Illinois, where 
he received a limited common-school educa- 
tion. September 26, 1844, acconipattied by 
his wife, his brother-in-law, Jones Greeve, 
and his family, he started for Texas. They 
made the trip with teams, reaching Lamar 
county on the north line of the State after 
five weeks, and settled on Pine creek, near 
Paris, the first week in November. Captain 
Perry had made a previous visit to Texas in 
1837, coming as far as Red river and Lamar 
counties, but there being no settlements fur- 
ther AVest he did not penetrate the interior. 
At the time of his second coming, there was 
only a settlement or two in Dallas county, 
and Mr. Perry thought it best, therefore, to 
leave their families in Lamar county, while 
they looked over the country. They came on 
to Dallas county in the spring of 1845, and 
bought 320 acres of land each, from Judge 
E. L. R. Patton, of Brazos, lying on Ten 
Mile creek, about three miles east, and a lit- 
tle south of where the village of Lancaster 
now stands. About the same time they each 
took a headright for 640 acres of land in the 
same locality, after which they returned to 
their families in Laraar county. In Novem- 
ber of the same year, they brought their 
families to this county, settling on their 
claims, and Captain Perry still resides on the 
land which he took at that time. His and 



his brother-in-law's families were the only 
ones in tiiat locality at that time, although 
four or five settlers had located about three 
miles south of where Lancaster now is, and 
other families soon afterward came. At that 
time there were no roads in the southern part 
of the county, except the trail to Dallas, and 
the one between the straggling chain of set- 
tlements on Ten Mile creek. Captain Perry 
brought supplies with him to last a year, 
anticipating that these would be hard to pro- 
cure; but there was a small store, however, at 
Cedar Spring, near Dallas, erected by Perry 
Overton. Mr. Perry has followed farming 
and stock-raising all his life, and, with the 
exception of the ofiice of County Commis- 
sioner, which he held for two years during an 
early day, he lias never accepted any public 
ofiice. He entered the Confederate army in 
March, 1862, as a member of Company I, 
Eighteenth Texas Cavalry. He organized 
that company, mostly from his neighborhood, 
and took it into service. He resigned his 
position as Captain only a short time before 
the regiment was captured at Arkansas Post, 
Arkansas. Captain Perry was in the service 
one year in Arkansas, one year along the 
Gulf, and came home in February, 1864, and 
served with the Home Guards until 1865. 

He was married in Greene county, Illinois, 
March 10, 1842, to Ellen M. Ellis, daughter 
of Thomas M. and Mary Ellis, a sketch of 
whom appears in this work. Mr. and Mrs. 
Perry have had seven children: MoUie, wife 
of Bruce Brazil, of Cleburne, Texas; Mar- 
garet, wife of Woodson White, of Dallas 
county; Lenora, now Mrs. J. E. Stout, of 
Quinan, this State; Albert L., of Greer 
county, Texas; William Yancy, of Lancaster, 
Dallas county; Lura and Middleton Lee, at 
home. Captain Perry bears the reputation 
of being one of ths most successful men in 



928 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTT. 



the southern part of Dallas county, upright 
in all his dealincrs, and exceedingly kind and 
accommodating. He and ids wife are mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church, as are also their 
four eldest daughters. Mr. Perry has heen a 
Mason for more than thirty years, having 
joined the first lodge that was ever organized 
at Dallas, and also assisted in organizing the 
first lodge in Lancaster. 



^sf; ILLIAM FLEMING, one of the 
early settlers and prosperous fanners 
l-=^ifeS of Dallas county, Texas, was born in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, April 6, 
1820. His parents, William and Sarah (Mc- 
Kinney) Fleming, were natives of Armagh 
county, Ireland, and on the Emerald Isle 
they were married and had three children 
born to them. In 1819 the family emi- 
grated to the United States, first settling in 
Hagerstown, Pennsylvania, where they lived 
for three years; thence to Circleville, Ohio. 
The father was a weaver by trade and followed 
that business in Pennsylvania and Ohio. 
Alter living in Circleville two years he moved 
to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where he took up 
the trade of coopering, which he had learned 
in his earlier days. Two years later he moved 
to Louisville, Kentucky, continuing work at 
the cooper's trade there one year. Next we 
find him at Harmony, Indiana, where he 
worked two years at the cooper's trade ; thence 
to Mount Vernon, Indiana, and a year 
later to Golconda, Illinois. He afterward 
lived at Alton and from there moved to Exe- 
ter, same State, where he and his wife died. 
They were the parents of eight children, four 
sons and four daughters: William, born in 
Ireland, died in infancy; Thomas, a native of 
Ireland, came to the United States with his 



parents, lived with them until they moved to 
Exeter, where he married and lived until two 
years ago, dying at that time and leaving a 
family of six children; Jane, also a native of 
Ireland, is the widow of Joe Smith and lives 
in Scott county, Illinois; William, the subject 
of our sketch, was the first of the family born 
in America; Mary Ann is the widow of Sam- 
uel Shaw and resides in Beardstown, Illinois; 
Sarah, wife of W. B. Landrum of Mount 
Vernon, Missouri, died, leaving five children; 
Isabella, wife of George Mills, resides with 
her husband in the State of Washington. 

William Fleming learned the cooper's trade 
in his boyhood and worked at it with his 
father until he was twenty years old. He 
then went to Wilmington, Greene county, 
Illinois, and established a cooper shop for 
himself, where he worked about three years. 
At that place he married his first wife, Al- 
bina Rawlins, in September, 1840. She was 
a native of Cole county, Illinois, and a daugh- 
ter of William and Eu])hanie (Martin) 
Rawlins. 

Early in the fall of 1846, Mr. Fleming 
sold out and started for Texas, and on 
October 6, in company with eleven other 
families, landed on Ten-mile creek, fourteen 
miles south of where the city of Dallas now 
stands. Here he laid a patent on 640 acres of 
land. During the first year of his stay on 
this place he lived on corn bread, water and 
wild meats. Their only means of grinding 
corn was with the old fashioned mortar and 
pestle. 

By his first wife, Mr. Fleming had seven 
children, of whom only one survives: S. C. 
Fleming, — the others having died in infancy. 
His second marriage occurred with Mrs. 
Zelda Knox, September 28, 1890. She was 
the widow of Albert Plesson Knox, by whom 
she had two children. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



923 



Mr. Fleming has by his own exertion 
gained what of this world's goods he now 
possesses. lie owns 320 acres of his original 
holdings, having given the other 320 acres to 
his son. He is a member of the Christian 
Church and worships at the old Rawlins 
Church on Ten- mile ci'eek. 



fRANCIS M. BEAVER, a farmer of pre- 
cinct No. 3, Dallas county, was born in 
Gwinnett county, Georgia, October 16, 
1835, the twelfth child in his father's family. 
(For history of his father's family, see sketch 
of J. T. Beaver.) Francis remained at home 
wfth his mother, his father having died when 
lie was small, until after his marriage, after 
which he rented land and continued to farm 
i;ntil after the war. He enlisted in Company 
F, Twenty-fourth Georgia Regiment, and 
served for four years. He was wounded in the 
left shoulder at the battle of Spottsylvauia 
Court House. He participated in twenty-two 
regular battles, and was in four engagements 
at Seven Pines, Virginia, and in the battles 
at James' farm. Savage Station, second battle 
of Manassas Junction, second battle of Bull 
Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, White Post, 
second engagement at Chancellorsville, Pe- 
tersburg, Strawsburg, Gettysburg and the 
Wilderness. Mr. Beaver enlisted as a private, 
and was first promoted Regimental Drummer, 
next Orderly Sergeant, then Third Lieutenant, 
at the battle of the Wilderness vvas promoted 
Second Lieutenant, receiving his commission 
in time of the l)attle. He was captured but 
once, and then made his escape. After the 
war he returned home and continued farming 
until 1883, after which he lived one year in 
this State with his brother, but returned to 
Georgia, and one year later came again to 
this State with his family. Shortly after his 



arrival he bought his little farm, and in con- 
nection with this operates a gin-mill. 

Mr. Beaver was married March 15, 1853, 
to Emily C. Dass, of Forsythe county, Geor- 
gia, and daughter of Jarrett and Elizabeth 
(Thompson) Dass. The father was born Feb- 
ruary 10, 1810, and the mother May 5, 1813, 
Mrs. Beaver has one brother and three sisters 
living, viz.: Martha, wife of William Bruce, 
by whom she had one child, William, and 
she was again married to Thomas Bell; Nancy, 
wife of Leander Pace. Mr. and JV^rs. Beaver 
have had seventeen children, only three of 
whom survive, viz.: Joseph G., who resides 
in Georgia; Andrew, of Dallas county; and 
John W., also of this county. The parents 
are both members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South, and the former has filled sev- 
eral small offices in the I. O. O. F., Duck 
Creek Lodge, No. 444. 



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fHARLES H. TIPPETT, of Mesquite, 
Dallas county, was born in Hookins- 
ville, Georgia, September 1, 1864, the 
youngest of eight children of Abner L. and 
Cynthia (Whaley) Tippett. The former was 
born in Washington county, Geoi-gia, in 1822, 
and died at the age of fifty-six years, and the 
latter is still living in Georgia, at the age of 
seventy years. The father was a mechanic by 
occupation, and as such served in the South- 
ern army until the close of the war. After 
the death of his father our subject lived with 
his mother until fifteen years of age, and 
then served as an apprentice to learn the print- 
er's trade about three years; next he went to 
Florida and worked in a sawmill four years, 
then he returned home and engaged in farm- 
ing; in 1887 he went again to Florida and re- 
mained until December, 1887, and returned 
home December 18, 1888; January 28, 1889, 



934 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



he went to the mountains in Arkansas. May 
24, of the same year, he came to Mesquite, 
Dallas county, and worked for wages the first 
year, after which he bought his present tine 
farm of 216 acres. 

Mr. Tippett was married to Mrs. Kate C. 
Thompson, nee Crumhy, who was born No- 
vember 23, 1865, a daughter of William and 
Elizabeth (Beeman) Crumby. Tlio father was 
born August 10, 1820, and the mother July 
22, 1824, and they were married August 17, 
1854. Mrs. Tippett has three brothers and 
one sister, but Hustus is the only one now 
living, the others having died in childhood. 
Mr. Tippett has two brothers now living: 
John T. and William Albert. The former 
is now living in Georgia, and the latter in 
Florida. Mrs. Tippett had one daughter by 
her former husband, Eliza Olive Thompson. 



--^xn/Uh- 



■q/l/in^^ 



fAMES B. FRANKLIN, a resident of 
Dallas, Texas, is one of nine children 
born to James B. and Louisa (McKin- 
ney) Franklin. The father came to Marshall, 
Texas, in 1835, from DeKalb county, Ala 
bama. His death occurred in Collin county, 
this State, in Nftvember, 1887. The mother 
was originally from South Carolina. She 
was married to Mr. Franklin in Marshall. 
They moved from there to Upshur county 
and thence, in the fall of 1861, to Collin 
county. She, too, died at the latter place- 
her death occurring December 26, 1873. 

Of their children be it recorded that James 
B. was born in Marshall, Texas, in 1844. 
He came to Dallas from Collin county in the 
spring of 1867. He has been twice married. 
November 11, 1877, he wedded Ida Moss, of 
Dallas county, and by her had one child that 
died in infancy. July 11, 1882, he was 



united in marriage with Belle Bowen, also of 
Dallas county. They have no children. 
While in Collin county he was engaged in 
the cattle business. Since then he has been 
interested in mercantile pursuits in Hens 
rietta and Dallas, but at the present writing is 
not actively engaged in any business. He is 
a member of the Baptist Church, and his 
political views are in harmony with Demo- 
cratic principles. William W. Franklin, born 
in Marshall. Texas, was married at that place 
to Margaret Wright, by whom he has eight 
children. They reside near Leonard, Collin 
county. Benjamin M. Franklin, also a na- 
tive of Marshall, lives at Mineral Wells, 
Texas. He married Melissa Dobkins, of 
Collin county, and has one child. Mary R. 
Franklin, a native of Upshur county, Texas, 
was married in Collin county to Charles Con- 
nolly, of Lamar county. Her death occurred 
January 19, 1891. Mr. Connolly is now a 
resident of Erath county. John M. Frank- 
lin, born in Upshur county, was married in 
Celeste, Hunt county, this State, and has one 
child. He and his family are residents of 
Ardmore, Indian Territory. Joseph A. Frank- 
lin, born in Upshur county, is now a resident 
of Collin county; is married and has two 
children. Octavia, a native of Upshur 
county, has been twice married and is now a 
widow, residing in Greenville, Hunt county, 
Texas. She has two children, one by each 
marriage. Louise, native of Upshur county, 
and is now the widow of Benjamin Shaw. 
She has three children; lives in Jones county, 
Texas. Mattie, born in Collin county, was 
married there, and died, leaving no issue. 

The following refers to the family of Mrs. 
James B. Fianklin, wife of the subject of 
this sketch: 

Ahab Bowen, father of Mrs. Franklin, was 
born in Granger county, Tennessee, in 1807; 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOUNTT. 



925 



went to Polk county, Missouri, where he en- 
gaged in fanning and also carried on mer- 
cantile pursuits; removed from Polk county 
to Arkansas in 1862; thence, in 1864, to 
Collin county, Texas; and in 1865 to Dallas. 
At the latter he was engaged in mercantile 
business for several years. He owned twelve 
acres of land here, wliich lias been divided 
amoncr his children. He was married in 
March, 1832, in Tennessee, to Mary L. Early, 
who died August 7, 1889. They had a fam- 
ily of nine children, all natives of Polk 
county, Missouri. Their names with brief 
mention of each, are herewith Ejiven: Sarah 
C. was married in Polk county to W. C. 
Akard, who was subsequently a merchant in 
Dallas, Texas. He died in Calvert, leaving 
three children: Coleman B., a banker at 
Montrose, Colorado, married Ollie Heifner, 
of Shreveport, Louisiana; W. C, of Dallas, 
married Gertrude Staley, of Springfield, Mis- 
souri, and has one child, Fred A.; and Sarah 
C, wife of A. C. Daniel, of Dallas, has one 
child, Lillie. John W. Bowen, a resident of 
Dallas, has been twice married. \iy hjs first 
wife, nee Sidney Lacey, he had two children: 
Clinton and John; by his second union, witl^ 
Lizzie Britton, of Louisiana, he lias one child. 
William W. Bowen was first married in Polk 
county, Missouri, to Mary Goss, by whom he 
had seven children: S. Price; Walter A.; 
Ida, who married Jarnes Austin, of Dallas, 
and has one child: AHie, who married E. T. 
Overad, Dallas, and has two childi-en: May, 
Booker and Mack. His second wife is Jennie 
(Wilkins) Bowen, of Waco, and by her he has 
three children. Elizabeth C. has been twice 
married. By her first husband, B. F. Lacey, 
of Polk county, Missouri, she had two chil- 
dren: Rosa Belle, deceased, and Ed. F. 
Lacey, of Dallas. By her present companion, 
General G. Worthington, of Dallas, she has 

60 



one child. Jennie is the wife of J. T. Boren, 
Dallas: their seven children are: Lucy, wife 
of A. L. Ledbetter, Dallas county, has one 
child; Charles F., deceased; William A.; 
Annie L.; J. Edgar; Ben E. and Arthur Lee. 
Henry Booker married Alice Easley, has live 
children, and lives in Antelope, Jack county, 
Texas. Adeline was first married in St, 
Louis, Missouri, to William Harlje. By her 
second marriage, to A. M. Thompson, of 
Dallas, she had three children, two of whom 
are living: Rosa and Hugh. Fannie, wife of 
B. J. Jackson, of Kentucky, has no children. 
Belle, wife of the subject of this sketch. 

ON. CHARLES FREDERICK 

TUCKER, an eminent jurist and es- 
teemed citizen of Dallas, Texas, was 
born September 18, 1847 He is descended 
from a family which has furnished to the bar 
of this country many eminent lawyers. His 
parents were the Hon. Alpheus L. Tucker, 
late of Franklin, Louisiana, and Maria Susan 
Thonjas, the former for many years a leader 
of the bar of southern Louisiana, who repre- 
sented his parish in the Senate and Lower 
House of the State Legislature for several 
terms, and who acted for fifteen consecutive 
years as Mayor of Franklin. He was not 
only an able lawyer and eloquent orator, but 
was distinguished for his genial disposition, 
open-handed charity and upright cliaracter. 
He died in Franklin, in 1885, aged sixty- 
seven years, his loss casting a gloom over an 
entire community, which knew and appre- 
ciated his worth. The mother of the subject 
of his sketch died in 1852. She was a lady 
of superior attainments, great culture and 
refinement, who added to her intellectual 
accomplishments the charm of a kind heart; 



926 



HiarORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



who was eminently fitted to be a companion 
to a person of ber luisband's acknowledged 
ability and worth. 

Judge Tucker, whose name heads this no- 
tice, spent his early childhood in Franklin. 
At the close of the war, in 1865, he entered 
the freshmen class at Austin College, in 
Huntsville, Texas, where he remained until 
the close of the session of 1866-'67, having 
passed througli the freshmen, sophomore and 
junior courses. On leaving that institution 
he pursued his studies two years in the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, graduating in several of 
the academic schools ot that well known 
seat of learning. 

On his return to his home in Louisiana he 
entered his father's office, where he studied 
law for three years, and was admitted to the 
bar of the Supreme Court of Louisiana in 
July, 1872. In April, of the following year, 
he sought the opportunities afforded in a 
newer and less crowded locality, locating in 
Dallas, Texas. Soon afterward he entered 
into a law partnership with Colonel AVilliam 
E. Hughes, with whom he continued until 
1875, meeting with gratifying success in the 
practice of his profession, and soon acquired 
a leading position at the Dallas bar. On the 
creation of the Forty-foui'th Judicial District 
in 1889, upon the recommendation of the bar 
of Dallas, he was appointed Judge of the 
District by Governor Ross. At the expira- 
tion of his term of office in 1890, he was 
elected without opposition as his own suc- 
cessor for a term of four years. 

He was married in December, 1874, to 
Miss JMary Sydnor Jones, an estimable lady, 
a native of Galveston, a daughter of the late 
Colonel Gustavus A. Jones, and a grand- 
daughter of the late Judge John B. Jones, a 
distinguished Judge of the Republic of Texas, 
and a granddaughter, on her mother's side. 




of John S. Sydnor, for many years a leading 
merchant of Galveston. They have three 
sons and one daughter. 

In politics Judge Tucker is a Democrat. 



ILLIAM P. ARMSTRONG was born 
in Augusta county, Virginia, in 1839, 
son of William Armstrong, who was 
born at the same place, April 19, 1794, both 
father and son being farmers by occupation. 
The senior Mr. Armstrong was merging 
into young manhood when the war of 
1812 broke out, and in answer to his 
country's call he entered the army as a 
private soldier, serving u-ntil he was lion- 
orably discharged. In 1822 he married 
Mrs. Sarah (Sheltman) Smith, a widow. By 
her first Misband she had one child, Elizabeth, 
who became the wife of Samuel Wallas. Mrs. 
Armstrong died in Texas, at the age of fifty- 
four years. William Armstrong moved from 
Virginia to Morgan county, Indiana, in 1841. 
In 1852 he came to Texas and settled in 
Dallas county, where he purchased a large 
tract of land, located about two miles and a 
half northeast of Garland. He there lived 
and larmcd till the time of his death, which 
occurred at t!.e age of ninety-one years. He 
and his wife were the parents of eight chil- 
dren, the subject of our sketch being the 
sixth-born. John is now a resident of Moran, 
Allen county, Kansas; George died, leaving 
a family of five children; Franklin was the 
third- born, and the next in order were Robert 
and William P; Martha J. is the wife of 
George Canatsay; Drauah married William 
Nelson; Mattie was first married to Nat. 
Potter, who died, leaving her with three 
children; she subsequently married R. H. 
Mallabone, by whom she i)ad two children. 
Her death occurred April 13, 1891. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



927 



William P. Armstrong was about thirteen 
years of age when his father moved from In- 
diana to this State. They made the journey 
in wagons and were about hfty days on the 
road. 

Mr. Armstrong was married (October 29, 
1859, to Miss Anna Parker. After his mar- 
riage he began farming on his own account. 
When the war broke out he enlisted in the 
Fifteenth Texas Regiment, Colonel Sweet; 
but was soon discharged on account of ill 
health. He afterward regained his health 
and again enlisted in the army, serving until 
the close of the war. Returning to his home 
and farm he again took up the peaceful occu- 
pation of farming, in which he is still en- 
gaged. He owns a nice 200-acre farm near 
Garland. 

Following are the names of the children 
bo)-n to Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong: Charles 
Crawford, deceased; Sarah and Minnie, also 
deceased; Franklin, and Elizabeth. Mrs. 
Armstrong is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South. Mr. Armstrong is 
associated with the Masonic order, being a 
member of Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441. 

A. JACOBS dates his birth in Inde- 
pendence county, Arkansas, December 
'i* 17, 1845. For the history of his par- 
ents see tl^e sketch of John C. Jacobs, in this 
volume. 

After his mother's death Mr. Jacobs was 
taken to his aunt in New York, and she 
cared for him until he was grown. When 
the Civil war came on he enlisted in the 
Union army, as a member of the Fourteenth 
Vermont Regiment, First Army Corps, Third 
Division, and served one year, participating 
in the battles of Fredricksburg and Gettys- 



burir, besides several skirmishes. His brother, 
John C, was in the Confederate army. The 
term of his enlistment expiring, Mr. Jacobs 
returned to his home in New York. He 
then spent one year in Virginia, after which 
he traveled for a machine company for several 
years, and came to Texas in 1887. 

Mr. Jacobs was married while in New York, 
December 19, 1867, to Catherine Osterhoudt. 
She died August 31, 1880, leaving no issue. 
He was subsequently married to Mrs. Anna- 
bell Troop, a widow with one child, and a 
native of Tennessee. By Mr. Jacobs she had 
one child, Katy J. His second wife departed 
this life in September, 1867. On the 28th 
of August, 1888, he wedded Margaret Dan- 
iels, of Humphreys county, Tennessee. 

After locating in Texas Mr. Jacobs rented 
land of his brother, John C. He was success- 
ful in his farming operations, made enough 
mimey with which to purchase land, and is now 
the owner of the 155 acres on which he lives. 



-^^uxn/b- 



^^ 



^Ifl/l/x^^ 



OSAN COX, who for many years has 
been a resident of Dallas county, Texas, 
lives in the town of Fisher, Precinct 
No. 1. Her parents were Benjamin and 
Fannie (McKinsey) Chenoweth. She came 
from Missouri to Texas with her mother and 
brother Joseph, her father having died while 
making preparations for the journey. The 
mother died in February, 1872. 

In 1859 she was married to Jesse Cox, son 
of William and Ruth (Dixon) Cox, early set- 
tlers of this neighborhood, they having come 
here from northern Missouri in 1845, when 
Jesse was about nineteen years old. To them 
one child was born, Fannie A., who is now 
the wife of James A. Williamson, and has 
two children: Ina L. and James C. Mr. 
Williamson is a farmer, came here from 



928 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Hickory county, Missouri, and he and his 
family now reside with Mrs. Cox. 

Previous to his marriage to the subject 
of our sketch, Jesse Cox was married, Octo- 
ber 1, 1850, to Rosanna McComas, sister of 
John McComas, and by her had three chil- 
dren, two of whom are still living, namely: 
John "W., a resident of Williamson county, 
Texas; and Ruth Ann Seals, wife of James 
Seals of Johnson county, Texas, has five 
children. 

Jesse Cox was a farmer by occupation, and 
owned 300 acres of land. The homestead 
farm com[)ri8es lifty-three acres, and is 
devoted to the production of cotton. Mr. 
Cox served eighteen months in the Mexican 
war. During the late war he enlisted in 
Colonel Stone's regiment, and was in cavalry 
service in Louisiana. His death occurred 
January 16, 1865, of disease caused by ex- 
posure in the army. He was a member of 
the Masonic fraternity. 

The parents of Mrs. Cox had eleven chil- 
dren, whose names, with brief mention of 
each, are as follows: Rachel married David 
Wood, and resides in Missouri. James mar- 
ried Matilda Moss, of Tennessee. He died 
in 1886 and liis wife the following year, leav- 
ing a family of eight children.; Tliomas lives 
in Wise county, Texas, is married, and has 
seven children; Mary; Cassandra married I. 
T. Mitchell, of Indiana, by whom she has 
two children. After his death she came to 
Texas, and is now a resident of Collin. 
Betsey married J. L. Derryberry, of Polk 
county, Missouri, and their union was blessed 
with seven children. She is deceased. Sarah 
married H. A. Derryl^erry, of Polk county, 
Missouri. Tliey are now residents of Wise 
county, Texas, and have seven children. 
Susan Cox, subject of this article. Rebecca 
fnarried S. H. Hardnick, of Virginia. They 



are now living in Denton county, Texas. 
Joseph married Rebecca Crawford, of Denton. 
They live in Collin county, Texas, and have 
a family of nine children; Missouri I. mar- 
ried Land Smith, of Missouri, their marriage 
occurring in Dallas. She is now a resident 
of this |)lace. He died, leaving her with 
four children. 



^ 



'^ 



DWARD C. BECHTOL, of Mesquite, 
Dallas county, was born in Frederick 
county, Maryland, June 10, 1860, a 
son of Daniel Bechtol, who was born on the 
same farm as his son, January 13, 1824. He 
was a farmer and stock-raiser l)y occupation, 
and lived in his native State fifty. two years. 
He served three months in the Union army, 
and at the close of the war became to Texas, 
and in April, 1876, brought his family to 
this State. He has one brother, John Bech- 
tol, now living, and three sisters: Eli^abetli 
Ringor, of tlie State of Washington, and 
Catherine Kifower still resides in Maryland, 
Mr. Bechtol was married in 1846, to Miss 
Mahala Boser, andthe former is now a mem- 
ber of the Lutheran Church, and the latter 
of the Reformed Church, and strictly live up 
to their faith. 

Edward C, the sixth of a family of seven 
children, came with his parents to Texas at 
the age of sixteen years, and lived with his 
father until his marriage. He then began 
farming for himself on rented land, but after 
three years bought eighty acres, paying $10 
per acre, which he immediately began im- 
proving and cultivating. He now has fifty- 
eight acres in cultivation, which is worth 
about $40 per acre. Mr. Bechtol started in 
life with only a common-school education and 
no money, but has since made rapid progress, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



929 



and since his marriage he has applied him- 
self to study, and there are few who are bet- 
ter posted in the matters and polities of his 
own country. 

He was married October 14, 1877, to Miss 
Sarah Jane Willinghatn, a daughter of Se- 
bron D. and Amanda (Florence) Willing- 
hatn. The father was born in Alabama in 
1828, and the mother in August, 1839. Mr. 
Willingham moved to Texas the year of his 
marriage, settling in Smith county, where he 
lived until his death in 1866. They were 
the parents of four children, viz.: Florence 
E., deceased; J. K. ; Sarah and I. J. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bechtol are the parents of 
three children: Sebron D., John L., and 
Charles Isaac Wesley. The parents are both 
members of the Baptist Church. 



^ 



^ 



I AVID FLORENCE, a farmer of Dal- 
las county, was born in Lincoln county, 
Georgia, March 2, 1834, a son of 
David Florence. Our subject lived in his 
native State until eight years of age, and 
then moved with his parents to Benton 
county, Alabama, and next to Talladega 
county, where he remained until reaching 
maturity. He was then employed by James 
Henderson as overseer for four years, and 
then, December 24, 1856, he landed in Texas, 
where he rented land the first year, and then 
bought the farm of 140 acres which he had 
rented, paying $4 per acre. After one year, 
he sold this place, after which he again rented 
land until the breaking out of the war, when 
he enlisted in Company D, Fourteenth Regi- 
ment, General Walker's division, and com- 
manded by Colonel Clark. He participated 
in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Mans- 
field, Pleasant Hill, James' Ferry, etc., and 



was one of seven of his company of fourteen 
who escaped death or wounds. 

After the war Mr. Florence returned home, 
and later moved his family to Van Zandt 
county, where he bought a farm of 370 acres 
for $500. He lived there twenty-two years, 
and in the meantime bought a farm of 100 
acres in Dallas county, after which he sold 
his 370 acres, and in 1880 moved his family 
to this county. He immediately improved 
this place, to which he has since added 
another 100 acres, and now owns 200 acres 
of fine land ten miles from the city of Dal- 
las. Mr. Florence was married in Alabama, 
December 19, 1852, to Miss J. A. McAife, a 
daughter of Henderson and Sarah (Stephens) 
McAffe. The parents had nine children, viz.: 
William, Marry, Ky., Samuel, Sarah, Eliza, 
Henry, Amos and J. A. The latter is the 
only one of her father's family now liv- 
ing in TexAs. Mr. and Mrs. Florence have 
had seven children, only three of whom sur- 
vive: Martha Jane, deceased ; Georgia Ann; 
Eliza, wife of J. H. Somer; Elisha, deceased; 
Appalton, wife of J. G. Dewberry; Asa C, 
deceased; and Simon. The parents are both 
members of the Baptist Chui-ch. 

fW. ALLEN, farmer and stock-raiser, 
Wheatland, Texas. — Every community 
® is bound to have among her citizens a 
few men of recognized iniluence and alnlity, 
who by their systematic and careful, thorough 
manner of work attained to a success which 
is justly deserved. Among this class is Mr. 
Allen, who has been identified with the in- 
terests of Dallas county since 1871. He was 
born in Page county, Virginia, July 11, 
1841, and his father, Moses Allen, was also a 
native of that county and State. The grand- 



930 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



father, Gilbert Allen, was also a native of the 
Old Dominion, but the great grandfather; 
Archie Allen, was a native of Ireland and 
came to this country in the eighteenth cen- 
tury. Grandfather Allen participated in the 
struggle for independence. Our subject's 
ancestors settled on Goiny Mannon, which is 
still owned by the Allen family. Moses Allen 
was a distiller by occupation and married 
Miss Eliza Mannel, who was of English de- 
scent and the daughter of John E. Mannel 
and granddaughter of Wingate Mannel, both 
natives of Virginia. Wingate Mannel served 
all thi'ough the Revolutionary war as did also 
his father. To Mr. and Mrs. Moses Allen 
were born two children, — our subject, who is 
the elder, and Chancey, of Rockwall, Texas. 
Mrs. Allen now resides with our subject, and 
although seventy-two years of age is strong 
and vigorous to a remarkable extent. 

J. W. Allen remained on the farm and 
assisted in the arduous duties of the same 
until twenty years of age, receiving only 
about seven months of schooling until ten 
years of age. In June, 1861, he enlisted in a 
company commanded by Captain L. Brecken- 
ridge, who was with Colonel Fremont in his 
western expedition, and remained with the 
same until the following December, when he 
was captured at Mount Zion. He was ex- 
changed three days later, and in March, 1862, 
he joined the Fourth Missouri Battalion un- 
der Major McFarland in southwest Missouri, 
and participated in a fight with the Kansas 
Jayhawkers, in which our subject's company 
came out victorious. His battalion was con- 
solidated with Johnson's battalion on the 1st 
of May, 1862, making the Fourth Missouri 
Volunteers. Mr. Allen was made Sergeant 
Major of the regiment, receiving the pro- 
motion for meritorious conduct at Spring 
Creek, where he saved the Major's life, and 



he continued in that position until May, 1863. 
After the battle of (Corinth, his and the First 
Battery were consolidated, forming the First 
Missouri Infantry. At the siege of Vicks- 
burg Mr. Allen surrendered with his regi- 
ment July 4, 1863. 

He then left the service and went to St. 
Charles, Missouri, where his mother was 
then living, and resided there from August 
UTitil September 25, when he went to New 
York city. He took passage at that point 
for San Francisco, California, and arrived in 
that city on the 17th of April, 1864. He be- 
gan mining, followed it for two years, and 
then superintended a farm for the same length 
of time. He also operated a threshing 
machine and hay-presser, and met with much 
success in the latter. He returned East in 
December*, 1868, and was in Missouri from 
1869 to 1870, engaged in farming and deal- 
ing in beef cattle, and also operated a thresh- 
ing machine. In May, 1871, he started for 
Texas, remained in Grayson county one 
month, and from that time until June, 1872, 
he was in Ellis county. At the last mentioned 
date he came to Dallas county, engaged in the 
lightning-rod business, and followed this for 
eleven years, when he engaged in the manu- 
facture of endless-chain pumps and in the gro- 
cery business. Mr. Allen was married Janu- 
ary 14, 1873, to Miss Mary Moss, daughter 
of A. Moss, and shortly afterward settled 
in Dallas, where he followed his business until 
November 27, 1884. While a resident of 
that city his liberality and warm hospitality 
was well known. At the above mentioned 
date he moved to his farm, which he had 
purchased in 1882, and which consisted of 
320 acres of wild land, and he now has one of 
the finest farms in the county. He has a large, 
square residence, two-stories in height, and 
the lovely lawn surrounding it is dotted here 



HiarOBY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



931 



and there with shrubs and ornamental trees. 
Mr. Allen is quite deeply interested in stock- 
raising, horses and cattle, and among the tor- 
mer has some fine trotters. He and Mrs. 
Allen are members of the First Methodist 
Episcopal Church of Dallas, of which he has 
been Trustee for ten years. 

To this marriage were born nine children, 
five surviving; James William, Maud Olive, 
Martam, Sims and Mary Stevens. Effie, the 
eldest child, died when ten years of age, and 
three died in infancy. Aside from his exten- 
sive farm Mr. Allen owns considerable prop- 
perty in Dallas, land in Johnson county and 
mineral wells. 

j^LAUDE A. COUR, secretary of the 
foK Dallas Fair and Exposition Association, 
W^ also Alderman of the Seventh Ward of 
Dallas, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 
November 29, 1858, a son of C. T. A. and 
Ann G. E. (Marshall) Cour, the father a 
native of the northern part of France, and 
the mother of Indiana. The parents were 
married in Piqua, Ohio. The lather was a 
merchant by occupation, but is now retired, 
and is well and favorably known, being a 
pioneer of forty years' standing of that city. 
They are members of the Catholic Church. 
Twelve children were born to this union, ten 
boys and two girls, of whom our subject was 
the third in order of birth. The lives of 
these good old people tell of the true courage 
of man and woman, who planted new homes 
in the land where the savages still roamed; 
who by the physical vigor of body and of 
limb felled the forest and subdued it to the 
plow, and the tireless thrift which would be 
content with nothing short of the brightest 
civilization and the broadest enlightenment. 



To all such the present generation owes a 
debt of gratitude which can hardly be com- 
puted. 

The subject of this sketch was educated in 
the Notre Dame, and also in Fort Wayne, 
Indiana. After completing his education he 
was engaged in business with liie father 
several years before coming to Texas, as 
accountant and stenographer. He came to 
this city in 1879, being the first stenographer 
who held an office in this city, and was en- 
gaged in various business houses until 1886, 
when the Fair and Exposition was inaugu- 
rated. Mr. Cour has been with this orccani- 
zation since its conception, and has been its 
secretary the past four years. He has done 
much to bring it to its present high standing, 
being now one of the most phenomenal suc- 
cesses of all fairs in the State. They have 
about 300,000 visitors, which speaks of its 
success and popularity as a growing institu- 
tion, and an important enterprise of the city. 
They have a plant which cost, in the way of 
location, improvement, etc., about $500,000. 
The president of the company is J. E. Snider; 
secretary, C. A. Cour; vice-president, J. N. 
Simpson; and treasurer, J. S. Armstrong. 
The Fair and Exposition is open from Octo- 
ber 17 to October 30, inclusive. The author- 
ized capital of the Dallas Fair and Exposition 
is $100,000, and is on a solid footing in every 
particular. 

Mr. Cour is keenly alive to the benefit of 
all the important enterprises of the city, and 
stands well to the front in all such that 
promises good to the community. He was 
elected Alderman of the Seventh Ward in 
1892, takes an interest in politics, and is in 
every way a worthy and esteemed citizen. 
He was married in 1882, to Miss Mary Agnes 
Andrews, a daughter of Charles and Susan 
Andrews, of Quincy, Illinois, and originally 



932 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



from Alexandria, Pennsylvania The father 
was killed in the late war, being a soldier 
from Illinois, and the mother died in 1868. 
Mrs. Cour has one sister living, Susan An- 
drews, a resident of St. Louis. Our subject 
and wife have bad three children : George E., 
Mary E. and Claude A. Both parents are 
members of the Catholic Church. Mr. Cour 
is a man of great push and energy, and has 
ever been one of those public-spirited citizens 
BO necessary to the progress of any com- 
munity. 

[EORGE L. McFALL, a planter, Dun- 
canville, Dallas county, Texas, has re- 
sided here since 1875. He is a native 
of Maury county, Tennessee, born February 
5, 1816, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Furge- 
son) McFall. His father was a native of 
Georgia and of Scotch- Irish ancestry, while 
his mother was born in North Carolina, of 
"Welsh descent. They moved to Tennessee 
at an early period, and subsequently located 
in southern Kentucky, where they passed the 
residue of their lives and died at a ripe old 
age. 

George L. spent his youth on the farm and 
received his education in subscription schools 
that were held in the primitive log school 
houses of that period. He remained with 
his parents till he was eighteen years of age, 
when be engaged in the mercantile business 
in Kentucky, which business he followed 
there for eight years. He was married in 
July, 1844, to Miss Sally Ann Burnett, a 
native of Kentucky and a daughter of B. J. 
and Leslie (Moore) Burnett, natives of Vir- 
ginia and of English descent. In 1840 Mr. 
McFall went to Louisiana, where he was em- 
ployed as agent on a sugar plantation for fif- 
teen years. In 1861 he enlisted as private 



in the array, and served for a titne iu Louisi- 
ana. He was subsequently promoted to First 
Lieutenant of a Texas company and took 
charge of prisoners that had been captured 
from General Banks at the battle of Mansfield. 
He remained in the service until the close of 
the war, after which he located in Louisiana. 
From there he came to Dallas county, Texas, 
and purchased 400 acres of wild land tea 
miles southwest of Dallas, and went to work 
in true pioneer style in improving his land 
and making a home. A visit to his fine farnx 
with its well cultivated acres, its large peach 
orchard and its beautiful residence and at- 
tractive grounds, will convince one that his 
efforts have not been in vain. Indeed, his 
home is one of the finest in the county. 

Mr.and Mrs McFall have had three children. 
The oldest died at the age of eight years and 
the other two died in infancy. Mr. McFall 
is associated with the Farmers' Alliance. He 
is one of the influential citizens of this com- 
munity, and is highly respected by all who 
know him. His wife is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

W. OVERTON was born on the old 
Overton homestead in Dallas county 
Texas, April 6, 1859, youngest son 
of W. P. Overton, of whom mention is made 
on another page of this volume. He was 
reared on the farm and received a common- 
school education. He remained at home as- 
sisting his parents on the farm until he at- 
tained his majority. He was married May 
11, 1881, to Miss Polly Willick, a native of 
Wisconsin and a daughter of William and 
Sophia (Weapot) Willick. Her parents were 
natives of Germany, were married in the old 
country and came to the United States, first 




BISTORT OF DALLAS COUlSTy. 



933 



settling in Wisconsin and later in Illinois. 
After a residence of twelve years in the latter 
State they came to Texas; subsequently re- 
turned to Illinois and a short time later came 
back to Texas. Mr. Willick died in Texas 
in 1876, and his wife in 1888. After his 
marriage Mr. Overton settled on his present 
farm, 100 acres of improved land, all under a 
high state of cultivation, and here he has 
since been engaged in farming and stock- 
raising. He and bis wife are the parents of 
of four children, three of whom are living: 
Carl Perry, Albert Lee and Cassie. Freddie 
Alvin died when eighteen months old. 



^. 



^ 



AVID WATERS is the fortunate pos- 
sessor of a fine farm of 500 acres and 
is a progressive, wide-awake farmer 
and is actively alive to the issues of the day. 
He is a son of Daniel and Mary (Brown) 
Waters: the former is a native of Mississippi, 
who moved to Arkansas in an early day and 
from there to Texas, where he died, in 1861, 
at the age of forty years. He was a farmer 
and stock-raiser by occupation, and in politics 
was a Democrat. He and his wife became 
the parents of the following children: David; 
Mattie, now the wife of Mr. Duncan of An- 
gelo; and Daniel, who is married and lives on 
a farm belonging to the subject of this 
sketch. 

The latter was born in Dallas county, 
Texas, in 1856, but in early childhood was 
taken to Missouri, and when five years of age 
ins father died. In 1863 his mother married 
a second time, becoming the wife of Samuel 
Jones, and David remained with them until 
he was thirteen years of age. He then re- 
turned to Dallas county, and when he reached 
this section he had but 25 cents and was poorly 



clothed. He first secured emyloyment with 
A. Dawdy, and in a few years he had accu- 
mulated enough means to buy forty acres of 
land, after which he began farming, stock- 
raising and trading. 

In 1875 he was married to Miss Sarah 
Sawyer, who was born in Missouri, in 1859, 
but their union was consummated in Texas, to 
which State she came to make a home with 
her uncle, W. Flemming. She has borne her 
husband seven children: Melvina,Metta, Will- 
iam, Lee, Fred, Wood and Myrtle. Mr. Waters 
is identitied with the 1. O. O. F. He has al- 
ways been interested in the public welfare 
and as a farmer is considered thrifty and cap- 
able. He has 250 head of horses and cattle 
and has always been interested in stock rais- 
ing. His wife is an earnest member of the 
Christian Church. 

~'^/^^^^■^^^^^^ 

LFRED BYRON FLOYD, a frugal, en- 
terprising farmer and one of the county's 
law-abiding and progessive citizens, was 
born in Illnois, in 1848, and while an in- 
fant was brought to Texas by his parents, 
with whom he remained until he was twenty- 
eight years of age. He then engaged in farm- 
ing and stock-raising for himself, in which 
business he has since continued. After the 
death of his brother David, he purchased his 
farm of the heirs, at once took possession, 
and this has been his home ever since. In 
1876 he was married to Miss Katie Bass, a 
a native of Texas and daughter of D. S. and 
Emeline Bass, who were born in the famous 
blue grass region of old Kentucky, from 
which State they moved to Texas, first locating 
in Freestone county, later in Henderson county 
and from there to Dallas county, in 1868. 
Mr. Bass departed this life in 1878, and, hav- 



934 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ing been a useful citizen, active in his sup- 
port of charitable enterprises and thoroughly 
honorable in every particular, his death was 
a source of deep regret to his family and 
numerous friends. 

His widow now resides near Hutchins. A 
family of seven children have been born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Floyd: Lillian E., born Janu- 
ary 10, 1878; Leslie D. was born December 
l,"l878; Lela, born March 5, 1880; the 
fourth child died in infancy; Essie May was 
born November 17, 1884; Vera N. was born 
February 19, 1888; and Stella E., July 16, 
1890. Mr. Floyd's industry has been re- 
warded by the accumulation of a competency 
for him in his declining years, notwithstand- 
ing his having lost heavily by fire a few years 
since. He is a supporter of the principles 
of Democracy but gives his preference to the 
good character of the candidate, at the ex- 
pense of the party. 



fACKSON BELL, a well known farmer 
and stock-raiser residing in precinct No. 
5, has been identified with the interests 
of Dallas county, Texas, since October 20, 
1854. 

Mr. Bell dates his birth in Lee county, 
Virginia, January 28, 1822. He was the 
seventh son and the ninth child in the family 
of eleven children of Dalton and Margaret 
(McCowen) Bell, the former a native of Eng- 
land and the latter of Scotland. Her parents 
were married in the old country and a few 
years afterward emigrated to America and 
settled in Virginia. The father was a Bap- 
tist minister, and besides preaching the gos- 
pel was engaged in the manufacture of spin- 
ning wheels. In 1824 he moved westward 



with his family and settled in Monroe county, 
Indiana, where he turned his attention to 
agricultural pursuits. He died there in 1832, 
and his wife passed away three years later. 
The children were all at home and unmarried 
at the time their parents died, and ten of them 
lived to be grown, Jackson being the only 
one now living. After the death of his par- 
ents he was bound out to learn the carpenter's 
trade, and served an apprenticeship of nine 
years and three months. At the end of that 
time he engaged in business for himself, and 
continued thus employed in Indiana until 
1854. 

June 11, 1843, Mr. Bell was married to 
Miss Esther J. Fatten, a native of Wythe 
county, Virginia, and a daughter of Henry 
and Katy (Grub) Patton. She went to In- 
diana with her parents when a child, and 
before she was grown her mother died and 
her father was subsequently married to a 
second wife, the children by his lirst marriage 
finding homes for themselves elsewhere. On 
the 11th day of September, 1854, Mr. 
Bell, accompanied by his wife and three chil- 
dren, started for Texas, and made the journey 
in a wagon drawn by horses, arriving in 
Dallas county on the 20tli of October. While 
en route to this State they lost their eldest 
daughter and buried her at Preston, on the 
Red river. At first Mr. Bell rented a farm 
near Hutchins and afterward one near where 
he has since lived. In 1869 he purchased 
forty- two acres of wild land and has since 
cultivated it. Besides this he has 1,200 acres 
in Bachel county, which he pre-empted as a 
stock ranch. All these years he has been 
extensively engaged in stock-raising, and for 
fifteen years has been raising sheep, which 
industry has proved a profitable one. During 
the war Mr. Boll served in the Confederate 
army for nearly a year. In June, 1S68, lie 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



935 



was taken with a spinal disease and was tluis 
disabled from active duty. 

Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Bell, seven are still living. Margaret Eliza- 
beth died at the age of ten years; Joseph 
Henry is a resident of Brown county, Texas; 
James Simon resides in this county; the 
others are, Mary Catherine, Indiana, Jane, 
Esther Laura and Robert Ephraim. 

Mr. Bell is in politics a Democrat, and he 
and his wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

^JIAELES S. SWINDELLS, notary and 
Tf. and book-keeper for Pitman & Harri- 

fi sou, is a native of Dallas county, born 
August 25, 1865. His parents were John 
and Minerva H. (Crutchtield) Swindells, na- 
tives of New York and Kentucky, respect- 
ively. The father, who was a printer all his 
life, came from Norfolk, Virginia, to Dallas, 
Texas, in 1852, and bought an interesi in the 
Dallas Herald, buying it for Mr. Latimer. 
He was connected with this paper, having 
several successive partners until 1875, when 
he sold his interest to Messrs. Fox, John F. 
Elliott and Hall, and then traveled for the 
Herald for some time. In 1876 he was 
elected to carry the electoral vote of Texas to 
Washington. He had several opponents, but 
defeated them. During the war he served 
as Adjutant of the regiment for a time. 
He was Executive Clerk in the office under 
Governor Hubbard, of Texas, serving dur- 
ing his term of office. He was Assistant 
Secretary of the Fifteenth Legislature; 
and was Calendar Clerk of the Sixteenth 
and Seventeenth Legislatures. He was in 
the Comptroller's (State) office for two years; 
and later on was appointed Chief Clerk 



of the Insurance Statistics and History- 
Department of the State, dying while serving 
in this capacity in October, 1884, aged fifty- 
nine. He was a member of the Episcopal 
Church. The parents of his wife were 
Thomas F. and Francis Crutchtield, of Ken- 
tucky, most worthy people, and many of their 
virtues are transmitted to their grandchildren 
who were nine in number, as follows: Eugene 
W., resident of Dallas, traveler for Dorsey & 
Company, dealers in printers' supplies. He 
had the contract for State printing for a num- 
ber of years, and had the largest printing 
office in the State at that time. He is a man 
of good business qualitications. The next 
child is Fannie B., wife of Ben W. Austin; 
our subject; Archie K., connected with the 
Crescent News Company; LoUie Nellson, a 
school girl of Dallas. The remainder died in 
infancy. The mother is still living, aged 
tiftytwo, is an accomplished lady and a mem- 
ber of the Episcopal Church. 

Our subject was educated, for the most 
part, in the printing office, attending business 
college several terms, at Austin and Dallas. 
He worked in the printing office most of the 
time until he was twenty-three years of age, 
except during two sessions of the Legislature, 
the Sixteenth and Seventeenth, when he was 
page in the Senate. He was a special favor- 
ite with many of the leading Senators. 

Leaving the printing office he engaged in 
the real-estate business until January, 1892, 
when he began keeping books for the firm of 
Pitman & Harrison, and has continued at this 
business ever since. 

He was married in April, 1888, to Miss 
Mamie T. Snodgrass, whose parents died 
when she was quite young. She was reared 
by her aunt, Mrs. Jennie Blair, of Dallas. 
Mr. and Mrs. Swindells have two children, 



936 



HISTORY OP DALLAS GOUNTT.] 



the pride and joy of their parents' lives, viz.: 
Minnie H. and Marguerite Annis. 

Mr. Swindells is a member of the First 
Presbyterian Church of Dallas. He takes a 
warm interest in Democratic politics. He is 
a man who is largely self-educated, but is most 
thorough and competent in business and cal- 
culations. He occupies a high position in 
the community. His father was a celebrated 
man before him, as the publisher of the 
Herald, which had the largest circulation of 
all papers in the State for years. He was 
ever keenly alive to the interests of Dallas, 
and had much to do in the shaping of the 
legislation of the city; and what the city 
of Dallas is to-day is mainly due to his efforts. 
It would not stand to reason that a son of 
so intelligent a man, who was noted for 
his business ability, would not occupy a 
prominent place in the history of Dallas; 
and that he is destined to do, to judge by 
present indications. 

fOSEPH W. JOHNSON, of Garland, 
Dallas county, was born in Cherokee 
county. North Carolina, March 28, 1840, 
a son of Wesley Johnson, a native of North 
Carolina. He was a farmer by occupation, 
and lived in his native State until 1865, when 
he moved to Yell county, Arkansas, where lie 
died at the age of sixty-three j'ears. His 
wife, nee Sallie Black, was born in Bun- 
combe county. North Carolina, and died in 
Yell county, Arkansas, at the age of seventy- 
seven years. She lived to see her children 
reach years of maturity, and all married 
except one, who is deceased. Their chil- 
dren were as follows: John; Robert; Susan, 
wife of "Woodford Bumgomer; Burton, de- 
ceased; George; Jane, wife of M. D. Kim- 



brough; Thomas; Joseph; Margaret, wife of 
Mansell West; James; Vandever, deceased; 
and Melissa, wife of Thomas Noblet, deceased. 

Joseph W., our subject, moved to Georgia 
when a young man, where he remained until 
after the war. He enlisted in the Third Bat- 
talion of Georgia, and served from June, 
1861, until the surrender of Lee, and was 
promoted Second Sergeant of his company. 
At the close of the war he returned home, 
and later moved to Yell county, Arkansas, 
where he engaged in farming eight years. 
He next moved to Texas, landing in Dallas 
county, March 5, 1878, and settled five miles 
east of Garland, on Kowlet creek. After one 
year he moved to near Garland, rented a farm 
two years, and afterward purchased ninety 
acres three miles northwest of this place. He 
has since added 106 acres more to his first 
purchase, and now has a farm of 200 acres of 
well improved land. 

Mr. Johnson was married August 30, 
1856, to Elizabeth Black, who was born in 
Coke county, Tennessee, June 1, 1846, the 
fifth in a family of twelve children of Alex- 
ander Black. The latter was born in Nortli 
Carolina in 1820, and moved to Tennessee 
when a young man, where he was married to 
Miss Mary Clark, who was born in March, 
18 — . He then went to Georgia, and later 
entered the army, in Company C, Twenty- 
Sixth Regiment, and served two years; next 
he went to Middle Tennessee, where he re- 
mained one year; then to Yell county, Ar- 
kansas, where he died, at the age of sixty-three 
years; his widow is still living, at the age of 
seventy-two years. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson 
have had twelve children, viz.: Sidney, James 
K., Fannie (deceased), John W., Duke, Cord, 
Mary, Joseph, Columbus A. (deceased), Sallie, 
Samuel and Henry C. Mr. and Mrs. John- 
son are both members of the Baptist Church. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNT T. 



937 



Mr. Johnson is now forty-one years of age, 
and Las accumulated enough of this world's 
goods to enable liim to spend the renaainder 
of his days in comfort. 

miLLIAJVl J. LITTLE, a farmer of 
11 Dallas county, was born in Shelby 
^\ county, Illinois, October 25, 1834, a 
son of John Little, also a native of Illinois. 
The latter moved to Texas in 1835, lauding 
in Montgomery county, but took a claim of 
4,444 acres in Dallas county, and died on his 
way from Anderson county to this large tract 
of land. The farm was sold to the adminis- 
trator, and the children received but a small 
portion of this large body of fine land. Mr. 
Little died in July, 1854. and his wife, nee 
Bettie Bateman, born July 6, 1807, died at 
the age of fifty years. They were the par- 
ents of ten children, namely: Pressie A., wife 
of J. M. Spillers; Bollie, now Mrs. S. B. 
Owens; Abral; Elizabeth J., wife of William 
Grove; William J.; John M. ; Nancy, wife of 
William Bryant; Riley T., who was killed in 
the war; Bertha M., wife of Bishop Compton; 
Sarah C, wife of Ed Herring. 

William J., after the death of his father, 
brought the children to Dallas county, where 
he took care of them until their marriage. 
After his marriage Mr. Little pre-empted 
160 acres of land, which he improved, but 
after five years sold this place and moved to 
where he now lives. He saved 197 acres out 
of his father's large tract, to which he after- 
ward added 160 acres more, and he now has 
700 acres of well improved land. He also 
followed stock-raising, but of late years has 
abandoned that occupation, and his entire 
farm is now managed by his son. Mr. Little 
was married October 14, 1855, to Miss Rose 



Amos, who was born June 6, 1842, in Vir- 
ginia. Her father, Joseph Amos, moved 
from Virginia to Texas in 1850, and died in 
Parker county, at the age of seventy yeai'S. 
His wife, nee Sophia Davis, died at the age 
of forty years. Mr. and Mrs. Amos had ten 
children, viz. : Thomas J., deceased; Elizabeth, 
who died when young; Martha, who also died 
in infancy; Mary, wife of John Curtis; 
Rosana, now Mrs. William J. Little; Sarah, 
wife of James Milton; Jane; Eliza, wife of 
AVilliam Wheeler; Nancy, wife of William 
Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Little are the parents 
of seven children: Martha, wife of John 
Bolding; Riley T. ; Mary, wife of Wilbor 
Williams; Rosa, wife of Fletcher Warren; 
Lillie, now Mrs. Perish Horn; Lula and 
Minnie. Mrs. Little is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

F. CARSON, Deputy Sheriif of Dal- 
las, was born in Greene county, Ten- 
* nessee, a son of David and Margaret 
(Phillips) Carson, natives of Virginia and 
Tennessee. The family removed from Ten- 
nessee to Dallas in 1880, and in 1889 to 
Childress county. The father was a farmer 
by occupation, and was a soldier in the late 
war, having served as a private in the De- 
partment of the Gulf. He was well and 
favorably known as an upright and worthy 
citizen. He has done his part in opening up 
the frontier, and preparing the way for the 
race of a higher civilization and progress. 
He is now seventy-eight years of age, and 
his wife died at the age of sixty-seven years. 
They were the parents of nine children, six 
of whom still survive: J. A., who married 
Miss Jennie Simmons, and they now reside 
on a farm near Childer; T. F., our subject; 



938 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



C. L., a farmer of this connty; Porter, also 
a farmer by occupation; Sarah, wife of C. E. 
Mc Arthur, of Dallas county, and Mattie, 
wife of J. F. Huffminer, of Potter county, 
Texas. The remaining children died in 
early childhood. 

The subject of this notice was engaged in 
farming until 1886, when he bcffan work in 
the Sheriff's office, under W. H. Lewis, where 
he still continues. lie has discharged the 
duties of the office faithfully, and if elected 
to that position will undoubtedly render the 
county a faithful and honest service. Mr. 
Carson is in sympathy with the progress of 
the community in every line of advancement, 
and thus far has had a career marked by 
promising and commendable qualities. 



l^ON. P. H. GULDEN.— The varied ex- 
llj^ periences of this gentleman are inter- 
*^((| esting, and are a tine example of the 
ready adaptability of Americans, when tiiey 
desire to do so, to fit themselves for any posi- 
tion. He is the present nominee for the 
Legislature, made so by both the Clark and 
Hocrg: divisions in convention assembled in 
Dallas, July 19, 1892. He is also president 
of the State Federation of Labor of the State 
of Texas. 

This gentleman was born in New Orleans, 
July 19, 1846, and it is a coincidence that he 
received his nomination for the Legislature 
on the forty-sixth anniversary of his birth. 
His parents were Edward and Elizabeth 
(Hale) Golden, both natives of Donegal 
county, Ireland. They were born, reared 
and married in their native country. The 
father was a painter, and came to America in 
1843, to New Orleans the following year, 
where he remained until tJie war. He then 



enlisted as a private in the Fourteenth 
Louisiana Infantry, in 1861. He served 
until the battle of Gettysburg, when he was 
killed, aged forty-three. He served from the 
first until his death. His wife had died in 
1859, aged thirty-six, and both of them were 
members of the Catholic Church. 

Our subject is the only remaining member 
of his family, the others having died. He 
was educated in the public schools of New 
Orleans. He began learning his father's 
trade when he was but yet a boy, in 1860, 
and has followed that trade a good part of 
his life, although he has followed other call- 
ings, among which was that of locomotive 
fireman for three and one-half years. 

He came to Texas in January, 1870, and 
to Dallas April, 1886, and has continued to 
reside here ever since. He has declined 
twice before to run for this same office, but 
the laboring classes would not be satisfied, 
and so unanimously nominated him, although 
he had made no personal canvass. 

Mr. Golden was married November 23, 
1878, to Miss Mary E. Scoby, daughter of 
Matthew Scoby, who was born in Texas in 
1822, and whose father, liobert Scoby, was 
married in Brazoria county, Texas, September 
5, 1821, to Miss Mary L. Fulcher, sister of 
Church Fulcher, of Texas, by whom he had 
five children, viz.: Andrew W., born August 
12, 1824; Matthew, born January 2, 1826; 
Elizabeth, born January 2, 1828; Mary J., 
born August 6, 1832, and Robert Scoby. 
The grandfather died September 3, 1855, 
and his daughter Elizabeth is the only one 
of the family now living. Mr. Robert Scoby, 
Sr.. came to Texas with Austin and his first 
three hundred. 

Mrs. Golden is one of five children, viz.: 
Matthew, a farmer, unmarried, residing in 
Gonzales county, Texas; Mary E. (Mrs. Gol- 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



939 



den); M. E., wife of George E. Miiiuix, of 
Galveston, Texas; Anna, wife of S. A.Young, 
a farmer of Hale county, Texas; Robert, a 
farmer, married and living in Missouri 
county, Texas. 

Mr. and Mrs. Golden have three promising 
and bright children, viz.: Henry Edmund, 
born November 20, 1879; Patrick Neil, born 
October 7, 1882; John Dempsey, born No- 
vember 30, 1887. 

Our subject is a day laborer, a painter by 
trade, and has made much of opportunity, 
depending upon his own resources from an 
eai'ly age. At the same time he has been a 
close student, watching closely the trend of 
events. He is a ready writer and a fluent 
speaker on his favorite subjects, and has met 
the reward of industry, perseverance and a 
desire to improve himself and better the con- 
dition of the laboring masses. He has made 
the labor question a study for twenty-seven 
years. He joined tlie Painters' Union in 
1865, and has been a member of the organi- 
zation ever since, and is also a member of 
the Knights of Labor. He has been an 
officer, was District Master Workman of 
the Texas Knights of Honor, and this is his 
fourth term as president of the State Federa- 
tion of Labor, having been elected unani- 
mously, each time by a rising vote. He de- 
serves all the honors heaped upon him by his 
fellow-workmen. 

JILLIAM M. KINNARD, postoffice, 
'fiW -'-'^^^O'l' Dallas county, Texas, was 
born in Bedford county, Tennessee, 
September 30, 1849, son of W. M. and 
Elizabeth C. (Smith) Kinnard. His father, 
a native of Pennsylvania and of Scotch an- 
cestry, went to Tennessee and was there mar- 



ried, his wife being a native of that State. 
Her father, Thomas Smith, went from. Vir- 
ginia to Tennessee and was among the iirst 
settlers of Nashville. Mr. Kitinard followed 
farming there until 1851, when he emigrated 
to Dallas county, Texas. Here he followed 
the saddler's trade for five years in Dallas. 
In 1856 he purchased 200 acres of wild land, 
which he improved, and on which he was 
engaged in farming the rest of his days. His 
death occurred in 1867. To him and his 
wife three children were born, William M. 
being the only surviving one. Mrs. Kinnard 
still resides on the homestead with her son, 
who manages the farm. They are members 
of the Christian Church. 



HALEM E. SCOTT, a member of the 
lirm of Beaver, Scott & Williams, of 
Garland, was born in Shelby county, 
Tennessee, in 1833, a son of E. G. and Cynthia 
(Elkin) Scott. The father moved to Illinois 
ill 1838, settling at Mount Vernon, where he 
engaged in farming; in 1858 he removed to 
Dallas county, Missouri; in 1868 to Oregon 
county, same State, and remained there until 
his death, which occurred in 1886, at the aoe 
of sixty-eight years. He was blind for thirty 
years and for the last eighteen or twenty years 
of his life conducted a successful mercantile 
business at Pinckneyville, Oregon county, 
Missouri. He was three times married, first 
to the mother of our subject, and by this 
union there were four children, viz.: W. F., 
deceased; Elizabeth, deceased, wife of David 
Taylor, of Missouri; S. E., our subject; and 
Angeline, deceased. The mother died in 
1836, and two years later the father married 
Lucy, a sister of his first wife, and to this 
union was born one child, Harriet, now de- 



940 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



ceased. Mrs. Scott died in 1844, and about 
1847 Mr. Scott married again, and had one 
child, Virginia, now tlie wife of Mr. Crumb, 
of Kansas. During iiis life Mr. Scott was a 
strict Democrat, and was actively identified 
with that party, but would never accept an 
office at the hands of his friends. His son, 
"W. F. Scott, M. D., was a soldier in the war 
with Mexico, and served in the division that 
went to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and partici- 
pated in several engagements with the Mexi- 
cans. He differed from his father politically 
during the late war, as he was First Lieuten- 
ant in the United States army, and served 
throughout the war. 

At the close of the war he returned home 
and commenced the study of medicine, and 
before his death had secured a large and 
lucrative practice at Elbia, Illinois, where his 
family now reside. 



fT. DUNCAN, a prominent stock-dealer, 
who has l)een a resident of Dallas 
® county, Texas, since the fall of 1874, 
was born in Anson county, North Carolina, 
May 24, 1844. His parents, John and Eliza- 
beth (Cayson) Duncan, were descendants of 
Scotch and English ancestry, and were na- 
tives of North Carolina. The Duncan family 
moved to Mississippi in 1848, and settled in 
De Soto county, where the father engaged in 
farming, and where he and his wife lived the 
rest of their days. Of their eleven children 
ten lived to be grown, and seven still survive. 
During the war, in 1862, the father died while 
on his way to see his son who was wounded 
in Denmark, Tennessee. The father and 
three of the family died within four weeks. 
He was fifty-six years old at the time of his 



death. The mother survived him one year, 
dying at the age of fifty, her death being 
hastened by troubles caused by the late war. 

J. T. Duncan was reared on a farm, and 
received his education in the common schools. 
He remained at home until June 1, 1863, 
when, at the age of eighteen years, he enlisted 
in Company I, Duff's battalion. Going out 
with a scouting company, he was captured 
near Bolivar, Tennessee, and was confined in 
prison in Alton, Illinois. During his im- 
prisonment his mother died. He was there 
about six weeks. Then, on account of illness, 
he returned to his home for a short time. 
Rejoining his command. Duff's battalion, 
at Chulahuma, Mississippi, he participated in 
many important engagements and served 
until the close of the war. Of the family, 
three brothers were in the army, one died 
and the others were wounded. 

After hostilities ceased, Mr. Duncan re- 
turned to Mississippi and engaged in farming. 
He was married January 12, 1869, to Miss 
Mattie A. Terry, a native of Tippah county, 
Mississippi, and a daughter of Asbury and 
Winnie (Graton) Terry, who were from South 
Carolina and of Irish, Scotch and English 
descent. He continued farming in Missis- 
sippi until 1869. Then he went to Drew 
county, Arkansas, and resided there until 
1874, when he came to Dallas county, Texas. 
He purchased eighty-six acres of partially 
improved land, three miles west of Dallas, 
where he lived until the spring of 1889. 
Besides his home, he has a lauded estate of 
293 acres. In 1889 he sold his home and 
purchased three acres, where he now resides. 
His residence, a commodious two-story one, 
30 X 38 feet, with 92 feet of gallery, he erect- 
ed in 1889. It is built in modern style and 
contains ten rooms. 

Mr. and Mrs. Duncan have had two chil- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



941 



dren: Charlie Peroie, deceased, and John 
Asbury, who is now attending school at 
Georgetown. He and his wife are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



[ENERAL R. M. GAISTO, a worthy and 
influential business man and minister 
in the Christian Church; director in 
the Bankers and Merchants' National Bank, 
also vice president in the Estado Land and 
Cattle Company, was born in Bourbon 
county, Kentucky, June 18, 1830. His par- 
ents were John A. and Mary C. (Conn) 
Gano, both natives of Kentucky. The father 
was a minister of the gospel for fully sixty 
years. He had a remarkable good record as 
an active, popular, devout minister and 
worthy man. He baptized fully 10,000 per- 
sons, laboring chiefly in Kentucky, but also 
in Missouri, Louisiana, Tennessee and Ohio. 
He was widely and extensively known in the 
greater portion of the above States, especially 
in Cincinnati, Ohio. Upon conversion, which 
occurred in early manhood, he immediately 
took a working place in the church of which 
he became a member. His manliness, deep 
religious sense of duty, his truthfulness, his 
practical skill in conducting whatever might 
be entrusted to him, his magnetic cheerful- 
ness and beautiful selfrrenunciation all com- 
bined to make him almost the idol of his par- 
ishioners, acquaintances and family. He died 
in 1871, aged eighty-two. His wife was the 
daughter of Captain William Conn, who was 
reared in Kentucky, and fought through all 
the Indian wars of that State, also in the war 
of 1812, and was a man of popularity, wealth 
and ability, dying from the effects of a fall 
in the eighty-eighth year of his life. He had 
been a member for over sixty years of the 

61 



Christian Church. His daughter, mother of 
our subject, died in 1891, at the age of 
eighty years. She was also a devoted member 
of the Christian Church for sixty-five years, 
and was a model woman of deep religious pi- 
ety and great breadth of usefulness. She en- 
tered into the work of her husband with all 
the strength of her cultivated intellect, and 
with all the fervor of her warm, loving heart. 
For years she proved herself a helpmate, in- 
deed. Her hand was ever open to give help, 
while her warm heart was ever ready to be- 
stow sympathy on those who needed it. These 
parents had twelve children, three of whom 
died in infancy, and only two are now living, 
our subject and John A., a younger brother 
who resides at Taylor, Texas, engaged in the 
real-estate business. 

Our subject received his literary education 
at Bethany College, Brooks county. West 
Virginia, graduating from there in 1847, 
and graduated in a medical course from the 
Medical College at Louisville, Kentucky, in 
1849. He practiced medicine for about 
eight years in Iventucky, Baton Rouge, Louis- 
iana and Texas, coming to the last named 
place in 1857, settling in Tarrant county. 
He represented that county in the Legislature 
during the sessions of 1860-'61. He intro- 
duced and carried through an important bill 
on frontier protection, and was quite active 
in the floor discussions relating to the stock 
interests and other important measures. He 
resigned his seat in the Legislature to enter 
the Confederate States army, enlisting Janu- 
ary. 1862, and served during the war, act- 
ively until the surrender. He started as a 
Captain of a squadron of cavalry and served 
in the army of the Tennessee with Colonel 
John H. Morgan, and rose through the ranks 
of Major and Colonel to that of Brigadier 
General. He was in forty-two engagements 



943 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



while in the army of the Tennessee, cotn- 
menciiicr in the spring of 1863, with the bat- 
tle of Chattanooga. He was removed to the 
Mississippi department, under General Kirby 
Smith, and was placed in command of the 
Texas cavalry, on Red river, with two bat- 
teries of artillery. He was in seventy-two 
engagements, but was never taken prisoner. 
His left arm was broken by a gunshot wound, 
his body grazed and his clothing pierced by 
half a dozen bullets. While in service he 
had five horses shot under him, three of 
whom were killed. In all his engagements 
he was successful, except in four. He was 
recommended to General Breckenridge, Sec- 
retary of War, for the rank of Major General, 
but Richmond fell before the commission, 
which had been ordered, had been issued. 

The war closing, he settled in Dallas 
county in 1865, and embarked in farming 
and stock-raising. He made a profession of 
his faith, in 1840, and has been a member of 
the church for over fifty-two years. In July, 
1866, he began his labors in the ministry of 
the Christian Church and has been very suc- 
cessful, having baptized about 4,000 people, 
besides establishing a large number of 
churches. He has been successful, also, in 
worldly matters, making a success of what- 
ever he touched, as he made money in real 
estate, farming, stock-raising and banking. 
He has probably imported more fine blooded 
stock into the State than any other one man. 
He now owns an interest in one of the finest 
ranches of the county, and is building up a 
harness-horse ranch in Dallas county. 

General Gano is one of the honored pio- 
neers of Dallas, Texas, and one of the streets 
of that beautiful city is named for him. 
from this sketch it will be seen that he is a 
man of successful business tact, ever lending 
aid to anything tending to improve the 



lovely city of his adoption. He is intensely 
loyal to the church of his choice, steadily 
upholding her doctrines and usages, giving 
liberally, both in time and means, to her in- 
stitutions. 

He was married, in March, 1853, to Miss 
Margaret, daughter of Dr. Thomas Welch, 
of Crab Orchard, Kentucky, who was a prac- 
ticing physician for many years. He is the 
father of Dr. Samuel and Colonel W. G. 
Welch, both prominent in their professions 
of medicine and law, respectively, the former 
of this city, the latter of Stanford, Kentucky. 

Mrs. Gano is a cheerful, generous, intelli- 
gent lady. She graduated in 1851, from the 
Greenville Institute, with class honors and 
valedictorian's essay. This institute was un- 
der the presidency of Prof. Samuel C. Mul- 
lins, a noted educator of the State. 

General and Mrs. Gano have had twelve 
children, to whom they have given their best 
attention and of whom they are justly proud. 
They are, William B., John T. (deceased) 
and Clarence W., sketches of whom will be 
found in this volume; Samuel W., deceased; 
Katie M., wife of Dr. H. L. McLaurin of 
this city; Fanny, deceased; Maurice, graduate 
of the Kentucky University and of the law 
department of Texas University, lias entered 
the practice of law in Dallas, Texas; Emma, 
graduate of Hamilton College, Kentucky, 
has taken lessons in voice culture in the 
Conservatory of Music at Cincinnati, and is 
an accomplished vocalist; Robert Lee and 
Sidney Johnston, twins: the former has just 
entered a partnership with his brother Mau- 
rice, being a graduate from the same univer- 
sities as that gentleman, and thoroughly con- 
versant with all legal points. He is a young 
man of fine ability and was chosen orator of 
his class at the Texas University, June, 1891, 
but was compelled to leave college, April, 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



943 



1891, on acconnt of poor health. The other 
twin, a graduate of the Philadelphia Medical 
College, recently entered the practice of med- 
icine in Dallas, Texas; Frank, deceased: Mat- 
tie is the youngest of the family, and is an 
accomplished musician. She and her sister, 
Miss Emma, are faithful members of the 
Christian Church, as are also the parents of 
the surviving children. 

The success in life which the General has 
attained, is due to the energy and industry 
of his nature. He is numbered, socially, re- 
ligiously and financially with the leading 
men of Dallas county. 



I^ON. W. W. LANG, president of the 
Texas Paper Mill Company, was born 
in Wayne county, Mississippi, May 15, 
1829. His parents were General AYilliam A. 
and Temple (Thurmaii) Lang, natives of 
South Carolina. The father was a cotton 
planter, and was an enterprising and well 
known man throughout the State. He was 
a member of the Legislature of Mississippi 
for Some years, was Captain in Robert F. 
Haynes" regiment, in the war of 1812, and 
his death occurred in 1849, at the age of 
sixty-three years. His wife died in 1857, aged 
sixty-seven years. They were the parents of 
five children, of whom our subject is the 
fourth child. A sister, Janie, widow of Dr. 
Edward A. Miller, and W. W. Lang, are the 
only ones of the family now living. She re- 
sides in Marlin, Falls county, Texas. Cap- 
tain Willis L. Lang, the youngest child, was 
shot during the war, nt the battle of Valverde, 
having been killed in a desperate cavalry 
charge. General Lang was an active, pro- 
gressive and thoroughgoing man, and carried 
the respect of all who knew him. His name 



was almost a synonym for honesty, integrity 
and square dealing. He was a man of intense 
energy, quick in preception, of ready wit, of 
positive opinions and decisive action. 

W. W. Lang was prepared for college by 
the celebrated Dr. John N. Waddle, and he 
afterward graduated at the Oakland College, 
Mississippi, in 1848. His brother, Captain 
Willis L., graduated in the same class, and 
the first honor was divided between these 
brothers. In college Willis was better in 
mathematics than any professor there. He 
was a man of great intellectual power. After 
his college days our subject engaged in cotton 
planting in the South, and in 1860 came to 
Falls county, Texas, locating on the l^razos 
river. In September, 1861, he enlisted as 
First Lieutenant in Company B, Bert Adams' 
Mississippi regiment. He took part in 
Wheeler's cavalry, was in most of the battles 
in the Western army until 1863, when he re- 
signed and came to Texas. Mr. Lang was 
promoted to Captain of the company during 
his services, and many times was in command 
of the regiment. In 1863 he came to Falls 
county and joined Elmore's Texas regiment, 
and was discharged in April, 1865. After 
the close of the war he superintended his 
farm until 1874, and in that year was elected 
Master of the State Grange of Texas, which 
position he held until 1880. In 1875 he 
was appointed by Governor Coke to locate 
the East Branch penitentiary, and the follow- 
ing year was elected a member of the Texas 
Legislature, in which he took an active part 
in debate. In 1880 he was elected Presi- 
dent of the Southwestern Immigration 
Company; in 1881 he went to Europe in the 
interests of that company, and remained 
until 1884; and in 1885 was appointed Con- 
sul to Hamburg by President Cleveland, in 
which position he served until September 1, 



944 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



1889. After returning to Texas Mr. Lang 
located in Dallas and engaged in paper manu- 
facture. In 1878 his name was presented to 
the Democratic Convention of the State, for 
Governor, the combatants being Governor 
Throckmorton, Mr. Hubbard and W. W. 
Lang. The result was, neither party could be 
nominated, and, after 136 ballots, Governor 
Roberts was chosen. Our subject is now en- 
gaged in one of the important industries of 
the city, that of manufacturing paper. The 
enterprise employs about thirty hands con- 
tinuously, sometimes reaching as high as 
forty-tive. Tlie capacity of the mill is eight 
tons a day, and is operated twelve hours out 
of twenty-four. They are now engaged in 
making wrapping paper, but they intend 
soon to enlarge the mill, and will then also 
manufacture book and newspaper. 

Mr. Lang was married June 1, 1853, to 
Miss Frances Huberta Turner, a daughter of 
Abner Turner, of Clark county, Alabama. 
They have four children living: Mary, wife 
of Dr. M. S. Read, a dentist of Osceola, 
Texas, and their childi'eii are: Huberta and 
Jane Turner; Anna L.. wife of Judge John 
M. Wharton, of Oak Cliff, and their children 
are: Lang, Catherine and John O.; William 
A., engaged in the lumber business in Corsi- 
caiia; and Chaste Temple, who resides with 
her parents. She is very finely educated, and 
speaks the I'Vench and German languages flu- 
ently, as does her brother, William A. Mrs. 
Lang and daughter are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Lang 
is a member of the Masonic order. The 
latter is both enterprising and public-spirited, 
and is doing much in developing this highly 
favored country which has so many natural 
advantages. His mill is the only one of the 
kind in the great southwest, and he is dem- 
onstrating that the money can be invested 



here at home, and products made here, thus 
saving the labor and expense of transpor- 
tation. In this he has the true idea of 
economy, in giving employment to the hun- 
dreds who swell the numbers in the city, en- 
abling them to have ready work at their own 
homes. Mr. Lang deservedly stands well in 
his community as a thoroughgoing, indus- 
trious, progressive and valued citizen. 

ENJAMIN E. CABELL, a liveryman 
of Dallas, was born in Sebastian county, 
Arkansas, in 1858, a son of General W. 
A. and A. A. (Rector) Cabell, the former a 
native of Danville, Virginia, and the latter 
of Kentucky. The father is now engaged in 
the real-estate business, was Mayor of Dallas 
for six or eight years, was United States 
Marshal for the Northern District of Texas, 
under Cleveland's administration, and is still 
an honored resident of Dallas. He is a 
graduate of West Point, and was a General 
in the Confederate army. His wife died in 
1888, at the age of fifty years. 

The subject of this sketch, the eldest of 
five children, has been engaged in mining 
and prospecting in the Rocky mountains, 
with sood success. He came to Dallas with 
his parents in 1872, and began his present 
business in 1884, in which he has since con- 
tinued. He keeps the largest stables in the 
State, and deals in Kentucky and Missouri 
horses. Mr. Cabell was Deputy United 
States Marshal during the Cleveland ad- 
ministration, and is now a candidate for the 
Sheriff's office of the county, subject to the 
Democratic nomination in July. He is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, of the 
Knights of Honor, and of the Elks and 
Woodmen of the World. Our subject is 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



945 



thoroughgoing, has an eye to business, and 
has been a valuable acquisition to the city in 
his line. He is in the prime of life, and, if 
elected to the office for which his friends are 
pressing his claims, will undoubtedly render 
the county an efiicient service. 

^ISHOP COMPTON, an enterprising 
farmer of Dallas county, Texas, residing 
near Housley, was born in Monroe 
county, Kentucky, November 22, 1838. 

Samuel Compton, his father, was born in 
South Carolina, February 23, 1809. He 
went to Kentucky when quite small, and 
there in after years was married to Miss 
Keziah Kirby, who was born February 4, 
1819. They moved to Texas in 1856, and 
settled at Pleasant Valley, Dallas county. 
Ho entered 160 acres of land, now owned by 
his daughter, Mrs. Sarah J. McClain. Mr. 
Compton died November 16, 1869, at the age 
of sixty years and eight months. For fur- 
ther mention of his family see the sketch of 
Mrs. Sarah J. McClain. 

Bishop Compton was sixteen years old 
when his father moved to Texas. He chose 
for his wife and wedded Melvina Little, 
daughter of W. J. Little, a biography of whom 
appears elsewhere in this work. Their union 
was blessed with five children: Mary G., 
Riley, Sarah, S. R. and Lucy Ellen. Mr. 
Compton was married a second time to Miss 
Lenorah Hargrove, a native of Murray 
county, Georgia, born December 22, 1850, 
daughter of Deven D. and Mary (Wacaser) 
Hargrove. Her father, a native of Georgia, 
died in 1867, aged thirty-five years. Her 
mother is still living. The Hargrove family 
consisted of six children, viz.: Frances J., 
who was married to John Ray and afterward 



to Irwin D. Danals, has since died; Kircheon 
W.; George W.; Lenorah; DeWitt C, de- 
ceased; and Byron L. 

Mr. and Mrs. Compton have two children: 
Bishop Lee and William Jesse. 

Mr. Compton has a fine farm of 125 acres 
where he lives, all fenced and seventy-five 
acres in cultivation. During the Civil war, 
he served in the Confederate army, and was 
in a number of engagements, being most of 
the time with the forces that operated on the 
coast. 

Mrs. Compton is a memlier of the Chris- 
tian Church. 



H. WHITAKER, a retired Dallas 
county farmer, has been a resident of 
* this county since 1869. He was born 
in Putnam county, Georgia, April 14, 1829, 
a son of O. D. and Martha R. (Harris) "Whit- 
aker. His parents were of English descent, 
were natives of Georgia and among the old 
families of that State. Of their nine chil- 
dren he was the fourth-born, and is one of 
the four who are now living. He was ten 
years old when the family moved across the 
river from West Point into Alabama, and on 
a farm in that State he was reared and re- 
ceived a common-school education. His 
father died in Alabama in 1842, at the age of 
forty-two years, and his mother departed this 
life in Georgia, in 1857, aged about fifty 
years. After the death of his parents, our 
subject made his home with his elder sister. 
Mr. Whitaker was married in Alabama, 
September 2, 1853, to Miss Amanda Gra- 
ham, a native of South Carolina, daughter of 
James A. Graham, also a native of that State. 
She moved from South Carolina to Alabama 
when a child. After his marriage Mr. Whit- 



940 



HlSrORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



aker settled in Lowndes county, Alabama, 
and engaged in agricultural pursuits, remain- 
ing there until 1869. That year he came to 
Texas, landing in Dallas connty, November 
29, and purchased 133^ acres of wild land. 
He at once set about making a home and im- 
proving his farm. He subsequently added to 
his original purchase nntil his holdings com- 
prised 288^ acres, and on this property he 
farmed until 1891, when he retired from ac- 
tive life. When a yoang man he received an 
injury, trom which he suffered all his life, 
and on account of which, in 1890, he had to 
have his limb amputated below the knee. He 
and his wife are the parents of four sons. 
John Henry, the oldest, resides on the old 
homestead. James A., T. D. H. and Samuel 
T., are at Oak Cliff. 

Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker are members of 
the Christian Church. Politically, he aiSli- 
ates with the Democratic party. For three 
years he has acted as presiding ofHcer at elec- 
tions. He is a self-made man, is well known 
and much respected. 

fAMES A. NELSON was born in Marion 
county, Indiana, January 1, 1842. His 
father moved to Illinois when James A. 
was two years old, from there to Iowa, and 
thence to Missouri, he being reared and edu- 
cated chiefly in Iowa. When the war came 
on he enlisted in Company H, Eighth Iowa 
Cavalry, and was Orderly Sergeant for his 
company. He served from August, 1863, 
till August, 1865; during that time he par- 
ticipated in several battles and skirmishes, 
among which were the battles of Tunnel Hill, 
Nashville and Franklin ; was on the march and 
fonght Joseph E. Johnston on his retreat. In 
all this service he was neither wounded nor 



captured. After receiving an honorable dis- 
charge he returned home. 

September 22, 1865, he mari-ied Evaliue 
Foster. They remained in the North until 
1870, when they came to Te.xas and settled in 
the eastern part of Dallas county. The first 
year he rented a farm, and in 1871 be bought 
100 acres of wild land, and at once began im- 
proving the same according to the Iowa 
fashion. He has since added to the original 
purchase and now owns 200 acres of choice 
land, all being fenced and eighty acres under 
cultivation. Having little capital when he 
came here, save his willing hand and deter- 
mination to succeed, he has met with marked 
success. He and his wife have a large family, 
whose names are as follows: Adam R., Will- 
iam C, Thomas J., James E., George \V., Sarah 
E., Flora A., Arthur Pumroy, Robert E., John 
H., Jessie C. and Grady. All are living except 
two, Adam R. and William C. John J., who 
was recently married, is the only one not at 
home. 

Mr. Nelson's father, Adam R. Nelson, was 
born in Scott county, Kentucky, December 
1, 1817, and went with his father to Indiana, 
when he was twelve years old. There he was 
reared, and in 1840 was married to Sarah A. 
Baldwin, who was born November 9, 1819. 
In 1844 they moved to Illinois, and thence 
to Iowa, settling in Appanoose county, where 
they lived eighteen years. In 1870 he came 
to Texas with the subject of our sketch. His 
wife died that same year, aged forty-nine. 
They were the parents of two children; Jauies 
A. and Joseph W., the latter dying at the 
age of two years. The venerable father is 
still living and makes his home with his son. 

Mrs. James A. Nelson was born in Ray 
county, Missouri, February 18, 1847. Her 
father, John Foster, and her mother, Eliza- 
beth (Rhoads) Foster, both Kentuckians, were 



HiaTOUr OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



947 



born in the years 1808 aud 1810 respectively, 
and were married in 1828. Her father died 
when Mrs. Nelson was quite small. The 
mother lived to be seventy-three years of age, 
dying in 1882. They had a family of thir- 
teen children, of whom ten lived to be grown. 
Their names are: Thomas Foster; Rachel, 
wife of James E. Linvell; Arthur Foster; 
Rebecca, deceased; (Jatharine, wife of David 
Baggs, died, leaving a family of nine chil- 
dren; Hannah, deceased; Mary, wife of An- 
drew Swartz, died, leaving seven children; 
John Foster; Evaline, wife of James A. Nel- 
son; Angeline, wife of George Regin; Jack- 
son Foster; Washington Foster. Mr. Nelson 
belongs to the Masonic fraternity, being a 
member of Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441, and 
in politics he is a Jackson Democrat. Mrs: 
Nelson is a member of the Baptist Church. 



^ 



^ 



fAMES HORTON, deceased, was ohd of 
the prominent pioneers of Dallas county, 
Texas. He was a native of Virginia, 
and a sou of Enoch Horton. In 1845 he 
came to Dallas county and settled on a tract 
of 320 acres of wild land, which has since been 
known as the James Horton headright. He 
at once began the work of improving it, and 
making a home. From time to time he ac- 
quired other property, and at his death was 
the owner of an estate consisting of 4,000 
acres of land. 

Mr. Horton was married in 1851 to Miss 
Jane Phillips, a daughter of Nimrod Phillips, 
and after his marriage settled on the home- 
stead, where he followed farming. Previous 
to his marriage, he made the overland journey 
to California, going on horseback in 1849. 
He was successfully engaged in mining there 
for a time, returning to Texas in 1851. Until 



1857 he followed farming exclusively. At 
that time he built the Eagle Ford gristmill, 
in which he was interested the rest of his 
life. He and his wife were the parents of 
eight children, three of whom are still living: 
James, Nuck, and Fanny, wife of R. M. 
Scripture of this county. He was bereaved 
by the loss of his wife in 1869. Subsequently 
lie was united in marriage with Mrs. King, 
whose maiden name was Morton. By her 
he had two children, and of these, one (Frank) 
is still living. Mr. Horton departed this life 
in 1875. 

James Horton, son of the above named 
gentleman, was born in Dallas county, Texas, 
August 13, 1856. He was reared on his 
father's farm, remaining on the old homestead 
until his marriage, which event occurred in 
1879, the lady of his choice being Miss 
Laura Carter. She is a native of Texas, and 
a daughter of Milton and Sarah (Davis) 
Carter, who were among the pioneers of Dal- 
las county. After his marriage Mr. Horton 
settled on his present farm, which comprises 
250 acres. Besides this he has other prop- 
erty, having a landed estate consisting of 
800 acres. His postoffice address is Eagle 
Ford. 

Mr. and Mrs. Horton are the parents of 
seven children, namely: Nuckie, Willis (de- 
ceased). Ridge, C. B., James, Grant and Liz- 
zie. Mrs. Horton is a member of the Bap- 
tist Church. Politically, Mr. Horton affili- 
ates with the Democratic party. 



kLEASANT P. HARRIS was born in 
Greene county, Alabama, August 29, 
1848. His father was born in Union 
district. South Carolina, September 15, 
1812, and in 1835 moved to Alabama. In 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Greene county, that State, he was married to 
Margaret L. Steel, January 2, 1842. She 
was born on the 29th of September, 1821, a 
daughter of Elmer Steel. Mr. Harris moved 
from Alabama to Mississippi in 1850, and 
there reared his family. He came to Texas in 
1873, making the journey in wagons and 
being seven weeks en route. The first year 
rented land, the second year he bought 160 
acres, and by tlie third year had his farm im- 
proved so that he could move to it. Mr. 
Harris died on the 19th of February, 1883, 
at the age of seventy-one years. His wife 
passed away on the 8th of September, 1887, 
aged sixty-five. The names of their eight 
children are as follows: Joseph, who died in 
prison at Elmira, New York; Margaret A., 
wife of Samuel Hutson; John B., deceased; 
Pleasant P.; Andrew C; Elizabeth J., wife 
of Dr. E. H. Ford, of Rockwall; Caroline 
A.; and Ella P., wife of W. P. Samuels. 

The subject of our sketch and his sister 
Caroline are living on the home place, 
neither having married. They had ten years 
of sickness in the family and four deaths, and 
when the father died he left some payments 
to be made on the farm. Pleasant P. has 
since settled up all such claims, and he and 
his sister have improved the place and now 
have a nice home. Two of their brothers 
served in the war, and both died. 



4= 



=^ 



fESSE WRIGHT, a farmer and stock 
raiser, and another one of the pioneers 
of Dallas county, has resided here since 
1850. 

He is a native of Tennessee, born ten miles 
east of Nashville, in 1816, a son of Hanlas 
Wright, a native of North Carolina, and of 
English ancestry. His mother's maiden name 



was Sallie Humphres, and she, too, was a na- 
tive of North Carolina, born in Davidson 
county. They were married in that State, 
and went to Tennessee at an early day, when 
that country was the frontier of civilization, 
and on a farm in the latter State they passed 
the rest of their days. They were the parents 
of ten children, all of whom lived to be 
grown; and a tact worthy of record is that 
they never had a doctor in their home. Of 
this large family only the subject of our 
sketch survives. 

Mr. Wright was reared on the farm, and 
remained with his parents until he reached 
his majority. He was married June 27, 
1837, to Miss Martha Ann Wright, a native 
of Tennessee and a daughter of Thomas 
Wright. After his marriage he lived with 
his father-in-law and worked at the black- 
smith ti-ade, a business in which he was very 
proficient, having picked the trade up and 
followed it until he emigrated to Texas, in 
1850. He came here with horse and mule 
teams, and as there were few roads and no 
bridges they were six weeks in making the 
journey, landing in Dallas county the last of 
November. He settled on a farm about six 
miles and a half south of Dallas, on land his 
fatherin-law had purchased, and continued 
to work at his trade. He made the irons for 
two mills, the first mills of importance in the 
county, and ground grain for the people, 
some of them coming a distance of fifty miles. 
When Mr. Wright came here Dallas had two 
small stores, a rude tavern, and about four 
residences. He lived with his wife's father 
until 1860, when he purchased 820 acres of 
wild land, and as the years rolled by developed 
it into one of the finest farms in the neigh- 
borhood, and on it he has since resided. He 
has assisted in building nearly all the churches 
in this part of the county, and has contributed 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



949 



freelj of his earninj^s toward keeping up re- 
lifrious meetings and schools. He lias been a 
member of the Baptist Church for more than 
a half centnry, and has held the office of Dea- 
con. His wife was also a member of the 
church for many years, and was a devoted 
Christian, possessing many estimable quali- 
ties that endeared her to a large circle of 
friends. Her death occurred in 1886, at the 
age of sixty-five years, and after a happy 
married life of fifty years. 



-^^-hTin/b- 



-ann^~ 



fOHN M. KIKBY claims Dallas county, 
Texas, as tlie place of his nativity, the 
date of his birth being March 6, 1855. 
On the 26th of February, 1876, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Rachel T. Coomer. 
At the time of his marriage he owned a pony 
and cow, and had bought sixteen acres of 
land on which he had paid $20, being in debt 
for the rest. He attended one crop, and his 
pony and cow both died. Meeting with losses, 
but not discouraged by them, he went to work 
with renewed energy to get another start, and 
his efforts have been crowned with success. 
He now has a fine farm of 235 acres, well im- 
proved with good house, barn, etc.; has forty 
head of cattle and several hoi-ses and mules. 
Of bis parents, be it recorded that his 
father, Benjamin C. Kirby, was born in 
Wayne county, Kentucky; was by trade a 
stone mason and carpenter; when a young 
man moved to Missouri, where he was mar- 
ried to Miss Elizabeth McDonald. In 1853 
he moved froin Greenville, Missouri, to Texas 
and first located in Lamar county. After 
renting land there two years, he moved in the 
fall of 1854 to Dallas county, and settled in 
the northeastern part of the county, where he 
bought 191 acres of land and improved a 



farm. The house he then built is standin 



g 



to-day — two miles from where John M. lives 
— and, with the exception of a new roof, is 
just as his father left it when he died. Mr. 
Kirby died in 1862, at the age of forty-five 
years. His wife is still living and is now 
aged sixty-one years. She was married the 
second time, to Thomas Collins. By Mr. 
Kirby she had two children, James F. and 
John M. 

Mrs. John M. Kirby was born May 28, 
1858. To her parents, Lee and Nancy (Myers) 
Coomer, were born the following named chil- 
dren: Margaret, wife of B. C. Kirby; Martha; 
John B.; Levina, wife of John W. Kirby; 
Sarah, wife of Riley Little; Rachel T., wife 
of John M. Kirby; and Lyman, William and 
Joseph — all living. The father died in 1865, 
aged sixty-four years. 

Mr. and Mrs. Kirby have had eight chil- 
dren, viz.: James F., William Lee, Byron, 
Parks, Lulie, Joseph P., Bessie and Nancy E. 
All are living except two. 

Losing his father when he was seven years 
old, and having been reared in a new country, 
Mr. Kirby had only limited educational ad- 
vantages, but he is in favor of schooling bis 
children, and does all in his power to have 
good schools. Mrs. Kirby is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

fOSEPH M. McCORMICK, an attorney 
of Dallas, was born in Brazoria county, 
Texas, May 31, 1861, a son of Judge An- 
drew P. and Mary (Copes) McCormick, also 
natives of this State. The father was United 
States District Judge for the Northern District 
of Texas, receiving the appointment in 1879, 
and holding the office until in January, 1892. 
He was recently appointed United States Cir- 
cuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit by President 



950 



EI8T0BY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Harrison, is a Republican in his political 
views, and is well and favorably known over 
the entire State. The mother of our subject 
died in 1870, aged twenty-eight years, and 
the father is now sixty years of age. 

Joseph McCormick was educated at Bloom- 
ington, Illnois. having completed a course at 
the Illinois Wesleyan University, and after- 
ward read law under John L. Henry, of Dal- 
las, and a member of the Supreme Bench of 
the State. Our subject was admitted to the bar 
in 1881, and now practices in all the courts, 
from the Supreme Court of the United States 
down. He was married February 17, 1885, 
to Miss Mary McCoun, a daughter of John 
R. McConn, of Kansas City, Missouri. Two 
children have blessed this union, — Mary and 
Charles T. Mrs. McCormick is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and her hus- 
band of the K. of P. The latter has been a 
delegate to the State conventions many times, 
was a delegate to the Chicago convention, at 
which time he voted for General Harrison, 
and was also a delegate to the Minneapolis 
convention. 

miLLlAM T. MILLER, who is pleas- 
antly and comfortably situated on a 
nice little farm near Haught's Store, 
Dallas count}', Texas, came to this State in 
1873. He landed here without money and 
in debt, having borrowed the means with 
which to come South. Renting a farm on 
Dutch creek, he went cheerfully to work, 
being successful in his farming operations 
and gaining the confidence and respect of his 
neighbors. After renting land eight years, 
he bought 100 acres of unimproved land 
and at once went to work to improve it and 
make a home. His premises are in good 
trim, his house, barn, orchard, etc., all giving 




evidence of prosperity. His property is all 
paid for and he is out of debt. About fifty 
acres of his land are under cultivation and all 
is well fenced. Although he cannot be classed 
with the old settlers, Mr. Miller has probably 
seen as much of the rough side of life since 
he came to Texas as any of the pioneers here. 

William T. Miller was born in Henry 
county, Tennessee, March 31, 1848. His 
father, W. D. Miller, was born in Caswell 
county, North Carolina, in 1827, and was 
married in his native State, in 18-17, to Miss 
Frances J. Baldwin. She was born in North 
Carolina in 1828. In 1847 they moved to 
Tennessee and settled in Henry county, where 
Mr. Miller bought land and engaged in farm- 
ing. He subsequently sold out and in 1857 
moved to Missouri and settled in Ripley 
county. In 1865, while they were preparing 
to move back to Tennessee, his wife died 
aged thirty-seven years. After her death he 
took his family to Tennessee, and shortly 
after his arrival there he was taken sick and 
died, his death occurring in October, 1865, 
at the age of thirty-eight years. Their nine 
children, four of whom are living, are as fol- 
lows: Mary J., wife of Perry Ragstal; Will- 
iam T. Miller, the subject of our sketch; 
James V.; Henry; Eliza, wife of Richard 
Furgeson; Alexander B. ; Rufus, Amos and 
Zachariah. After his father's death, William 
T. found homes for his brothers and sisters 
and he went to work on a farm by the month 
and helped to support them, continuing thus 
employed for five years. 

January 1,1870, Mr. Miller married Miss 
Frances E. Barton, who was born March 3, 
1854. Her father, J. B. Barton, was a native 
of Graves county, Kentucky, born in 1827. 
On the 4th of July, 1848, he wedded Miss 
Florence Pachtoll. She is still living and 
makes her home with her children in Texas; 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



951 



is now sixty-three years of age. Mr. Barton 
died in 1859, at the age of thirty-two. Six 
children were born to them, viz.: Elisha; 
Nancy J., wife of Green PachtoU, is now de- 
ceased; Frances E., wife of W. T. Miller; 
Sarah E., who died when quite young; and 
James A. and Brooks. 

Mr. and Mrs. Miller have never had a 
death in their family. The names of their ten 
children are: Leroy Q., Lorenzo, Westward 
B., Idaho, William W., Nancy Dell, Emma 
M., Sarah F., Maggie E. and Allen. He and 
his wife are members of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. 



jMBROSE C. NEW, a prominent and 
much respected citizen of Dallas county 
Texas, residing near Mesquite, is a 
native of Indiana, born in Hancock county, 
November 28, 1814. He went to Iowa with 
his father in 1854, and in that State received 
his education. He has been engaged in teach- 
ing ever since 1864 with the exception of two 
winters — teaching during the winter and 
farming in summer. In 1865 he attended a 
Quaker college in Indiana. He has all his 
life devoted much time to general reading, is 
well posted on the topics of the day and is an 
entertaining converser. After his marriage 
he came to Texas, and here he has continued 
the profession of teaching, together with agri- 
cultural pursuits. He owns an eighty-acre 
farm near Mesquite, has it well improved and 
under a high state of cultivation. 

Mr. New comes from Virginia ancestry, 
his father, Daniel New, having been born in 
the Old Dominion, October 12, 1789. In 
1811 he was married to Elizabeth Ring, and 
in 1815 went to Indiana. General Harrison 
was at that time Territorial Governor of In- 



diana. In 1838 Mr. New's wife died, aged 
forty-eight years, the date of her birth being 
January 29, 1790. Following are the names 
of the children born to them: John; Pollie, 
wife of Jonathan Limback; Sallie, wife of 
James Warrum, is deceased; Patsey, who 
died in infancy; Willie; Elizabeth, wife of 
Ambrose Miller; David F. ; James J., who 
died when quite small; and Louisa, wife of 
Nathan Newby. June 14, 1841, Mr. New 
married for his second wife Miss Margaret 
Lewis, who was born September 21, 1820. 
Her father was a pioneer of Indiana, having 
settled there in Hancock county, in 1830. 
Mr. New was a pioneer of several States. He 
moved from Virginia to North Carolina, 
thence to Kentucky, in 1815 to Indiana and 
in 1854 to Iowa. By his second wife he had 
eight children: Silas; Thomas M., deceased; 
Ambrose C, the subject of this sketch; Ellen 
K., wife of Thomas Snyder; Martha A., 
Nancy A., and Lewis F., deceased; and one 
that died in infancy. Mr. New was a man of 
sterling qualities. In his make-up were found 
those elements that distinguish the true pio- 
neer in any country. He was the father of 
eighteen children. His death occurred in 
1879, at the age of eighty-eight years, eleven 
months and twenty-four days. Mrs. New is 
now living with her son in Texas, and at this 
writing is seventy years of age. The grand- 
father of Ambrose C. New was one of five 
brothers that served in the Revolutionary 
war and witnessed the surrender of General 
Cornwallis. One of these brothers was killed 
at the battle of Brandywine. Mr. New re- 
members having seen his grandfather. 

January 31, 1866, Ambrose C. New was 
married to Miss Mary Porter, who was born 
June 28, 1848, daughter of A. J. and Sarah 
A. (Smith) Porter. Her father was born in 
Kentucky, December 25, 1820, and her 



952 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



mother July 27, 1821, their marriage occur- 
ring ill 1844. The former died in 1888, at 
the age of sixty-eight years, and the latter is 
still living aged seventy. Mr. Porter be- 
longed to the Seventh Iowa Cavalry, and 
served three years in the Union army. Nine 
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Porter, 
whose names are as follows: Lncinda R., 
wife of G. H. Smith; Mary A., wife of Am- 
brose C. New; M. P.; Lucy, who died in 
infancy; Olive and Levona, who also died 
when young; Elzora, wife of K. P. Curtis; 
Louisa E., wife of Stephen D. Lawrence; and 
one that died in infancy. 

Mr. New came to Texas in September 
1879, and settled on the place where he now 
lives. He and his wife had nine children: 
Alice, wife of E. S. Keef, Wallace, Melvina, 
Virgil M., Cora, Lottie, Silas, Freddie (who 
died in infancy), and May. Mr. and Mrs. 
New antl three of their children are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Churcli, and one 
member of the family is a Presbyterian. 
Politically, Mr. New affiliates with the Demo- 
cratic party. 



tEWIS WILSON, a farmer of Mesquite, 
was born in Caledonia county, Alabama, 
March 1, 1840, a son of John Wilson, 
a native of middle Tennessee. The latter 
emigrated to Alabama when a young man, 
and was there married to a Miss Alexander, 
who died in that State. He was again mar- 
ried, and by his second wife had three chil- 
dren: Eliza, Lewis and one who died in 
infancy. Lewis' mother died when he was 
small, and he was reared principally by John 
H. Florence, with whom he came to this 
State in 1856. He enlisted in the Fourteenth 
Texas Cavalry, aud was subsequently dis- 
charged, and in 1862 joined Colonel Bates' 



regiment, and served until the close of the 
war. He was engaged as teamster most of 
the time, and participated in no important 
battles. After the war he returned home and 
rented land until 1876, when he bought 120 
acres, and he now owns 193 acres. 

Mr. Wilson was married January 9, 1879, 
to Mrs. ximanda (Florence) AVillingham. She 
was married to D. AVillingham March 20, 
1856, and they were the parents of three 
children: John R. ; Isaac and Sarah J., wife 
of E. C. Pechtol. The father died October 
27, 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have one 
child, Martha Elizabeth, born February 1, 
1880. They are both members of the Bap- 
tist Church. 

M. SPILLEl^, of Dallas county, 
Texas, was born in this county, July 
11. 1855, a son of Mitch Spiller, a 
native of Illinois. The father came to Texas 
over forty years ago, and settled on the farm 
where our subject now lives, and where he 
died July 4, 1878, at the age of tifty-six 
years. He was married in Illinois to Miss 
Priscie Little, who died when her son, A. M., 
was quite small. They reared a family of ten 
children, namely: Green, who died during 
the war; Wilson, also deceased; Mary, wife 
of Newton Keen; Minerva, wife of Marion 
Keen; Robert, deceased; Andrew; A. M., 
our subject; Dillie, wife of D. K. Brown- 
ing; and Lane. After the death of his first 
wife, Mr. Spiller married Mahala Jenkins, 
who now resides in Brownwood, Texas. 

After the death of his father our subject lived 
with his stepmother a short time, and then he 
and his brothers and sisters began housekeep- 
ing. He still continues farming on the old 
homestead, his father Jiaving left him ninety- 




HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



m-6 



three acres of land, which he has improved 
and made an attractive home. Mr. Spiller is 
a young man and full of energy, and the day 
is not far distant when he will be one of Dal- 
las county's foremost men. He was married 
December 25, 1879, to Miss Linnie M. Led- 
better, who was born June 24, 1858. Her 
father, Olive V. Ledbetter, was born in middle 
Tennessee May 30, 1827, and came to Texas 
in 1848. He was married March 4, 1848, to 
Miss Margaret Fox, wlio was born July 24, 
1826, and they reared a family of ten children, 
viz.: T. J., who died when yonncr; Nathan- 
iel B., who also died in infancy; W. (X; 
Minerva M., wife of Alfred Dnsen; W. ().; 
Linnie, wife of A. M. Spiller; J. J., A. L., 
T. J., and C. E., all born in Texas. Mr. and 
Mrs. Spiller have had seven children, namely: 
Delia, born December 5, 1880, died No- 
vember 17, 1881, Norah L., born August 3, 
1882, died August 8, 1885; Allie L., born 
September 15, 1883, died July 5, 1883; 
Corrall A!, born October 31, 1886; Eose, 
born July 7, 1885, died August 10, 1886; 
Elbert B., born August 22, 1889; and Earl, 
born August 22, 1889, died February 5, 1890. 
Mr. and Mrs. Spiller are both members of the 
Methodist Church. 

J^IJILLIAM M. MOON, former Sheriff 
'fffffifl °^ '•^^^ county, now night watchman 
l'^"^^ of the Texas and Pacific railroad, 
was born near Independence, Missouri, March 
18, 1830. His parents were Jesse and Mary 
J. (Gilraan) Moon, natives of Pennsylvania 
and North Carolina respectively. The father 
was taken, when a small child to North Caro- 
lina, where the father, grandfather of subject, 
died, and his wife removed to Tennessee. 
Jesse went to Missouri, in 1818, and engaged 



in farming, returning home in the latter part 
of the war of 1812. April, 1845, he removed 
to Texas and settled in what is now Dallas 
county and here he died in September of the 
same year. His settlement was made about 
six miles north of the present site of the city 
of Dallas. He was only fifty-two when he 
died. His wife survived him for eight years 
and then died, aged forty. They had six 
children, namely: Julia A., wife of Ellis C. 
Thomas, both deceased, leaving five children, 
now all married; our subject; Sarah J., died, 
single, when about thirty years of age; Jesse 
died when thirty-one, having been a soldier 
through the late war, was faithful and brave 
in danger; Martha, wife of M. I. More, de- 
ceased, resident of Dallas, and Nancy E., wife 
of J. C. McConnell. both deceased. 

Our subject was reared on the farm and 
followed that pursuit until 1855, when he 
came to Dallas and engaged as a clerk in the 
general merchandise store of Gold and Donald- 
son, where he remained about two years, then 
served as Deputy Sheriff under Burnett M. 
Henderson, during his term, then bought a 
blacksmith shop, which he ran until the open 
ing of the war. When he began he had two 
forges and at the time of the beginning of 
the war those two forges had increased to five. 
His partner was his brother in-law, J. C. Mc- 
Connell, and in 1861 he sold out to iiim and 
enlisted in July, 1861, in Company H, Third 
Texas Cavalry, in which he served four years, 
all but two days. He never returned home 
until the close of the war. His commanding 
officer was General Pine, and he took part 
with him in the battles of Oak Hill, or Wilson 
creek, and Pea Ridge, and was then ordered 
across the Mississippi, but did not get to the 
battle of Shiloh, which they intended to take 
part in. He served the remainder of the 
time, in Tennessee, under General Ross. 



954 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNT T. 



They fought the battles of luka and Corinth 
as infantry, but later were mounted cavalry. 
He was captured just before the fall of At- 
lanta by Kilpatrick's cavalry, and was con- 
veyed to Johnson's Island, where lie remained 
until the close of the war. He was in prison 
from September, 1864, to July, 1865, but 
the treatment was good. He came home on 
a Government transportation. When he en- 
tered the army he was a private, but was 
promoted, in Mississippi, and elected Second 
Lieutenant, to till the place of a man who 
had cashiered. He never had a furlough or 
leave of absence, never was in a hospital and 
participated in all the battles of his regiment 
until his capture, and was with General Hood 
in his famous raid into Tennessee. During 
this time he received three flesh wounds, but 
none of them were serious and he stood the 
strain very well. 

After the war he came to Dallas and mar- 
ried, on Christmas day, 1865, Mrs. Nancy J., 
widow of William A. Knight, who died in 
the army. Her father was Captain James 
Armstrong, who came to Texas in 1845, with 
his wife, Mary Stebbins, and a large family. 

Our subject farmed until 1871, and then 
moved to Dallas where he was salesman in a 
hardware store of J. C. McContiell, his 
brother-in-law. He clerked for about five 
years, until he was elected Sheriff of Dallas 
county and served four years, having been 
re-elected in 1878, being a good officer, and 
was so popular that he could have been elected 
a third time had he allowed his name to be 
used. He then formed a partnership with 
John Bennett, a railroad contractor, and 
bought an outfit for grading on the railroad, 
but this was not successful, although they 
graded on several roads. He returned to 
Dallas, and was Deputy Sheriff under W. H. 
W. Smith, for several years, also Deputy 



Sheriff under Sheriff Lewis, for some time. 
Was one of the police force of the city for 
four years, and then engaged as night watch- 
man and still occupies that position. He 
was elected Marshal of the city of Dallas, be- 
ing the first official of that name of that city. 

Mrs. Moon had two children by her first 
husband, James W. and John A. The former 
died December 23, 1891, aged thirty-one 
years. He was a good, reliable man. John 
A. is still living and conducts a feed store in 
Dallas under the firm name of Knight 
Brothers. 

Our subject and wife had one child, Ander- 
son Armstrong, who died at the age of 
twenty-one. Mrs. Moon died January 28, 
1889, aged fifty-five years, and she was a 
warm-hearted Christian woman, having been 
a member of the Metiiodist Episcopal Church 
from her girlhood and held a warm place in 
the hearts of all who came in contact with 
her. Her death was mourned by a large cir- 
cle of acquaintances. Both her sons, John 
and Anderson, joined the Methodist Epis- 
copal church in early manhood. Mr. Moon 
also has been a member of the same church 
since early boyhood, joining it when he was 
only si.xteen. He has always been a good, 
Christian man and enterprising citizen. As 
a Soldier he was ever ready to discharge every 
duty. As an officer, many friends and com- 
rades testify to the manly worth and charac- 
ter uf Lieutenant Moon. As an army officer 
he has a record well worthy of praise. He 
speaks in high praise of Charles W. Hill, 
Colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty- 
eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, whose regi- 
ment was in charge of the prison where he 
was confined. The Colonel, wliile under 
strict orders from the Secretary of war did 
everything to make the prisoners as comfort- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



955 



able as possible, allowing them all the privi- 
leges he could. 

Lieutenant is one of the pioneer citizens of 
Dallas county, is a worthy man, and is as 
widely respected as he is known. He has 
engaged in various occupations, blacksmith- 
ing, soldiering, clerking, official work and 
fanning. He was engaged in the latter pro- 
fession for the last time from 1883 to 1885, 
on hie own ranch, l)ut preferring city life he 
Sdld the ranch and returned to Dallas where 
he has remained ever since, respected by all. 



fOHN W. DAVIS, of Garland, was born 
in Harrison county, Virginia, Decem- 
ber 23, 1825, a son of Hanson C. Davis, 
who was born in the same county. May 21, 
1802. His ancestors came from Wales to 
this county under Lord Delaware, and settled 
in the State of Delaware, between the settle- 
ments of Virginia and New York. Mr. Davis 
was married in Indiana, in 1835, to Sallie 
Paris, who was born in 1800, and they re- 
mained in that State until 1847, when they 
came to Texas, arriving in Dallas county the 
last day of 1847. He came with the Peters' 
colony, and all that arrived in Texas in 1847 
had a right to claim 640 acres, and this col- 
ony soon availed themselves of this right. 
Mr. and Mrs. Davis were the parents of nine 
children: Benjamin F.; Deuressa A., wife of 
James Jackson; Pollie E., formerly Mrs. 
Jacob Miller, died in Indiana, leaving eleven 
children, who now reside in Tippecanoe county, 
Indiana; Maria N"., wife of John Little; Sal- 
lie A., wife of John C. Tucker, and both 
were deceased in this county, leaving ten chil- 
dren: Nancy C, who died before marriage; 
James M., also deceased ; Mary, wife of Samuel 
Whittock. 



When John W. Davis was in his twenty- 
second year he concluded to go to South, and 
in the spring of 1847 started for Texas to pre- 
pare for the family of his father. The first 
day the father hauled him thirty miles in a 
carryall, after which he left him to tramp the 
way the best he could. Mr. Davis walked 
to the Illinois river, where he took passage 
on a boat to the Mississippi river, then to the 
Red river, next up the Red river to Shreve- 
port, where, in company with another young 
man, they commenced the dangerous journey 
of 250 miles to Dallas county. The houses 
were from thirty to forty miles apart and they 
prepared themselves with provisions and 
camped out over night. After landing in 
this county Mr. Davis filed a claim for 320 
acres of land, which he subsequently im- 
proved and sold, and later bought 200 acres 
where he now lives. He now owns 700 acres 
of line black loam in the cotton belt of Texas, 
where he is an extensive cotton raiser. In 
the spring of 1862 he enlisted in Colonel 
Hawpe's regiment, and remained until the 
close of the war, after which he returned home 
with what was left of his regiment, there be- 
ing about one-third of the original number. 
He was first detailed as forage master, and 
served in that capacity during the entire term 
of enlistment, and was also in the battles of 
Prairie Grove, Carrion Crow, Mansfield, and 
many skirmishes. Mr. Davis was never 
wounded or taken prisoner, and received his 
discharge from the Confederate States army. 

Mr. Davis was married June 25, 1855, to 
Miss Jennette Chenault, who was born in 1839, 
the daughter of Jesley Chenault, a native of 
Indiana. The father came to Texas in 1845, 
when Mrs. Davis was but six years old, and 
she well remembers the hardships the family 
endured in the early days of this State. Tliey 
were obliged to live on what they could kill, 



956 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



their nearest market being 250 miles distant, 
and even there they could not buy bread-stuff 
at any price. Mr. Chenault married Elizabeth 
Hatfield, and they reared tiiirteeu children, 
namely: Angela, wife of John Tucker; Jen- 
nette, wife of John W. Davis; John, who 
died leaving six children: Lucy, wife of H. 
Beckner; Ellen, wife of William Ryne; A. 
G. ; Jacob; Sarah, who died before marriage; 
Elizabeth, wife of "W. Hardicut; Tansey, wife 
of George Tucker; and Wesley. Mr. Che- 
nault was married the second time, to Lucy 
Sage, and they had two children, — James and 
Elizabeth, wife of Joe Bickney. Mr. and 
Mrs. Davis are the parents of fourteen chil- 
dren, only nine of whom survive: Elizabeth 
C, wife of T. N. Wallace; Mary C, wife of 
Thomas Brandenburg; Benjamin F. married 
Mrs. Ellen Baless; Martha C. is the wife of 
A. E. Derring; D. J., C. B., Daniel D. and 
Anna P. Mrs. Davis is a member of the 
Baptist Church, and Mr. Davis is a member 
of the Royal Arch Masons, Scyene Lodge, No. 
295, and also of the L O. O. F., Richards 
Lodge. 

fC. RUGEL, an ex-member of the Legis- 
Irture and a hardware merchant of Mes- 
® quite, Dallas county, Texas, is one of 
the prominent men of this section cf the 
country. 

Mr. Rugel is a son of Ferdinand and Laura 
Bell Rugel, natives of Germany snd Tennes- 
see respectively. ' Ferdinand Rugel came to 
America about 1833, and traveled extensively 
over the United States before settling in Jef- 
ferson county, Tennessee. He was by pro- 
fession a naturalist, having come to this 
country in the interest of a scientific organi- 
zation of Germany. He was a graduate of a 
medical college in Wiirtemberg and was 



otherwise highly educated. After settling in 
Tennessee he was engaged in the practice of 
medicine and also carried on farming oper- 
ations. After a long and eventful life he 
died there, in 1878. He and his wife were 
the parents of twelve children, five of whom 
are still living. Their son Ferdinand died in 
the army of Virginia, in 1865; Mollie became 
the wife of J. C. Chapman and resides in this 
county; J. C. forms the subject of this sketch; 
G. A. resides in Hamblen county, Tennessee, 
where he is engaged in farming; Lou is the 
wife of W. H. Horner, of Jefferson county, 
Ten!iessee; F. C. is a member of the firm of 
J. C. Rugel & Co.: and Bettie, wife of J. F. 
Chapman, is deceased. Mrs. Rugel lives in 
Hamblen county, Tennessee, and is now sixty- 
six years of age. 

J. C. Rugel was educated at Morristown, at 
what is called Ragan's High School, and at 
the age of twenty-one started out in life for 
himself. He asserted his majority by im- 
mediately emigating to this State. He 
settled in the vicinity of Mesquite and en- 
gaged in teaching school, which occupation 
he followed seven years, and during that 
time was considered one of the best instruct- 
ors in this part of the country. After leav- 
ing the school room he took charge of Sena- 
tor R, S. Kinibraugh's books, being occupied 
as bookkeeper eighteen mouths. He then 
engaged in his prseent business, with T. F. 
Nash, under the firm name of Nash & Rugel, 
dealing in hardware and farming implements 
of all kinds. Two years later Mr. F. C. Rugel 
bought Mr. Nash's interest, the firm becom- 
ing J. C. Rugel & Brother, 

In 1884 the subject of our sketch was 
elected Justice of the Peace of Precinct No. 
4, and two years latter, in 1886, was elected 
member of the Twentieth Legislature of 
Texas. He served as Chairman of the sub- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



957 



committeee that prepared the Railway Com- 
mission Bill ; was also a member of the regular 
committe on Internal Improvements. His 
services in the Legislature were highly ap- 
preciated by his coustituents and were ren- 
dered in a manner that reflected much credit 
on himself. 

Mr. Rugel was married in 1876, to Miss 
Florence Freeson, a daughter of Daniel and 
Eliza (Ward) Freeson, natives of Mississippi. 
Mr. and Mrs. Rugel are the parents of four 
children: Pauline, Charles, Daniel and Car- 
rie. 

Both he and his wife are members of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which 
he is an Elder. He is a member of Scyene 
Lodge, No. 295, A. F. & A, M., and has 
filled the various chairs in the order; is also 
a member of the K. of H. of Mesquite, and is 
secretary of said lodge. 

A. UM P H RE SS.— Among the 
prominent farmers of Precinct No. 
'® 4, Dallas county, Texas, is found 
the gentleman whose name appears above. 

Mr. Umphress was born in Jefferson county, 
Florida, in 1849, son of M. B. and Martha 
Houston Umphress, natives of Georgia. His 
father moved to Florida in an early day and 
settled in Jeflerson county, where he became 
a planter and was also engaged in stock-rais- 
ing and butchering at Monticello, the county 
seat of Jefferson county. He died in Florida 
in 1860, at the age of forty-six years. He 
had been twice married. By his first wife 
he had three children, one dying in infancy 
and one at the age of eleven years. The 
third. Amaranth is the wife of Jesse Aldrige. 
By his second companion, nee Martha Hor- 
ton, a sister of his first wife, he had seven 

62 




children, five of whom lived to be grown, 
namely: Artemisia, wife of Levi Horton of 
Dallas county; John R., also of this county; 
Mitchell A., the subject of this sketch; S. E., 
of Hood county, Texas; Euphrates, who was 
killed in Dallas, June 16, 1884, left a family 
who reside in this county. Mrs. Umphress 
makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. 
Horton, and is now sixty-three years of age. 
Mr. Umphress served with distinction in the 
Florida war. 

The subject of our sketch was reared in his 
native county and received his education in 
the common schools there, and at the early 
age of sixteen commenced life for himself. 
He was engaged in farming in Florida until 
1873, when he moved to Texas and settled in 
Dallas county. He lived near Scyene on 
rented land for more than a year. When he 
landed in Scyene he had only 75 cents in 
money and had a wife and four children. 
His money giving out when he got to Brazos, 
he had to send to his brother for means with 
which to reach his destination. Now he 
owns 144 acres of land, 104 acres being under 
cultivation and has good buildings, pleasant 
home and all his surroundings indicate pros- 
perity. All this property he has accumu- 
lated since 1880. That year he purchased 
forty acres at $17.50 an acre; in 1887, bought 
twenty-four acres at $25 an acre; in 1888, 
forty acres, at |25 an acre; and in 1890, forty 
acres of timber land, at $8 an acre. The 
year 1876 Mr. Umphress spent in Hood 
county, this State; but not being satisfied 
there he returned to Dallas county. 

He was married in 1865, when in his 
seventeenth year, to Mrs. Elizabeth Smith 
{nee Tucker), daughter of Dr. Isaac and Caro- 
lina (Turner) Tucker, natives of Florida. 
They were among the earliest residents of 
Jefierson county, Florida, and the Seminole 



958 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



Indians were frequent visitors at the Turner 
homestead. Osceola had no doubt been fed 
at the home of Dr. Turner. Mr. and Mrs. 
Uinphress are the parents of six children: 
Lula; Minnie, wife of J. E. Spier, of this 
county; Mitchel, who died in 1874, at the age 
of two years; Lucius, who died when one 
year old ; lola; and Arphaxad. 

Mr. Uniphress and his wife are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. 
He is associated with the Farmers' Alliance. 



jICHARD BRUTON, one of the oldest 
living settlers of Dallas county, Texas, 
came to this State in 1845, arriving here 
in the month of March. 

Mr. Bruton was born in Kentucky in 1812, 
the son of William and Rebecca (Pemberton) 
Bruton, natives of South Carolina and Vir- 
ginia respectively. William Bruton was a 
farmer by occupation and was a pioneer in 
the true sense of the word. He moved from 
Kentucky to Illinois in 1827, and settled in 
Morgan county. Land at that time could be 
purchased there for $1.25 per acre. He made 
his houic in Morgan county until 1846, when 
he came to Texas. Here his death occurred 
in 1866, at the age of eighty-four years. He 
died December 31, and was buried January 
1, 1867. His wife died about 1840. They 
were the parents of eleven children, Richard 
being the third-born and one of the four who 
are now living. His sister, Lavina, now re- 
sides with him. She was born in 1810, and 
is the widow of James Roberts of Illinois. 
The other two are Louisa and Rebecca, both 
residents of Illinois, the former being the 
wife of Harden Edwards and the latter of 
Robert Angelow. 

Richard Bruton received his education in 



the primitive log schoolhouses of Kentucky, 
and at the age of twenty-four left home and 
commenced life for himself. When he was 
twenty-five he went to tlie Territory of Iowa 
and settled near Salem, a Quaker village, in 
what is now Henry county. He was among 
the first settlers there; took a claim and after- 
ward sold it. He left Iowa in 1843 and went 
to JSewton county, Missouri, where he re- 
mained eighteen months. From there he 
came to Texas and settled on his present farm. 
He at first had 320 acres, and of this he has 
since sold 160 acres. His land is worth from 
$40 to $50 per acre. When he settled here 
game of all kinds was plenty, and the princi- 
pal crop raised by the early settlers was corn. 
Mr. Bruton had the misfortune to lose his 
first corn crop by fire. The prairie caught 
fire, and, tlie corn being gathered and in a 
pen, pen and all were swept away. 

Mr. Bruton came here a single man, and in 
1848 was united in marriage with Elizabeth 
Cox, daughter of Cornelius and Catherine 
(Jackson) Cox, natives of Indiana. They 
came to this State the same year Mr. Bruton 
did. Previous to their coming here they had 
lived in Newton county, Missouri. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bruton are the parents of nine children: 
W. C, deceased; Louriiia, wife of C. M. 
Elder, deceased; James W., a resident of 
Johnson county, Texas; Mary E., wife of C. 
M. Elder (formerly the husband of Lourina); 
Matilda, deceased; Josephine, wife of J. D. 
Miller, of Dallas county; J. D., a resident of 
this county; H. J., deceased; and Samantha 
A., also deceased. 

In speaking of his pioneer days in this 
State, Mr. Bruton says that they were the 
happiest days of his life: Many were the 
times he indulged in the buflTalo and deer 
chase, combining pleasure with profit, for the 
game they secured was necessary to their 



HISTOHY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



959 




maintenance, their chief food being corn 
bread and wild meat. Mr. Bruton served as 
a juror of the second court ever held in Dal- 
las. He has never had any political aspira- 
tions, but has given his whole time to his 
own private affairs. He has given some at- 
tention to breeding fine horses, and has on 
his farm some valuable stock. 

Mrs. Bruton is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church and has been for many 
years. 



;ILLIAM E. HUNDLEY was born in 
Hickman county, Kentucky, Novem- 
ber 22, 1866. He came to Texas at 
the age of nineteen, and although young in 
years was full of business qualifications. The 
first year he hired out to work on a farm. 
June 27, 1886, he was married to Mrs. Mar- 
gery Raney. She owning seventy-eight acres 
of laud, he has since devoted his energies to 
its cultivation and improvement. He has 
built a nice residence, is comfortably situated 
and is on the high road to prosperity. His 
chief agricultural products are corn, wheat 
and cotton. 

Mr. Hundley's father, J. M. Hundley, was 
born in Kentucky in 1822, and died in 1885, 
at the age of sixty-three years. His mother, 
nee Katharine Huss, was born in 1823, and 
is still living in Kentucky. The six children 
born to them are as follows; Louisa, wife of 
William Burton; Conrad W.; Thomas S.; 
Anna E., wife of Winfield Scott; William E.; 
Sarah J., wife of Henry Jackson — all living 
and Carried. 

Mrs. Hundley's maiden name was Margery 
Wainescott. Her first husband, John E. 
Raney, died in 1879. By him she had four 
children: John E., Edward C, Buck S. and 



John E. The first two named are deceased. 
Mrs. H undley was born in 1854, the daughter 
of John E. and Rebecca (Wilson) Wainescott. 
Her mother died in 1883. In her father's 
family were eleven children, viz.: Paulina, 
wife of William Rauey, is now deceased; Co- 
lumbus; Charlotte, wife of Henry A. Sheals; 
Willie, wife of Peter Youngblood; William; 
Margery, wife of W. E. Hundley; Eliza, de- 
ceased ; Violet, wife of John Prichard; Bell, 
wife of Isaac Davis; Sallie, wife of John 
Houser; Samuel, deceased. 

John E. Raney served through the war in 
the Confederate array, was in a number of 
battles and skirmishes, but was never wounded. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hundley are members of the 
Presbyterian Church. Politically, he is a 
Democrat. 



fCTDGE A. S. LATHROP, ex-Judge of 
the District Court, was born in Butler 
county, Ohio, September 30, 1829, a son 
of David and Maria Lathrop. His father, a 
merchant at Oxford, Ohio, died about 1863, 
at the age of eighty-two years, and his mother 
died in 1872, aged about seventy. 

Judge Lathrop was educated at Miami 
University, at Oxford, Ohio, graduating in 
the class of 1850. He studied law, and came 
to Texas in 1853, locating first in Brazoria 
county. He opened out there as the editor 
of the Planter, and soon began to practice 
his profession, which he has followed ever 
since. 

In the spring of 1863 he enlisted in the 
Confederate army and served until the close 
of the war, in the Southwest, in Bates' regi- 
ment. His regiment was stationed most of 
the time on the coast, and was not engaged 
in any regularly pitched battle. 



960 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COONTT. 



After the close of the war he resumed the 
practice of law, in partnership with Judge 
McCorraic, the firm name being Lathrop & 
McConnic; but in 1870 his partner was 
elected to the Bench, and Judge Lathrop con- 
tinued alone as attorney. 

He came to Dallas in 1879, where he has 
continued in his profession. In 1876 he 
represented in the Legislature his district, 
then comprising Galveston, Brazoria and 
Matagorda counties, and he served on several 
important committees. lie also served as 
Judge of Court on several occasions, in special 
cases. As an attorney the Judge stands de- 
servedly higli. He is a Democrat, but takes 
little interest in politics. 

He was married in 1860 to Miss "Watts, 
and has had five children, namely: Henry, 
who practiced law for some time, and died at 
the age of twenty- six years; William, who 
died at the age of tweuty-two years; A. S., Jr., 
who is studying law with his father; James, 
the next in order of birth; Amine, still at 
school and a member of the home circle. 
Mrs. Lathrop is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

E^ 

jMON McCOMMAS.— Among the early 
tl>\A% settlers of Dallas county, Texas, few 
=^' there are who iiave resided here as long 
as the above named gentleman. Ho came to 
this county with his father. Anion McCom- 
mas, Sr., in Decemlier, 1844, and settled five 
miles northeast of where thecity of Dallas now 
stands. At that time Dallas contained only 
five or six families, settled along the banks of 
the river. His father was a prosperous and 
wealthy farmer of Missouri, and moved from 
that State to this, coming through with ox 
teams and bringing with him a number of 
horses, cattle and sheep. They made the 



journey through the Indian Xation, and on 
their arrival here the senior Mr. McCommas 
purchased a headright, and during the rest of 
his life made his home on it, engaged in 
farming and stock-raising. He was promi- 
nent in the early history of this county, 
always exerting his influence for the good of 
the community in which he resided. He was 
chairman of the Board of County Commis- 
sioners, and was also chairman of the meet- 
ing that was held to organize Dallas county 
in 1845. While a resident of Missouri he 
served as Justice ef the Peace in Wright 
county. He was born in Tennessee, and had 
lived in several States before coming to Texas, 
lie was one of the first Christian ministers 
in this part of the State, and was lor thirty- 
four years actively engaged in the minis- 
try. His death occurred here in 1877, 
in the seventy-third year of his age. He 
was married in 1826, to Mary Brumphield, 
daughter of James Brumphield. They 
reared a family of nine children: James B., 
deceased; Stephen B., also deceased; John 
and Elisha, residents of Dallas county; Amon, 
the subject of this sketch; Rosana, who be- 
came the wife of Jesse Cox, is deceased; 
William M., deceased; Mary E., wife of Dr. 
W. P. Stone, is deceased; Armilda, wife of 
B. F. Fleeman, of this State. Mrs. McCommas 
died in 1877, at the age of seventy-three 
years. 

Amon McCommas was born in Illinois, May 
12, 1832, and was educated in the common 
schools of Missouri and Texas. At the age 
of twenty-one he began life for himself, and 
that year, 1853, went overland to California, 
remaining there until 1869. During his 
sojourn in the Golden State he was engaged 
in mining and teaming, and had his ups and 
downs like others there. He made the return 
trip by rail. After coming back tu Texas he 



El STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



961 



farmed one year. In 1871 he engaged in 
the mercantile business at Scyeue, where he 
now lives. He was Postmaster of this place 
from 1871 to 1889, with the exception of 
twelve or sixteen months daring the early 
part of the '80s. He was engao;ed in mer- 
chandising for eight years, being in partner- 
ship with his father. After the death of his 
father he turned his attention to farming, in 
which he is still engaged. For several years 
past he has devoted considerable attention to 
the breeding of fine horses, having the Royal 
English turf blood. A tine horse owned by 
him and known as Lonnie B. won second 
money at the great Texas Derby during the 
fall of 1890. 

Mr. McCommas was married in 1870 to 
Miss Nancy C. Seals, daughter of Wilson and 
Mahalia (Mills) Seals, natives of Tennessee. 
They came to this State in 18(35. Mr. and 
Mrs. McCommas are the parents of eight chil- 
dren, six of whom are living: Edwin F., Oto, 
Eerdie, Bonner, Viola and Anion, Jr. 

Mr. and Mrs. McCommas are members of 
the Christian Clnircli. He is a member of 
Scyene Lodge, No. 295, A. F. & A. M., hav- 
ing served as Treasurer of the lodge for thir- 
teen consecutive years. 

THOMAS C. MAESH was born in 
Harrison county, Kentucky, February 
21, 1831. He was reared on a fai-m 
and has all his life been identified with farm- 
ing interests. In 1844, at the age of thir- 
teen, he emigrated with his parents to 
Texas and settled in Dallas county near 
where he now lives. Previous to his com- 
ing here he had attended school only a very 
little, and in the subscription schools of this 
county he obtained a fair education. His 



father took a homestead of 640 acres under 
the Peters colony, improved it, and lived on 
it the rest of his life. After the first year 
they had an abundance of everything. Game 
at all times plentiful, and Thomas was the 
hunter of the family, keeping the larder well 
supplied with deer, turkey, etc. He went on 
many a bear hunt, killed game of all kinds, 
large and small, and so skillful was he as a 
hunter that he gained a local notoriety. 
Those days the Indians were plentiful in these 
parts, and they frequently committed depre- 
dations. They stole four horses from the 
Marsh family. They frequently killed cattle 
and it was not uncommon to see the cows 
come home at night with arrows sticking in 
them. 

Thomas C. remained at home with his 
father until he was twenty five years of age, 
and then, March 13, 185G, he was married. 
At the age of seventeen he was entitled to a 
head right under the Peters colony, and had 
secured 320 acres of land. After his mar- 
riage he settled on his farm and began mak- 
ing improvements, giving his attention 
chiefly to the stock business. He built a 
cabin and liroke twelve acres of land, and by 
1860 had succeeded in getting a good start of 
stock, cattle and horses. In 1862 he enlisted 
in the Confederate service, and was with the 
forces that operated in the Indian Nation 
and in Arkansas. He acted the part of a 
brave soldier until the war was over, when be 
returned hoine to find his farm a waste and 
his stock destroyed. His wife and three chil- 
dren remained, however, and he began life 
anew. He opened up a larger farm and en- 
tered more extensively into the stock busi- 
ness, and in his farming operations and stock- 
raising has met with eminent success. He 
now owns in the neighborhood of 700 acres 
of as fine land as there is in the world. He 



962 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



has it all under fence, 175 acres under culti- 
vation and the rest devoted to pasture. His 
stock are mostly horses and sheep. He also 
keeps graded cattle; has a fine jack, and is 
giving attention to mule raising. Financially 
and otherwise, he has made a success of life, 
and is ranked with the wealthy and influen- 
tial farmers of this section of the country. 

His father's name was Harrison C. Marsh, 
and he, too, was a native of Harrison county, 
Kentucky, born March 29, 1805. He was a 
farmer and stock-raiser, and while in Ken- 
tucky owned and ran a mill. He died on the 
old homestead in this county. May 5, 1889. 
Grandfather Thomas Marsh was born in 
Baltimore, Maryland, and died in Kentucky 
about 1841. The mother of our subject and 
the wife of Harrison C. Marsh, was before 
her marriage. Miss Mary Raymond. She 
was the daughter of William Raymond, of 
Kentucky; was born February 18, 1810; 
married JSovember 11, 1828, and after sixty 
years of happy married life died April 19, 
1888. This worthy couple were the parents 
of eight children, viz. : William B., born 
September 2, 1829, and died September 6, 
1838; Thomas C, the subject of this article; 
Sarah E., March 9, 1833, became the wife 
of H. C. Daggett; John D., born August 
25, 1835; Mary F., born August 2, 1840, 
married J. J. McAllister; Elizabeth J., born 
October 9, 1843, married E. B. Daggett; 
Martha A., born February 27, 1848, married 
Mark Ellison; Charlotte M., born March 30, 
1851, married W. O'Neill. Harrison F., who 
was born November 16, 1837, died Novem- 
ber 20, 1839. 

Thomas C. Marsh married Hannah Husted, 
daughter of Elkaner and Catherine (Beards- 
ley) Husted, who came from New York 
State to Texas in 1854. Her father was a 
farmer in later years; in early life was with 



the Hudson Bay Fur Company for some 
years. He settled in Texas with the ex- 
pectation of making it his future home. He 
also owned property in Missouri, and in 1861 
went there to dispose of it. The war broke 
out and he could not return. His death oc- 
curred at Olathe, Kansas, May 11, 1865, at 
the age of sixty-seven years. To Thomas C. 
Marsh and his wife three children have been 
born, namely: Mary E., born November 29, 
1857, is now the wife of J. E. Buchanan, and 
resides in Dallas county; Sarah C, born May 
22, 1860, married A. W. Stalnaker, and lives 
in the city of Dallas; and Thomas J., who 
was born June 29, 1862. 

Mr. Marsh's political views are in har- 
mony with Democratic principles, and with 
that party he has ever afiiliated. 



^ 



'^ 



,NDREW J. DENNIS was born in 
f/i&\5 Overton county, Tennessee, February 
^^^ 17, 1833. He was reared on a farm, 
received a liberal education, and for a time 
was engaged in teaching. His life occupa- 
tion, however, has been farming. 

James Dennis, his father, was a native of 
North Carolina. He died in Tennessee at 
the age of fifty- two years. His wife passed 
away in 1875, aged seventy-eight. She was 
before her marriage Miss Parmina Gunnells, 
and her mother, whose maiden name was 
Bennefield, came to this country from 
Europe. By a previous marriage James 
Dennis had six children, and by Perraina lie 
had seven. The names of the last family 
are as follows: Nancy C, married W. M. 
Roberts, a native of Tennessee, who came 
from Kentucky to Texas in 1878; Catherine 
S., who married James Conner and lives in 
Clay county, Tennessee; George W., who 



HI STORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



963 



was married and lived in Tennessee, went 
through the war and after returning home 
was shot and killed in his own house; An- 
drew J., the subject of our sketch; Thomas 
J., who came to Texas in 1886; is now a 
lesident of Dallas county; Daniel P., wlio 
was married and lived in Texas, died Janu- 
ary, 1886; and Sarah J., whose first husband, 
Franklin Elder of Tennessee, was killed in 
the war, and who suljsequently moved to 
Illinois and there married Silas Follis, came 
in 1868 with Mr. Follis to Texas, and is now 
living in Denton county. 

Andrew J. Dennis came with one of his 
half-brothers to Texas, arriving in Dallas 
county in December, 1854. He had only a 
small amount of money then and was at first 
employed as a farm hand, working in that 
way five years. At the end of that time he 
bought 110 acres of land, the farm on which 
he now lives. He has since added to his 
original purchase and now has a fine farm, 
well improved with good buildings, etc. 
Previous to the war his crops were wheat, 
oats and corn, and he also raised stock. Since 
then he has given his attention to the liais- 
ing of cotton. He has never made a total 
failure of crops. He now keeps only such 
stock as are needed for his own use on the 
farm. 

Mr. Dennis was married to Miss Sarah 
"Webb. Her father, 1. B. Weljb, a native of 
Tennessee, came to Texas in 18-1:1, settled in 
Dallas county and' took a headright of 640 
acres of land. He died in 1880, at the age of 
seventy-eight years. His wife, the mother 
of Mrs. Dennis, was before her marriage Miss 
Mary Hughes. Her deatli occurred in 1887. 
Her father, William Hughes, was a native of 
North Carolina Mr. and Mrs. Dennis have 
been blessed with nine children, viz.: Mar- 
garet L., wife of W. H. Demere, lives in 



Dallas county; James I., at home; L. W., 
married and settled in life; andZ. H., George 
N., Charles W., Anna F., J. Sutton and Mary 
Hughes, at home. 

During the late war Mr. Dennis was the 
Confederate County Assessor of this county, 
serving as such from 1861 to 1865. He was 
at one time a member of the Farmers' Al- 
liance, but withdrew. He and his family are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

EV. JOSEPH MARTIN lERE was 
^ born near the city of Lyons, France, 
January 8, 1841. At an early age he 
was sent to the Ecclesiastical College of 
I'Argentiere, where he pursued his studies 
with success. Nine years of close apjjlica- 
tion terminated his classical course, and a 
three-years course of theology in the Grand 
Seminary of Lj'ons fitted him for the minis- 
try. 

In 1862, at the invitation of Rt. Rev. 
Bishop Dubuis of Galveston, he came to 
America with twelve other young seminari- 
ans. He remained fourteen months in New 
Orleans and received holy orders at the 
hands of Most Rev. J. M. Odin in the Cathe- 
dral of the Crescent City, April 10, 1864. 
After his ordination. Rev. J. Martiniere was 
located in Hallettsville, Lavaca county, Texas, 
as assistant to Rev. F.Forest. The arduous 
mission of Liberty and its environs was next 
entrusted to his charge, and later his field of 
labor extended over Denison, Jefferson, St. 
Paul, Collin county, Weatherford and nearly 
all the missions of Northern Texas — now in- 
cluded in the diocese of Dallas. 

Few, who now visit these points, can realize 
the sacrifices and hardships endured by tbe 



early 



energetic missionaries 



of Texas. It 



964 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



was amidst untold difEculties and much per- 
sonal suffering that they ministered to the 
wants of their fellow creatures. Railroads 
and telegraph wires had not yet been con- 
structed over this remote portion of the State, 
and besides the unsettled and unsatisfactory 
condition of the local government rendered 
traveling on horseback very unsafe. Imbued 
with a truly apostolic spirit, Rev. J. JVIar- 
tiniere labored in this district for nine years 
with untiring zeal wherever duty or the de- 
mands of suffering humanity appealed to his 
great, generous heart. During one of his 
journeys the famous wagon train from 
Weatherford to Fort GriiJin was attacked by 
Indians and seven persons were killed; then 
the Government was induced to establish 
forts at stated places for the protection of 
travelers. 

In 1873, Rev. J. Martiniere was appointed 
pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart in 
Dallas. The Texas & Pacific Railroad had 
just pushed its terminus to this locality; but 
little else at this period marked the speedy 
progress of the future city of Dallas. 

Little by little the scanty congregation 
which he found in the modest church on 
Bryan street increased in number. Sodali- 
ties were formed and associations organized 
under his able and devoted efforts. In 1874 
the Ursnline Convent was established in the 
city, near the parish church. 

In 1888 Mr. Thomas Marsalis offered a 
desirable location in the Oak Cliff suburb 
for some charitable work. With the ap- 
proval of Rt. Rev. N. A. Gallagher, then 
Bishop of Galveston, Father Martiniere ener- 
getically set to work at the darling enterprise 
of his heart, — the establishment of an orphans' 
home. Day after day he journeyed back 
and forth, enlisting aid and directing the 
buildings. About this time measures were 



taken for the erection of a large brick church 
on Bryan street as better suited to the grow- 
ing Catholic population of Dallas. The work 
was commenced and the foundations laid, at 
the cost of $5,000, under his supervision. 

In 1890, Rev. J. Martiniere was appointed 
Chaplain of the Ursuline Convent in East 
Dallas. The religious had extended their 
work under his direction; and his judgment 
and ability ever proved as farseeing as it 
was wise. 

AVhen Rt. Rev. T. F. Bi'ennan was nom- 
inated Bishop to tiie see of Dallas, he ap- 
pointed Rev. J. Martiniere his Vicar General; 
but six months' experience induced him to 
resign the dignity. 

A conscientious discharge of duty, a con- 
sideration for others, forgetfulness of self, 
and above all an unbounded charity for the 
poor, have won for this distinguished pastor 
the brotherly love of his co-laborers and the 
esteem and reverence of all classes and de- 
nominations. A celebrated statesman of 
Dallas once remarked that " Rev. Father 
Martiniere had done more for the growth and 
prosperity of this city than any other man 
within its limits." 

Ever unostentatious, the labors of twenty- 
eight years have been modestly withheld from 
the praise of the age; but the calendar of 
God proclaims what time may never record. 



ILAS H. FOREE, one of the leading 
farmers of Precinct No. 3, Dallas 
county, Texas, was born in Kentucky 
in 1827, son of John H. and Fannie (Violett) 
Foree, natives of Virginia and Kentuckj 
respectively. 

Mr. Force's grandfather, Silas Foree, waf 
born in Virginia and when a boy emigrated 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



905 



witli liis father to Keiitiicky, where lie was 
captured by tlie Indians. The Indian cliief 
Logan admired the boy's courage, adopted 
liiin and took him to Canada. A l>ritish 
officer in some way got possession of him 
there and sold him to a Scotcinnan. The 
celebrated Whittaker, an Indian fighter of 
Kentucky, was captured at the same time, 
but during a lieavy rain made his escape near 
the place whei'e Cincinnati now stands. Mr. 
Force spent seven years among tlie Indians 
and Canadians, and at the close of the war 
for independence was exchanged, and came 
back to Virginia. He was one of tlie vol- 
unteers who enlisted under Washington to 
quell what was called the Whisky Insurrec- 
tion in Pennsylvania. At the time of the 
capture of Mr. Force his father and mother 
were both dead, but several members of the 
family were killed. Two of his sisters were 
captured. One was killed by the Indians on 
the journey as she was not able to endure the 
hardships of the trip, and the other arrived 
safe in Canada, and afterward married a 
Scotchman by the name of Smith. The 
Smith family subsequently came to the 
United States. Mr. Force was the youngest 
of the family and belonged to the third gen- 
eration of BVench Huguenots who settled in 
this country. He was married in Virginia 
and some years later moved with his family 
to Kentucky, locating in Henry county. He 
and his wife reared a family of six sons and 
four daughters, John H. being the sixth- 
born. The sons were all fanners. 

John H. Force reared a family of nine 
children, in Kentucky, two dying in infancy. 
The oldest, Jephtha C, resides on Red river, 
Texas; Silas H. is the subject of this sketch; 
Thaddeus C. resides in Flattsburg, Missouri; 
John, a lawyer by profession, was killed in 
LonisTille, Kentucky; William, deceased; 



James W., a brick mason and contractor, was 
accidentally killed; Mary A., deceased; 
Theodore, a resident of Kansas; Frank M., 
who resides on the old homestead. Mr. 
Force died in 1885, at the age of eighty- 
four years, and his wife died in 18S8, at the 
same age. Both had been members of the 
Baptist Church for many years. 

Silas H. Foree received a fair education in 
his native county, and for ten or twelve 
years after reaching man's estate was en- 
gaged in teaching the "three K's." In 
1860, at the age of thirty-two, he came to 
Dallas county, Texas, and located in tlie 
vicinity of Dallas, where he rented land for 
two years. At the end of this time he en- 
tered the Confederate army, becoming a 
member of Company I, Thirtieth Texas 
Cavalry, and served until the war closed. 
He went to farming again, and in 1868 
bought the property on which he resides 
from his father-in-law, tirst buying ninety- 
live acres, for which he paid $7 per acre. 
He subsequently bought sixty-live acres 
joining him on the east, at $10 an acre, and 
320 acres on the north at '$1 per acre. He 
now has about 220 acres under cultivation, 
whicli'is valued at $25 an acre. Diirino- the 
time he was paying for his land he was also 
at a heavy expense in educating his children, 
all of whom are graduates of Waco Univer- 
sity. His daughter also attended a female 
school at Bclton, Texas, one year. 

Mr. Foree was married in Kentucky, in 
1858, to Miss Elizabeth A. Kyle, daughter 
of Henry and Elizabeth (Pirkey) Kyle, 
natives of Virginia and of Irish and Cerman 
parentage. They removed to Kentucky a 
short time previous to the birth of Mrs. 
Foree. They had a family of eight children, 
two of whom died in infancy. Both parents 
are deceased, the mother dying in Kentucky 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



and the father in Texas. Mr. ami Mrs. 
Foree liave had four children, one having 
died when small. Those living are Kenneth, 
an attorney and at present City Judge of 
Dallas; Earnest, also an attorney, residing at 
Rockwall, Texas; and Lillian E. 

Mr. Foree is a member of the A. F. & A. 
M., Duck Creek Lodge, and he and his wife 
belong to the Baptist Church. 

ROBERT E. SUMMERS, M. D., Gar- 
land, was born in Alaljania, in 1847, 
the seventh child of Robert and Mary 
G. (Legg) Summers, natives of Tennessee. 
The father was a farmer by occupation, and 
after the birth of our subject he settled in 
Lincoln county, Tennessee, and engaged in 
farming. Tlie families on both sides are of 
English parentage, and were among the old- 
est American families. Mr. and Afrs. Sum- 
mers had nine eliildren, live of whom lived 
to maturity, viz.: William, a native of Ten- 
nessee; Daniel M., deceased, whose family 
now reside in Lincoln county; Ivtbert E., our 
subject; Sallie, widow of William Markham, 
a minister of the Baptist Church; Thomas 1)., 
a fanner of Lincoln county. The oldest son, 
William, has taught in Fittstield, Alabama, and 
also in Oak Hill and (.'ornersville Institutes, 
Tennessee, lie has amassed considerable 
property, and at present resides in Lincoln 
county, where he has a fine farm and devotes 
his attention to raising tine stock. Mr. Sum- 
mers died in 1887, at the age of seventy-eight 
years, and Mrs. Summers died the next year, 
also at the age of seventy-eight years. She 
was a mem])er of the Baptist Church for 
many years. 

Dr. Summers was educated first in the 
common schools of his native county, and at 



the age of twenty-one years entered the Nash- 
ville College of Medicine, in the class of 
1869, and graduated in the class of 1871. 
He commenced practice in Franklin county, 
and later returned to the county of his birth, 
where he practiced one season; next he went 
to Wittsburg, Arkansas, but after six or eight 
months his health failed, and he returned to 
Tennessee; then, in 187G, he commenced 
practice at Barnes' Hill, Tennessee, and in 
February, 188G, came to this county, locating 
at Garland, which was not known at that 
time. The Doctor was one of the first set- 
tlers of the place, and erected the first drug 
store in the village. He has since bought 
and rebuilt a handsome residence, and also 
owns a fine farm of sixty acres, all under im- 
provement. In the fall of 1864, Dr. Sum- 
mers entered the army under General For- 
rest, and was attached to Captain Walton's 
battery, and was with Forrest at the fall of 
Selma, Alabama, and in several minor skir- 
mishes. After the war he returned home 
and began the study of medicine, and after 
three years, from the age of seventeen to 
twenty-one years, he attended literary schools 
and also taught school. 

Since coming to Texas the Doctor has been 
very successful, having the largest practice 
of any physician of the surrounding country . 
In connection with his practice he also pays 
gi-eat attention to the rearing of fine stock, 
owning a fine turf horse and a fine trotter. 
These horses were bred in Tennessee, and the 
trotter is from a Henry Clay mare, and the 
pacer is sired l)y Keeina, and from a War- 
I'ior horse. 

The Doctor has been twice married, first 
in 1873, to Miss Lula Walker, a daughter of 
J. L. and Catherine L. (Harwell) Walker, 
natives of Tennessee. By this marriage there 
were three children: Alva, Homer and 



HISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY . 



967 



Lnla, all at home. Mrs. Summers died in 
1879, at the age of twenty-seven years, and 
in 1880 the Doctor married Lillie Walker, a 
sister of his first wife. Tiiey have one child, 
Sabra. Both Dr. and Mrs. Summers are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South and the former is a member of tlie 
A. F. & A. M., Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441. 
In addition to his other property Dr. Sum- 
mers owns a handsome drug store, which is 
conducted by his son, Alva. 



-^ 



s*- 



IHALEM E. SCOTT, a member of the 
firm of Beaver, Scott & Williams, of 
Garland, was born in Shelby county, 
Tennessee, in 1833, a son of E. G. and 
Cynthia (Elkin) Scott. The father moved to 
Illinois ni 1838, settling at Mount Vernon, 
where he engaged in farmino;: in 1858 he 
removed to Dallas county, Missouri; in 1868 
to Oregon county, same State, and remained 
there until his death, which occurred in 
1886, at the age of sixty- eigdit years. lie 
was blind for thirty years, and for the last 
eighteen or twenty years of his life con- 
ducted a successful mercantile business at 
Pickneyville, Oregon county, Missouri. He 
was three times married, first to the mother 
of our subject, and by this union there were 
four children, viz.: W. F., deceased; Eliza- 
beth, deceased, wife of David Taylor, of 
Missouri; S. E., our subject; and Angeline, 
deceased. The mother died in 1836, and 
two years later the father married Lucy, a 
sister of his first wife, and to this union was 
born one child, Harriet, now deceased. Mrs. 
Scott died in 1844, and about 1847 Mr. 
Scott married asrain and had one child, Vir- 
ginia, now the wife of Mr. Crumb, of Kansas. 
During his life Mr. Scott was a strict Demo- 



crat, and was actively identified with that 
party, but would never accept an office at 
the hands of his friends. His son, W. F. 
Scott, M. D., was a soldier in the war with 
Mexico, and served in the division that went 
to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and participated 
in several engagements with the Mexicans. 
He differed from his father politically dur- 
ing the late war, as he was First Lieutenant 
in the United States ai-my, and served 
thi'oughout the war. 

After the close of the war he returned 
home and commenced the study of medicine, 
and before his death had secured a large and 
lucrative practice at Elbia, Illinois, where 
his family now reside. 

S. E. Scott received a common-school 
education, and at the age of twenty-one 
years commenced life for himself. He 
moved to Jonesboro, Illinois, and engaged 
in railroading, and was contractor and sur- 
veyor of the Illinois Central Railroad, under 
the firm name of Bennett & Scott. During 
this time he was also engaged in the mercan- 
tile business at Anna, Illinois, which he con- 
tinued until 1860, when he sold his interest 
and moved to Dallas county, Texas. During 
his sojourn in Illinois Mr. Scott became ac- 
quainted with ex President Lincoln, Stephen 
A. Douglas, John A. Logan, and many other 
men of note. After arriving in this county 
he engaged in farming on rented land until 
1860, when he bought a crop that was already 
under way, and in 1861 commenced clerking 
in a store at Dallas. He remained in the 
latter city from May, 1860, to October, 1861, 
when he moved to this locality, where he 
put in a crop the next year. In August, 
1862, he joined Company I, Thirtieth Texas 
Cavalry, under Colonel E. G. Gerley and 
Captain Fayette Smith. He was always on 
detached service, and during the latter part of 



968 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



tlie war was in the Commissary Department, 
but was nes'er engaged in any battles. The 
last year of the war he received the appoint- 
ment of purchasing agent for the purpose of 
buying and forwarding cattle. Mr. Scott 
was never off duty a single day from the time 
he entered the army until the close of the war 
in 1865. 

At the close of the war he had no land and 
only one horse, and for the first eight years 
he farmed on rented land, and in 1873 pur- 
chased 200 acres in Hunt county, paying $3 
per acre for both prairie and timber land. 
He remained there until 1883, when he traded 
it for seventy-three acres in the same county, 
but sold the latter place in 1886, and came 
to Garland, and was the pioneer lumber 
merchant of this place. He continued this 
business three years, when he sold out and 
clerked one year in the store of which he 
now owns an interest. The present firm was 
formed in January. 1891, and they are now 
doing a general mercantile business of about 
125,000 annually, and carry a stock of from 
$5,000 to 1110,000. Mr. Scott also owns one 
of tiie handsomest residences in the city. 

He has been three times married, first in 
1854 to Miss Lucy A. Bennett, of Union 
county, Illinois, and daughter of T. A. and 
Mary (Nelson) Bennett, natives of Virginia. 
The father died, and the mother afterward 
moved to New Orleans, where she subsequently 
died. Mrs. Scott received a fine edncatio/i in 
the latter city, and after the death of her 
mother she came to Illinois and resided with 
her uncle, C. B. Waldo, in Marion county. 
She next lived with iier uncle, W. W. Ben- 
nett, of Jonesboro, where she was married to 
Mr. Scott. They were the parents of eight 
children, three boys and live girls, viz.: Will- 
iam W., who was killed by letting a gun fall 
from a wagon, and, hitting on the double tree, 



it discharged the load in his head; Richard A., 
who resides in Hunt county, Texas; Nellie, 
wife of G. W. Dodd, of Lone Oak township. 
Hunt county; Harry N., a resident of this 
county; Mary E., wife of Robert Nance, of 
Catoosa county, Georgia; Nannie B., wife of 
S. C. Hall; and Ida L., and Laura, at home. 
The mother died in 1879, at the age of forty- 
four years. She was a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church South, was prominent 
in church affairs, a Sunday-school teacher, a 
faithful wife and a kind and indulgent 
mother. In June, 1880, Mr. Scott was mar- 
ried to Mrs. Veve Ware, nee Cole, and by liis 
marriage there were three children: Thomas 
M., Salem W. and Hugh (deceased). Mrs. 
Scott died in 1888, and in 1889 Mr. Scott 
married Miss Mary E., a native of Virginia 
and a school-teacher by occupation, and a 
member of the Bresbyterian Church. Mr. 
Scott for twenty-five years has been a meniber 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a 
licensed exhorter in thechurch and vice-presi- 
dent of the Dallas Sunday-school Associa- 
tion. He is also a member of the A. F. & 
A. M., Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441, of 
which he now holds the office of Chaplain. 

ILAS N. LAWLER has been identified 
with the interests of Te.xas since 1853. 
That year he purchased land in Will- 
iamson county, settled there and cultivated a 
crop. In 1854, his wife dying, he sold out 
and went to Limestone county, this State, 
where he remained with relatives three years. 
He then went to Denton county, bought 
land and improved a farm, on which he made 
his home for ten years. In 1869 he came to 
Dallas county, and after i-enting land one 
year, bought the property on which he now 



HISTORY OP DALLAS OOUNTY. 



969 



resides. He tirst jiurcUased 160 acres at ^4 
per aure, and to this, in 1877, he added 
another tract of 160 acres, paying for it $9 
an acre. His farm now comprises 320 acres 
and is valued at $40 an acre. It is well im- 
proved with good buildings, fences, etc., and 
one-half of it is under cultivation, his prin- 
cipal products being wheat, oats, corn and 
cotton. He also has some stock, chiefly 
horses and mules. 

Mr. Silas N. Lawler was born in Simpson 
county, Kentucky, November 4, 1822, and 
was reared to farming pursuits. His father 
was extensively engaged in farming opera- 
tions and owned about seventy slaves. After 
Silas N. grew up he superintended the farm. 
At the time the war broke out he owned ten 
slaves himself. When hostilities ceased he 
found himself the possessor of 160 acres of 
land in Denton county, a few cattle and two 
horses. In 1863 he entered the Confederate 
service; was a body guard at Bonham and 
other places; was transferred to Baley's regi- 
ment, then back to Bonham, and from there 
to the coast of Louisiana, thence to Bonham 
again, where he received a furlough to 
go home. Ten days later he went back to 
Bonham, and remained until the close of the 
war. He accepted the results of the war 
with the best of grace, returned home and 
resumed his farming operations. 

Samuel Lawler, father of the subject of our 
sketch, was boru in Kentucky. James Law- 
ler, liis father, came to this country from 
Ireland, married a lady in Virginia, and 
Samuel was the only son born to them. The 
latter married Miss Mary Neely, daughter of 
David Neely, who died in Kentucky. Samuel 
and Mary Lawler were the parents of four 
daughters and eight sons. One son besides 
the subject of this sketch resides in Texas — 
in Kimball county. The father came to Texas 



to visit them, and died in 1870, at the home 
of Silas N. 

Mr. Lawler was tirst married to Miss 
Aletha A. Rowland, daughter of Fina Z. 
Rowland, of Kentucky. Her father came to 
Texas in 1853; died in Kentucky in 1881. 
Their union was blessed in the birth of three 
children, — Samuel E., Finis E. and Silas M., 
Samuel E. and Silas M. each dying at about 
the age of nine months. The wife and 
mother passed away February 24, 1854. 
March 27, 1857, Mr. Lawler wedded Miss 
Mary A. Davis, daughter of Patsey Davis, 
who came from Virginia to Texas in 1854. 
Eiffht children were l)orn to them, viz. : 
James H., Batsey L., John W., Virgil V., 
Mary B., Aletha A., and two infants who 
died unnamed. 

While a resident of Denton county Mr. 
Lawler served as Justice of the Peace. He 
was formerly a Whig, but now affiliates with 
the Democratic party. He is a Mason, and 
he and his family are members of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church. 



PllAVID A. B. FLOYD was born in Ken- 
tucky, July 28, 1835. His father, John 
B. Floyd, was a Kentuckian l>y birth, 
and was a prominent man in that State. He 
served two terms in the Legislature. hi 
1854 the Floyd family came to Texas and 
settled in Dallas county, where the father 
purchased a large tract of land, for which he 
paid $4.52 per acre. A pole shanty was on 
the place and eight acres of laud had been 
broken. He at once began the work of im- 
provement, hauled lumber from eastern 
Texas and built the flrst two-story house in 
the county. Their tirst wheat crop averaged 
forty bushels per acre. After three years of 



970 



BISTORT OP DALLAS CODNTV. 



earnest work they had developed a good farm. 
The father died in 1888, at the age of sev- 
enty-three years, and the mother is etill liv- 
ing, having reached her seventy-ninth year. 
They had a family of six children, David A. 
B., being the oldest. Four of their sons 
served in the army, and all returned home 
after the war. 

David A. B. Floyd was nineteen years old 
when he landed in Texas. He subsequently 
returned to Kentucky, where, in 1861, he was 
married to Miss Martha E. Cooper, daughter 
of Liiisey Cooper, a member of a prominent 
Kentucky family. While in that State, Mr. 
Floyd was drafted by the Federal Govern- 
ment; but he ran off, went to Canada, worked 
in the ship yards, and remained there until 
the war closed. Mr. Floyd is now one of the 
model farmers of Dallas county, much taste 
as well as enterprise being displayed in the 
arrangement of his well-kept premises. He 
and his wife liave live children, Julia, John 
L., Mary B., Gip D., and Kit C. Mr. Flojd 
is associated with the Masonic fraternity 
and is a member of the Christian Church. 






^%¥ — 



fOHN T. SAUNDERS came to Texas in 
1852 and located in Dallas county. Soon 
after his arrival here he purchased 320 
acres of land, on which was a temporary 
building and forty acres under cultivation. 
After living there two years he sold out and 
boutrht the farm on which he now resides. 
Here he owns 300 acres, 125 acres under cul- 
tivation and all well fenced. He has im- 
])roved his farm with good buildings, etc., and 
is comfortably situated. His principal crojis 
are wheat, oats, corn and cotton, and he also 
raises stock. 

Mr. Saunders was born in Logau county, 



Kentucky, March 30, 1823; was reared on a 
farm and received a limited education. 
Thomas Saunders, his father, was a native of 
Virginia, and at an early day moved to Ken- 
tucky, remaining there till the time of his 
death, about 1855. Mr. Saunders' mother, 
nee Mildred Minnus, was a daughter of Rob- 
ert Minnus, they, too, being natives of Vir- 
ginia. He isoneof a family of eleven children, 
whose names are lierewith given: ISancy, 
who married Bazil Wood; Robert S., a resi- 
dent of Kentucky; Elizabeth married John 
Wood, a Baptist minister; Matilda married 
Randolph Hughs; Martha, deceased; Mary, 
also deceased; John Thomas, the subject of 
this sketch; Drury, a resident of Kentucky; 
Susan, who married Richard Salmons; Sally, 
who married Dr. Cross; and David, who died 
in infancy. The father and mother are both 
dead. 

Mr. Saunders lived with his parents until 
the time of his marriage. In November, 1843, 
he wedded Miss Fanny Huffhines, a daughter 
of John Huffhines of Kentucky. Her father 
came to Texas in 1853. Mr. Saunders then 
rented land and engaged in farming in his 
native State, continuing there until 1852, 
when he emigrated to Texas. When he came 
here he had a team and wagon and but very 
little money. He went earnestly to work and 
was getting along nicely when the war came 
on. In 1863 he enlisted in Company H, 
Stone's second regiment, and continued in 
the service till the war closed. He was en- 
gaged chiefly in scouting, being with the 
forces that operated in Louisiana, Arkansas 
and Texas. Returning to his farm, he has 
since been engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
In 1885 he took charge of the water 
tank on the Houston & Texas Central 
railroad, which position be still holds. 
Following are the names of the children 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



971 



born to him and his wife: Elizabeth, 
whose iirst and second husbands, John Routh 
and William Pendleton, arc dead, is now the 
wife of a Mr. McDonald; John; Nancy, who 
married James Nash, has since died; Virgil, 
who died at the age of sixteen years; Frankie, 
who married William Brown; Amanda, wife 
of Harvey Wilson; Philip, Ainos, Thomas 
and Eniina. His wife died February 1, 1890. 
January 1, 1891, he wedded Mrs. Sarah 
Evans, whose acquaintance he had formed in 
Louisiana during the war, when a comrade of 
his was sick at her home. Her father, John 
Wagner, a native of Pennsylvania, has lived 
in Louisiana since he was seventeen, and all 
her relatives live in the latter State. 

Politically, Mr. Saunders is a Democrat. 
He is a member of the Missionary Baptist 
Church. 



HILIP W. HUFFHINES dates bis 
in Kentucky, in August, 1832. 
On a farm in that State he was reared, 
and there received his education. In 1853 
he was married, and that same year, in com- 
pany with his father's family, came to Texas 
and located in Dallas county. He soon 
bought land and improved a farm, which he 
sold in 1860. He then purciiased the place 
on which he now resides. This farm consists 
of 150 acres, all being fenced and 100 acres 
under cultivation. It is devoted to general 
farming and stock-raising. 

John Huft'hines, father of tiie subject of 
our sketch, was born in Kentucky, son of 
Christopher Huffhines, a native North Caro- 
lina and a descendant of German ancestry. 
John IlufiFhines married Miss Elizabeth 
Wright, a native of New York, by whom he 
had fourteen children. Ail lived to be grown 
and married, and at this writing there are 




ninety grandchildren, and great-grandchildren 
too numerous to mention. Nine of the sons 
served in the Confederate army. One was 
killed in battle, one died of sickness, and 
seven returned and are yet living. The 
names of this family in the order of birth 
are as follows: William, Christopher, George, 
Fanny, Mary, Philip W., John, James, 
Thomas, Elizabeth, Amatida, Robert, D. F. 
and Cinderella. Fanny is now the wife of 
Thomas Saunders. Mary first married D. 
Doty, and afterward James Heffington. 
Elizabeth is the wife of W. J. Halsell. 
Amanda married F. B. Harris, and Cinde- 
rella wedded Henry Hatcher. The father 
was by occupation a farmer and stock-raiser, 
and was an honored and useful citizen. He 
and his wife both lived to see their children 
all married and have families. His death 
occurred March 15, 1875, and his wife de- 
parted this life in 1886. 

Philip Huffhines was first married in 1853, 
to Miss Harriet Bell. Her father, Harvey 
Bell, passed his life and died in Kentucky. 
Mr. and Mrs. Huffhines had two children, 
Sarah and John, the former dying at the age 
of fourteen years and the latter living only 
six months. The wife and mother died in 
April, 1860. In February, 1862, Mr. Huff- 
hines was joined in wedlock with Miss Mary 
C. Moss. Her father, Fred Moss, a native of 
Kentucky, came to Texas in 1845, took a 
headright and improved a farm. His death 
occurred about 1884, his wife having pre- 
ceded him to the other world. Following 
are Mr. Huffhines' children liy his second 
wife: Etfa, AVillie, Philip and Oscar. 

During the late war Mr. Huffhines was not 
one to shrink from what he considered to be 
his duty. He enlisted in 1862 and served 
until the war closed, being with Morgan in 
Kentucky one year and acting as Sergeant, 



973 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



later being on the frontier. During his ser- 
vice he was never wounded or captured. 

Mr. Huffhines was an active and influential 
member of the Grange at the time it nour- 
ished here. In 1881 that organization es- 
tablished a store at Richardson, which was 
successfully conducted three years. At the 
end of that time, the Grange losing power 
and influence on account of tiie Alliance, a 
few of the stockholders deemed it necessary 
to buy up the stock. Three of thetn accord- 
ingly purchased the stock, and the store has 
since been conducted under the firm name of 
Thompson, Hetiington & Hutfhines. They 
carry a 110,000 stock, and their sales aver- 
age $12,000 per annum. Mr. Huffhines is a 
Knight of Honor; has been a nicmlier of 
the Baptist Church for thirty-three years; 
and in politics has been a Democrat since 
Fillmore ran for President. 

A fact worthy of note in the history of 
his father's family is that none of the nine 
sons ever uses tobacco or drinks intoxicating 
liquor. The seven now living are all engaged 
in agricultural pursuits, and are occupying 
useful and honorable positions in life. 



« l>0 



1^||ILLIAM H. STARK, Jr., was born 
Wfjmk ill Tennessee, June 15, 1850. In 

C*=t|^J 18(j0, in company with his father's 
family, he came to Texas, making the journey 
by teams, and settled in Collin county. In 
the fall of 1865 they moved to Dallas county, 
where he has since lived. All his education 
has been received in the common schools of 
this State. He remained under the parental 
roof until he was twenty-eight, and then, in 
February, 1878, he was married and moved 
upon a farm he had previously purchased. 
He now owns 212 acres of fine land, 150 of 



which are under cultivation, raising wheat, 
oats and corn. He gives most of his atten- 
tion to raising corn, and feeds cattle for the 
market. He also rents land and cultivates 
cotton. At an early day before railroads 
were built through this section of the country, 
Mr. Stark was engaged in teaming in connec- 
tion with his farming operations. In his 
various undertakings he has been successful 
and has made money. 

Mr. Stark married Miss Isabell Stratton, a 
daughter of Thomas Stratton. Her father 
came from Kentucky to Texas in 1848 and 
settled in Dallas county, where he lived till 
the fall of 1888, when he moved to Potter 
county, purchasing a large track of land 
there. He is now a resident of Amarilla; is 
connected with a bank there, is County Com- 
missioner, and is also largely interested in 
the stock business. Mr. and Mrs. Stark have 
four children: Oscar, born January 24, 1882; 
Charles T., July 5, 1884; Robert C, Febru- 
ary 28, 1887; and Willie, September 29, 
1889. Mr. Stark has served as School 
Trustee and also as a member of the Board of 
Overseers. He is a member of the I. O. O. 
F. and also of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. 

AV. H. Stark, Sr., father of the subject of 
our sketch, was born in Torquay, Devonshire, 
England, October 26, 1823. He learned the 
printing trade and followed that while in 
England. In 1849 lie married Miss Keziah 
Tucker, who was born in Plymouth, England, 
June 1, 1822. They were married on the 
road in Engiand, having started from their 
homes for America. Arriving in New York 
in the month of May, 1849, Mr. Stark began 
work at his trade. The following December 
he set out for the Ducktown copper mines of 
Tennessee. The mines proving a failure, he 
bought land there, built a home and developed 




^^-^yy 




r 



ni8T0UY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



973 



a farm, continuin^r to reside there, engaged 
in agricultural pursuits, until 1859, when he 
sold out. The following year, as above stated, 
he emigrated to Texas and settled in Collin 
county. While in Tennessee in 1855, he had 
been naturalized, and in 1862 he enlisted in 
Throckmorton's company. Stone's regiment, 
and was actively engaged with the forces that 
operated in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas, 
remaining in the service until the close of the 
war and coming home in 1865. That year 
he bought land in Dallas county, near Scyene. 
Selling it soon afterward, he purchased a farm 
in Precinct No. 2, same county, where he re- 
sided until 1878. That year he sold out and 
retired from the active labors of farm life. He 
is now living at Richardson, Dallas county. 
In 1853 Mr. Stark made a trip to England, 
and on his return to this country brought his 
mother and three sisters with him. The 
mother died in Tennessee soon after her 
arrival, in 1853, and the sisters all married. 
Mr. Stark has lived to see his children mar- 
ried, settled on farms and doing well. In his 
family were four sons, three of whom are 
living, namely: William H., Jr., John L., 
and Robert S. Frederick died in 1877, at 
the age of nineteen years. 

^0L. CHARLES S. MITCHELL, one ot 
the early settlers of Dallas county, was 
born in Franklin county, Virginia, 
February 25, 1840, the fourth of seven chil- 
dren born to James an"d Leticia (Burwell) 
Mitchell, natives of Botetourt and Bedford 
counties, Virginia, respectively, the father 
born about 1812 and the mother in 1815. 
They moved to Saline county, Missouri, in 
in 1850. By a special order of the Secre- 
tary of War, the family for political reasons 
were banished the State in 1865, and in 

63 



consequence removed to Houston, Texas, 
where the father died in 1870. The mother 
survived him until 1886, dying at the resi- 
dence of her son, Joseph, at Fort Worth. His 
grandfather, Samuel Mitchell, was an early 
pioneer of Virginia, was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war, and later moved to Saline 
county, Missouri, where he subsequently died. 
His grandfather, John Spotswood Burwell, 
was also an early pioneer of Virginia, and 
was very prominent during the Colonial 
times. The Mitchells, Rectors, Severes and 
Burwells, were of old and prominent fami- 
lies, the male members being men of marked 
individuality and sterling worth, holding 
responsible positions in the Government and 
in society, all along the line from the Colo- 
nial days to the present period. They were 
potent factors in the Revolution, and in the 
birth of the Republic, in the formation of 
States, and in their growth and development, 
secured the highest honors from time to 
time within their gifts. 

Colonel James Mitchell, the father of the 
subject of this memoir, was a man of high 
intellectuality, great force of character and 
strict integrity, being conscientious, almost 
to a faiilt. He was a man of fine physique, 
t^ll and stately, and of digniiied and courtly 
bearing: yet he was social and pleasing in his 
manners, winning all who approached him, 
by his genial nature and kind, benevolent 
lieart. He lost everything by the war, and 
was much broken in spirit at the defeat of 
the Confederacy, which cause he ardently 
espoused. But when he came to Texas as a 
refugee, he directed his energy and ability to 
repair his broken fortunes, and to the advance- 
ment of his adopted State. He earnestly 
labored to bring about reconstruction, and to 
sweep away the disasters which war had 
brought upon the people. He was the pro- 



974 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



jector of the Houston & Great Northern 
railroad, which he lived to see under process 
of completion; and gave his ahilitj, his valu- 
able counsel and experience to the aid of 
many other public enterprises. He had the 
conlidence and esteem of the people, and died 
lamented by all who knew him. 

Of the Mitchell family three children are 
now livinor, namely: Mrs. Nellie Stockton, of 
St. Louis, Missouri, now the widow ot Cap- 
tain E. C. Stockton, of the United States 
Navy and afterward of the Confederate Navy; 
Joseph Burwell, a resident of AiTstin, Texas; 
and Charles S., the subject of this sketch. 

Charles Mitchell was educated in the pri- 
vate school of Edwin Wyman, at St. Louis, at 
the Kemper schools of Booneville, Missouri, 
at the Arcadia College of Arcadia, Missouri, 
at the Central College of Fayette, same State, 
and then under the private tutelage of Prof. 
Newton, of Yale College. After completing 
bis education Colonel Mitchell went to St. 
Louis and began reading law, but on account 
of the breaking out of the late war he returned 
home, enlisting, in 18(51, in the Missouri 
State Guards, with wliich he remained until 
its re-organization. Mr. Mitchell was pro- 
moted from Sergeant to Lieutenant, then to 
Captain, next to Major, then Lieutenant- 
Colonel and afterward Colonel. He also 
acted as Brigadier General. He commanded 
when only twenty-four years old a Confederate 
Brigade of Missouri Infantry, composed of 
Mitchell, Clark, Perkins and Searcy's regi- 
ments and Kuflner's Missouri battery. Col- 
onel Mitchell was in command at Shreveport 
at the surrender, after which he returned to 
Missouri. During the war he was in the 
battles of Booneville, Lexington, Elk Horn, 
Prairie Grove, Pleasant Hill, Mansfield, Saline 
River, and many others. 

After his marriage Colonel Mitchell settled 



in Dallas, Texas, and in 1872 he engaged in 
tlie wholesale hardware business, which he 
continued until 1885, and in that year he re- 
tired from active business. He is capacitated 
by constitutional construction for the concep- 
tion and execution of extensive business 
affairs, and, although cautious in his under- 
takings, is bold to pursue a line of policy 
once determined on, and with a pertinacity 
that works uniformly through successes or 
embarrassments. Being a man of rare natural 

o 

abilities, varied attainments and great culture. 
Colonel Mitchell not only feels a deep interest, 
but also takes active part and is a potent factor 
in the progressive movements of the day. 
Devoted to his section and his State he is 
every ready to contribute freely of his coun- 
sel, his experience, his time and his funds to 
the advancement of both, politically, com- 
mercially and industrially, yet this devotion 
begets neither the prejudices nor passions 
which often characterize those who are less 
traveled or read in the world's affairs. In 
his language and his manners he is the em- 
bodiment of courtesy and elegance, while his 
home has ever been noted for domestic happi- 
ness and hospitable entertainment. He was 
married in Arkansas, April 25, 1864, to Miss 
Julia Severe Rector, a native of Little Rock, 
Arkansas, and daughter of Governor H. M. 
and Jane (Field) Rector, natives of Missouri 
and Kentucky, respectively. Governor Rec- 
tor resides in Little Rock; Mrs. Rector died 
in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1856. Mrs. 
Mitchell died in Dallas, 1880, leaving four 
children: Cliarles S., Jr., who is connected 
with the American National Bank of this 
city; Lillian, a graduate of the TJrsuline Con- 
vent; Willie, attending school; and Julia S., 
who died at the home of her grandfather in 
Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1882. Colonel 
Mitchell was again married in 1882, to Mrs. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



975 



Fanani Thruston Rector, widow of E. K. 
Forman, and sister of his first wife, of Wash- 
iiicrton. District of Columbia. She has one 
daughter by her former marriage, Helen, who 
is now attending the Episcopal College. Mr. 
and Mrs. Mitchell have two children: Grace 
and Margaret. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell 
are members of the Episcopal Church. 



W. FANT, druggist, 356 Bryant street, 
Dallas, Texas, has been identified with 
'* the growth and prosperity of this city 
since he located here in 1883, and is now one 
of its most prominent business men. Briefly 
given, a resume of his life is as follows: 

Mr. Fant was born in Virginia, December 
81, 1838, son of Elias and Jane Fant, both 
Datives of the Old Dominion. His father 
was interested in the salt works of his native 
valley, and was a man of some prominence 
in his day. He was an earnest Christian and 
a leading member of the Methodist Church. 
Sometime in the early '40s he made a visit 
to his brother in Mississippi, traveling by 
coach, and on the Journey contracted a severe 
cold. He died about 1844, after a year's sick- 
ness, aged thirty-eight years. The subject 
of our sketch was an only child, and his 
mother died when he was about six weeks 
old. She, too, was a Methodist and a devoted 
Christian. 

After the death of his father, young Fant, 
at the age of six years, was taken to Holly 
Springs, Mississippi, and reared by his uncle, 
James W. Fant. This uncle was a civil en- 
gineer, and to him belongs the distinction of 
having established all the county lines in 
Arkansas and Mississippi. Mr. Fant was 
educated in private schools and at the State 
University of Mississippi. He quit school 



on account of failing health, and began the 
drug business TTiider Dr. Litchfield at Holly 
Springs. 

When the war came on he enlisted in the 
first company that was made up as home 
guards in Holly Springs. This company was 
subsequently merged into the Fourth Missis- 
sippi Cavalry and was with General Forrest 
for thirty-six months. Mr. Fant was in all 
the raids with that noted general, serving on 
scout duty most of the time; was at Selma, 
the last battle of the war. He was never 
wounded, but at one time had his horse's tail 
shot off. He was in close places many times 
and saw his share of hard fighting. 

The war closing Mr. Fant returned to the 
drug business. For thirteen years he was a 
druggist of Little Kock, and from there in 
1883 came to Dallas. Here he has since 
been engaged in his present business. 

He was married in January, 1859, to Miss 
M. E. Potts, daughter of E. P. Potts, of Mar- 
shall county, Arkansas. His only child by 
this union is Dora, now living in Virginia, 
wife of John M. Hughes, a merchant. His 
second marriage occurred in 1878, with Miss 
M. A. Westmoreland, daughter of N. B. West- 
moreland of Tennessee. Both he and his wife 
are members of the Presbyterian Church. 
Mrs. Fant is a Sunday-school teacher, a lady of 
much literary culture and social refinement. 
Both occupy high social positions. 



-«^ 



^5^- 



A. SPAIN, one of the prosperous and 
representative citizens of this county, 
* who is worthy of mention in this 
volume, was born March 7, 1850, in Logan 
county, Kentucky, the son of Matthew R. 
and Emeline (Seymore) Spain, both native's 
of Virginia, who came to Kentucky early in 



976 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



life. About 1849 they moved to Washing- 
ton county, Illinois, where they resided till 

1869, when they came by wagon to Texas, 
arriving in December, in the vicinity of 
Wheatland. After rentino- land for two 
years, they bought a tract of 140 acres, 
mostly wild, which they proceeded to im- 
prove. They were the parents of live sur- 
viving children, all of whom are married 
and till recently lived in this county. 

Mr. D. A. Spain, the third child of the 
five living children, was reared on the farm, 
and married in October, 1885, Miss Fannie 
Brown, a native of Kentucky and a daughter 
of William G. and Susan (Bentlj) Brown, 
natives of Kentucky. The latter are the 
parents of eight living children. They have 
been identified with Dallas county since 

1870, till two years ago, when they moved to 
Archer county, where they now reside. Mr. 
and Mrs. Spain are the parents of two chil- 
dren, — Walter and Ila. His father, being a 
cripple for a number of years previous to his 
death, left the responsibility of obtaining 
a livelihood for the family on the sons, of 
whom the subject of this sketch was promi- 
nent. By his skill and industry he has ob- 
tained a considerable portion of this world's 
goods. He now has a well-improved farni of 
145 acres, in a fine state of cultivation. On 
his premises everything points to the thrift 
and enterprise that is characteristic of a pros- 
perous farmer. 

!,EV. M. M. DAVIS, the regularly in- 
stalled pastor of the Dallas Central 
Christian Church, residence at 833 Live 
Oak street, was born in Pittsylvania county, 
Virginia, June 21, 1850. His parents were 
Christopher and Martha (Edwards) Davis, 
both native Virginians. The father was a 



farmer and trader, still supervising the farm; 
was a very extensive trader before the war. 
He is still living on his farm on which he 
was born eighty-five years ago, and on that 
he has lived ever since; was quite an exten- 
sive farmer. He was too old to take part in 
the late war. Was one of the judges of the 
county for many years; he was extensively 
known over his county. Is now a member 
of the Christian Church. His wife died in 
18G0, a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South, for many years. These par- 
ents had twelve children, five of whom are 
still living: our subject and two brothers, 
C. T. and A. B., the latter two living in 
Missouri; the other two, John and Fred, 
farmers, still live in Virginia. The father 
had six sons in the late war: George, John, 
Fred, James, Christopher, and the subject of 
this memoir. George was killed in a cavalry 
engagement near the Wilderness; James was 
killed while in command of a line of sharp- 
shooters in front of Petersburg; John was 
disabled for life, wounded by a minie ball in 
the neck, in front of Petersburg. The other 
three came through without a wound. Our 
subject enlisted June 21, 1864, in Company 
C, doorman's battalion, on his fifteenth 
birthday. Four days later, as Orderly Ser- 
geant, he ^opk part in his first engagement, 
at Roanoke Bridge, on the Kichmond & 
Danville railway. He was in the army of 
-Northern Yirgiuia, with Lee on the lines in 
front of Lynchburg and Richmond; also did 
some service on the coast of North Carolina, 
repelling invasions. He weighed less than 
100 pounds. He had been examined and 
recommended for the position of Fii'st Lieu- 
tenant at the time of the surrender. He 
was in Danville, and they disbanded on the 
11th, at Danville, near his home. He stood 
the service exceedingly well. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



977 



The war closing he went upon the farm. 
He and two brothers (the negroes being free) 
took charge of their father's 1,500-acre farm, 
and tried their hand at making a living. 
They succeeded well, made money, saved the 
farm, and went to school in the winters to 
the best schools they had. Mr. Davis then 
entered a musical academy and spent a year 
in that institution, then taught for several 
years, succeeding well, and then came to 
Missouri, in his nineteenth year, and taught 
for two years. In the meantime he united 
with the Christian Church, in Callaway 
county, Missouri. 

After determining to devote his time to 
the ministry he entered the University of 
Kentucky, at Lexington, remained there two 
years, and then returned to Missouri, and 
has been filling pulpits ever since. His first 
work was with country churches in Boone and 
Howard counties. Then he located for three 
years at Rocheport, and then was at Nevada, 
Missouri, five years, next one and a half years 
at Butler, Missouri, five years at Sedalia, 
same State, and now is in his second year, in 
the Central Christian Church, the largest 
Protestant congregation in the city, the resi- 
dent membership being 650, and a non- 
resident membership forty, make nearly 700 
members. The church has increased in 
membership, there being 320 additions since 
his advent as minister. They are building a 
church in which they are now worshiping, 
not completed, which will cost when finished 
about 175,000. 

One peculiarity of the church work is that 
they have a flourishing Chinese Sunday- 
school, and, as an evidence of the good work 
being accomplished in this school, eight of 
the scholars have recently become Christians. 
The Chinese school numbers about twenty- 
five pupils. The other Sunday-school has 



300. The church has two flourishing Chris- 
tian Endeavor societies, the senior number- 
ing seventy-five, the junior fifty-one, persons. 
Mr. Davis' work speaks in unmistakable 
terms of his efficiency in his chosen calling. 
Rev. Davis was married to Miss Mary E. 
Davis (not a relative), February 2, 1876, in 
Saline county, Missouri. She is a daughter 
of Prof. J. P. Davis. They have had one 
child, Emma, now in her fifteenth year, a 
bright and promising child, a member of the 
church, and teacher in the Sunday-school of 
the Central Church; and the wife also is a 
teacher and member of the same church. 

IROFESSOR M. THOMAS EDGER- 
|6 TON, an eminent educator and presi- 
dent of Oak Cliff College, for young 
ladies, is a native of Wayne county. North 
Carolina, where he was born December 5, 
1856. 

His parents are Michael and Chelly 
(Sullivan) Edgerton, natives of North Caro- 
lina. His father is an agriculturist, and has 
dealt largely in live-stock and provisions, but 
is now retiring from active business pursuits. 
He was born in 1820, and is a Quaker, and, 
as such was exempt, by the laws of North 
Carolina, from military duty. He is a promi- 
nent and active member of tlie Society of 
Friends. He and his worthy wife were the 
parents of nine sons, eight of whom are grown 
and married, and all but two, the suljject of 
this sketch and the youngest, are farmers. 
Their school days came at the time of the 
war, and in consequence their educational 
facilities were limited, and they were almost 
obliged to resort to agricultural pursuits; 
they are, however, men of sterling qualities 
of character and thoroughly versed in their 



978 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



vocation in which they are very successful. 

The subject of this sketch is the eighth of 
the children, and graduated at Oak Ridge 
Institute, and later attended Carson College, 
Tennessee, subsequently graduating, in 1885, 
at the University at Nasliville, in Nashville. 
In 1876 he commenced to teach in Fremont, 
North Carolina, continuing in that vocation 
at that point for six years. He then taught 
for one year in Pine Forest Academy, locat- 
ing near Goldshoro, in the same State; after 
vchich he taught a year in Maple Hill Acad- 
emy, near Lewisburg, Tennessee. Following 
this, he was for six years president of the 
Tennessee Female College at Franklin, Ten- 
nessee, which college b>:ilding occupies the 
site of the old college, that was used by the 
Federal army, at the time of the war, as a 
hospital. He has acted during the past year 
as Vice-President of Waco Female College. 
The changes lie has made have always been 
to better his condition either in salary or 
studies. 

December 21, 1880, he was married to Miss 
Virginia Belle Stafford, an educated and cul- 
tivated lady, a daughter of Sheriff R. M. 
Stafford, of Oak Ridge, Guilford county. 
North Carolina. Mr. Stafford was Sheriff of 
that county for fifteen years, commencing in 
1865, previous to which he held the ofBce of 
Constable of the county for the same length 
of time, making thirty years of official life in 
the county. During the last four years of 
his term as Sheriff, he preached every Sunday 
in the Methodist Episcopal South. He is a 
very devoted man, is highly respected in his 
community, and belongs to a prominent 
family there, fie was born in the year 1827, 
and married Miss Margaret Sapp, who is still 
living, and who is a most devout woman, pos- 
sessing great ability and almost unparalleled 
business tact. She raised a family of six 



children on the farm, which place she man- 
aged alone for fifteen years, while her hus- 
band served as Sheriff. Mrs. Edgerton is 
the second of six children. 

At Oak Cliff College, Mrs. Edgerton is 
manager and proprietor of tiie boarding de- 
partment, for which she is amply qualitied, 
being a kind and motherly person, of superior 
education and culture, and perfectly self- 
reliant. Their prospects here are most flat- 
tering, and their success is a foregone con- 
clusion. 

Mr. and Mrs. Edgerton have one child, 
M. Thomas Edgerton, Jr. 

In his social affiliations Mr. Edgerton is a 
prominent member of the Masonic fratern- 
ity. Both he and his worthy wife are earnest 
and useful members of tiie Methodist Epis- 
copal Church South, to the support of which 
they liberally contribute. 

Texas is determined to have the best of 
everything, and the selection of Mr. and Mrs. 
Edgerton to train her youth is confirmatory 
of her avowed princi{)les, and reflects credit 
on all concerned. 

fH. CURTIS, a farmer ten miles west of 
the city of Dallas, was born in Mc- 
'^ Dowell county, North Carolina, De- 
cember 5, 1838, a son of Robert Curtis, a 
native of the same county. The latter sub- 
sequently removed to Shannon county, Mis- 
souri, and shortly afterward to Beutonville, 
Arkansas, where he died March 6, 1891, at 
the age of seventy-five years. Our subject's 
mother, nee Emily Curtis, was a daughter of 
Moses Curtis, also a native of McDowell coun- 
ty, North Carolina. Mrs. Curtis was born and 
reared in that county, and died many years 
ago at Beutonville, Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



979 



Curtis liad seven children, viz.: J. H., our 
suliject; William, a fanner and stock-raiser 
of Indian Territory; Moses, a physician of 
Bell county, this State; John W., a miller of 
Benton ville, Arkansas; Mollie, the widow of 
George Green, and a resident of Bentonville; 
Sarah, the wife of William Runnells, also of 
Bentonville; and George, deceased. 

The subject of this sketch remained at 
Bentonville, Arkansas, until 1858, and at 
that date he decided to try his fortune in the 
West. He made a trip to Pike's Peak, and 
remained in the mountains about twelve 
months, after which he returned to Benton- 
ville, and later to Texas, and was here at the 
opening of the Civil war. He enlisted in 
the Confederate service in the spring of 1861, 
in Company A, Twenty-fifth Texas Cavalry, 
and served in the Trans-Mississippi Depart- 
ment, from the Rio Grande to the Louisiana 
State line. He entered as a private, and was 
mustered out a Lieutenant, and also served a 
part of the time as Captain of couriers. After 
the close of the war Mr. Curtis returned to 
Dallas county, and in 1865 settled down to 
farm life, and, with the exception of a few 
years spent in Young and Jack counties, this 
State, he has resided in Dallas county for the 
last twenty-five years, and has been alter- 
nately engaged in farming, stock-raising and 
the mercantile business. He now has a farm 
of 160 acres, a large part of which is under a 
fine state of cultivation. 

Mr. Curtis was married in 1865, to a 
daughter of Wesley and Sarah (Wilson) Cur- 
tis, natives of Fayette county, Kentucky. 
The latter came to this county in 1847, set- 
tling about six miles west of the city of 
Dallas. They located a farm of 160 acres, 
where the father died December 18, 1885, at 
the age of sixty-eight years, and the mother 
in March, 1875, at the age of fifty-eight years. 



They both were members of the Baptist 
Church, having spent the greatei- part of 
their lives in the sei-vices of that church, and 
both were buried in the old family cemetery 
on the farm. They had a family of nine 
children, viz.: Paulina, the wife of D. A. La- 
cy, a sketch of whom appears in this work; 
Morgan, deceased ; Parmelia, the wife of J. 
n. Curtis; William, deceased; Martha, who 
died at the age of four years; Ellis, residing 
on the old homstead; Susan, deceased; Nan- 
nie, who married T. A. Gray, of this county, 
and now deceased ; and Lee, a resident of Dallas 
county. Mrs. Curtis was born in Cass 
County, Missouri, September 30, 1843, and 
was but four years of age when her parents 
came to this county. Mr. and Mi-s. Curtis 
have had seven children, as follows: Robert 
Wesley was born July 30, 1866; William 
Madison, Juiie 10, 1869; Don Carlos, June 
12, 1871; Dora Lee, February 17, 1874; Bir- 
die C, November 21, 1876; Lillie, October 
24, 1881; and Leo, October 13, 1884. The 
eldest child, Robert Wesley, died December 
23, 1874; Birdie C. died September 8, 1880; 
and Dora Lee was married to Thomas P. 
Ross, of Dallas county, December 30, 1888. 



F. MILLICAN, a farmer fifteen miles 
northwest of the city of Dallas, was 
* born in Jackson county, Alabama, May 
9, 1840, the youngest child of Benjamin F. 
and Rebecca (Howell) Millican, and a brother 
of Fi-ancis Marion Millican, a sketch of whom 
appears in this work. Benjamin F., our 
subject, removed to Missouri in 1860, and in 
tlie summer of 1861 he entered the Confed- 
erate array, enlisting in Conapauy H, Six- 
teenth Missouri Cavalry, in the six-months 
troops. He served out his term of enlist- 



980 



HT8T0MY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



inent, but being unsafe for himself and family 
to remain in Missouri, he decided to come to 
Texas, locating his family on a farm ten miles 
west of Dallas. He returned as far east as 
Slireveport, Louisiana, where he entered the 
Sixteenth Missouri Infantry, with which he 
served until the close of the war, being mus- 
tered out in June, 1865. He served as a 
private, and also as Sergeant, and was in tiie 
battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, with Price on 
his raid into Missouri, and was in a number 
of small skirmishes. After the close of the 
war Mr. Millican returned to his family in 
Texas, settling on a farm which he and his 
brother, Francis Marion, had bought on Cedar 
mountain, west of the city of Dallas. He 
resided there until 1873, when he traded his 
interest in that farm for a tract of seventy- 
five acres lying on Grapevine prairie, in the 
northwest corner of the county. He has 
added to this place from time to time until 
he now owns 135 acres, and also twenty acres 
of timber land. 

Mr. Millican was married in Jackson 
county, Alabama, December 15, 1858, to Miss 
Sarah Eliza Ellen Russell, a daughter of Conn 
and Elizabeth Russell. Mrs. Millican was 
born and reared in Jackson county, and ac- 
companied her husband to Missouri, sharing 
with him the hardships of the life which that 
move brought him, not the least of which 
were the outrages which the families of the 
Confederate soldiers and sympathizers were 
subjected to just preceding and during the 
early years of the war. She also managed 
the home affairs and took care of the little 
ones while her husband was away in the army. 
Mr. and Mrs. Millican have had five children, 
— Nancy Davis, Mary Ellen, James Edward, 
Fannie Belle and Annie May. Mr. and Mrs. 
Millican and the two eldest daughters are 
members of the Missionary Baptist Church. 



Socially, the former is a zealous Mason, hav- 
ing been a member of that ancient and lion- 
orable fraternity for nineteen years, joining 
Grapevine Lodge in 1871, and was an active 
member of that organization until his with- 
drawal to assist in organizing Estelle Lodge, 
No. 585. He was made Senior Warden of 
Estelle Lodge at the time of its organization, 
which position he held for two years, and 
since that time he has been Worshipful Mas- 
ter of the lodge, except two years, during one 
of which he was Treasurer. 



*^ 



^ 



fAMES E. JACKSON, a successful and 
highly respected farmer of Dallas county, 
has been identified with the interests of 
this State since 1846. He came to Texas in 
1846 with his father and family when he was 
about twenty years of age. The father and 
three sons, including James E., took a head- 
right under the Peters colony. Two of the 
bi'others went to the Mexican war and one re- 
turned, one of them dying soon afterward. 
The others improved their land, and James 
E. is still residing on his. Here he has lived 
and reared his family. Six of his children 
are married and he has helped them to good 
farms, all within three miles of the old home 
place. The first year of their residence in 
Texas, the Jackson family lived in true pio- 
neer style. They had to go to the Red river 
country for bread stuff, but after the first 
year they had no difliculty, as they raised a 
good crop. Game of all kinds was plenty. 

In 1851, on the 10th of January, Mr Jack- 
son was married. He then began improving 
his own claim, and continued thus employed 
until 1863. During these years he prospered, 
made many substantial improvements on his 
farm, and had 100 acres under cultivation. 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



981 



and a number of horses and other stock. The 
war continuing to rage, he enlisted, in 
1863, in the Confederate army; was in Cap- 
tain Stratton's company, Stone's regiment, 
and took part in numerous engagements in 
Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. He received 
only a few slight wounds and was never cap- 
tured. After the close of the war ho was 
mustered out at Houston, returned home and 
resumed his farming operations. 

Mr. Jackson's father, John Jackson, was a 
native of East Tennessee. He grew to man- 
liood and was married there, the lady he 
wedded being Miss Eliza Brown, of Tennessee. 
In 1837- they moved to Missouri, and nine 
years later came to Texas, settling as above 
stated. The father was a cooper by trade, at 
which he worked in Tennessee. After com- 
ing to Texas, however, his attention was de- 
voted almost exclusively to farming and 
stock-raising. 

He died in Texas in 1868, after a useful and 
prosperous career. Following are the names 
of the nine children composing his family: 
Andrew S., Williaui C, James E., John G., 
James T., Mary J., Euth A., Nancy L. and 
Hannah L. 

The subject of our sketch chose for his life 
companion and married Diana J. Davis. 
Her parents, H. C. and Sally R. (Parrish) 
Davis, natives of Virginia, came to Texas in 
1846 and settled in Dallas county. Mrs. 
Davis died about June, 1867, and Mr. Davis de- 
parted this life in October, 1877. He obtained 
a headright through the Peters colony, and 
made his home on it the rest of his life. Mr. 
and Mrs. Jackson have liad seven children, 
viz.: Andrew C, born November 30, 1851, 
died June 9, 1865; Ardelia E., born April 
17, 1853; Henson C, March 19; 1855; John 
Thomas, March 15, 1857; Benjamin J., July 
5, 1859; Jefferson, February 24, 1863; and 



Caleb W., June 4, 1866. Politically, Mr. 
Jackson is a Democrat. He and his wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South. 

In 1867 Mr. Jackson sustained a heavy 
loss from a cyclone that visited his place. All 
his buildings and much of his stock were de- 
stroyed. His family were all at home and, 
what is strange to say, none of them were in- 
jured. 

;()UGLASS A. J. HART, the son of one 
of the oldest settlers in Dallas county, 
Texas, was born, in 1855, within three 
miles of Dallas, on the farm now owned by 
his father, ' A. Hart. A biography of his 
father appears on another page of this work. 

"Dug" Hart, as he is commonly called, 
was educated in the common schools of tliis 
county, and in early life was taught the 
practical workings of a farm. In 1876 he 
began life for himself, on a rented farm, 
and after renting land two years bought 100 
acres of the place on which he now lives, 
for which he paid $5 an acre. He has since 
added to his original purchase, buying sixty 
acres in 1883, at $25 an acre, and 110 acres 
in 1890, at $36 an acre. On the first place 
he bought there were no improvements, but 
his well directed efforts have developed it 
into a model farm — one of the very nicest in 
this vicinity. His residence is surrounded 
with shade and ornamental trees, presenting 
a most attractive appearance, and the out- 
buildings and general surroundings all in- 
dicate the thrift and prosperity of the pro- 
prietor. He has splendid barns, three tenant 
houses, other buildings, etc., conveniently 
arranged for carrying on agricultural pur- 
suits in the most approved manner. 

Mr. Hart has been twice married. In 



983 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



1877 he wedded Miss Theodosia Moodey, a 
native of Mississippi and a danghter of Dr. 
and Rebecca Moodey, by whoiti he had two 
children — Arthur and Elina. Mrs. Hart 
died in 1886, at the age of twenty-eight 
years. She was a most estimable woman 
and a devoted member of the Baptist Church. 
In 1887 Mr. Hart married Miss Julia 
Hobbs, daughter of Abe and Susan Hobbs, 
natives of Virginia. By his second wife he 
,also had two children — Clarence and Ollie. 
Mrs. Julia Hart departed this life in August, 
1890, and again Mr. Hart was called upon 
to mourn the loss of a loving companion. 



^ 



E^ 



fIS'. FLOYD, a farmer of precinct No. 
3, Dallas county, was born in Union 
® county, Kentucky, in 1848, a son of J. 
D. and Sisan (Finnic) Floyd. The paternal 
grandfather of our subject, Nathaniel C, 
was born in Virginia, but came to Kentucky 
in an early day, where he became a promi- 
nent farmer. He came to this State with 
his son, J. D. Floyd, settling east of Dallas, 
where he lived until his death, which oc- 
curred ill 1867. The father of Nathaniel C. 
was John Floyd, who served his country in 
the war of Independence, was well-known 
throughout Virginia, and reared a family of 
sons wiio were all men of more then ordinary 
intelligence. Nathaniel C was his eldest 
son, and J. D., the father of our subject, was 
the first- born of the latter. J. D. Floyd 
came to Texas in 1850, settling seven miles 
north of Dallas, where he engaged in farm- 
ing and stock raising. He served in the 
late war between the North and South two 
years, and afterward bought land for §5 per 
acre, where he lived until 1887, when he 
moved to Smith county, where he died in 



1889, at the age of fifty-seven years. He 
was one of the leading farmers in this 
county, and for many years was a member 
of the A. F. & A.. M., Dallas Lodge, and 
also of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
His first wife died in 1874, at the ao-e of 
forty-eight years. They were the parents 
of six children, namely: J. N., our subject; 
Thomas S., of Dallas; Mary E., wife of T. 
W. Maston, of California; Anna and Cora, 
twins; the former, now deceased, was the 
wife of Paul Jamison, who afterward mar- 
ried the sister Cora; David H., who resides 
on the old homestead seven miles north of 
Dallas. A.fter the death of his first wife, 
Mr. Floyd, in 1885, married Mrs. Mary Mc 
Dugal, of Smith county. 

J. N. Floyd, our subject, was educated in 
the common schools of Dallas county, and 
was also under the instruction of Captain 
Robert Smith, a graduate of McKenzie Col- 
lege. In 1864 he joined Company C, Sixth 
Texas Cavalry, Ross' brigade, but did not 
participate in any battles. He came home 
at the close of the war and attended school 
three years in the country, as his father had 
lost money in both negroes and stock, and 
was not able to give him a collegiate course. 
At the age of twenty-one years he began 
life for himself, and first commenced the 
study of civil engineering, but preferring 
more manual labor he engaged in teaming 
for three years. He hauled lumber from 
eastern Texas in the summer, and in the 
winter freighted to the terminus of the Cen- 
tral railroad, and in this way amassed con- 
siderable money. In partnership with 
Captain June Reak he engaged in the stock 
business, buying, selling and driving to the 
northern markets, but in the fall of lS72-'73 
there was a great fall in the price of cattle, 
and like most people in that business they 



HTSTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



983 



lost lieavily. In 1872 Mr. F'loyd began 
farming on a place he bad purchased when 
yet a minor, seven miles north of Dallas. 
He first bought 160 acres, to which he has 
since added until he now owns 300 acres, 
which is worth $50 per acre, but cost only 
111 per acre. In 1887, in addition to his 
farming, he engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness at Farmers' Branch, but a short time 
afterward sold his interest to his partner, J. 
B. May, and in the same year opened a gen- 
eral store at Garland, where he is now one 
of the leading merchants. (). P. Thomas, 
present business manager for Mark Ellison, 
managed his business for three years, but in 
1890 Mr. Floyd took charge of his own 
store. When he first opened his business 
he invested |700, and now carries a stock of 
from $6,000 to 110,000, and does an annual 
business of about $30,000. 

Mr. Floyd was married in 1872, to Miss 
Ella Thomas, a native of Kentucky, and 
daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Savidge) 
Thomas, who came to this State about 1859. 
Mr. and Mrs. Floyd have two children, — 
Thomas B. and Annie S., both at home. 
Mr. Floyd is a member of the A. F. & A. 
M., James A. Smith Lodge, No. 395, and 
Mrs. Floyd is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

-^^^-^^^^/^^ 

fOHN ISAAC McLaughlin, pastor 
of the Tabernacle Methodist Episcopal 
Church. — The parents of this gentleman 
were of Scotch ancestry, the father, Joseph 
McLaughlin being a native of the old country; 
his mother was born in Ohio, December 12, 
1812. Joseph McLaughlin came to America 
in 1844. In 1846 he married Miss Deborah 
Frame, a daughter of James Frame of Wash- 



ington county, Ohio, and they had six chil- 
dren: James, John I., Margaret, David C, 
Mary J. and Nancy R. The family moved 
from Ohio to Greene county, Indiana, in 1855, 
where they lived a quiet, industrious farm life 
until March 27, 1876, when the devoted 
Christian wife and mother rested from her 
labors, and where the husband still lives, at 
the advanced age of ninety-six. The parents 
were of the strictest type of old-school Scotch 
Presbyterians. When they came to Indiana, 
there was no Presbyterian Church within 
fifteen miles. The children went to a Method- 
ist Episcopal Sunday-school, were converted 
in Methodist meetings, and united with that 
church, and the parents had the wisdom to 
unite with them. 

John Isaac McLaughlin, the second child 
and son, was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, 
June 8, 1849, and came with his parents to 
Indiana, where he lived and worked on the 
farm until September, 1870, when he entered 
the preparatory school of the Indiana State 
University, at Bloomington. In the fall of 
1871, he entered the Freshman class of the 
university, but for want of funds he taught 
school the following year. He re entered 
the university in September, 1873, and gradu- 
ated June 14, 1876. He taught the three fol- 
lowing years, and in the fall of 1879 entered 
Drew Theological Seminary at Madison, New 
Jersey, where he remained one year. In the 
fall of 1880 he entered Garrett Biblical Insti- 
tute at Evanston, Illinois, at which he gradu- 
ated May 11, 1882, as B. D. He joined the 
Central Illinois conference in September, 
1882, where he served six years, he came to 
Dallas, October 11, 1888, where he is now 
the pastor of the Tabernacle Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, which worships in their edi- 
fice at the corner of Main and St. Paul 
streets. 



984 



HISTORY OF DALLAS GOO NTT. 



"When Rev. McLaughlin came to Dallas as 
pastor of the Tabernacle Church in 1888, 
there were then about 130 active members; 
there are now about 250 members, and 
connting in the mission work there would be 
over 300. His church has three mission 
churches in the city; for two of them lots 
have been purchased and chapels have been 
built, viz.: Grace Methodist Episcopal, and 
Masonic Avenue Methodist Episcopal. The 
third is Hope mission, which meets in a 
rented building. These all have flourishing 
Sunday-schools and carry on the regular 
church work most successfully. 

Mr. McLaughlin is unmarried. 

^^ICHAEL McQUlRK, an architect by 
W/Wffi' pi'ofession, is a son of William Mc- 
^%^^ Quirk, a native of Dublin, Ireland, 
who was also an architect, and descended from 
an architect. The father emigrated to Amer- 
ica in 1843, and located in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, where he followed his profession for 
some years. He removed to Connecticut, and 
died in that State, at the age of eighty-eight 
years. The mother's maiden name was An- 
derson, and she was of English extraction. 
She passed away at the age of eighty-four 
years. Our subject was only a child when 
the family went to Connecticut, and there he 
received his early education. He was not 
pleased with the instruction he had, and so 
joined a company of architects, with whom 
he remained seven years. Hi^ made an ex- 
haustive study of the art, and made himself 
a complete master of the finest points of the 
profession. When he went into business for 
himself he located at Norwich, Connecticut, 
and erected some of the finest private and 
public buildings that have ever been con- 



structed in the place. His reputation spread 
all over New England, and he became known 
as one of the leading members of the profes- 
sion. Li 1873 he entered the employ of the 
Government, and the following year was sent 
to Texas to take charge of all the Federal 
buildings to be erected in the South. The 
points were Little Rock, Arkansas, Galves- 
ton and Dallas, Texas, Savannah, Georgia, 
Charleston, South Carolina, Atlanta, Georgia, 
Columbia, South Carolina, and Raleigh, 
North Carolina. After the completion of 
this work he returned to Dallas, Texas, and 
has since superintended the construction of 
some of the finest buildings in the city. 

Mr. McQuirk was married in 1850, in Con- 
necticut, to Miss Anna Princely, an English 
lady who belongs to the Princely family of 
manufacturing fame. Two sons were born 
to them, William and Richard. The latter 
is a talented young architect, a member of 
the firm of McQuirk & Son, and William is 
a contractor in Norwich, Connecticut. 

Mr. McQuirk is a member of the L O. O. 
F. He is a man of sterling traits of charac- 
ter, and has the respect of the community 
and the warmest admiration of the profession. 



< 



^ 



lEV. PHILIP REAGAN, a native of 
Fall River, Massachusetts, was born in 
1865. His parents were Timothy and 
Bridget (Regan) Reagan, both natives of 
county Cork, Ireland. The father came to 
America about 1852, and settled in Fall 
River, Massachusetts, in which State he was 
married. They had a family of seven chil- 
dren. 

Our subject, the fourth in the above fam- 
ily, and John, a grain merchant at Fall 
River,' are the only ones now living. Philip 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



985 



received his higher education in the Holy 
Cross College, in Worcester, Massachusetts, 
and at St. Mary's Seminary, at Cleveland, 
Ohio. He then came to Dallas, where he 
was ordained, in February, 1892, and began 
his work at once as curate of the Pro-cathedral 
of the Sacred Heart, in Dallas. He has thus 
far succeeded well. His church is located at 
the northeast corner of Bryan and Ervay 
streets. All the family were members of the 
Catholic Church, in which they were born, 
reai'ed and departed. The parents died in 
1887. 

kE\r. C. I. SCOFIELD, pastor of the 
Dallas Congregational Church, also 
Acting Superintendent of Texas and 
Louisiana for the American Home Mission- 
ary Society, came to Dallas from St. Louis 
in 1882. In his boyhood he was a Confed- 
erate soldier, under Lee, in Virginia. The 
war closing he went to St. Louis, where he 
began the study of law. Subsequently he 
was employed to conduct an important suit 
affecting the title to a large body of land in 
Kansas, and he removed to that State, com- 
pleted his law studies in the office of Senator 
Ingalls, and was admitted to the bar. Dur- 
insr his residence in Kansas he was twice a 

o 

member of the Legislature, and was also 
United States Attorney for the State. He 
returned to St. Louis after the termination of 
the litigation referred to. 

Here, when "all his own efforts to reform 
his life had miserably failed," he met the late 
Dr. Goodell, of blessed memory, and became 
a member of Pilgrim Church. The sympa- 
thy and encouragement of the Doctor, his 
good wife, and of the people of the Pilgrim 
Church were very helpful, and to them, under 
God, he owes a lasting debt of gratitude. 



Mr. Scofield's first work in the church was 
in the colored Sunday-school in East St. Louis. 
Soon afterward he entered the Y. M. C. A. 
work as Secretary of the Railway Branch of 
East St. Louis. Soon afterward he was 
licensed to preach by the St. Louis associa- 
tion. He organized and was for a time act- 
ing pastor of Hyde Park Congregational 
Church, North St. Louis, and in 1882 re- 
moved to Dallas, Texas, to liecome pastor of 
the First Congregational Chui-ch here. He 
came to Dallas a layman and was ordained 
by a regularly called council of the neighbor- 
ing Congregational Churches. In the nearly 
ten years of that pastorate the church has 
grown from a membership of twelve to nearly 
400. Out of this number a very large major- 
ity have been received on a confession of their 
faith. Church was then held in a small 
frame building on the same ground their 
beautiful edifice of brick and stone now occu- 
pies. The frame building had about 200 
sittings; their present building about 700. 

Rev. Scolield was married to Miss Hettie 
Wartz, daughter of Henry and Louisa Wartz, 
of Grand Haven, Michigan, March 12, 1882. 
They were married in Dallas, where her 
mother then resided, by the former pastor of 
the church. Rev. McCune. One child blessed 
this union, viz., Noel P. 

Besides the labors of the pastorate and the 
superintendency, Mr. Scofield is at the head of 
the Southwestern School of the Bible, a train- 
ing school for Christian workers, which has 
already achieved an lionorable fame for the 
thoroughness of its work and tiie remarkable 
blessing which is attending the labors of its 
graduates. 

As President of the Board of Trustees of 
Lake Charles College, Louisiana, he takes a 
deep and active interest in the upbuilding of 
that promising and greatly needed institution. 



986 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



Mr. Scofield in his own church has done a 
great work. It has a very important mission 
in Costa Rica. Two missionaries are already 
there and four or live more are in preparation 
for going; besides, they have two missions in 
the city and the young people's society, and 
all the different departments of church work 
are in the most healthful and prosperous con- 
dition. They have sent out and taught from 
this church six missionaries within the past 
six years. 

In the forty-fifth year of his age and in the 
prime of his strength, Mr. Scofield finds his 
greatest joy in incessant labors for his Savior 
and Lord. 

fOHN D. MARSH was born in Harrison 
county, Kentucky, August 25, 1835. 
At the age of four years he moved with 
his parents to Missouri, and after remaining 
there four years the family emigrated to 
Texas, first settling in what is now Denton 
county. They soon afterward moved to Dal- 
las county, where the father secured a claim 
of 640 acres, under the Peters colony, and 
remained on it during the rest of his life- 
time. 

Jonh D. remained with his parents, helped 
to develop the tarm, and received as his 
portion 100 acres. He has since purchased 
other land and is now the owner of 317 acres, 
located in Precinct No. 2, Dallas county, the 
most of which is under cultivation, wheat, 
oats, corn and cotton being his chief products. 
He is also engaged in stock-raising, having 
some graded cattle. 

H. C. Marsh, his father, was born in Ken- 
tucky, the original Marsh family having come 
from Maryland. The mother of our subject 
was before her marriage Miss Mary Ray- 
mond, she and her parents being natives of 



Kentucky. Mr. Marsh was married in that 
State, and to him and his wife were born 
seven children, two sons and five daughters, 
all of whom are living in Texas; T. C. Marsh, 
born February 21, 1831; Sarah Ellen, in 
March, 1833, is now the wife of H. C. Dag- 
gett and resides in Tarrant county; John D., 
the subject of this sketch; Mary F., born 
August 2, 1840, married J. J. McAllister 
and lives in Dallas county: Elizabeth J., lx)rn 
October 9, 1843, married E. B. Daggett and 
resides at Fort "Worth; Martha A., born 
February 27, 1848, married Mart Ellison of 
Dallas county; Charlotte M., born in March, 
1851, is the wife of W. O. Neill of Tarrant 
county. 

John D. Marsh was married, October 28, 
1860, to Reliecca Perry. Her father, W. 
Perry, moved from Illinois to Texas in 1846 
and settled in Dallas county, where he died 
about 1870. His wife, nee Sarah Noble, 
survived him several years, her death occur- 
ring in June, 1888. By this wife Mr. Marsh 
had nine children, namely: Harrison F., born 
July, 1861; Fanny, March 6, 1863; Henry 
C, May 6, 1866; Hollis W., January 6, 
1868; Laura R., January 7, 1870; John D., 
July 2, 1872, died October 1, 1873; Walter, 
December, 1874; Charles D., February 2, 
1878; and Thomas B., March 23, 1880. 
Fanny is now the wife of William Evans. 
Mrs. Marsh departed this life on the 3d of 
April, 1880, aged forty-two years. 

January 17, 1883, Mr. Marsh was united 
in marriage with Miss Fanny Williams, his 
present companion. Her father, A. D. W. 
Williams, a native of Alabama, moved to 
Tennessee while young, and was there mar- 
ried to Miss Sarah Foster. He subsequently 
moved to Franklin county, Illinois, where he 
died March 29, 1891. His wife died in 
1860. By his second marriage Mr. Marsh 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



987 



has two children: Mary Helen, born August 
15, 1887, and Bessa Anna, December 3, 1890. 
During the Civil war, Mr. Marsh enlisted, 
in 1862, and acted the part of a brave soldier 
until hostilities ceased. He was in a number 
of skirmishes and battles, but was never 
wounded or taken prisoner. Returning home, 
lie resumed farming, in which he has since 
been engaged and in which he has met with 
eminent success. His farm is well improved 
with good buildings, cotton gin, etc. and 
general prosperity prevails. 



^ 



MITCHELL, an 




ers, in the northwestern part of 
Dallas county, was born in Greene county, 
Missouri, and is a descendant of two of the 
first settled families of that county, and of 
English and German extraction. His pa- 
ternal grandfather, William Mitchell, and his 
father were natives of South Carolina, and 
the former subsequently moved with his 
family to Missouri, settling in Greene county, 
where the town of Springfield now stands. 
He^lived there ever afterward, dying at an 
advanced age, and after a life that was 
marked with much adventure and hardships. 
Our subject's maternal grandfather, Andrew 
Wasner, was a native of one of the Eastern 
States, probably Pennsylvania, as he was of 
German descent. He subsequently settled 
in Indiana, and later in Greene county, Mis- 
souri, where he afterward died. James J. 
Mitchell, the father of our subject, was reared 
in the latter country, where he married Eliza- 
beth Wasner, who was born in Indiana, but 
who was also reared in Greene county, Mis- 
souri. Mr. and Mrs. Mi tchell resided in that 
county until coming to Texas in 1863, set- 



tling first in Fannin county, and a year later 
in Dallas county, buying a farm west of the 
city of Dallas. He sold this place in 1874, 
and purchased another on the west fork of 
Trinity river, which he made his home until 
death, which occurred four years later, at the 
age of forty- seven years. He was a farmer and 
stock-raiser all his life, and, although never 
accumulating a large property, was in com- 
fortable circumstances at the time of his 
death. Our subject's mother died in 1873, 
at the old home place west of Dallas, at the 
age of forty-four years. They were the par- 
ents of three children: William, our subject; 
Laura E., who was married to Daniel G. 
Lindsey, of Brown county, Texas, and died 
in December, 1889; and Sallie, who died at 
the age of seven years. 

William A. J. Mitchell was born in Greene 
county, Missouri, June 20, 1854, but when 
ten years of age he came with his parents to 
Texas, and his youth and subsequent life has 
been spent in this county. He assumed the 
responsibility of caring for himself at the age 
of eleven years, and after reaching his major- 
ity he purchased the home place on the west 
fork of the Trinity river, which he owned 
and operated until two years ago. He then 
bought another farm, which he conducted in 
connection with the home place until two years 
ago, when he sold the latter farm, and bought 
127 acres near Sowers, where he has since re- 
sided. He also owns some timber land, and, 
although a young man, is in a fair way to 
make for himself and those dependent on him 
a comfortable home. 

Mr. Mitchell was married in December, 
1882, to Ella Sowers, a daughter of Levi and 
Elizabeth (Brown) Sowers. She was left an 
orphan at the age of five years, and was reared 
by an uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Edmond 
D. Sowers, mention of whom is made else- 



988 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



where in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell 
have had tive children: Pearl, Edmund (de- 
ceased), Ljdia, Effie and Samuel David. Mr. 
Mitchell is a member of the I. O. O. F. and 
is a stanch Democrat, taking a commend- 
able interest in political matters. 



^. 



^ 



IDWARD A. ABBOTT, a young man 
of good business qualifications, full of 
energy and push, is engaged in con- 
tracting and building in brick work. He is 
one of the enterprising citizens of Dallas, and 
is justly entitled to appropriate mention in 
the history of this county. 

Mr. Abbott was born June 27, 1860, at 
Springfield, Illinois, he being the fourth- 
born in a family of six children. Allan J. 
Abbott, his father, was born in Ohio, about 
1827, and was a brick contractor in that 
State. He went to California in 1848, and 
remained there three years. Returning to 
Cincinnati, Ohio, he was married in that 
city, and from there went to Springfield 
Illinois, where he engaged in the work of his 
trade, remaining there ten or twelve years. 
He subsequently went back to Cincinnati, 
and lived there some time. lie is now a 
resident of Terre Haute, Indiana. Mr. Ab- 
bott's mother died about 1876. Left without 
a mother's care early in life, Edward ran 
away from home at the age of seven years, 
and went to work on a farm in Kentucky, 
where lie remained eleven years. He then 
began to learn the trade of brick mason, at 
which he worked steadily for a year or two. 
From Kentucky he went to Kansas City, Mis- 
souri, and a year or two later back to Terre 
Haute, Indiana, thence to Kansas City, and 
eno-aged in contracting on his own account, 
working there for thee years and putting up 



some substantial buildings. In 1887 he came 
to Da,llas, Texas, and has since made this 
city his home. He at (mce established his 
business here, and has put a number of the 
best buildings in the city, among which are 
the Central National Bank, The Dallas 
Steam Laundry, the police headqiiarters, 
the McKinney College and a number of other 
structures. 

December 25, 1887, Mr. Abbott wedded 
Miss Clara V. Payte, the third daughter born 
in a family of seven children of Patrick and 
Julia Payte. Her father was a native of 
Boston, Massachusetts, and was there en- 
gaged as a contractor. Subsequently he 
emigrated westward to Belleville, Illinois, 
atid later located in Nevada, Missouri, where 
his death occurred. Her mother is still liv- 
ing and is now a resident of Kansas City, 
Missouri, Mr. and Mrs. Abbott have one 
child, Edward Allan, born November 23, 
1889. 

Mr. Abbott attained his early education in 
the district schools of Kentucky, sometimes 
walking as far as four miles to school. Hold- 
ing a lifetime scholarship in the Commercial 
College of Terre Haute, he attended that in- 
stitution at night while working at his trade 
through the day. He has two brothers now 
living, one a contractor in Terre Haute and 
the other a merchant of that city. Mr. Ab- 
bott is a member of the Dallas Lodge, No. 70, 
K. of P. He resides in one of the beautiful 
homes of Dallas, is a progressive man, and 
has the respect of all who know him. 



-^^uxrjb- 



^^ 



"ji/i/^^^ 



fOIIN THOMAS GREEN, deceased, 
formerly a well-to-do and highly re- 
spected farmer of Dallas county, was 
born in that county, January 17, 1846, where 
he received a common-school education. At 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



the age of twenty-one years he began life for 
himself, by farming a part of his mother's 
land, and in 1872 he moved to the farm where 
his widow still resides. Mr. Green was a man 
of good habits, a kind and indulgent husband 
and father, his honesty was unquestioned, and 
he was without a known enemy. Politically, 
he atfiliated with the Democratic party. 

In 1868 Mr. Green married Miss Lucrecia 
Witt, who was born in Illinois in 184'J, a 
daughter of Leonard and Rebecca Witt. She 
removed with her parents to Texas in 1867, 
locating near Lancaster, Dallas county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Green have had six children, viz.: 
the eldest died in infancy; William O., born 
January 26, 1871; Edga"r A., April 9, 1873; 
Henry A., December 22, 1875; Bertha B., 
September 12, 1880 and Maggie M., Octo- 
ber 2, 1882. Mr. Green departed this life 
November 23, 1888. 



Among 



fUDGE E. P. MARSHALL, 
the worthy, able and honorable attorneys 
in which the city of Dallas abounds, is 
to be numbered the subject of this sketch. 

He was born in Alabama, August 19, 1842. 
His parents were Jesse S. and Catherine 
(Shaw) Marshall, the father a native of 
Georgia, and the mother of North Carolina. 
Jesse S. Marshall by occupation was a farmer, 
well versed and active in his calling; was 
well-to-do and in every way a model, honest 
and upright man, conscientious and fair in 
all his dealings, his word ever Ijeing rcgirded 
as good as his bond. Both he and his wife 
were life-long members of the Baptist Church. 
They were humble, unpretentious, good 
people, well respected and noted for zeal and 
earnestness in their high callings. Glorious 
hope! Their work done, am 

64 



well done, they 



went from the labors of the church militant 
to the church triumphant, — the father in 1873, 
at the age of seventy-one years, and the mother 
in 1871, at the age of sixty-seven. They left 
a good name — an endearing heritage to their 
children, their acquaintances, and the church 
of their choice. Of their twelve children, 
eleven reached maturity and live are still 
living. Judge Marshall was educated at Gil- 
mer, in eastern Texas, the only school of that 
character that was carried on successfully 
during the late war. The instructor, Prof. 
Morgan H. Looney, is now a resident of 
Hunter county, Texas. In the spring of 
1862 our young friend Marshall enlisted in 
Company B, Seventh Regiment, Texas In- 
fantry, and was in many of the leading 
battles of the war. At Fort Donelson be 
was captured and was taken to Camp Douglas, 
where he was held a prisoner five months, 
receiving kind treatment and plenty of food. 
He was then paroled and landed at Yicks- 
burg, Mississippi. Subsequently, at the battle 
of Franklin, he was captured, and until the 
war closed was held a prisoner at Camp Chase, 
Ohio, also meeting with kind treatment there. 
He was then sent to Shreveport, Louisiana. 
He stood the service well; was wounded 
slightly at New Hope, but was only disabled 
for a few days. His rank was that of Second 
SergeaTit. 

After the war closed he fai'med until 1868. 
Then he took a course of law study under 
Chief Justice Roberts at Gilmer, Texas, the 
same school he had attended previous to the 
war. He was admitted to the bar in 1868, 
since which time he has practiced before all 
the courts of the State and the Supreme 
Court. He was elected District Attorney 
for the nineteenth district, comprising the 
counties of Smith, Upshur, Gregg, Camp, 
Wood and Rains, being elected over his Re- 



990 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



publican competitor by 1,100 votes, and 
served four years. At the expiration of that 
time he vras elected to the Fifteenth Legis- 
lature, in which honorable body he rendered 
efficient service. lie moved to Dallas in 
1877, since which time he has resided in this 
city, successfully conducting a law practice. 
In 1890 he undertook the race for County 
Judge, but was defeated by a small number 
of votes. He is making the race for the nomi- 
nation to the same position in July, 1892, 
both he and his many friends being sanguine 
of his success. 

For some years the judge has been identi- 
fied with educational matters. He has served 
on the School Board, and to his earnest efforts 
is largely due the fine system of schools with 
which Dallas is highly favored. 

Judge Marshall was married in 1865 to 
Miss Jennie Rogers, the accomplished 
daughter of A. T. Rogers, of Upshur county, 
Texas. They are the parents of four children, 
of whom they are justly proud, viz.: Benja- 
min C, a traveling salesman; Sidney J. 
who has been superintendent of the carriers 
of the postoffice for the past six years; and 
Ida and Ada. The judge and his wife and 
their daughters are members of the Baptist 
Church, he being a Deacon in the same. He 
is also a member of the blue lodge and of the 
Royal Arch Masons. His views, politically, 
are in harmony with Democratic principles, 
and with that party he has ever affiliated. 



fPHRAIM WILMUT, one of the pros 
perous and representative citizens of 
Dallas county, was born in Garrard 
county, Kentucky, Mareli 2, 1844, the son"of 
Benjamin and Mary (Bentley) Wilmut. Ephra- 
im was reared on a farm, and was married 



June 27, 1876, to Mary Brotherton, daughter 
of H. K. and Rachel M. Brotherton, men- 
tioned elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wilmut have had three children: Dudley, 
Mary M., and one who died in infancy. By 
his own skill and labor he has gained posses- 
sion of considerable property. He now has 
a fine farm of 280 acres, well improved, and 
the modern features of the farm indicate in- 
telligence and thrift in the character of its 
owner. Upon the premises are fine orchards, 
shade trees, good, convenient barns and other 
outbuildings, all of which are neatly kept and 
economically used. 

During the last war, some time in 1862, 
Mr. Wilmut enlisted in the cause of the 
South, joining Company I of the Thirtieth 
Texas Cavalry, under Captain Y. Smith and 
Colonel E. J. Gurley, and served in Texas, 
Arkansas and the Indian Territory; and after 
the war closed he returned home and resumed 
his favorite callinij, that of farming. 

fAMES HENRY ELLIS, a farmer, was 
born in Greene county, Illinois, in 1842, 
and from there moved with his par- 
ents to Lamar county, Texas, in 1845. The 
following year they moved to Dallas county, 
and here he lived with his parents on the 
headright on which they settled till 1872. 
That year he moved to his present home, 
where he has since resided. 

In 1867 Mr. Ellis was married to Miss 
Mary Rawlins, daughter of P. K. and Lydia 
Rawlins, natives of Indiana. To them two 
children were born, namely: John Henry, 
who is now at AVilmer and in the employ of 
Mrs. White; and Lncy, who died when 
young. Mrs. Ellis died when her children 
were small. She was a woman possessing 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



991 



many amiable qualities, and was a zealous 
and active member of the Baptist Church. 
Mr. Ellis' second marriage was to Miss 
Mary Kinney, a native of Mississippi. By 
her he also had two children: Roderick Ross 
and Robert Leslie. After several years he 
was again l)ereft of a loving companion. He 
subsequently married Mrs. (Batcbler) Will- 
iams, and from this union following is the 
issue: William R., Thomas R., Lydia Ethel, 
Alexander H. and Mary L. Tlie last named 
was born in 1889 and died in 1891. 

Mr. Ellis is one of the substantial farmers 
of Dallas county, enjoying a reputation for 
integrity second to none. While he has not 
made it the goal of his ambition to accumu- 
late a fortune, he has amassed a fair compe- 
tency for the rest of his life, having a well- 
improved farm of 289 acres. Politically, he 
is a Democrat. 

yJ^HRIS MOSER lives on the corner of 
Ross and Henderson avenues, just out- 
side the eastern corporate limits of the 
city of Dallas, where he conducts a prosper- 
ous dairy farm. 

Mr. Moser is a native of Switzerland, in 
which country he was born in the year 1845. 
His parents were Chris and Annie Moser, the 
latter born in Yerber. His father was a farmer 
in Switzerland. Both of his parents are de- 
ceased. Chris Moser, the subject of this 
sketch, after arriving at man's estate was en- 
gaged in his native laud in the extensive 
manufacture of cheese. He came to this 
country in tlie year 1874, lauded at New 
Orleans and from there came to Dallas. Here 
for several years he was employed in a stone 
quarry. Subsequently he was engaged at 
work in several milk dairies, until he was 
able to establish one for himself. In 1887 he 



purchased his present farm of thirty-seven 
acres, where he has recently built a fine man- 
sion, and here he lives with his family, en- 
joying the reward of his industry. This 
dairy farm is a model one. His stock consists 
principally of Durham and mixed Jersey 
cattle, thirty head in all. 

Mr. Moser was married in Dallas, January 
12, 1880, to Annie Buhrer, a native of Swit- 
zerland. Her father came to this country in 
1866 and settled in Ritchie county. West 
Virginia, where he now resides, engaged in 
farming. For further mention of her parents 
see biography of Jacob Buhrer in this work. 
They have five children: Charles, Freda, Otto, 
Matilda and Ernest. 

Since 1880 Mr. Moser has belonged to 
Dallas Lodjje, Knights of Honor. He is a 
member of the German Evangelican Lutheran 
Church. While not active in politics, he is 
Democratic in principle and takes a deep in- 
terest in public affairs and all matters affect- 
ing the State and county of his adoption. He 
has since coming to Dallas seen many changes 
and witnessed the substantial growth of the 
city which has taken place in the past decade. 
When coming here he had no means, and all 
he has accumulated has been the result of 
hard work, prudence and economy. 



'S^' 



mCdiy«. 



m^^ — 



fW. HOLLAND, one of the represent- 
ative citizens of Dallas county, was 
® born in Illinois, March 5, 1848, a son 
of James and Malinda (Boydston) Holland, 
natives of Kentucky. When our subject was 
a babe of six months he was brought by his 
father to Te.\as. settlintj on the land wliere he 
lived until his death, in 1882. When he 
came to this State, it was still a wild prairie 
country, abounding in wild game of all kinds, 
and being very fond of sport Mr. Holland was 



992 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



often to be found with his gun in search of 
game. In those days what is now the city of 
Dallas was only a village, with only a few log 
huts, all merchandise being freighted by ox 
teams from Shreveport, Louisiana, and Hous- 
ton, Texas, a distance of 250 miles. Mr. and 
Mrs. Holland had ten children, of whom J. 
W. is the youngest in order of birth. 

He was reared on a farm, and devoted most 
of his time to stock-raising. He is now the 
owner of about 1,000 acres of land lying in 
the famous Mountain creek valley, all of 
which is fenced, and 160 acres is under a 
fine state of cultivation. Mr. Holland is one 
of the most important stock dealers of the 
county, shipping hundreds of fattened cattle 
yearly. He is a member of the Christian 
Church, and as a neighbor he is highly ap- 
dreciated by all who know him. 

Mr. Holland was married December 30, 
1875, to Miss AdaBundy, a daughter of Rich- 
ard and Amelia Bundy. The father fought 
with the Confederate army in the Mexican 
war, and also through the late war. Mr. and 
Mrs. Holland have three children, one of 
whom died in infancy. In February, 1885, 
the mother died, and December 4, 1887, Mr. 
Holland married Miss Victoria Bevans, the 
daughter of Isaac and Margaret Bevans, who 
are still living in Virginia, their native State. 
By this last union there is one child. 

fllARLES B. LEWIS, Dallas, Texas.— 
General L. M. Lewis was the descendant 
of a "Welsh family that attained dis- 
tinction in military and social circles, and 
were people of great wealth. He was born 
in the State of Maryland, January 6, 1832, 
and at the age of eleven years he was sent to 
Washington city to enter school; he studied 



there for some time, and in 1848-'49 he was 
a student at the Military Academy of Mary- 
land. The two years following he pursued 
his studies at the Wesleyan University in 
Middletown, Connecticut, and then beaan the 
study of law. After reading for four years 
he was admitted to the bar in 1855, at Lib- 
erty, Missouri. He devoted himself to the 
legal profession until 1858, when he entered 
the ministry, preaching the gospel until the 
beginning of hostilities between the North 
and South. In 1861, he became Colonel of 
the Seventh Regiment, State troops; and in 
1862 he enlisted in the Confederate service 
as Captain, rising by successive steps to the 
office of Brigadier General. He was wounded, 
taken prisoner, and experienced all the hor- 
rors of warfare. Few soldiers, however, 
made a more brilliant record than he, and 
none were more beloved by their comrades. 
After the surrender, he returned to the min- 
istry, and was stationed at Shreveport, and 
then Galveston. He also did a vast amount 
of work as an educator. At one time he was 
president of Arcadia Female College, Ark- 
ansas; was afterward professor of English 
language and literature at A. & M. College, 
Bryan, Texas, and was filling the chair of pres- 
ident of Marine College at the time of his 
death in 1880. As a minister, lawyer, sol- 
dier, scholar, and teacher, he was a great and 
good man. He was sincerely mourned by a 
wide circle of acquaintance, and a family who 
were devoted to his name. 

General Lewis was married October 12, 
1852, to Margaret A. Barrow, and Charles 
B. Lewis is the fourth child born to them. 
His native State is Missouri, whence he re- 
moved to Texas in 1866, with his parents. 
Since that time he has been a resident of the 
State, with the exception of seven or eight 
years when he was away at school. He was 



niSTORT OF DALLAS G0UNT7. 



993 



a student at Central College, Missouri, and 
after he had finished his literary course he 
took up the profession of dentistry. He went 
for this purpose to Little Rock, Arkansas 
and entered a dentist's office, where he read 
for two years. At the end of that time he 
went to Baltimore and entered the College 
of Dental Surgery, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1879. He then returned to Texas, 
and settled in Waxahachie, remaining there 
for a period of five years. In 1885, he came 
to Dallas, opened an ottice, and has succeeded 
in winning a large and paying practice. He 
does all kinds of dental work in the most 
approved manner, keeping fully abreast of 
the times in all the improvements and dis- 
coveries of the profession. He is a member 
of the State Dental Association, and of the 
Southern Dental Association. He is Secre- 
tary of the former society, and has acquitted 
himself in this position with much credit to 
himself. He has no tVaternal or church con- 
nections, and is unmarried. Politically he 
affiliates with the Democratic party. 



►HOMAS J. WEATHERFOKD, a pros- 
perous farmer of Dallas county, is a 
son of Monday Weatherford, a native of 
Bedford county, Tennessee. The latter after- 
ward removed to McLaughlin county, Illinois, 
next to Lamar county, Texas, and thence to 
Dallas. When he first came to the State 
Dallas had but a few log houses, and he first 
engaged in freighting to and from Houston 
with ox teams. Mr. Weatherford finally 
settled on the farm where our subject now 
resides, and where he remained until his 
death March 7, 1877. He was a member of 
the Baptist Church, and was a Democrat in 
his political views. His wife, nee Nancy 



Harrison, was a native of Alabama, and died 
in 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Weatherford were 
married in 1826, and had seven children, viz.: 
Mary Ann, deceased; Harbert, deceased; 
John, deceased, formerly a resident of Dallas 
county; Eliza, wife of J. M. Snow, of Mon- 
tague county; Monday, deceased; Thomas J., 
our subject; and Monroe, deceased. 

Thomas J. Weatherford was born in Illi- 
nois in 1843, and when about one year old he 
came with his parents to Texas, and remained 
with them until 1869. At the age of eighteen 
years he enlisted in the Confederate service, 
in the Sixth Texas Cavalry, under Colonel 
Ross and Captain Guy. He was wounded at 
Farmington just after the fall of Atlanta, was 
at Vicksburg at the time of the surrender, 
after which he returned to Dallas county and 
engaged in farming. In 1869 he was mar- 
ried to Martha J. McKee, a native of Mis- 
sissippi, and daughter of William and Mary 
A. (Frazier) McKee, natives of South Caro- 
lina. Mr. and Mrs. Weatherford have had 
eight children, viz.: Mary Ann, who died in 
infancy; Nancy E., wife of John Lloyd, of 
Dallas county; Lewella, who was burned to 
death April 2, 1891; William M., Margaret 
Ann, John T., Mattie E. and Minnette, at 
home. Mr. Weatherford is identified with 
the Democratic party, and is a member of the 
Baptist Church; his wife is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 



4^ 



m ^=<\ * 



L . W A L K E R , of Garland, Dallas 
county, was born in Tennessee, June 
* 10, 1822, the oldest in a family of the 
three children of Benjamin and Anna (Cad- 
well) Walker, natives of South Carolina and 
Tennessee. The father died when our sub- 
ject was only ten years of age, and he was 



994 



HISTORY OF Dallas oountt. 



therefore early thrown upon his own re- 
sources. He lived with his mother until 
eighteen years of age, and six years after the 
death of the father the mother married John 
Ueauton, of Bedford county, Tennessee. Tlie 
mother died in 1844. At the age of eighteen 
years Mr. AValker left home, and commenced 
working at the tanner's trade in Bedford 
county. In January, 1845, he removed to 
Giles county, and there established a tannery 
of his own; he next spent ten years in Lin- 
coln county, where he was engaged in farm- 
ing until he came to this State in October, 
1883. He spent three years in this county 
and then moved to the village of Garland. 

Mr. Walker was married in 1847 to Miss 
Catherine L. Howell, a daughter of Hobert 
and Elizabeth (Payne) Howell, natives of 
Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Walker were the 
parents of seven children, namely: Anna, 
wife of Captain W. A. Summers, of Lincoln 
county, Tennessee; Lula, deceased, wife of 
Dr. Summers; Mary N., wife of Thomas 
Thorp, of Collin county, Texas; Sallie F., 
now Mrs. R. C. Wyatt, of this place; Thomas 
S., M. D.; Lillie M., the present wife of Dr. 
Summers; Ella, wife of A. J. Beaver, of Gar- 
land. Both Mr. and Mrs. Walker are still 
living, and the latter is now in her sixty- 
third year. Bessie, the wife of Dr. Walker, 
is the daughter of George J. and Mary S. 
(Miller) Bullock, natives of Copiah county, 
Mississippi. They came to Texas in Feb- 
ruary, 1882, and settled in what was then Duck 
Creek, now Garland, whei'e the father en- 
gaged in farnung. He died April 23, 1876, 
before his family came to this State. Pre- 
vious to the war he was the owner of a great 
many slaves. Robert Miller, the celebrated 
attorney of Mississippi, is the oidy brother of 
Mr. Miller. Their father, Colonel Robert 
Miller, came originally from South Carolina, 



and was one of the wealthiest men of Mis- 
sissippi, and was well known throughout the 
South. G. J. Miller served during the war, 
and was in many hard-fought battles. The 
Miller and Bullock families of Mississippi are 
among the oldest and best known in the 
State. The mother of Mrs. Bullock was 
formerly Miss Catching, and a relative of 
Thomas Catching, the present member of 
Congress from Vieksburg, Mississippi. J. 
L. Bullock, the grandfather of Mrs. Walker, 
came to this State in 1870, and settled in 
Dallas county, where he died in 1873. His 
children were Mrs. Miller and C. E. Bullock. 
Thomas S. Walker, M. D., the son of 
T. L. Walker, whose sketch appears above, 
was born in Giles county, Tennessee, June 
22, 1858. In early life he attended the com- 
mon schools, and at the age of sixteen years 
entered Oak Hill Academy, Lincoln county, 
and later Cornerville, Marshall county. At 
the age of twenty years he entered the Medi- 
cal Department of the Vanderbilt University, 
of Nashville, Tennessee, in the class of 
1879-'80. March 21, 1880, he landed in 
this State, where he commenced practicing 
with Dr. Harbison, one of the oldest phy- 
sicians of this place, and one of the most 
popular men of the county. Dr. Walker 
practiced with him for three years, and during 
that time they were very successful. On 
coming to this State the Doctor was some 
$380 in debt, and the first year here he put 
in a cotton crop near Piano, but lost the en- 
tire crop. He then commenced practice, and 
eighteen months later bought a farm of 100 
acres, paying $21 per acre, which he sold in 
the fall of 1888 for $35 per acre cash. He 
next bought a lot, built a house, and the same 
year sold his farm and purchased another in 
Red River county, on Blossom prairie, three 
miles from Lamar county, consisting of 235 



niSTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



995 




acres, with 101 acres under cultivation, and 
eighty acres in meadow. He has now one of 
the finest places in Red River county. 

The Doctor was married to Miss Bessie 
Miller, November 25, 1885, and to this union 
has been born four children, viz.: May, Rob- 
ert (deceased), Beatrice and Raburn G. Dr. 
Walker and wife are both members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South. 



•ILLIAM JENKINS, deceased, one of 
the early pioneers of Dallas county, 
was born in Gile.-? county, Alabama, 
January 13, 1813, the second of four chil- 
dren born to Thomas and Mary (Eppler) 
Jenkins, natives of Virginia. At an early 
day the parents removed to Alabama, where 
the mother died in 1822, and the father in 
1823. William was reared in Giles county, 
Alabama, and learned the saddler's trade, 
which he followed in Athens, Alabama. In 
1885 he went to Jackson county, Missouri, 
settling at Independence, where he worked at 
his trade, and later removed to Fayetteville, 
Washington county, same State. In 1845 he 
came Ijy horse teams to Dallas county, and for 
a short time lived in a tent on Mr. Thomas' 
headright, but afterward bought and im- 
proved 640 acres of land. He took an active 
interest in politics in the early history of the 
county, and was the second Sheriff of Dallas 
county, Texas. Ills death occurred in this 
county, November G, 1871, at the age of fifty- 
eight years. 

Mr. Jenkins was married at Independence, 
Missouri, in 1839, to Miss Cynthia A. 
Thomas, a native of Sevier county, Tennessee, 
and a daughter of John and Hannah (Andes) 
Thomas, natives of Tennessee and Virginia. 
The parents were married in the former 



State, and in 1833 moved to Jackson county, 
Missouri, settling on a farm two miles from 
Independence. In 1844 they came to Dallas 
county, and located on White rock. The 
father took an active interest in politics, and 
was the first Judge of Dallas county. His 
death occurred in April, 1875, aged eighty- 
one years, and the mother died in 1872, at 
the age of seventy-seven years. Mr. and 
Jenkins had ten children, viz.: Mary, wife of 
Dr. A. M. Cochran, of Dallas; John T., of 
Fannin county; Lizzie, wife of E. M. Lively, 
of Denton, Texas; Hannah, wife of G. K. 
Knight, of Dallas; Alma S. ; Edgar M., of 
Dallas; Alice, wife of C. B. Flager, of Jeffer- 
son, Texas; William D., at home; R. II., of 
Dallas; and Willie A. 



fSHAM M. WOODS has been prominently 
identilied with the agricultural interests 
■^ of Dallas county, Texas, since 1877, and 
is generally regarded as one of the ablest 
financiers of the community. He is a native 
of Marion county, Arkansas, and a son of 
Jefferson and Susan (Hall) Woods. His 
father was a native of Tennessee, but was 
among the pioneers of Marion county, 
Arkansas. 

The subject of this sketch was reared to 
the occupation of a farmer, and at the age of 
seventeen years bade farewell to the parental 
roof and started out in life for himself. He 
engaged in agricultural pursuits in Missouri, 
where he resided until he came to Dallas in 
1877. On coming to the latter place, he pur- 
chased a tract of land near his present home, 
which he industriously improved and sold to 
advantage. By wise management and per- 
sistent effort he increased his means, and made 
fortunate investments until he has now 



996 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



amassed considerable property. He has al- 
ways paid cash for his land, but his word 
is regarded as highly as his bond. 

Mr. Woods was married December 26, 
1876, to Mrs. Beard, an estimable lady, orig- 
inally of Alabama, but who has been a resi- 
dent of Texas since 1865. She sras of great 
assistance to her husband when he was seek- 
ing to gain a foot-hold in the business world, 
and now enjoys the reward of her industry 
and perseverance. 

J'olitically, Mr. Woods is independent, 
always casting his vote for the man who in 
his judgment is the best fitted to fill the 
requirements of the office. Guided by the 
highest principles in his own actions, he de- 
mands an equally upriglit character in those 
he endorses, and possesses the courage to ex- 
press his cons'ictions, without regard for 
friend or foe. 



|NOCH HOllTON, deceased, was born 
in Russell county, Virginia, March 22, 
1777, a son of John Ilorton, a native of 
Ireland. When a young man the latter came 
with his father's family, which included the 
father, mother, three sons and two daughters, 
to Virginia, first settling in the eastern part 
of the State, and later removed to Russell 
county. John Horton was married in that 
State to Isabelle Kendriek, a native of Eng- 
land, and they reared a family of four sons 
and five daughters, of whom our subject was 
the third son. The parents passed their days 
in Russell county, the father dying at the age 
of sixty years, and the mother lived to an 
advanced age. 

Enoch, our subject, was reared to farm life, 
and received but five days' schooling, but by 
his own exertions he has attained a good edu- 
cation. After his marriage he settled on a 



farm which his father had taken up under 
the squatter's sovereignty act, where he fol- 
lowed farming until he came to the frontier 
of civilization in Dallas county, Texas. In 
the spring of 1845 the family emigrated with 
horse teams to Springfield, Missouri, but the 
same year came to Dallas county, first locat- 
ing near Eagle Fork, Precinct No. 7, where 
they were both deceased. 

Mr. Horton was marrie<l in Russell county, 
Virginia, March 22, 1797, to Miss Martha 
Stinson, a native of that county, and daugh- 
ter of John and Jane (Stewart) Stinson, na- 
tives of Virginia and of English ancestry. 
Mr. and Mrs. Horton were the parents of 
nine children who lived to be grown, and all 
but one came to Texas, namely: Mary, de- 
ceased, was the wife of Martin Thompson; 
Jane, deceased, was the wife of William 
Bradshaw; John died in Texas; James also 
died in this State; Sarah, now Mrs. Coekrell, 
of whom mention is made elsewhere in this 
volume; Enoch, who died in Dallas county; 
Robert, deceased in California; Martha, de- 
ceased, was the wife of William Horton; 
Rachel, deceased, was the wife of Joseph 
Read. Mr. and Mrs. Horton were both 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
The father's death occurred March 21, 1851, 
and was buried on the same day of the month 
of his birth and marriage. His estimable 
wife departed this life April 7, 1850. 



-^ 



3+« 



^^ 




ARTIN H. LOVE was born in Mur- 
ray county, Georgia, October 12, 
'^^^ 1849, son of Osburn and Jane 
(Franchen) Love, natives of North Carolina. 
After their marriage his parents moved to 
Georgia, and from there in 1865 came to 
Texas. The senior Mr. Love purchased 160 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



997 



acres of land in Dallas county, near what 
was then known as Post Oaks, and improved 
the same and lived on it until 1867, when he 
died, at the age of sixty-seven years. Ilis 
wife passed away in 1866, aged lifty-six. 
The names of their nine children are as fol- 
lows: John; Malinda, wife of Charles John- 
son; Perry, deceased; John; Encethi, wife of 
John Holman; and James, William, Osburn 
and Martin H. 

After his father's death the subject of our 
sketch was employed in driving cattle, fol- 
lowing that business eight years. At the 
end of that time he was married, and after 
his marriage turned his attention to trading 
on the shares, wliich he continued for several 
years. Then he changed to farming. He 
now owns 135 acres of land, all well fenced, 
and sixty acres under cultivation. 

Mr. Love wedded Miss Zorelda A. Muncie, 
who was born November 10, 1855, daughter 
of AVilliam Muncie. The four children of 
her parents are: Mary J., wife of Charles 
Gray; Zorilda A., G. C, and Manerva, wife 
of Marion Dimond. Mr. and Mrs. Love 
have six children, viz.: Leona, wife of L. Q. 
Miller; Clergy, Otto, Emery, Elvey and 
Herbert. 

Mr. Love belongs to the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, while his wife has her mem- 
bership in the Christian Church. 

[OODSON P. WHITE belongs to 
that sturdy, honest and independent 
class, the farmers of Texas, and is 
now engaged in the successful conduct of an 
estate which comprises 1,631 acres of fine 
farming land. His name has been loncj and 
worthily identified with Dallas county, and 
his farm indicates to a noticeable degree 




what years of industry, good management 
and superior knowledge will do toward the 
maintenance of a farm. He was born in 
Sparta, White county, Tennessee, in 1850, 
but removed to Texas with his parents and 
remained with them until he was twenty- one 
years of age, after which he engaged in the 
cattle business with his father, buying and 
driving to Kansas, to which calling he gave 
his attention for two years. At the end of 
this time he purchased a farm, which he at 
once, with characteristic energy, began to 
improve, but at the same time dealt in hogs 
and cattle, and was associated with his father 
in the cotton business. In connection with 
farming he, in 1886, engaged in the mercan- 
tile business, and now carries a stock of 
goods valued at about $5,000, and is also the 
owner of other valuable property. 

In 1872 he was united in the bonds of 
matrimony to Miss Maggie Perry, a daughter 
of Captain Mid Perry, whose biograpiiy is 
elsewhere in this volume. Four children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. White: 
Roy L., born September 29, 1874; William 
T., Mid Perry, and Laura Estelle, born Janu- 
ary 29, 1888. Mr. White was given a good 
start in life, and on commencing for himself 
was the owner of about 15,000, hut unlike 
the majority of young men, to whom money 
is a doubtful blessing, he put it to a good 
use, and has added thereto until he is now in 
independent circumstances. He is a mem- 
ber of the Knights and Ladies of Honor, and 
in politics is a Democrat. 

fOSEPH S. JOHNSTON, a prosperous 
farmer and stock raiser of Dallas county, 
Texas, was born in Knox county, Ten- 
nessee in 1819, and was tlie youngest of nine 
children born to William and Martha (Swan) 



HISTORY OF DALLAS aouNTT. 



Johnston, natives of Ireland and Tennessee, 
respectively. The father, a man of education, 
a graduate of a well-known college in Ireland, 
was a pioneer of Tennessee, where he was en- 
gaged in teaching and surveying until his 
death in 1840. His wife survived him six 
years, expirinj^ in the same State in 1840. 

Joseph S., tiie subject of this sketch, was 
reared to farm life and educated in the public 
schools of Knbx county, Tennessee, and 
later commenced fanning for himself in 
Meigs county, same State. By industry and 
economy he accumulated about ^550, 000, but 
lost it all by ravages of war, coming to Dal- 
las county, Texas, with only $1,400 in green- 
backs, lie lirst bought 1,114 acres of partly 
improved land, to which he afterward added 
until he owned 500 acres, of which he has 
since sold all but 200 acres, which he now 
has under an excellent state of cultivation, 
with good buildings and other modern im- 
provements. Besides this, he also owns resi- 
dence property in Dallas to the amount of 
$5,000, together with a warehouse on the 
river, the whole amounting to about $30,000. 

He was married in Hamilton county, Ten- 
nessee, in 184G, to Mary Powell, a native of 
that State and a daughter of Scott and Mary 
(Wammock) Powell, also natives of that State. 
Her parents were early settlers of Tennessee, 
first locating on a farm in McMinn county, 
later removing to Hamilton county, where 
they both lived until their death. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have had seven 
children, five of whom now survive, namely: 
William C, residing in Tarrant county, 
Texas; Isabella, wife of D. R. Long, of Dal- 
las; Joseph, having charge of his father's 
warehouse at Dallas ; Mary A., wife of William 
Day; Lula, wife of Tom Work, also a resi- 
dent of Dallas. 

Mr. Johnston takes an active interest in all 



public affairs of importance, and votes with 
the Democratic party. Socially, he is a 
member ofTannehill Lodge, A. V. & A. M. 

He and his worthy wife are earnest and 
useful members of the Baptist Church. 

Many men are satisfied if, by persistent 
industry, they are able to accumulate one 
fortune during a life time; but Mr. Jolinston 
has shown unusual energy in starting life 
anew after the war, since when he has accumu- 
lated another couifoi-table income, and de- 
serves much credit for his intelligence and 
enterprise. 

fUDGE ROBERT E. BURKE, one of 
the leading citizens of Dallas, Judge of 
the Fourteenth Judicial District of the 
State of Texas, was born in Tallapoosa county, 
Alabama, in August, 1847. His parents, 
James M. and Narcissa J. (Holmes) Burke, 
were natives of Georgia. 

The Judjie received a common-school edu- 
tion in Alabama and Georgia, and before he 
was sixteen left the school room to enter the 
Confederate service. He enlisted in Com- 
pany D, Tenth Georgia Regiment, and took 
part in the war until its close, being at 
Greensborough, North Carolina, at the time 
of the surrender. He was in Hampton's 
Corps, Butler's Division, and during his ser- 
vice received one wound in the right arm, 
not a serious one, however. 

In January, 1866, he came to Texas and 
settled in Jeflferson. Here he began the 
study of law, in connection with which he 
clerked and taught school four years. He 
was admitted to the bar in 1870. In 1871 
he came to Dallas, opened an office and be- 
gan the practice of his profession, and he has 
been an honored resident of this city ever 
since. He was a member of the City Coun- 



msTOlir OF DALLAS COUNT f. 



oil in 1874 and 1875; was elected County 
Judge in 1878 and re-elected in 1880 and 
1882; was elected to the District Judgeship 
in 1888, his term of office expiring in No- 
vember, 1892. Witli the utmost truth it 
can be said that the Judge is the right man 
in the right place. He has a wide acquaint- 
ance and carries the respect of all who know 
him. 

He was married at Jefferson, Texas, in 
1870, to Miss Mary L. Henderson, daughter 
of Judge J. B. Henderson, late of Cass 
county, Texas. To them have been born 
three children, Robert E., Albert C, and Lu- 
cile. Robert E. is employed in a land office 
at Austin. 

Mrs. Burke is a member of the Baptist 
Church. The Judge is connected with a num- 
ber of organizations, among which are the 
Masonic fraternity, the K. of H., and the 
A. L. of H. He is a worthy citizen, such as 
gives character to any community. 



lENERAL RICHARD M. GANG, one 

of the present active men of Dallas, 
Texas, and well known throughout Ken- 
tucky, Texas, and the States of the great 
Southwest, was born in Bourbon county, Ken- 
tucky, on the 18th of June, 1830. His fatiier 
was the well-known and dearly beloved John 
Allen Gano, of Kentucky, one of his most 
devout, able and popular preachers in the 
Christian Church in his day. During his 
ministry, covering a period of sixty years, he 
baptized more than 10,000 persons upon pro- 
fession of faith. He was the earnest and 
able co-laborer of Alexander Campbell, Barton 
W. Stone and other leaders of the reforma- 
tion, to whose efforts is due the strength and 
influence of the church in Kentucky to-day. 



He died October 10, 1887, in his eighty- 
second year, and left behind him a name and 
memory dear to the people among whom he 
had lived. His wife, the mother of General 
Gano, was a devoted wife and mother, and 
entered into the life work of her husband 
with Christian zeal and courage. For sixty- 
five years she was an active member of the 
church, and passed to her reward on the lOtli 
day of October, 1891, in her eightieth year. 
This union was blessed with nine children, 
only two of whom survived the parents: 
General Gano, the subject of our sketch, and 
Captain John Allen Gano, of Taylor, Texas. 
It will be seen from the foregoing that Gen- 
eral Gano was raised in a religious atmos- 
phere. Its great truths took hold on his 
youthful mind and have remained unshaken 
tlironghout his long and active life. 

He was educated at Bethany College, West 
Virginia, graduating from tliat school in 1849, 
and from the Medical University at Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, two years later. He was a 
practicing physician from that time until the 
beginning of the Civil War in 1861, being 
located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a portion 
of tiie time. 

In 1857 he came to Texas with his family 
and settled on Grapevine prairie in Tarrant 
county. During the following year the Co- 
manche Indians raided through North Texas, 
attacking settlers in Parker and Wise counties. 
Dr. Gano assisted in organizing a company 
and went in pursuit of the red-skins. The 
campaign lasted a month, and upon Dr.Gano's 
return home the citizens of Tarrant county 
presented him with a costly sword for his 
gallant and meritorious conduct on the field. 
He represented Tarrant county in the Legis- 
lature during the sessions of 1860 and '61, 
resigning his seat to enter the Confederate 
army. Organizing a battalion of cavalry in 



1000 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



January, 1862, he entered active service and 
only sheathed his sword when the armies of 
the Confederacy disbanded in 1865. He was 
with General John M. Morgan during "62 
and "63, coinnianding lirst a squadron of 
Texas Rangers, then a regiment and tinally a 
brigade. His record as a dashing cavalry 
commander was not surpassed by any one in 
that department of the service. He was 
transferred to the department of the Trans- 
Mississippi in 1863, just before Morgan's 
Ohio raid, and so escaped that disastrous 
campaign. In the Trans- Mississippi he was 
assigned by General E. Kirby Smith to the 
command of two brigades of cavalry operat- 
ing in Arkansas, Indian Territory and Mis- 
souri, and such active and efficient work was 
done by his forces that he was recommended 
for promotion as Major-General, liichmond 
falling, however, before his comraissiou is- 
sued. He was in seventy-two engagements 
with the enemy, in all of which he was vic- 
torious, except four. He was wounded at the 
battle of Cabin Creek, Indian Territory, his 
left arm being broken by a minieball; and 
during the war had live horses shot under 
him. During his three and a half years' ser- 
vice the Christian was never lost in the sol- 
dier, and upon his return to Kentucky in 
1865, whither he decided to move and rebuild 
his broken fortunes, his thoughts turned to 
the ministry, and in July, 1866, he preached 
his first sermon at Leesburgh, Bourbon 
county, Kentucky. 

He has been a successful preacher, most of 
his time being ejiven to evangelical work, and 
during his ministry has baptized more than 
4,000 persons, besides establishing many 
ciiurches. He is intensely loyal to the church 
of his choice, steadily and ably upholding her 
doctrines and giving liberally both in time 
and means to her institutions. In 1874 



General Gano began the importation of tine 
stock into Texas, and as his interests increased 
he again moved to this State, locating at 
Dallas, where he has since lived. He has 
imported probaljly more blooded stock into 
the State than any other one man, and has 
done much to turn the attention of the people 
of Texas to the importance of improving the 
breeding of their live-stock. His efforts in 
this direction have borne fruit, and to-day 
North and Middle Texas stock grazers can 
show fancy breeds of Shorthorn, Jersey and 
Holstein cattle and standard-bred horses, 
which will compare favorably with those of 
Kentucky and Illinois. 

General Gano has ever been an active luan, 
engaging in many important business enter- 
prises. He is at present Vice-President of 
the Estado Land & Cattle Company, and a 
director in the Bankers & Merchants' National 
Bank, he having been an important factor in 
the organization of both institutions. Since 
his return to Texas his many friends have 
importuned him to enter public life, but he 
has declined, preferring to devote his life to 
the Christian ministry and his private affairs. 
Being a moralist he has alwajip been an 
avowed enemy of the saloon, and during the 
heated prohibition campaign in 1887, he took 
the stump and advocated the adoption of the 
constitutional amendment prohibiting the 
manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors 
in the State. General Gano as a business 
man has been successful, and his time, when 
not engaged in active church work, is occupied 
with his large business interests in Texas and 
Kentucky. 

He was married, in March, 1853, to Miss 
Martha J., daughter of Dr. Thomas Welch, 
of Crab Orchard, Kentucky, a prominent 
physician of that city. Mrs. Gano is a sister 
of Dr. Samuel "Welch, of this city, and also of 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



1001 



Colonel W. G. Welch, of Stanford, Kentucky, 
who is esteemed one of the ablest lawyers in 
that State. She is a lady of culture and re- 
finement, having graduated with class honors 
from Greenville Institute in 1851, and dur- 
ing the thirty-nine years of her married life 
has ever been a devoted wife and mother. 

General and Mrs. Gano have had twelve 
childi-en, as follows: Wm. B., John T. (de- 
ceased), and Clarence W., sketches of whom 
will be found in this volume; Sam W. (de- 
ceased); Kate M., wife of Dr. Hugh McLau- 
rin of this city; Fannie (deceased): Maurice 
Dudley, B. A., of Kentucky University and B. 
L. and M. A. of Texas University, now prac- 
tising law in this city; Lee, a graduate of Ken- 
tucky and Texas universities, now engaged in 
the practice of law in partnership with his bro- 
ther, Maurice Dudley; Sidney Johnston, twin 
brother of Lee, a graduate of medicine from 
the University of Pennsylvania, recently com- 
mencing the practice of his profession in this 
city; Emma, graduate of Hamilton College, 
Kentucky, and the Conservatory of Music at 
Cincinnati; Frank (deceased); and Mattie, the 
youngest of the family, who has not yet com- 
pleted her studies. All the family are mem- 
bers of the Christian Church. 



:ILLIAM F. DOUGHERTY, Secre- 
tary of Oak Cliff corporation, was 
born in Trimble county, Kentucky 
in 1847, tlie son of John and Sarah (Kyle) 
Dougherty, natives also of that State, who 
when William was ten years old emigrated to 
White Rock, Dallas county, Texas. 

The subject of this sketch began life as a 
farmer, and after continuing that for eleven 
years entered clerical work, in which he has 
given great satisfaction. On the incorpora- 




tion of Oak Cliff lie became its first Secretary 
and has continued in that capacity through 
all the changes of that municipality to the 
present time. By common consent ho seems 
to I)e the unanimous clioice of the citizens for 
tiiat position. He is a reliable Democrat in 
his political sympatliies. 

In 1868 ho married Miss Nannie Kyle, and 
they have one daugliter, named Julia. 



^ 



^ 



iS^EORGE C. COLE, who has been in the 
grocery business in Dallas since 1889, 
was born in this county, August 8, 
1857, the eldest of eight cliildren born to 
John H. and Elizabeth (Preston) Cole, na- 
tives of Tennessee. They came to Dallas in 
an early day, where they both still reside. 
George C. was reared to farm life, and edu- 
cated at Add Ran College, Thorp's Spring, 
Hood county, Texas, graduating in the liter- 
ary department in 1881. He then read law 
under the tutelage of Hunt, Lathrop & Hays, 
and in 1882 was admitted to the bar of Dal- 
las county, and since that tinje has followed 
the practice of law. In addition to tliis he 
is engaged in real estate, and also in the 
manufacture of sewer pipes and fire brick at 
Athens, Texas, being a member of the Fire 
Brick and Tile Company, and President of 
the Association. 

Mr. Cole was married in Dallas county, 
October 30, 188B, to Sue E. Bennett, a native 
of Jackson county, Arkansas, and daughter 
of Dr. J. A. and Henrietta (Crump) Bennett, 
the former a native of Madison county, Mis- 
souri, and the latter of Henrico county, Vir- 
ginia. The father settled in Jacksonport, 
Arkansas, in 1844, and engaged in the prac- 
tice of medicine, and in 18()2 removed to 
Texas, where lie engaged in general mer- 



1002 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COONTY. 




chandisiug at Kaufman, Kaufman County, 
for twenty years. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have 
four children: George C, Kate, Annie and 
Joseph. Mr. Cole is a Democrat, politically, 
and has held the ofSce of Chairman of the 
Democratic Committee and Alderman of the 
Eiglith Ward. Socially he affiliates with the 
K. of r.. No. 70, at Dallas, and also with 
the Knights of Honor, and religiously, hoth 
Mr. and Mrs. Cole are members of the Chris- 
tian Ciiurch at Dallas. 

W A. ARCHER, engaged in street con- 
tracting in all kinds of macadamized 
I'-cJ^S^ » and other styles of street pavements 
since 1885, has done nearly all the work on 
Ervay and Holmes streets, on College Hill, 
in the Exposition Park, and on many other 
streets. He has been connected with general 
street work for some years. Prior to that he 
engaged in farming and cotton ginning. 
Was in business in connection with W. C. 
Leonard, an early pioneer of the county. Mr. 
Archer came from Pennsylvania to Dallas 
county in 1874, settling in Precinct No. 7 
and engaged in farmincr. 

He was born in Staffordshire, England, in 
1853, the third of the five children born of 
Thomas and Mary (Elsmere) Archer, natives 
of Wales, who settled in Staffordshire. The 
father, by occupation a merchant, died in 
1862; the mother died about 1873. Mr. 
Archer was reared in Cheshire, England, and 
about the age of nineteen left his native 
country, coming to Pennsylvania. He was 
a machinist, following his trade in Pennsyl- 
vania, and in 187-1 came to Dallas county, and 
has been directly identified with the business 
interests of Dallas in one line or another. At 
the present time he pays strict attention to 



street contracting. He has established for 
himself a fine residence on Chestnut Hill, 
and he has ever taken an interest in the public 
welfare of the city and county. 

He was married in Dallas county, in 1883, 
to Miss S. A. Smith, a native of Dallas 
county, Missouri, and daugiitor of B. and N. 
(Bonner) Smith, the father a native of Mis- 
souri and the mother of Pennsylvania. The 
father was married in Missouri. He was a 
farmer by occupation and in 1879 came to 
Dallas county, settling on a farm west of 
Dallas. He died in Parker county, this State, 
in 1884, Mrs. Archer's mother resides i n Dallas. 
Mr. and Mrs. Archer have had four children, 
two living, Myraand Clara. 



■^ 



4®-^ 



^ 



^DWARD A. STUART, an eminent 
financier and popular cashier of the 
Bankers and Merchants' National Bank 
of Dallas, Te.xas, was born in Knox county, 
Tennessee, February 23, 1863. 

His parents are A. M. and Nellie (Bowers) 
Stuart, both natives of Tennessee. His 
father has been Clerk of Washington county, 
Tennessee, for the past ten years, previous 
to which he had been for life a partner with 
his father, Stephen Decatur Stuart, in the 
ownership of large iron works near Jones- 
boro. A. M. Stuart is a prominent politician, 
taking an active pf.rt in all public affairs. He 
served in the late war on the side of the 
Confederate States of America. The family 
is connected with General J. E. B. Stuart, the 
great Confederate States of America cavalry- 
man. Both parents are prominent members 
of the Presbyterian Church, of which the 
father is an elder. The mother survives at 
the age of forty-nine years, while the father 
is fifty- two. 



HISTORY OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



1003 



They have four cliildren: the subject of 
this sketch; Samuel D., in the drug busi- 
ness in Jonesboro, Tennessee; Mary N., a 
graduate of Jonesboro Academy, now the 
wife of Thomas A. R. Nelson, a son of the 
late Supreme Judge of Tennessee, who de- 
fended A. Johnson in his impeachment trial; 
Mary S. is their only child; Alvie M., a 
pupil of the Jonesboro high school. 

The subject of this sketch was educated in 
Jonesboro Academy, and is a graduate of 
Goodman's Commercial School of Knoxville, 
Tennessee. After graduating, he was em- 
ployed for two years in the Knoxville Pension 
Agency, after which he accepted the position 
of chief book-keeper for McLung, Powell & 
Company, of Knoxville, Tennessee, whole- 
sale hardware merchants, with whom he re- 
mained for three years. February 1, 1883, 
he came to Texas, and was employed in the 
banking house of Clark, Bryan & Howell, 
with whom he remained for six years, when 
he removed to Texarkana, wliere he acted as 
assistant cashier of the Texarkana National 
Bank for eighteen months. Then, in 1890, 
he came to Dallas and assumed his present 
position, which he has held ever since. 

Mr. Stuart was married April 15, 1885, to 
Miss Anna B. Fowlkes, an estimable lady 
and a daughter of J. S. Fowlkes, President 
of the First National Bank of Bryan, Texas. 
She is a graduate of Holland's Institute of 
Virginia, and took a finishing course at Miss 
Carey's school in Baltimore, which is one of 
the most prominent educational iui^titutions 
of that city. She has considerable talent for 
belles-lettres, and is a tine musician. Mr. 
and Mrs. Stuart had one son, Edwin, who 
died, aged six months. 

Mr. Stuart is not much of a politician, in 
the general acceptation of the term, but, like 
all good men, desires to see wortliy and able 



men at the head of public affairs. Socially, 
he is a Mason, a member of the Elks, and 
Past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. 

Mrs. Stuart is an earnest and useful mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church, to the support of 
which both she and her husband liberally 
contribute. 

Aside from his connection with one of the 
most distinguished families of the South, 
Mr. Stuart has qualities which alone would 
command the respect of his fellow men. 
"With business ability, indomitable energy, 
sterling integrity and of a progressive dispo- 
sition, he is a young man whose brilliant fu- 
ture is easily prognosticated, and is eminently 
worthy of a place in the history of the repre- 
sentative men of the Lone Star State. 



^[D. C. SMITH, manager of the Dallas 
Transfer and Cab Company, is a native 
*' of Clark county, Kentucky, the oldest 
child of Colby F. and Miriam II. (Stephen- 
son) Smith, natives of the same county. 
When eleven years of age, in 1860, he came 
with his parents to this county and settled 
on his farm, five miles north of Dallas, where 
they remained till 1867; they then settled in 
Dallas, and the father improved the tirst 
place on McKinney avenue north of the 
branch. He died in 1876, and the mother 
survived him until 1889. They were tlie 
parents of seven children: six of whom are 
now living: Ed C, our subject; Henry H., 
ex-County Treasurerof Dallascountyand now 
connected with the North Texas National 
Bank; G. D., partner of Ed C, our subject; 
Mary, wife of Oliver Thomas of Thomas 
Bros., real-estate dealers; Ellen, wife of John 
S. Hardy of London, England; Willis R., now 



1004 



HI8T0BT OP DALLAS COUNTY. 



ill school; Joe C, who died at the age of 
seventeen years. 

Mr. Ed C. Smith engaged at the carjien- 
ter's trade in 1868, working at that until 
1876, since which time he has been in the 
undertaking business. In their transfer busi- 
ness the company employs thirty-two men 
and sixty-nine head of horses, having a fine 
barn, 50 x 200 feet, facing Jackson street, 
and extending back to Wood street. 

Mr. Smith takes an active interest in poli- 
tics; has been Alderman three times, and, in 
a race for the oftice of Mayor of the city, came 
within one vote of being elected. 

He married, in 1872, Miss Mattie Fletcher, 
a daughter of John L. and Ann (Harris) 
Fletcher, a very early family of this county. 

Socially, Mr. Smith is a member of Dallas 
Lodge, No. 44, I. O. 0. F., of which lodge he 
has tilled all the chairs. He is also a member 
of C(eur de Lion Lodge, No. 8, K. of P. 
He is also a member of Uniformed Rank, 
K. of P., CcBur de Lion, No. 5; of Fidelity 
Lodge, No. 410, A. L. of H., and of the Elks. 

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the 
Commerce Street Christian Church. Mr. 
Smith assisted in building the first church 
erected in Dallas city, and was a member of 
that church. He takes an active interest in 
church affairs, as well as in secular matters. 



^ 



"^ 




!ILLIAM B. GANG, an eminent jur- 
ist of Dallas, Texas, and for several 
years president of the Bar Associa- 
tion of that city, was born in Bourbon 
county, Kentucky, February 20, 1854. His 
parents are General K. M. and Mattie J. 
Gano,'a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere 
in this volume. Wiliam B. Gano was edu- 
cated in the Kentucky State University, after 



which he graduated in law at Harvard Uni- 
versity, in the class of 1877. Immediately 
afterward, he opened an office in Dallas, 
where he has successfully practiced his pro- 
fession ever since. Naturally of superior 
ability and unusual legal acumen, supple- 
mented by excellent training in two renowned 
institutions of learning, he has easily made 
his way to pruminence in liis chosen ])rofes- 
sion, while his high sense of honor and uni- 
form courtesy has gained for him tlie univer- 
sal esteem of his fellow men. He is presi- 
dent of the Bankers and Merchants' Bank 
Building Company, incorporated in Texas; 
is an active member of the Board of Trade; 
and a director of the Bankers and Merchants' 
National Bank. 

He was married August 31, 1882, in Fay- 
ette county, Kentucky, to Miss Nettie D. 
Grissim, an educated and amiable lady, a 
daughter of Dr. Grissim, a prominent physi- 
cian of that coiinty, and a granddaughter of 
Barton W. Stone. She is a graduate of 
Hamilton College, Lexington, Kentucky, and 
also of Wellseley College, as well as of the 
Musical Conservatory of Cincinnati, Ohio. 
She possesses much talent in belles-lettres, 
and is a musician of marked ability. Mr. 
and Mrs. Gano have three children, Allene, 
Richard Chilton, and Annette. 

Mr. Gano takes an interest in all public 
matters of importance, and like all good men 
desires to see men of ability and integrity 
at the helm of government. 

He and his faithful wife are devoted and 
useful members of the Christian Church, to 
the support of which they liberally con- 
tribiite. 

A worthy and influential citizen, public- 
spirited and enterprising; an able and honor- 
able counselor; and a man of superior liter- 
ary judgment and taste; Mr. Gano is emi- 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



1005 



uently qualified to fill with distinction any 
position in life; and it may be safely said 
that few men have contributed more to the 
prosperity and general advancement of his 
city than this excellent gentleman. 

fAMES GREER, fruit farmer and gar- 
dener, raises all kinds of small fruits 
and vegetables. He engaged in fruit 
and garden farming in 1881, when he opened 
up and improved a farm of forty acres in the 
timber. He has twenty-two acres in cultiva- 
tion. It is located a halt' mile from the city 
limits and about two miles from the public 
square. 

Mr. Greer came to Dallas county in 1868, 
when the town had a population of about 
400. He was born in Madison county, 
Tennessee, in 1845, the eldest of the seven 
children of John C. and Susan L. (Carruth- 
ers) Greer, natives of Tennessee and Ken- 
tucky respectively. His father was a farmer, 
and in 1870 came to Dallas county, settling on 
a farm, and in 1871 moved into Dallas and 
bought property near the Union depot. His 
death occurred in 1872, on his way home 
from the city to the farm. The mother sur- 
vived him till 1889, remaining in Dallas. 

Mr. Greer was reared to farm life in Madi- 
son county, Tennessee. During the war, in 
1861, he enlisted in Company L, Sixth Ten- 
nessee Infantry, for one year, and served 
about two years, being in the battles of 
Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Murfreesboro, Ten- 
nessee, etc., serving in the Mississippi De- 
partment. In 1863 he joined General For- 
rest's cavalry, was in many skirmishes, and 
was with General Forrest till the surrender. 
At the close of the war, was in Tennessee. 

He then returned to Madison county, went 
as 



to school fifteen months, and in 1868 came to 
Dallas county. He has been a dealer in hay 
for some time, and a resident of Dallas for 
some years. 

He was married in this county in 1877, to 
Miss Sarah Addarine Kearley, a native of 
Trousdale county, Tennessee, and a daughter 
of William and Matilda (Holt) Kearley, natives 
of Tennessee. The father was born, lived 
and died in Tennessee, was a farmer and 
practicing physician for forty years. His 
death occurred in 1889, in Tennessee. His 
wife still lives in Tennessee. 

After marriage Mr. Greer, our subject, 
settled in Dallas till going to his present 
farm. He is not active in politics but votes 
with the Democratic party. He was once a 
city Alderman from the Third ward. Socially, 
he is a member of the Golden Cross and 
Golden Chain, both beneficiary orders. 

He has had seven children: Willie D., 
Thomas Andrew, Joseph Lee, Marietta, Ora 
Ella, James, Edmond, Katie. 

PON. JOHNB. RECTOR, United 
W\ States Judge of the Northern District 
'^iM of Texas, an eminent jurist and esteemed 
citizen of Dallas, was born in Jackson county, 
Alabama, November 24, 1837. His parents 
were L. L. and Agnes (Black) Rector, the 
former born in Tennessee in 1799, and the 
latter born in Georgia in 1812. His father 
was a prosperous merchant of Bedford county, 
Tennessee, and of Jackson county, Alabama. 
In 1847, he removed to Texas, settling in 
Bastrop county, where he followed the occu- 
pation of a planter. The family were first 
called upon to mourn the loss of the wife 
and mother, who died in 1852, aged forty 
years. As a wife, mother, companion, Chris- 



1006 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



tiau and t'rieiKl, no words cao speak her praise 
too warmly. Such a tender bond of sympa- 
thy Ijound her to the members of her immedi- 
ate household, and the shock was 7nost severe 
wlien that cord was rudely broken by the 
hand of death. She and her husband were 
devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South, and were interested in all 
good works. Iler husband survived her 
many years, living to the advanced age of 
ninety, expiring in the midst of his family 
and friends in 1888. This worthy couple 
were the parents of seven children, five of 
whom survive, two having died in early 
childhood. 

The subject of this sketch is the second of 
the surviving children. His early life was 
spent in his native county and in Texas. He 
was carefully reared and liberally educated, 
attending Yale College, Connecticut, gradua- 
ting at that institution in the class of 1859, 
numbering 105 students. 

On completing his studies, he returned to 
Texas, and studied law under Judge Royal 
T. Wheeler, Chief Justice of the Lone Star 
State. In the latter part of 1860, he was ad- 
mitted to the bar and opened an ofhce by 
himself in Austin, where he practiced his 
profession for about a year, meeting with 
very encouraging success. This prosperity 
was interrupted by the civil conflict which 
rent the country, and threatened to end in its 
destruction. In August of 1861, he enlisted 
as a private in Company D, Terry's Cavalry 
Rancfers, and served in that rank during the 
entire war, being under the various commands 
of Generals Albert Sidney Johnston, Bragg 
and Joseph E. Johnston. He participated in 
a number of the most important battles of 
his department, and was an able an<l efficient 
soldier. He was once taken prisoner in a 
cavalry engagement, but was captured before 



the enemy escaped with the force. He stood 
the service well, and surrendered with his 
regiment at the time of General Joseph E. 
Johnston's capitulation. 

At the close of the war, he returned to 
Bastrop, Bastrop county, Texas, and formed 
a partnership under the firm name of McGin- 
nis & Rector. Shortly afterward, he was 
elected District Attorney, serving in that 
capacity until the latter part of 1867, when 
on the expiration of his term, he returned to 
the practice of law in Bastrop. He continued 
there until the latter part of February, 1871, 
at which time he was appointed by Governor 
E. J. Davis, Judge of the Thirty-first Judi- 
cial Districtof Texas, comprising the counties 
of Robertson, Leon and Freestone. He served 
in this position for a little more than five 
years, when, in 1876, he returned to the 
practice of his profession in the capital of the 
State. He was there when he was appointed 
by the United States Senate to his present 
position, which is of life tenure, to succeed 
Judge A. P. McCormick, resigned. 

Judge Rector \vas married December 25, 
1866, to Miss Lutie W. Barton, a well-known 
society lady, and daughter of Roger Barton, 
a prominent resident of Mississippi. She is 
a graduate of a Methodist Episcopal Col- 
lege of Columbia, Tennessee, and is an excel- 
lent scholar and highly accomplished. She 
is an earnest and useful member of the Epis- 
copal Church. 

Politically, the Judge affiliates with the 
Republican party, and for the last fifteen 
years has figured prominently in public afEairs 
of the State. He was candidate on the Re- 
publican ticket for Congress in 1884, running 
against Major Sayers. He was a delegate to 
the Minneapolis convention, and for a num- 
ber of years has been the recognized leader 
of his party in Texas. 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



lOOl 



Such unanimous endorsement from the 
National Government, combined with a knowl- 
edge of his extensive experience in the law 
and natural acumen, is ample proof that the 
trust reposed in him will be met with a full 
knowledge of its responsibilities, and its inci- 
dental duties discharged with ability and 
honor. 



kRYANT HARRINGTON has had a re- 
markable history. He was born in 
Hardin county, Kentucky, April 29, 
1829, and reared there to the age of fourteen, 
when his parents moved to Grundy county, 
Missouri, where his father died three years 
later. His mother returned to Kentucky, 
taking the children, but remained tliere only 
about a year, when she went again to Missouri. 
Bryant remained in Missouri till April 29, 
1849, when, at the age of twenty, he, in com- 
pany with three brothers and some other 
young fellows of the neighborhood, started 
with ox teams to California. This was just 
after the discovery of gold on the Pacific 
coast and the wild rush for the gold lields was 
fnlly on. He reached Sacramento after live 
months' toiling across the plains. The party, 
selling off their teams and camping outfit, 
paired off, Mr. Harrington and a twin broth- 
er, Ryan, going together, and at once began 
mining. His first prospecting was done up 
the American river and on Weaver creek, 
both then alive with eager fortune-seekers. 
Mr. Harrington was in this general locality 
mining two and a half years, and closed at 
the end of that time with $1,500. Leaving 
Weaver creek in the fall of 1851, lie went to 
Miners' Home near Coloma, where he re- 
mained till February, 1852: thence to Reni- 
cia, near San Francisco, thence to Ramsey in 



Green valley, but abandoned the last men- 
tioned place on account of a conflict of title, 
the claims being located on old Spanish land 
grants. 

He gave up mining and with his twin 
brother hired to dig an irrigating ditch for 
one Stitts. He finished this job, digging 
100 rods at $2.50 per rod; returned to 
Benicia, thence to San Francisco, where he 
and his twin brother took passage, in the 
spring of 1852, to JSew Orleans. They had 
ninety-eight ounces of gold left between them, 
which they took to the mint, had it weighed 
and received a certificate with which tliey 
went to a broker and sold their gold at $17^ 
per ounce. Then they took steamer for 
Louisville, Kentucky, intending to visit their 
mother, who had returned to Hardin county. 
Mr. Harrington visited awhile in Ken- 
tucky; worked on a farm one year, and at- 
tended school a year, and finally, in Decem- 
ber, 1855, came to Texas, making his first 
stop at Dallas, which was then a small place. 
Bought an old frame building there, which 
had been formerly used as a drug store, and 
for some weeks was engaged in taking pic- 
tures. Sold out, and, having a brother and 
brother-in-law living in Palo Pinto county, 
this State, moved further West, stopping 
about three years in that county. Then, in 
the spring of 1859, the gold fever returning, 
he decided to try his luck again in the mines, 
and in connection with his twin brother was 
getting up an outfit to go to Pike's Peak; 
but was turned off from this enterprise by 
Ed Graham, who represented the Peters 
colony, and whom our subject had known in 
Kentucky. Graham's father was a wealthy 
merchant and had offered the son some in- 
ducements to establish a commission business 
at Guaymas, Mexico; and young Graham in- 
terested the Harringtons in this scheme. 



1008 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTT. 



The three piiroliasiiig two yoke of oxen apiece 
and necessary outtit, set out for Guavmas, by 
way of El Paso. After three months they 
reached El Paso, but there heard of the con- 
flict that was rao;ing between the Church and 
State parties in Mexico, and deemed it not 
advisable to prosecute their enterprise fur- 
ther. They would have started for California, 
but the Apache Indians being on the war 
path this expedition also was abandoned. 

The company broke up, our subject, being 
out of money, started a chuck-a-luck game 
on §1.10, and won $60, which gave hira a 
stake. He quit the game and hired to II. 
Smith, representing Butterlield, Crocker 
& Co., who controlled the overland stage 
business throughout the Southwest at that 
time. After working for them awhile as 
guard on the coaches, he returned to Palo 
Pinto county, where, in February, 1860, he 
and his brother started afoot, with one pack 
ponj^ to old Mexico, to buy horses. They 
made this trip, buying forty head; returned 
to Palo Pinto and kept their horses there till 
the Indians became too troublesome, having 
killed a number of the neighbors and ran off 
most of the stock. The Harringtons then 
moved further east, bringing their stock to 
Dallas county, and Bryant took his mother, 
for greater safety, to settlements in Grayson 
county. He hired to Carson & Co., of 
Weatherford, to collect; also attended stock 
for them, and was in their employ till the 
winter of 1861, when he came to Grapevine 
Prairie, Dallas county, spending the winter 
and spring in this county and in the Indian 
Territory. He M-as conscripted in the Con- 
federate army in 1861, and entered Colonel 
James Lovings' regiment; was mostly on 
frontier duty, but also taught school con- 
siderably; was variously engaged about this 
time, driving cattle, lighting Indians, teach- 



ing school, etc. He located permanently, 
however, in Dallas county in the spring of 
1865, settling on Bear creek, where he 
bought a tract of 320 acres. He sold his 
Bear creek farm and bought 208^ acres, 
where he now lives, buying other land from 
time to time, until he now owns 660 acres, of 
which 200 acres is in cultivation. Has im- 
proved the present place and has one of the 
best farms in the locality where he lives. 
Has been farming and stock-raising steadily 
for the past twenty-six or twenty-eight years, 
and has been reasonably successful. 

He has been twice married, marrying first 
in February, 1863, his wife's maiden name 
being Mary Ann Waugh. She died eleven 
months later, leaving one child. The second 
time, in February, 1871, Mr. Harrington 
married Lucetta Woods, daughter of Andrew 
and Elizabeth Woods, and a sister of S. A. 
Woods, a sketch of whom appears in this 
work, which see for the facts concerning Mrs. 
Woods" ancestry. By his first marriage Mr. 
Harrington had one child, Sarah Alice, now 
the wife of Arthur Birch, of Montague 
county, this State; and by the second mar- 
riage he has had four children: Archibald 
Woods, Susanna Luvonia, Bryant Mack and 
William Ryan. 

Mr. Harrington is a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity and has been for many years, 
belonging now to Estelle Lodge, No. 570. 
He is also a member of the Alliance and of 
the Christian Church. 

In conclusion we must say that Mr. Har- 
rington is a typical, old-time Westerner, hav- 
ing had as many characteristic pioneer ex- 
periences as almost any other man alive. As 
a fi'on tiers man, an Indian tighter, scout, 
miner, etc., he has many anecdotes and 
stories to relate, and withal he is a rough-and- 
ready, sensible, jovial, generous-hearted man 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



1009 




of tlie plains. He is a man of large frame, 
strong voice, and as well calculated for the 
West in the matters of life generally as old 
Peter Cartwright, of Illinois, was for the 
Methodist itinerancy. 

^IILL II. ATWELL, attorney at law, 
II 234 Main street, Dallas, Texas, was 
born in Sparta, Wisconsin, June 9> 
1869. When five years of age liis parents 
came to Texas, locating on a plantation two 
miles east of Mesquite, Dallas county. His 
mother was a devout Presbyterian, and a 
woman of much literary ability, and his 
father was a soldier in the Union army, start- 
ing out in the Thirty-sixth Wisconsin, and 
after one year's service was transferred to the 
Sharpshooters, where he served three years. 
The subject of our sketch was educated 
primarily in the public and private schools of 
Dallas and Dallas county. In 1886 he en- 
tered the Southwestern University, at which 
institution he graduated in June, 1889. In 
February of the following year he w^s ad- 
mitted to the Dallas bar, at the age of nineteen. 
In September, 1890, he entered the State 
University, graduating the following June, 
with honors. He was the successful com- 
petitor for the State Debaters' Medal, the 
State Chautauqua Medal, and the World's 
Fair Medal. He is an orator of much abil- 
ity. He was a delegate to the National Re- 
publican Convention at Minneapolis in 1892. 
His speech on Decoration day. May 30, 1892, 
is recognized as a patriotic effort, studded 
with the jewels so necessary to an oblitera- 
tion of the animosity engendered by the un- 
pleasantness of 1861-'65, an extract of which 
is here printed by request of soldiers from 
both sides. 



"Looking around me to-day at the multi- 
plied magniticence of our Union, at its vesti- 
buled halls of justice, steepled palaces of 
worship, granite sanctums of knowledge, mill- 
ion-wheeled factories and steel-spanned coun- 
try, we of the rising generation cannot believe 
that once the stability of the Governmental 
fabric was tested. When, the historian tells 
us that the warm blood of the South mingled 
with that of the North on the fields of Geor- 
gia we almost instinctively arise with indigna- 
tion and say that it is the tale of some foul 
slanderer. 

" I am not here to talk sectionalism. lam 
one of a generation that has come to man- 
hood since the sword of Lee was handed to 
your Northern general at Appomattox. The 
legacy of the fathers is free from the taint 
of northern or southern antagonism. I in- 
herit no bias, no prejudice, no spleen. Hard 
though it must have been for the Southern 
people to bury a principle they thought right, 
yet they have done it graciously and only 
remember it as linked to the lives of some 
truly great men. The noble women of this 
laud pile high flowers sparkling with their 
tears on the graves of your brothers who were 
on the other side. The same spirit that 
prompted the 'Johnnies' to exchange warn- 
ings with the ' Yanks ' on the eve of battle 
shows itself most prominent now in cement- 
ing the factions into one band of brothers, 
one people, one nation, one flag. The bloody 
flag is seen only by the unpatriotic, who fish 
for the red shirt and flaunt it to individual 
gain on either side. 

" These memorial days are not for the pur- 
pose of scratching anew the wounds of the 
sixties, nor are they intended as a means for 
proclaiming yourselves distinctively the peo- 
ple who believe in the beauty of the stars and 
stripes; but rather for the magnanimous 



1010 



BISTORT OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



purpose of singing anew the praises of the 
valiant and honored dead. [Applause.] The 
enthusiasm of youth, the strength of man- 
hood and the remaining embers uf old ao-e 
have alike been wasted to ashes on the hearth- 
stone of time in the vain search for the right 
and the wrong of the conflict that made it 
possible for you to worship heroes to-day. 
It remains for coming generations to throw 
mantles of charity where mantles of charity 
are needed. It was a family quarrel and it 
has ended. 

' "The bow of promise was set in view, 
On the skirts of the vanishing day, 

But Liberty sighed for the man in blue 
And wept for the man in gray." ' 

[Applause.] 

" For one of the leaders who sat in that 
cabin on the hill at Appomattox you have a 
longing for, Ulysses S. Grant, the great 
commoner of xVinerica, the great general of 
the age, the great patriot of the world. 
[Applause.] In him all the fire of the Gracchi 
and the love of Christ seemed to unite; yea, 
nature had excelled herself. Christian, war- 
rior, patriot, statesman, man. A man beau- 
tiful in character unto Christianity, bold in 
belief unto the warrior, true to his flag unto 
the patriot, versatile in mind unto the states- 
man, humble in carriage unto the man. Like 
unto a child in simplicity, a lion in boldness, 
a sage in wisdom, a god in devotion. Bow 
your heads, then, you followers of Grant and 
do homage to him, not as your superior, but 
as a sacred privilege granted to men who 
followed him. [Applause.] The love of your 
country has made Sylosons of each of you. 
Tea in the Boston harbor and slaves on the 
southern boundary spilled the same sort of 
blood. Brush aside the web that prejudice 
weaves, grasp the Southern hand and know 
that mistakes are the heritage of mankind. 
[Applause.] I care not to what tenets others 




may cling; as for myself, granting to every 
man that liberty of opinion which constitutes 
the true glory of our American citizenship, as 
for myself, I would not lose the responsive- 
ness to the touch of an old soldier's hand for 
all the victories of battle and riches of gold 
since Iscariot betrayed and Constantine con- 
fessed. [Applause.] Pile high, then, flowers 
on the graves of your dead; no perfume is too 
costly, no incense too sweet, no rose too pure; 
all nature smiles sweetest on the heroic deeds 
of men. [Applause.] " 

OKTH PEAK, a real-estate dealer in 
Dallas and residing in Oak Cliff, is 
the eighth of the eleven children of 
Jeflferson and Martha M. (Reeser) Peak, 
natives of Scott county, Kentucky. In an 
early day his father was a steamboat man on 
the Mississippi river, at one time owning 
boats on the Ohio river, plying between Cin- 
cinnati and New Orleans. In 1854 he moved 
with his family to Dallas and engaged in 
general merchandise. Dallas at that time 
was a hamlet of only 150 people. After 
continuing his business, on the public square, 
some years, he erected a building in which to 
carry on his business, but it was afterward 
burned. He also erected the first l>rick 
residence in this county, namely, his dwell- 
ing at the corner of Peak and Worth streets. 
His death occurred in October. 1880, and his 
wife survived until July, 1890. The senior 
Peak took a conspicuous part in the early 
history of Dallas county, being public-spirited 
and enterprising. For the Mexican war he 
raised and took out a companj' of cavalry. 
Of his family six are now living, namely: 
Julius, who is married and is a ranchman of 
Albany, Shackelford county, Texas; Sarah, 



HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY. 



1011 



widow of Alexander Harwood, of Live Oak 
and Peak, East Dallas; Florence, wife of 
Thomas Field, corner of Peak street and 
Gaston avenue; G. B., residing in Dallas, 
engaged in real estate; Worth, the subject of 
this sketch; M. L., unmarried and employed 
on the Mexican Central railroad in Mexico. 

The gentleman whose name heads this 
sketch was born in Gallatin county, Ken- 
tucky, iu 1848; at the age of six years he 
first came to Dallas county, but he was edu- 
cated at Lexington, Kentucky. In 1865 he 
enlisted in Company B, Sixth Texas Cavalry, 
and was assigned to Koss' brigade in the 
Army of the Tennessee; was on garrison 
duty, and at the close of service returned to 
Dallas. 

He engaged in the live-stock business in 
Western Texas until 1871; next, took a 
course in the university at Lexington, Ken- 
tucky; and finally, returning to Dallas, he 
engaged in real-estate, opening up and im- 



proving property, of which he has done a 
large amount in East Dallas. In December, 
1890, he purchased eighteen acres in Oak 
CliflF, on which he has erected a fine resi- 
dence; he has sold oflP all this tract, however, 
excepting one acre. 

He was married in Navarro county, Texas, 
in 1881, to Miss May Fox, a native of Michi- 
gan, and a daughter of Robert and M. C. 
(Richmond) Fox, natives of the State of New 
York, who settled in Michigan in an early 
day and moved to Navarro county in 1876, 
where they now reside. Mr. and Mrs. Peak 
have had four children.: Jefferson; Roy, who 
died at the age of two and a half years; Gor- 
don, who died in infancy; and Worth. 

Mr. Peak, although not active in personal 
politics, votes the Democratic ticket. Having 
arrived here in the early time he has wit- 
nessed the growth of this wonderful city, 
and is acquainted with its needs, and is well 
and favorably known as a worthy citizen. 





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